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“Will you help me find my father?”
“Yes, I will,” Joe said firmly and meant it. “I need your help, though.”
Marguerite nodded without even realising that her head was moving. “I have nothing to do with Sayers, the Count.”
“Good, keep it that way,” Joe snapped.
“Do you?” she drawled thoughtfully.
“Do I what?” Joe’s voice was far sharper than he had intended but he made no apology for it. He needed to hold on to something to stop himself from hauling her back into his arms again. He had never met any woman who had challenged him so. It was difficult to know if he should be delighted, or quietly appalled.
“Do you have an acquaintance with Sayers?”
She was watching him closely and saw his brief hesitation.
“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she snapped.
Joe’s brows lifted. “I know of him. While I am not acquainted with him personally, I know of him and his crimes.”
“How? Are you a criminal?” she mused, hating to even think that he might be.
“No, Marguerite. While I cannot tell you what I am right now, I can assure you that I am not a criminal, and certainly don’t belong to Sayers’ gang of cut-throats.”
Marguerite knew from the tone of his voice that he was telling her the truth. Truthfully, she hated the prospect of having to spend any time in the house alone with the corpse. Not only that, but she had to leave the house to go and find the magistrate to then return with him and answer his questions until he was satisfied that she hadn’t been the one to commit murder. If all of that was prevented by her leaving with Joe and his colleagues then she would, but she had a few stipulations of her own.
“How do you plan to protect me?” she murmured.
Joe felt the small hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and knew he wasn’t going to like this new, calculating side of her.
“Why?”
“I want to know how you plan to keep me out of Sayers’ clutches,” she replied bluntly.
Joe sighed. “My colleagues and I will take you somewhere safe and keep watch over you until Sayers is behind bars.”
“But I need to find my father,” she protested.
“Well, you can help us by telling us where to look for him,” Joe countered.
“Not good enough,” she replied with a shake of her head. “I insist on coming with you.”
Joe looked at the door. “It isn’t safe,” he argued.
“Well, it isn’t safe for me to stay here, but I am not going to stop in your safe house and wait while you try to find my father.”
Joe snorted. “Are you actually trying to blackmail me?”
Marguerite winced. “No. I am merely telling you that I won’t leave this house without your promise that I can come with you to look for my father.”
Joe contemplated that. He knew they could go on like this all morning. If he was honest, he quite enjoyed trading banter with her and wanted to do it some more. At some other point in time when he could push her and see just how compliant she could be and his colleagues weren’t waiting on the other side of the door.
Joe moved to the door. “Are you coming with me or not?” he asked, making it clear to her that he was going whether she came with him or not. He almost smiled when she seemed to lose some of her bravado and looked warily at him.
“Alright, but I am coming with you when you go to look for my father,” she persisted.
“Fine,” Joe sighed, secretly hiding a grin.
Without thinking, he yanked the door open and froze when he realised who was on the other side of it.
