The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,28
of them not very good.”
He winced. He had been trying to spare her these last few days, but instead had tortured her. “I am so very sorry, Phillipa. Let me ease your mind completely by showing you exactly what I have been doing these last few days. And by promising you that I will involve you in any other work I take care of that has to do with Kenley or with you.”
As he stood to gather his papers, she stared up at him. “You—you do not owe me that.”
“I owe you more,” he declared, and then began to spread the paperwork out on the desk.
He motioned her to join him and she stood at his side, tantalizingly close. He could scent her skin, soft floral like spring embodied. He cleared his throat as if that could make him stop thinking of her in terms of poetry.
She was looking around as he organized, and shook her head. “I was so worried when I came in, I didn’t even notice how much you’ve tidied up in here.”
He followed her gaze. “Yes, I filed as I went through the papers, moved the furniture to where it actually made sense. I hope you don’t mind.”
She was silent a moment. “The room looks more like you than him now.”
That sentence stung and he caught his breath against it. “I can put it back,” he began.
“No.” She held up a hand. “I much prefer this.”
He didn’t know what that meant. If there was something deeper to that preference. But there was no way to ask her. To demand she tell him that she wanted him when they had already declared they could not even kiss.
So he focused on what was before him instead of the desires that pulsed in his heart. “I, er…I suppose we must begin any discussion about Kenley’s future by addressing the subject of Rosie Stanton.”
“Yes,” she said softly. “After she murdered Erasmus, she fled. Has there been any news on where she’s gone?”
He heard the tension in her voice with the question and didn’t blame her. “My sources in London have reported to me that she might have been seen boarding a ship bound for the continent. But it was a vague testimony at best. In truth, I do not know her whereabouts or her plans.”
Phillipa clenched a fist against the papers on the desk. “I admit that makes me very nervous. Kenley is Rosie’s son. And she loved him. I saw that in the way she interacted with the boy. But…”
“But she also murdered Erasmus in a fit of rage,” Rhys supplied for her. “Not that I entirely blame her for that. But she was neck-deep in his schemes when it came to his bigamy and financial dealings. And she intended to help frame Abigail for crimes she didn’t commit. Should she be able to raise her child with such a history? Would she be a good influence?”
“I don’t know,” Phillipa whispered. “I admit I wake up some nights, sweating at the idea.”
The concept of Phillipa sweating in her bed distracted Rhys for a fraction of a moment, but he managed to rein in that reaction and concentrate on the very important matters at hand.
“It may be that we will never have to consider that future,” he said. “Rosie Stanton ran away and she might never come back. I will continue my investigation. Owen is working hard on our behalf to do just that. But I believe we should carry on planning for a future that does not involve the woman.”
“And what does that look like?” Phillipa asked.
He sighed and pointed to the ledger on the desk. “A great deal of my time has been spent on the financials. My brother was never very good at figures and when one is trying to grift for all one can, it doesn’t make for sound financial planning.”
She glanced down row after row of red figures. Debts owed all over the country. Loans taken to pay one collector, multiplying each bad decision.
“Great God,” she whispered. “No wonder he locked the room up so I couldn’t find this. So I couldn’t see. Are those references to all the wives in the margins?”
“Yes, he was marking off dowries received in the income section, if you will look here.” He pressed his lips together in disgust. “With every revelation of his behavior, my stomach turns.”
“It is dire, I can see.” She glanced at him. “What are your thoughts?”