Innocent in Death (In Death #24)(112)

“Roarke.” She lowered her head, as if in shame. But not before the thinnest sheen of tears sparkled over her eyes. “Oh, Roarke, can you ever forgive me?”

“You’ll excuse me?” he said to Summerset.

As Summerset left the room, she set down the wine with the slightest tremor in her hand. “I feel absolutely dreadful about this. I just…Roarke, I’ve been out of town for the last two days, only just got back. But I heard—and saw. I tried to contact you before I left, as soon as I…But—”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Avoiding me,” she said with those tears in her voice. “I wasn’t sure you’d see me at all. Damn paparazzi. They should all be hanged.”

“Even they have to make a living.”

“But to imply something so completely innocent was…was something illicit. We should sue them. But, of course, that only makes it worse. I know, I know.” She lifted a hand, waved it distractedly. “I can’t imagine how upset you are. And your wife. Is she very angry?”

He angled his head. “What do you suppose?”

“In her place, I’d be furious! They made it look as if we were…We were only saying good-bye. You and I know, Roarke, we were only saying good-bye.”

“We do yes, and we were.”

“Perhaps if I tried to explain to her. Is she here? I could try—”

“You’d already know she isn’t here.”

Magdelana closed her swimming eyes. Regroup, he thought. Reconfigure.

“All right, yes. I admit it. I wanted to speak to you alone first, so I called downtown. They said she was in the field, so I came right over. God, I’m such a coward.” She touched her fingers to her lips. “But if it would help, even a little, I’d try to explain to her.”

“I think not. She’s perfectly aware of the circumstances.”

“Oh. Good. Good. What a relief.”

“Perfectly aware that you set it up, that you staged it, and paid the camera to get the vid out.”

“What? That’s ridiculous. That’s…Roarke.” She said his name with a soupçon of injured feeling, just the right addition to shock. “How could you possibly think I’d do something like that? I understand you’re angry and upset—so am I—but to accuse me of deliberately trying to hurt you and your wife. For what purpose?”

It was hardly a wonder they’d done so well, professionally speaking, in the months they’d worked together. She was brilliant. “I’d say the amusement would be quite enough for you.”

“That’s a despicable thing to say to me.” She picked up the wine again. “Absolutely despicable.”

“Do you think I can’t track down the camera, that I can’t bribe well enough to learn all the details? You underestimate me, Maggie.”

She carried her wine to the window, stood with her back to him. “No. No,” she said quietly. “I could never underestimate you. Maybe I wanted you to know. Knew you would, in the end. It’s you who underestimate me, Roarke, my feelings for you. My regret.” And looked over her shoulder. “My desire. I admit it. I’m not proud of what I did, but I won’t be ashamed either. I did what I thought I needed to do. I’d have done anything to get you back. Nothing else matters to me. Only being with you again.”

He waited a beat. “Bollocks.”

“How can you mock my feelings?” She threw the wine down, shattering the glass. “How dare you when I stand here, stripped bare?”

“I’m not mocking them, I’m clearly saying you haven’t any feelings. You never did, for me or for anyone but yourself.” He let out a half-laugh. “Took me longer to get to that than it should have.”

Then even that half-laugh was gone, and he was ice. “You came here, to New York, to test the waters. I have a great deal more than I once had, and you hoped for a piece of it. She saw through you, you know. The first look.”

Magdelana tossed her head, strode toward him. “And from the first look at you again, I saw she had you under her thumb. How that made me laugh! The rich and powerful Roarke, tamed and trained by a skinny cop with no style or beauty.”

“Odd. From where I’m standing, she has more style, more beauty, and—Christ knows—more class than you can ever claim.”

He didn’t so much as flinch when she slapped him. “You won’t want to do that again,” he said, softly enough to have her lower her hand.

“Roarke—”

“It’s you who wanted to put a leash on me, Maggie, who thought she could just by snapping fingers. And when I didn’t go to heel you did what you could to cause trouble for me and my marriage, to hurt my wife.”

“So what if I did? It’s just a game. You used to have a sense of humor, but apparently she’s whipped that out of you, too.”

“You’ll never understand her, or me. You’ll never understand what we have. More pity for you, you’ll never have it. You’re not capable. So here’s how this plays now. Listen carefully: You’ll never step foot in my home again, or in any of my other properties or businesses—which includes every hotel, transportation system, shop, restaurant, and so forth that I own or have majority interest in. There are quite a number of them.”