Sins of a Ruthless Rogue

by Anna Randol

  “Then why not reveal the information you have? You think it is a noble goal. How can you give up on it?”

  Candlelight flickered over Kate’s pale face, making her resemble one of the icons surrounding her. “I thought the results would justify the evils I had to do.”

  Didn’t they? Why did it sound so wrong when someone else uttered those words?

  Kate rubbed her eyes, then closed them for a minute. “Empress Elizabeth isn’t at all like I expected. She’s shy and kind. I can’t betray her trust. And I don’t want her killed.”

  “Surely, the good of many is more important than one woman.”

  Kate’s gaze sharpened. “Are you trying to convince me to change my mind?”

  Olivia’s cheeks heated. “No.”

  “Then what are we discussing?” Some of Kate’s pluck returned as she studied Olivia. “Is this about you and Clayton? Your mill?”

  But Olivia wasn’t ready to discuss her quandary with anyone.

  Kate sighed. “Never mind. I suppose you have no desire to share those things with me anymore. But I can tell you what helped me decide. I’ll have many opportunities to change Russia. But this will be the only chance I have to save the empress. There is no going back from that.”

  Could this apply to Olivia? What if Clayton followed through with his plans to destroy the mill? Could she rebuild it?

  No.

  Not once Clayton knew the truth.

  This was her only chance with Clayton and her only chance with the mill.

  Olivia supposed she should feel betrayed by Kate’s lies, but she didn’t. They were far too similar to her own. In fact, she admired the woman’s courage. She could have remained silent and no one would ever have known. “Clayton won’t take this news lightly. He’ll never tell you your husband’s location.” She knew all too well how ruthless Clayton could be.

  “I still have to tell him.” Kate rubbed her brow.

  Olivia would have given anything for an ounce of the princess’s courage. To not be trapped by the lives of the other people at the mill.

  But when it came down to it, she was as much of a coward as her father had been. And she’d continue torturing herself with what-ifs for the rest of her life.

  It was what she did best, after all.

  A hand latched on to Olivia’s shoulder.

  It was bony, almost skeletal despite heavy gloves. “Thank you, Princess, for making sure we didn’t miss our meeting this morning. Now where’s the baron?”

  “Have you figured out how the devil they got the flag up there?” Clayton asked.

  Ian peered down from the tree he’d climbed at the back of the church. “It actually wouldn’t be that hard. They’d just have to scale the wall. Jump to that windowsill. Then grab the ledge.”

  Not hard was a relative term for Ian. The distance between the window and the ledge had to be a solid ten feet. But if Ian said it was doable, then it was.

  “Any idea who the sign would have been meant for?”

  Ian glanced around from his perch. He was nearly as high as the flag. “None. You can see half the city from here. Which means half the city could see the flag if they happened to be watching for it.”

  “Baron!” Heavy steps crashed through the snow.

  Clayton whirled around to find Blin barreling toward him. His hair and beard streamed behind him in a wild tangle.

  “He took them.” Blin grabbed Clayton’s arm and began to pull Clayton toward the church.

  “Who?”

  “Golov. He took the princess and Miss Swift. When the princess left her house this morning, Golov followed her. Then I followed them so I could warn her. Golov’s not a nice man.”

  Clayton nearly stumbled. His hands suddenly felt clammy inside his gloves. Golov had Olivia. The man who’d ordered Madeline’s torture. Who’d personally planned it out. Who’d watched her writhe and beg. Madeline said he’d smiled.

  Panic was like a chain on Clayton’s thoughts, tangling them and weighing them down. But in less time than it took to exhale, he’d freed himself link by link as he’d been taught to do.

  Or tried. He couldn’t seem to escape it as he had in the past. How could he when Olivia’s life was the one at stake?

  He needed to focus. He needed more details for this to make sense.

  “Kate came here?”

  Blin nodded, his fingers gripping and tugging his beard. “But then Golov and his policemen took the princess and Miss Swift from the church.”

  Why would Kate have come here? A slow suspicion grew in his chest. Kate had known Vasin quite well. She’d been married to his nephew.

  Clayton shouted over his shoulder, “Ian, can you see Kate’s house from the flag?”

  Ian was already halfway down the tree, but he stopped and glanced around. “Yes. Quite clearly, in fact.”

  Clayton increased his speed until they reached the main door of the church. The candle seller was gone, no doubt frightened away by the police.

  Clayton ran inside and swore. Olivia was gone just as Blin had said.

  “You have a bad habit of losing your women.” Ian’s voice echoed in the empty church.

  Ian always jested no matter the situation. Normally, it helped defuse tension.

  But Clayton had no tolerance for it now. “She won’t be lost for long.”

  Ian didn’t take the hint. “If you weren’t so busy pissing your trousers with panic, you’d remember we do have a sleigh just outside.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Blin said. “And I’m not walking this time. I’m too tired to go fast.”

  They needed all the muscle they could muster to deal with Golov. “It will be dangerous.”

  Blin’s whole body moved with his nod. “I want Miss Swift safe. And the princess. Cook will be mad at me if something happens to her.”

  Ian opened the door and motioned for them to leave. “You heard the man, Clay. No one risks a cook’s ire.”

  But Clayton stopped him before the big man climbed into the sleigh. “Do you have any experience fighting?”

  A touch of disbelief crossed Blin’s face. “I have five brothers at home.”

  “You realize this whole rescue could end with our deaths.”

  Blin’s massive shoulders lifted, then fell in a shrug. “Yes.”

  Clayton stepped aside so Blin could squeeze into the sleigh. Clayton claimed the small space left and gave Ian the address.

  Ian’s eyes narrowed at the location. “Do you think Golov would have taken her there?”

  “She’s there. This is a taunt.” Clayton’s jaw tightened. “I even know which room the bastard has her in.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Olivia glared at the minister of police across from her in the coach and tried to avoid the frantic looks Kate had been casting her.

  “You promised the emperor we’d be safe in St. Petersburg,” Olivia said, hands clenched in her lap. Perhaps Kate was right and she shouldn’t be yelling at the man who could order their deaths.

  But Olivia found she was done with being abducted. And threatened. And separated from Clayton.

  Golov still held the knife he’d taken from her at the church. He rolled the hilt in his hand. Back and forth. Back and forth. Until Olivia had to force herself to look away. “I haven’t harmed you, have I? I merely ensured you remembered our appointment. Which I feared you would have forgotten otherwise.”

  “Why kidnap us?” Olivia asked.

  “I couldn’t risk the baron deciding to avoid me further. There are questions I require answered. Kate was kind enough to lead me to you.”

  Kate’s hand locked on Olivia’s. “You followed me?”

  “Of course. I trusted you’d have a way to contact Olivia and I was right.”

  Kate sank back against the seat, her brows together. “You weren’t seeking me out?”

  “Why would I seek you out? You’re nothing but an annoyance.”

  Kate exhaled slowly, her expression heavy with relief.
/>   Relief?

  Ah, she must have feared Golov had followed her because he knew of her part in the conspiracy. But Golov had no idea Kate had been working for the revolutionaries. He thought the church nothing more than a meeting place. He hadn’t broken the code.

  Some of the color returned to Kate’s cheeks. “I object to being taken off the street at the point of a rifle. I’m a princess. You have no right—”

  “You do think that, don’t you? Sergey is dead.”

  Kate stared down her nose at him. “I know.”

  “No. Sergey was dead years before you met him. The real Sergey’s death wasn’t an accident like the British thought to take advantage of. I killed the prince personally. Although I must admit even I was momentarily struck by the resemblance of the man the British found to take his place.”

  “No, Sergey was—”

  “You never knew Sergey. I have let you live as a princess because I haven’t yet seen a reason to bother changing things.”

  Kate swayed against Olivia.

  Olivia placed her hand over Kate’s, trying to offer what little comfort she could. “And because you were saving this information for a time when you needed something to hold over her.” Like a dagger he could slip between her ribs in the dark.

  Golov seemed to find Olivia’s accusation amusing. “Precisely. Don’t make me change my mind.” He leaned forward, offering his hand to Olivia. “Now I believe you and I have an arrangement to firm up.”

  She wasn’t about to move to his side of the sleigh. “I don’t particularly want to work with you.”

  “You don’t particularly have a choice. But if it makes you feel better, we’re both trying to save the czar.”

  “Are you?” Olivia asked.

  He withdrew his hand. “It is a good thing I am fond of you, Miss Swift. Men have died for far less.”

  The carriage stopped in front of a gleaming white building. “We’ll wait for the baron to join us.”

  Rather than leading them up the marble stairs and past the Grecian columns to the front door, he prodded them down the stairs on the side of the building into the basements.

  It wasn’t until the doors locked tight behind them that Olivia heard the screams.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Manacles hung from the walls. A pile of moldy straw rotted in the corner. Scratches on the back of the door bore testament to some poor soul who’d been trapped down here. In the summer, water must seep through that crack in the wall, but for now, it was sealed with an uneven bubble of pale green ice.

  Yet Golov ordered the room set with a table covered in white linen and fine silver. Soon an array of soldiers tromped in carrying covered dishes.

  “Join me.” Golov gestured to the two chairs across from him, then sat without waiting for the women. He opened a lid, revealing a savory red soup. “Hardly captivity, is it?”

  “We are in a prison.” Kate might not be a princess, but she’d never looked more like one than in that moment. She’d march in front of a firing squad before she gave Golov the satisfaction of cowing her.

  Olivia, too, was determined not to play mouse to his cat. She needed to discover what Golov had planned for Clayton when he arrived. So she sat and helped herself to a large portion of food. Golov wouldn’t be the only one to eat, picking his teeth with satisfaction and spite.

  Golov studied her as she lifted a bite of braised carrots to her mouth. “I think we’re much alike, you and I.”

  Olivia moved her jaw with careful deliberation, the well-cooked vegetable now tasting of dirt. “In what way?”

  “I can see it in you. Always the focus on your goal. The search for a way to arrange things to your benefit.”

  Perhaps he’d be more willing to talk if he thought she agreed. So she nodded.

  Golov smiled. “You’re doing it now.”

  She had been. “It is a flaw I’m trying to overcome.”

  Golov laughed, the sound so eerie that the cries in the neighboring cells silenced.

  “You cannot overcome it. It is a part of your nature. Most have the will to survive. But you and I have the will to thrive.” He rested one bony finger on his chin. “Have you convinced yourself it is a bad thing? You fear being selfish? Manipulative? Every good deed doesn’t count if you benefited, too?”

  She stabbed a bite of chicken too hard.

  “She has too much of a soul to be anything like you,” Kate said.

  Olivia appreciated the defense but feared Kate was mistaken.

  He sipped from his goblet, the wine staining his upper lip bloodred. “I think you know, Olivia, that I am correct. I will help you along with a key realization. Necessary things must be done. If those things also benefit you, so much the better. If you were the passenger in a cart headed for a cliff, would you hesitate to stop it because your life would be spared? It makes no sense, does it?”

  No, it didn’t. “But there is a difference between us, Golov.” And a difference between her and her father. “I wouldn’t have been the one to whip the horses toward the cliff just so I could stop them.”

  “Wouldn’t you? Not even to let the others in the cart see you stop it?” He dabbed at his mouth with a linen. “Not even to save your mill?”

  She sipped the soup, fearing she’d be unable to choke down something more solid. Was that true? She didn’t want anything from this horrible man to be accurate. But his words resonated deep in her thoughts.

  Had she been so focused on doing good with the mill that she’d lost sight of actually being good?

  The lies she’d told to rebuild the mill seemed to say so.

  What had seemed like a necessary evil before now appeared as vile and dishonest as she knew Clayton would see it.

  When she told him.

  She would tell him. Her remaining hesitance vanished completely. Why had she clung to it for so long? She was finished being a coward.

  She’d spent her whole life trying to avoid outcomes she didn’t like.

  No longer.

  It was time she accepted the consequences she was due.

  He wouldn’t forgive her. Ian was generous when he said she could choose between Clayton and the mill. There was no outcome where she’d be able to keep Clayton. She’d lose the mill and she’d lose him.

  There’d be no benefit to her for telling the truth.

  Yet she’d do it anyway. The people of the mill deserved stability, not a teetering fabrication that could come crashing down around their ears at any moment.

  And Clayton . . . He needed someone honest and open, who had no dark places hidden away.

  She would do everything in her power to keep from hurting him ever again.

  The realization gave her hope even as the pain from losing Clayton carved a hole in her chest. But now she knew what she had to do to protect him. “Shall I offer you a tidbit of wisdom in return for the one you gave me?”

  “Feel free.” For the first time, Golov took a bite of food. He loved this. The game of it all.

  “There are things going on in your city that you didn’t expect. Things you cannot explain. They will make you look foolish.”

  “Olivia—” Kate started to warn her, but Golov silenced her with an upheld finger.

  “Go on.”

  “They’re connected. Prazhdinyeh has broken the code. They want to see the empire crumble around your ears. It’s already crumbling. You may wish to battle wits and trade threats with the baron, but Russia’s chances of survival are much greater if you stay out of his way. He’s the one who can stop this cart from tumbling off the cliff. The only one.”

  Before Golov responded, the door of the cell clanged open and Clayton was ushered inside, flanked by two guards carrying rifles. His hands were bound in front of him, and his eyes were shadowed.

  His gaze locked on hers. It held relief. Regret. Concern. Determination. More was said in that one look than he might ever have said in words.

  He’d come for her.

  Again.


  But soon he’d walk away from her and not look back.

  “Ah, Baron, so good of you to join us.”

  “Did you think bringing me back to La Petit’s cell would discomfit me? All it means is that you’re far too predictable.” He stepped behind Olivia, and for an instant his hands brushed the nape of her neck.

  The touch sent warmth and comfort flooding through her veins. And she straightened in her chair. She had no idea what Clayton’s plan was, but she had no doubt that he had one.

  Golov set his fork on the table. “So are you. You came here just as I knew you would.”

  “Because I have a present for you. Count Arshun.”

  “You found him?”

  “Perhaps if you focused on finding criminals rather than kidnapping innocent women, you wouldn’t have to ask.”

  It was time to try her plan. She would have preferred to tell the czar as well, but this would have to suffice for now. “The revolutionaries’ plan is real. Arshun has already given the signals. Someone is going to try to kill the czar tomorrow.”

  Golov hesitated. “Where is Arshun?”

  Clayton shrugged. “Let us go, and I’ll tell you.”

  “Speaks the man who is bound in my prison. You will tell me.”

  “You think to torture it out of us?”

  Golov’s tongue slid along his lip. “No, just out of you.”

  Clayton lifted his bound hands and examined them. “Haven’t you ever wondered how we freed La Petit from this cell the first time?”

  Golov’s thin nostrils flared and he leaned forward. “I know.”

  Clayton’s lips curved in a satisfied grin. “No, you don’t.”

  There was a sudden crash. Bricks collapsed into the room, revealing a man-sized hole in the wall. Ian and Blin stood in the center of the dusty opening.

  Olivia scrambled to her feet with a gasp. Had they just pushed down a brick wall?

  “If you had known, you would have replaced the dirt behind those bricks,” Clayton said.

  “And we bloody aren’t going to bother hiding our exit this time,” Ian added.

  The guards rushed to raise their rifles, but Blin stopped one with a single blow of his massive fist. Even with hands tied, Clayton stripped the rifle from the other man. Then Ian cut the rope at Clayton’s wrists with a flick of his knife.