To Love a Thief by Darcy Burke Read Free Book Online Page B

features froze and that undercurrent of fury spiked with fire in his eyes. “You manipulated me to secure you an invitation to Aldridge’s house. You used me to commit theft.”
    He looked so furious, so … betrayed that she couldn’t help but feel a rush of shame. “I’m sorry” sounded so inadequate, but it was all she had. “I truly am sorry. I thought it was my only chance to recover my things. Please understand.”
    He glared at her another moment and then massaged his forehead. When he regarded her once more, his eyes had grown calm. His features relaxed into those of the helpful constable, making her wary. “You have to return the items,” he said.
    The hell she did. “I most certainly do not. I can’t believe you’d even suggest it. What about him having Mrs. Harwood’s house torn apart like this?”
    His gaze drifted to the side, as he considered her question. “I can’t believe Aldridge is behind your house being ransacked.”
    “Why not? He had to have been looking for these.” She held up her closed fist. “He knows I took them.”
    His attention was focused on the wall as if there were something fascinating etched in the wallpaper. “Then he’d let Bow Street handle it.” His voice trailed away.
    “What? Why are you staring at the wall?”
    Carlyle’s gaze didn’t waver. “Because he didn’t tell me about the theft,” he said quietly.
    And of course he would have. They were close friends who championed police reform. This was a matter Lord Aldridge would’ve confided in Carlyle. Some of her anger leached away. “What are you thinking?”
    “That none of this makes sense.”
    “Would it help to know this is precisely what happened two years ago when our property was stolen in the first place? Our retainers were bound together in the scullery, our house ruined.” She couldn’t keep the anguish inside. “It sent my father into a fit from which he never recovered.”
    At last, Carlyle turned his head toward her. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He was quiet a moment. The space between them was scant, perhaps a hand’s width. She could lean into him, seek his warmth, his comfort. But she didn’t. He thought she was a thief, and she supposed she was. Did his opinion matter? She had no answer for that.
    He pivoted away from her, creating distance between them, which was probably for the best. Whatever attraction she felt toward this man was doomed before she could even pursue it.
    “You believe Lord Aldridge was behind the theft in your town house two years ago and what happened here today?”
    She heard an edge of skepticism in his query, which made her want to raise her voice. But she didn’t. She spoke calmly, if ironically. “I think it’s suspicious that today’s invasion looks exactly like the one two years ago, that it happened two days after I recovered some of my stolen property, and that Lord Aldridge hasn’t reported his wife’s missing jewels. You may draw your own conclusions, of course.”
    He arched a brow at her. “Thank you, I shall.” He paced to the opposite corner of the small, square room. “I must agree it’s all a bit suspicious. Lady Aldridge mentioned that her husband had advised her not to tell anyone about the missing jewelry, that she’d probably just misplaced the items.”
    “And is that typical for her?”
    “Yes. She’s been known to lose things now and again. She’s quite reliant on her maid to keep things in order, and her maid has been gone the past week visiting her sick mother.” He shook his head. “The more I think about this, the more I think you’re batty. Lord Aldridge undoubtedly thinks his wife’s jewels are somewhere in their town house, which makes perfect sense.”
    It would, if Lord Aldridge had told the truth about how he’d obtained Jocelyn’s jewelry. “Except they’re not in the Aldridges’ town house, and someone ransacked this house looking for them.”
    He looked unconvinced. “You don’t know