and gave a cool smile. “I’m glad to see you have integrity,” he said somewhat cynically. He wondered how much integrity the guy would have if he hadn’t been dealing with the Roth family. He rather suspected the man didn’t want any attention from the law enforcement authorities. And that worked out well for all concerned.
He put his checkbook away. “Just hold on to that brooch. I’ll bring my wife back to pick it up shortly. And I’ll still give you an extra thousand for your inconvenience.”
The guy’s eyes lit up. “I won’t let it out of my sight, Mr. Roth.”
Dominic took the driver’s license and left. He had a knot in his gut. What on earth did Cassandra want five thousand dollars for? No, make that ten thousand. That’s what the guy said she’d originally wanted.
It had better be good.
Bloody good.
Cassandra finally made it home again without anyone being the wiser. She’d gone to the bank and deposited the two thousand into Penny’s account, and the remaining three into her own account. She’d made an excuse to Nesta about not feeling well to explain why she hadn’t bought anything. The housekeeper insisted she go lie down while Nicole was taking a late-morning nap.
Feeling exhausted from all the stress, she was more than willing to withdraw to the sanctuary of her bedroom. She’d left a message for Penny on her answering machine, and was just kicking off her shoes and about to stretch out on the bed when Dominic walked in the room.
And threw her driver’s license on the bed!
“I believe this belongs to you,” he said tersely.
She gaped. “I don’t understand. How did you get it?”
“You left it at the pawnbroker’s. The guy called my office on the off chance someone would be there.”
“Oh, no.” She’d totally forgotten about the license.
“Believe me, I said something a bit stronger than that.” He stared at her grimly. “Why, Cassandra? Why do you need money? Don’t you have everything you need right here?”
“I—”
“Do you have a gambling problem?”
She gasped. “Gambling problem? I don’t know how to gamble.”
“You’re gambling our marriage,” he said pointedly. “And Nicole’s future.”
She flinched. “Wh-why do you say that? Do you want a divorce?” Was this the way he’d take Nicole?
He made a dismissive gesture. “No, but if we have to stay married, then I want some semblance of happiness. I don’t want to be checking up on you. I want to be able to trust my wife.”
She expelled a silent sigh of relief that he hadn’t mentioned Nicole again. “You can trust me, Dominic.”
“Can I?” His eyes challenged her. “Why did you pawn your brooch, then?”
“For my sister.”
His jaw clenched. “Don’t start that again.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. Penny needed the money, and I didn’t want to tell her that I had none.”
He seemed to hesitate. “Is this really the truth?”
“Yes. Penny’s husband lost his job. They needed money to make their house payments by Monday or lose the house. I couldn’t let that happen.” She deliberately didn’t say she’d only put in the two thousand, otherwise he’d have to ask why not the full five.
Suspicion furrowed his brow. “So why did you ask for ten thousand?”
She hid her inward gasp. Damn the pawnbroker’s big mouth. “I thought I’d take the full worth just in case I needed it before Liam’s estate was finalized.”
“You won’t. You’re my wife now. Anything you need, charge to me.” He frowned. “Actually, you’ll need cash for yourself occasionally, so give me your bank account details and I’ll put some money in there for you.”
Fear caught in her throat. She didn’t want to give him her bank details, or even think about him getting the details elsewhere. It might kick-start him into thinking he should investigate her previous transactions. Clearly he hadn’t done that before now, despite knowing Liam had paid her a large monthly allowance, but if he doubted her anytime in the future, what was to stop him? Privacy issues wouldn’t matter to him if he suspected anything amiss.
“There’s no need to put anything in my account. I’ll be fine once Liam’s estate is settled.”
His face closed up. “I’m still paying you an allowance. You’re my wife.”
She suddenly realized she could get around this. All she had to do was open a new bank account—and pray that Dominic didn’t ever investigate and discover it. Heck, if he investigated her she was a goner, anyway.
She managed to look calm. “Then thank you.”
“What does your brother-in-law do?”
The question startled her. “Er…he’s a forklift