them again. When it comes to physical strength, I win.”
Unabated tears streamed down her face. Her silent torment was nearly his undoing. Had she wailed and screamed, he would know how to deal with such theatrics. Mournful silence was another thing altogether. Wanting nothing more than to end both their suffering, he stepped forward to remove the papers from her crushing grip.
“If you take th-these,” she said around a sob, “they will kill her.”
That stopped him. “Her?”
“Sophie.”
“Who would dare threaten to harm your daughter?” When she remained silent, he demanded, “What madness have you embroiled yourself in?”
She clasped her hands over her ears, flattening the papers against her head. “I didn’t mean to. Dear God, I would never knowingly place Sophie in danger. Never.”
“For what it’s worth, I believe you.” He stepped forward, aching to wrap his arms around her trembling body. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Do you?” she asked, ignoring his command. “Given our circumstances, I’m not sure I’d believe me.”
“I’ve been at this a long time,” he said. “There’s little I have not seen or experienced.”
Sadness stole around the edges of her fear. “How awful for you.”
His throat grew taut, trapping his pithy retort. No one had ever taken the time to consider the personal anguish he’d suffered by way of his position. Most thought him cold and ruthless—and they were right—but not until Catherine had anyone examined the reasons behind those qualities.
“Do you trust me, Cat?”
Her eyes welled. “No one is who they seem to be.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked in a harsh, unsteady voice.
New tears slid along the path of the old ones. “I want to.”
“But you don’t.”
She swallowed. “He said you and your band of traitors were responsible for Jeffrey’s death.”
Band of traitors. Sebastian’s fear for Catherine grew tenfold, for she had wandered into the midst of a brutal war. “He?” She said nothing. “Did he provide a name for this group?”
“Nexus.”
Fury burned through his veins. His gaze dropped to Catherine’s hands. “What is it that you think you have there, Mrs. Ashcroft?”
She shifted back a step. “Something that will save my daughter’s life.”
“Did you by chance purloin one of those items from the second drawer of my writing desk?”
A mixture of chagrin and alarm tumbled across her face.
“Is the letter written with a strange, indecipherable hand?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He sent her a remorseful smile. “It’s nothing more than a decoy.”
“What do you mean, ‘decoy’?”
“A coded message placed specifically for my enemy’s redirection.” He lowered his voice. “Who knew my enemy would be so beautiful and clever?”
The blood drained from her face. “This message means nothing, then?”
“Only if you’re interested in the eating habits of hedgehogs.”
“Oh, God.” The pages drifted to the floor. “I have failed.”
Sebastian glanced down at the discarded pages and noticed she had been copying the coded missive.
“Sophie.” She shot across the chamber.
He hooked his arm around her waist and drew her against his chest. “Where do you go?”
She clawed at his hand and kicked at his shins. “Stop it, Sebastian. I must get Sophie and my mother away from here.”
“Catherine, enough.” He subdued her flailing arms. “You cannot win a physical battle against me. Tell me who he is, so that I can protect you.”
The fight went out of her as abruptly as it began. She sagged against him. “Why would you wish to help me after I seduced my way into your bed, only to betray you?”
That hurt. A piece of him had hoped she’d had more compelling reasons for sharing his bed. “Because I must take responsibility for my part in this debacle.”
She swiveled her head around to meet his gaze. “In what way?”
“Promise you won’t try to flee?” When she nodded, Sebastian eased his hold and guided her to one of the upholstered chairs. He did not sit, nor did he stand unmoving, as he was prone to do in situations of high tension. Instead, he paced. “I have much to repent for, Catherine. However, given the same set of circumstances, I would act the same.”
Even bedding a blond-haired, lonely widow in over her head.
“Then why do you feel the need to repent for your actions?”
He sent her a humorless smile. “Because most noble acts have regrettable consequences.”
“Jeffrey was a regrettable consequence?”
Sebastian nodded. “And I suspect Meghan McCarthy was as well.”
Her gaze became more intent, her voice little more than a whisper. “A-are you a traitor, Sebastian?”
Given the lengths he had gone to and the plans he had diverted to protect his country from a war-mongering upstart, her