Innocent In Death

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 ski

“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.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. You can’t block me from-”

“I can,” he corrected, so coolly her color ebbed. “I will. You’re going to leave New York, and in fact, the country, within three hours.”

“You can’t control the whole damn country,” she shot back.

“Actually, I’d give that a good try, if only to watch you sweat. But, I don’t need to. If you’re not gone, well gone, within those three hours begi

This time, she went dead white. “You’d betray me that way?”

“Again, listen carefully. I’d crush you like a bug for causing my wife one single moment of pain. Believe it. Fear it.”

“If you tried anything like that, I’d take you down with me.”

This time he smiled. “You could try. I’m so much more than you, you’d never pull it off. And Maggie, you’d find the accommodations in prison very limiting, and not at all to your taste.”

He saw her lips tremble before she managed to firm them. He saw her absorb the shock of the truth. The she shrugged, carelessly. “I don’t need you. I never did.” She strolled away, circling the room. “I only thought we might have some fun together, but obviously you don’t know how to play anymore.”

“The clock’s ticking,” he warned her.

She whirled around. “I prefer Europe any way. New York bores me. You bore me.”

She saw the flash of headlights strike the window glass, and changed tack instantly. “Oh, what the hell.” She let out a robust laugh. “You found me out, shut me down. No point in whining about it. Time to cut my losses and move on. Plenty of fish to fry.”

She looked at him, smiled. “I’ll never understand how you could possibly want her and not me.”

“No, you’ll never understand it.”

She stepped forward as if to pick up the fur she’d tossed over a chair. Smoothly, she turned to hand it to him. And with perfect timing, flung herself into his arms.

The sable fell as he took her shoulders to shove her back.

Eve stepped to the doorway to see Magdelana with her arms locked around Roarke’s neck, his hands on her bare shoulders-one of the ivory straps sliding to her elbow.

“Son of a bitch,” she said.

On cue, Magdelana spun around, her face full of passion and shock. “Oh, God. Oh…it’s not what it looks like.”

“Bet.” Eve strode in.

Actually, Roarke thought, it was more of a swagger. He had a moment to admire it, before Eve rammed her fist in his face.

“Fuck me.” His head snapped back, and he tasted blood.

Magdelana cried out, but even the deaf would have caught the suppressed laughter in the sound. “Roarke! Oh, my God, you’rebleeding. Please, let me just-”

“Don’t look now,” Eve said cheerfully. “But he’s not the only one.” She decked Magdelana with a straight-armed jab. “Bitch,” Eve added as Magdelana’s eyes rolled back and she fell, unconscious, to the floor.

Roarke looked down. “Well, now, fuck us all.”

“You’re going to want to get that mess out of my house.” With this, Eve strode out again.

She passed Summerset in the foyer. She assumed the expression on his face was a grin, but couldn’t be absolutely sure. “You’re going to want to be careful-spreading your mouth like that could split your whole face in half.”

“I thought applauding would be a bit inappropriate.”

She snorted, and kept right on going upstairs.

Face throbbing, sensibilities insulted, Roarke stepped over Magdelana. In the foyer, he sent Summerset an icy look. “Take care of that.”

“With absolute pleasure.” Still, Summerset stood another moment, watching Roarke head upstairs after his wife.

He caught up with her in the bedroom. “Damn it all to hell and back again, you know very well that was a setup. You bloody well know I couldn’t put my hands on her.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.” Eve shrugged off her coat, tossed it aside. “I know a setup when I see it, and I know your face, ace. I didn’t see desire on it, I saw a

“Is that so? Is that bloody well so? Well, if you knew it was just what it was, why did you sucker punch me?”

“Mostly?” She turned, cocked a hip. “Because you’re a man.”

Eyes narrowed on her face, he tried to stanch the blood with the back of his hand. “And do you have any sort of idea just how often I might expect your fist in my goddamn face because of my bleeding DNA?”

“No, really don’t.” He looked so furious, so incredibly insulted. She wanted to rip off his clothes and bite his ass. “In fact, I think you’ve earned a good whupping.”

“Bugger that. I’ve had about enough of women altogether.” The absurdity of the entire thing began to wind through his temper. “You’re fearsome and irrational creatures.”

She rolled up on the balls of her feet and back again, flexed her knees. “Afraid to take me on? Come on, hotshot, you got punched for being a man. Act like one.”

“It’s a man you want, is it?” He began to circle as she did. “I’m going to take you down.”

“Look how scared I am. I’m shaking.” She feinted with her left, spun, and back-kicked. “Oh, no, that’s suppressed laughter.”

He blocked the kick, then the next with his forearm, forced her to jump over the sweep of his foot. He worked her back toward the bed, and when he’d judged the distance, spun, then flipped her.

She landed on her back on the bed, but when he dived after, she’d rolled off the other side. Crouched into fighting stance.

“Not going to be that easy, ace.”

“Who said I wanted it easy?”

He rolled as well, and she had to give him credit for both speed and agility. She danced back, aimed a jab-blocked-then an elbow jab that co

But she didn’t mind if he limped a little. Serve him right. She started to bring her heel down on his instep, but he turned into her, knocked her off balance.

Together they rolled down the short steps of the platform and hit the floor with her on top.

“Ready to throw in the towel?” she asked, breathlessly.

“No.” He scissored his legs, trapping hers, and reversed their positions. “You?”

“My ass.” And she ripped his shirt open.

“You’ll have to pay for that.”

“Try to make me.”

He hooked a hand in the collar of her shirt, tore it down the front. On a chain under it, she wore the diamond and the saint’s medal he’d given her. The arms of the shirt hung on her weapon harness.