Page 91 of Ruthless

“He’s told me more than once that he’s glad my father was born first.”

People changed their minds all the time. Hanging Jacques’s innocence on throwaway comments wasn’t a chance he was willing to take. Jacques might’ve told Eve that in preparation for now, hoping to divert attention away from himself.

“Is it possible this was all set up to make Jacques look guilty?” Eve asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Serena agreed. “I’ll keep digging.”

“And in the meantime, your uncle needs to be questioned,” he said.

“I agree,” she said. “And I need to be the one to do it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m a skilled interrogator, and I know him. I’ll be able to tell if he’s lying.”

There was dead silence while Gideon and Eve stared at each other. She knew he wouldn’t want her to return to Ile de la Lune until they were absolutely sure who was behind this.

In the midst of the quiet, Serena said, “Well, while you guys decide on that, I’m going to keep looking.”

“Thank you, Serena,” Eve said.

The line went dead, and Gideon didn’t move. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. He was surprised it hadn’t come sooner.

“You know I could have left at any time, Gideon,” she said calmly.

She wasn’t lying. He hadn’t locked any doors. She could have incapacitated him at any point while he was sleeping. Plus, she was a skilled fighter. He would easily win in a fair fight, but she knew there was no way in hell he would ever physically harm her. That meant no fight between them would ever be fair, and she would undoubtedly win.

Still, he had to try to talk her out of what she was about to do. “Your father has capable interrogators who can find out the truth. Don’t let your ego get in the way of common sense.” He inwardly grimaced the moment the words were out of his mouth.

“My ego? My ego?” She strode toward him, stopping within inches of his face. If this were a cartoon, smoke would be coming out of her ears and fire from her nostrils. “Let’s talk about egos, Gideon. The man who had the audacity to drug and kidnap me believes my ego might get in the way? The man who has been lying about his identity for ten years is questioning my common sense?”

“I did it to protect you.”

“You did it to protect yourself.”

Gideon jerked back. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You know exactly what it means. If you had told me the truth, we wouldn’t be working together. You couldn’t handle that.”

“Because I—” No. This was not how he was going to do this.

“Because you what?”

“Nothing.”

“Be truthful, Gideon. It was an ego trip for you. You got to fulfill your life’s goal. You got to protect the princess.”

He could only stare at her. He saw the pain in her eyes, and he tried to make a concession for that, but damn, it was hard. He’d once heard that having a broken heart was much like having your chest carved open with a dull knife. He could attest to that.

Turning his back on her, he went into his bedroom, grabbed the one thing she’d been asking him for since they’d arrived here. When he returned, she was still standing in the same spot.

“Look, Gideon. I shouldn’t have—”

He held out his hand, her cellphone in his palm. “Call anyone you want. Call the entire battalion of royal guards. Have them come get you.”

As if realizing what she’d said had hurt him, she shook her head. “No, that’s not how we do things, Gideon. We talk them out.”

“I’m through talking, Eve. I’ve got nothing left to say.”