Caroline Robson Mordue, has filed a report accusing of you illegally accessing her bank accounts.”
I tried to keep the smug look off my face as Helena paled. Considerably. Her surprise lasted merely seconds, however, before she straightened her shoulders to peer down her nose at Patrick. “She’s lying.”
Caro took a step toward her aunt. “L-Let us in, give me my bank cards, my online banking details, and . . . and . . .” She took a deep breath. “I-I’ll consider this matter dropped, Aunt Helena.”
Her aunt shook her head as if abjectly disappointed. “You ungrateful girl,” she whispered, as though Caro had broken her heart. Then she turned to Patrick. “This is my home. You’ll need to come back with a warrant.” Helena moved to step back into the house, and suddenly Roane was striding forward.
Patrick called out his name and reached for him, but Roane shrugged him off and slammed his hand on the door above Helena’s head, pushing his way in.
“You’re trespassing!” Helena cried out, cowering beneath his intimidating build.
Roane bent his head toward her, his whole body bristling with restraint, and I found myself moving toward him. “You’re lucky I don’t sweep in here with a team of police and lawyers and have you put away for years for what you’ve done to Caro. Physical and mental abuse is a crime, Helena.”
Her eyes flashed. “What nonsense.”
“Not nonsense. Now you may be an abusive old cow, but you’re not a stupid one,” he seethed. “You and I both know that if I put my lawyers on it, it is more than likely you’ll go to prison for defrauding Caroline of her inheritance. And believe me, Helena, there is nothing I would like more than to drag your wicked, greedy, grasping bony arse through court. I’d do it in a heartbeat and enjoy every minute of it no matter how long it took to put you in prison where you belong. But Caro wants to move on from all of this, and for her I’ll play nice. Playing nice involves watching you hand over every piece of financial information pertaining to Caro. All of it. Or I will be back with a court order.”
Halfway through his magnificent speech, I’d reached Caro and stopped to take hold of her hand. I squeezed it now, unable to tear my gaze from Roane, who had never been more appealing to me than he was in that moment standing up for his cousin.
Helena stared at him as though she loathed him, and after a moment of contemplation, she leaned back into the door so it swung open. “Very well.” She cut Caro a look. “Get your things and then get out. The devil will take care of you.”
“Did you just make a threat to Miss Caroline’s person in front of a police officer, Ms. Mordue?” Patrick asked.
She shrugged. “A warning.”
He stepped toward her, his expression cool, unyielding. “Funny, it sounded like a threat to me. That’ll be going in my report.”
He brushed past Roane to step into the house, and Roane gestured to us to follow. Caro let go of my hand, and I was so proud of her as she walked past her aunt, ignoring the way the woman stared at her as if she were the serpent in the Garden of Eden. As for me, my skin crawled as I moved past her. I’d forever associate the smell of rosewater with this woman. It was unnerving how normal she seemed for someone who had no soul. Of course, normal went out the window when she started threatening people with the devil. There was nothing I detested more than people who twisted religion to suit their agenda.
The front door led into a large hallway big enough to fit a reading area. There was a doorway on either side of us, and a doorway behind the reading nook.
“Take Caro to get her things.” Roane gestured to the door behind the reading nook.
I nodded to Caro to show me the way, concerned by her paleness. Despite her obvious distress, she kept her chin held high as she led me to the dark wooden door. “Watch your step,” she murmured as she opened it.
Three small stairs led down into a dark corridor. From the outside the cottage was cute, but inside . . . I shuddered. It was gloomy, dreary, and did not have a good vibe. That pang echoed in my chest again at the thought of Caro spending most of her life