Willoughby 03 - A Rogue's Deadly Redemption

by Jeannie Ruesch

His head whipped from the blow. “I deserved that.”

  “Damn right you did. This is a hanging offense, you stupid idiot.”

  “I don’t utter the notes.” As soon as he said the words, Robert knew he’d lived down to the insult of stupid idiot. Amazing how often he aimed so low where Marcus was concerned.

  “So it’s acceptable to create the plates that allow the notes to be printed, but passing such notes yourself, uttering them would be sinking to another level? How you justify such nonsense is beyond me. What you are doing is illegal.”

  “Truly? Oh, well, thank you for telling me. I shall stop now.”

  “Damn it, Robert! This is not a joke. You could be hanged for this.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Then why? Why would you be so stupid? You have always thrown yourself into one idiotic thing after another without one thought of the consequences.”

  “I knew what I was getting into. I knew what was at stake.”

  Marcus strode toward him and shoved his hands against Robert’s chest. “And what? You didn’t care? No, I know. You thought you were above it. That it couldn’t touch you. Stop acting like you are the only person in this world.” He gave another shove. “We are—I am your goddamn brother, and you should have come to me. Was it money? Did you do this for money?”

  Just as Marcus reached up, Robert snapped a fist up. “Shove me again, and I’ll lay you flat.”

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  They stood nose to nose. Robert’s arm pulsed with the need to push the boundaries. He felt heady at seeing the anger he saw in Marcus’s eyes. No matter what he’d done, Robert had never been able to yank him out of the normally cool, calm and imperial persona he wore like his best dinner jacket. He’d never been able to make him care.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Marcus frowned. “Tell you what?”

  “The truth about Mother. Why did you keep it from me, let me believe all these years it was you?”

  His brother’s mouth dropped. “How many times have I attempted to contact you? To invite you over? Good God, Robert, once you became an adult, you refused my attempts. All of them. Was I supposed to tell you when you were a child? When you couldn’t understand? When was the right time?”

  “At some point in my life,” Robert countered. “You have no idea what I believed, what I thought.”

  “You refused to talk to me. Perhaps I was wrong, but I thought it better for you, as a child, to think your mother didn’t have time for you rather than to know how she railed about hurting us or any of the other terrible things she did. I wanted your life to be free of that burden.”

  The haze that had covered Robert’s vision whenever he’d viewed his past, his brothers, started to clear. With the slashes of regret came a surprising sentiment toward Marcus, something he never thought he would feel.

  He, the inconsequential brother had made a fool of Wayfair, and should Robert’s activities become known…it would ruin Marcus.

  That righteous need that had fueled Robert’s direction had disintegrated somewhere in between facing the deaths his actions had caused, putting Lily’s life in danger and learning that his brother had been protecting him for his entire life.

  “Who knows? How far did this go?” Marcus asked.

  “Because all that matters is perception?”

  “Because the only person allowed to kill you is me. How far has this spread?”

  “Lily knows, no one else. I’m not here because I’ve been discovered.”

  “Then what?”

  “I told them I wanted out. That I would not continue to create the plates. They declined my resignation and tried to kill me instead.”

  “That is why Cary died?” Marcus stepped back, leaned against his desk.

  “Cary came to see me. He was with me when the men captured me.” The constant knot of pain was growing familiar. “He was in the wrong place, and I wish to hell I could change it.”

  “Edwin?”

  “He died trying to save me. Kane won’t stop. He has as much to prove to the captain as I wanted to. I stated my intent in a room full of Kane’s men. Some of who are dead now, yes, but Kane has to retain his respect, his position. He threatened Lily. If I won’t do the work, he won’t let me live and he’s not above using her to get what he wants. I will not let him hurt her.”

  “How do you intend to do that? Kill him yourself?”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  “There are ways to work within our legal system. You have information, that’s a powerful commodity.”

  “So get myself arrested? That is your plan?”

  “Not if we exchange information you can share on how the banks can solve the forgeries. The committee—”

  “Your committee members are idiots. I could strike through most, if not all of their suggestions on how to fix the problem.”

  “Such as?”

  “The Bank’s note is not complicated to create. My plates are some of the best there are, but shoddier creations would also pass. The note itself is not difficult to duplicate. There is no vignette on the note, which is what preserves the notes from the country banks, like Plymouth. You’ll not find their notes forged upon often, and yet jolly old Bank of England here in London refuses to emulate their work. Education as the cornerstone of change?” He scoffed. “The people to whom he wants to hand out pamphlets are busy surviving. They have no desire or time to read words that condescend to them. Instead, focus on making the notes impossible to forge. Make the process more difficult. You could consider the use of steel plates, rather than copper, which would allow for more intricate vignettes and drawings.”

  Marcus held up a hand. “All right, I—”

  “No, not all right. I cannot sit by and have tea and scones with the men on your committee. It will take them a year to decide their next move, and I have to act now. I have to stop Kane.”

  “I cannot fathom why you would turn toward something so dangerous.” He turned away and paced behind his desk. “Why you would forsake our family, your own wife, to get involved with criminals. Good God, Robert, do you hate us that much?”

  “Can’t you just help me?” The words pulled from Robert’s gut, laced with frustration, with the urgent pressing need to protect the woman he loved. “Kane is not biding time, discussing his failures. He is getting ready to move.”

  “If you want my help, it will be my way. These will be my peers I’m calling favors on, Robert. My name on the line to save your neck.”

  A slight knock on the door interrupted and the butler appeared again. “Please forgive the intrusion, my lord, but you have more visitors.”

  “At this hour? Who is it?”

  “The Duke of Ravensdale and the Earl of Merewood.”

  Robert groaned and stemmed the urge to slam a fist into the wood-paneled wall.

  “Send them in.” After Hasgood closed the door, he looked at Robert. “What do they know?”

  The sketches. He’d left them at Merewood’s home. The bitter taste of bile filled his mouth. “Possibly a lot.”

  The door opened and the butler moved into the room, while Merewood and Ravensdale strode in behind him. “His grace, the Duke of Ravensdale and the Earl of Merewood.”

  “Thank you, Hasgood.”

  Merewood held a book in his hand, and Robert recognized it as his book of sketches. Lily had given them to her brother, after all.

  It wasn’t disappointment he felt. He hadn’t expected her to preserve his secret. He hadn’t…hell, he didn’t know what it meant that she hadn’t. Was she finished with him?

  “Forgive the early call,” Merewood started. “We felt it imperative this take place as soon as possible.” Just then, he seemed to notice Robert’s state of attire. He stared. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “A tea party.” Brothers, his and Lily’s, sure brought out the best in him. Even he knew he was being an ass.

  Adam scoffed in disgust. �
��Nothing means a damn thing to you, doesn’t it?”

  “Your sister does.”

  “That is why you’ve put her in danger? That is why you did this?” Adam held up the sketch book. “For her well-being?”

  “My brother came here today to—” Marcus started.

  “To beg you to fix his stupidity, I imagine,” Merewood said. He dropped the sketchbook on the desk. “I don’t give a damn what happens to him. My reason for coming is to make sure he cannot put my sister in danger again.” Merewood turned to Robert. “I’ll see you hanged before I see her hurt again.”

  “Now see here a minute—”

  Merewood snapped to Marcus. “Men came into my sister’s library and took her as she left. They could have killed her.” He pointed at Robert. “He dragged her down to his level, and I will not allow that to happen again.”

  “I am here to protect her. That is all I want,” Robert said.

  “Robert, enough. Let me handle this.”

  Robert bristled but quieted as Marcus picked up the sketchbook.

  “There is no denying what my brother has done.” Marcus flipped through the pages, then stopped on a page.

  What had caught his eye? Robert’s curiosity had been piqued, and—blast it, this was not the time to look for compliments.

  “I see one way out of this, and we should all get what we want from it,” Marcus continued. He flipped a few more pages and stopped again. His head tilted to the side.

  Robert’s breath held. It was the worst possible time and he knew so much more was at stake, but the potential for his brother’s awareness, his approval, and yes, his respect dangled out there like a cup of water to a man dying of thirst.

  Robert craved that with a guttural need that nearly brought him to his knees. He’d felt as though he was dying of thirst for so long.

  “I want my family to be free of him.” Merewood pointed at Robert. “Lily is leaving all of this behind in a few days. You won’t interfere and you will sign the divorce papers as soon as I can have them delivered.”

  “I won’t agree to that,” Robert said flatly.

  “You can and you will,” Marcus snapped the book shut and set it down. Without a word. “You are not bargaining here, remember? You made this mess, and you will do whatever it takes to clean it up.” He looked at Merewood and Ravensdale. “If he does that, I will need you both to meet with Harman and encourage his agreement toward this deal.”

  “Jeremiah Harman will not set a forger free,” Ravensdale said. He moved into the room and leaned against a wall lined with books. “Not and keep his post as Governor.”

  “We will sway him. Robert will provide information on better securing our notes. He will serve as—”

  “That isn’t enough.” The three men turned to glare at Robert. “I did not come here to save my own hide. I came here to stop Kane. This plan isn’t enough,” he repeated.

  “What do you suggest then?” Ravensdale asked.

  “The Bank of England would love to see a forgery circle taken out of the game, I imagine. Tell Harman I will provide the information to bring them down. I can lead them to where they meet, where they work. I can deliver the plates and the men who print from them.”

  “No.” Marcus put his hands flat on the desk. “Kane tried to kill you already. It’s too dangerous.”

  “He’ll kill me anyway. He won’t stop unless he’s taken down. This is the only way. Call upon whomever you must, but make the deal and make it fast.”

  “You’ll agree to my terms?” Adam asked.

  “I don’t need you to make this deal,” Robert snapped. He stood on the opposite side of the small room from Adam, as though they were boxers waiting to be called into the ring. And Robert was more than willing to go a few rounds.

  “Yes, you do,” Marcus told him. “If I am the only one negotiating, Harman might not be convinced. But with the three of us combined, he’ll have no choice, for fear of offending us. It must be all of us. It is the only way.”

  “She is my wife.” Robert stepped into the ring.

  “It’s taken you three years to recall that.” Adam stepped closer to him, fists at the ready at his sides. “She is packed and anxious to leave you behind.”

  “Then why are you so concerned that I not interfere with her departure?”

  “Because I don’t want her hurt anymore. You have done enough.”

  Robert didn’t want to cause her any more pain.

  He wanted Lily on that ship, it was the best place to keep her safe. But he intended to go after her. He ran fingers through his hair, racking his brain for another option, another alternative that didn’t require Merewood’s buy-in.

  What if her brother was right? What if she was ready to leave him behind? He hated that idea, but the thought of her death being the next one to land at his feet destroyed him.

  “Robert.” Marcus snapped his fingers. “It’s now or never.”

  Robert bowed his head, then nodded. “Now. It’s now.”

  ***

  Two hours later, he returned to his home, weary and determined. They had a plan and he had a lot of work to do in order to implement it. As he walked through his door, he didn’t stop until he reached his office. From the shelves lined with books, he took out a wooden box painted and carved with the spines of books he’d never read. The box had served well to hide the tools of his trade.

  He set the box on the table and opened it with the key he held in his desk. From inside, he removed a thick cloth, rolled to hold his instruments. His etching tools, the burin he used to engrave the copper. Clean copper plates, a handful of tapers for the black soot he needed. A small container of varnish. His lead pencil and tracing paper to begin.

  It didn’t take long to set his station. His drawing positioned near the mirror, so he could transfer it backwards onto the copper. From there, he would trace the image and etch in the finer details.

  He had made hundreds of these, replacing them as they wore out from use. The copper was soft, which had underscored his value. As well as his prison.

  These would be the last copperplates he made.

  If the plan went well, he would be free.

  Free to fight for Lily.

  Had she asked her brother to procure her divorce?

  Robert hadn’t returned since the night his memory restored. She probably assumed that meant he didn’t care. That he’d walked away. That he’d returned to being the heartless bastard she had left.

  He’d spent so much of their marriage hurting her, keeping her separate from his life. He’d spent so much time fighting what he felt for her, running as far and as fast as he could from the dream they’d shared for such a short time and lost. He’d never stopped running from the pain, never stopped putting as much distance between them as possible.

  Including the organization.

  Getting deeper in with them put an impenetrable wall between them. She had told him she was leaving for America, and he’d run as far in the opposite direction, deeper into the muck, as he could.

  That way, he wouldn’t have been able to go after her.

  He’d always felt Lily deserved better. From the beginning, her goodness, her softness shone through as though she had her own personal sun providing light. She had been so good, and he’d been everything but.

  Cordelia—she had been tough, unattainable. A challenge. One he knew he’d never achieve and didn’t really want.

  When their letters arrived that night…

  Lily had to know the truth. Robert’s hand relaxed on the table, and he closed his eyes.

  He knew what he’d promised to Adam, the deal he’d made. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore. He’d rather cut off his own arm.

  But so many things could go wrong with this plan. She deserved the truth, no matter what happened. No matter what she decided.

  Robert shook his head. Right now, he had to focus. He’d sent the missive to request a meeting with Kane, claiming he had new plates to sell. Claiming he would
toe the line like a good little soldier.

  He knew better than to show up empty handed.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Lily smoothed the embroidered bodice of her gown with shaky hands. The gown wasn’t wrinkled. In fact, the gown in rich egg blue silk embroidered with pearls and cream satin piping was the most beautiful thing she’d ever worn.

  It made her feel like a fraud.

  This party was for her, but she was used to blending into the wall. Now that she was being peeled off of it, she had to admit she might prefer being there.

  No one expected anything of her. No one judged her every move. Blending in had offered a freedom she had taken for granted.

  Now, she was scandalous and shocking, the intrepid wife leaving her husband to go on adventure to America.

  Lily’s gaze shifted to the paper that lay on her bed. That was how the gossip sheet referred to her. It had taken longer than usual, but word had spread that she was leaving and the gossip rags had picked it up. She thanked heaven that their other adventures, involving Robert’s illegal activities hadn’t reared their ugly heads in the papers.

  Intrepid. Adventurous. They had cast her as the heroine in a villain’s story, Robert being the villain, of course.

  She was nothing of the sort. If this was her grand adventure, it felt more a comedy of errors, with a great deal of ado about nothing.

  No matter what he’d done, she could not look at Robert as a villain.

  She brushed at her invisible wrinkles again. A room filled with people downstairs expected her to play the part so she could fulfill their need to gossip, and she’d far prefer to skip the parade and go right to the ship. She would stay in her cabin, curled up with her books, a warm blanket and the memory of a husband.

  Her stomach plunged.

  That feeling again. That unsettling sense that she’d forgotten something, did something wrong. It had reared its head just often enough to annoy.

  This was her choice. This was what she wanted.

  “Lily, no more hiding in your room. It is time to come downstairs.”

  Lily turned to see her sisters, all three of them, crowding into her room. They were as colorful as a basket filled with flowers. Aria in dark blue, Blythe in peach and Cordelia in a deep wine red. They stood with arms akimbo and Lily knew they would have no qualms about tossing her over the railing to be sure she made her way downstairs.