“How long?”
Victor said nothing.
“How long did you know?”
Silence.
Nathan smiled without humor.
“Twenty years?”
Victor’s calm returned.
“Your father made choices.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
“Poisoning me was one.”
Victor looked toward the whiskey.
Nathan followed his gaze.
Then laughed.
“You actually thought I would drink it.”
Victor’s hand moved toward his coat.
Nathan already had the revolver aimed.
“Don’t.”
Victor stopped.
Bella held her breath.
Nathan continued.
“Why?”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“You inherited everything.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“Is that the family curse? Everyone’s answer begins there.”
“Your father promised me partnership.”
“He promised everybody something.”
“I built this ranch.”
“You worked for it.”
“I saved it.”
“You positioned yourself inside it.”
Victor’s face finally broke.
“For twenty-two years I cleaned your family’s disasters.”
His voice rose.
“Your father drank.”
“Your mother threatened exposure.”
“Your sister ran.”
“You pretended not to see anything.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“I was seventeen.”
“And then twenty-seven.”
“Then thirty-seven.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Every year you collected what I protected.”
Nathan stared.
Victor continued.
“I made men fear your name.”
Bella’s breath caught.
Nathan’s reputation.
Not accidental.
Victor smiled.
“You thought fear came naturally?”
He almost looked proud.
“I ruined competitors.”
“Bought sheriffs.”
“Broke contracts.”
“Spread stories.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because fear protects money.”
Victor looked around the office.
“And you enjoyed the result.”
That hit.
Nathan did not deny it.
He had benefited.
Maybe without understanding origin.
Still benefited.
Victor saw.
“There.”
He smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Nathan’s voice lowered.
“I understand that you made me useful to your theft.”
Victor’s hand moved again.
This time he drew.
Bella did not think.
She shoved open the records-room door.
“Victor!”
His attention snapped toward her.
That half-second saved Nathan.
Nathan struck Victor’s wrist.
Gun fired.
Bullet entered ceiling.
Sheriff deputies burst through the office.
Victor hit Nathan hard.
Nathan shoved him against the desk.
Bella moved backward.
Another deputy grabbed Victor.
Within seconds he was on the floor.
Cuffed.
Breathing hard.
He looked at Bella.
Recognition.
“You.”
Bella stood shaking.
Victor laughed.
“The housekeeper.”
Nathan turned toward her.
She stared back.
Victor continued.
“All this because of a woman carrying towels.”
Bella’s fear changed.
Something stronger replaced it.
She stepped closer.
“You lost because you thought people beneath your attention could not understand your books.”
Victor stopped laughing.
Bella looked down at him.
“That is usually where thieves make mistakes.”
Nathan’s expression softened.
Even now.
Especially now.
Victor was taken away.
No dramatic final curse.
No promise.
Just a man who spent twenty years controlling fear suddenly discovering handcuffs did not care how elegant his plans had been.
The investigation lasted nearly a year.
Victor confessed to some crimes.