“Adele Martel.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the name.”
“Don’t you? Strange, considering you visited her just days before her death.” Owen moved closer to the desk, noting how Jasper’s fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on his quill. “Paid for her room, asked about her child.”
“I visit many unfortunate souls in the course of my charitable work. One can hardly be expected to remember every name.”
“This one you’d remember. She was carrying Nicholas’s locket when she died.”
For just a moment, Jasper’s mask slipped. Something cold and calculating flickered in his eyes before his pleasant smile returned.
“My brother had many indiscretions. I can hardly be held responsible for cleaning up after all of them.”
“But you are cleaning up after this one, aren’t you? Through your associate Holt and his convenient French relatives.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
Owen leaned forward and placed his hands flat on the desk. “I know what you’ve done, Jasper. The question is whether you’ll admit it before or after the constables arrive to question Holt.”
“Constables?” For the first time, a genuine alarm crossed Jasper’s features.
“They’re already following him. Have been since this morning, when certain inconsistencies in his documentation about Adele Martel as well as some of your business activities came to light.” Owen was bluffing, but Jasper’s reaction suggested the gambit was working. “How long before they trace his activities back to you?”
Jasper’s composure cracked entirely. The confident mask fell away, revealing something ugly and desperate beneath.
“You always were too clever for your own good. Just like Nicholas.” His voice turned bitter and vicious. “Always so sure of yourselves, so convinced you deserved everything handed to you.”
“So, you killed him.”
“I freed the family from the embarrassment that was his life. Nicholas was a disgrace, rutting around Europe like a common libertine. His bastard would have been the final scandal.”
“She’s an innocent baby.”
“She’s a liability. But not for much longer.” Jasper checked his pocket watch with casual malice. “My associate should be collecting her about now. Such a tragedy when children simply vanish. These things happen in London.”
The imminent threat to Evie’s life shattered Owen’s fraying control. He lunged across the desk. His fist connected with Jasper’s jaw with satisfying force. The younger man flew backward. His chair toppled over as they both crashed to the floor.
“Owen!”
He spun around to find the Dowager Duchess standing in the doorway. Her face was pale with shock. How long had she been there? How much had she heard?
“Grandmother.” Jasper struggled to his feet while dabbing at his split lip. “This maniac attacked me without provocation.”
“Without provocation?” The Dowager Duchess’s voice carried a tremor Owen had never heard before. “I heard what you said about Nicholas. About the child.” Her eyes filled with tears. “What have you done, Jasper? What have you done to my grandson and his child?”
“I saved this family from scandal. Nicholas was weak, Grandmother. A romantic fool who would have destroyed our reputation with his foreign whore and her bastard.”
The Dowager Duchess’s hand flew to her throat as if she couldn’t breathe. “You killed him. Your own brother.”
“I protected what matters. The title, the reputation, the legacy that should have been mine from the beginning,” Jasper hissed. “Nicholas never deserved to be Duke. He was too soft, too sentimental. I’m what this family needs.”
“You’re nothing like what this family needs.” The Dowager Duchess’s words came out broken, devastated. “You’re a monster.”
“I’m a realist. And after tonight, there will be no more threats to our good name.”
Owen moved toward Jasper again. His rage built like a storm in his chest. But before he could reach him, familiar hands caught his shoulders.
“Easy, Cousin. Let me handle this.”
