Chapter Seven #3
“You’re awfully confident about that,” Leif said dryly.
“And why shouldn’t I be?” Mavis lifted her chin and crossed her arms over her chest. “It took two weeks for me to convince Thaddeus Mayles to propose, and that is hardly my shortest conquest.”
Leif laughed. “But men are simpler beings, as you’ve told me several times before. I’m not certain your particular brand of wiles will work on someone like Oriana Mayles.”
“Even I’ve heard rumors about how picky she’s been when it comes to suitors,” Rafe added. “She might prove more of a challenge than you’re used to.”
“Perhaps,” Mavis allowed. “But as the only person in this room who has had more than a passing conversation with the girl, I’m in a uniquely fortuitous position to nudge her toward Mr. Ryskamp. I’m to be her sister-in-law, after all.”
Rafe and Leif exchanged a look, but neither spoke to shoot her idea down, and Mavis took that as a small victory.
Arden cleared his throat. “If I might ask—”
“I’d really advise against it,” Mavis cut in, but he ignored her.
“—what is it you have to lose in helping me?”
Even Mavis had to acknowledge it was a good question.
“Nothing,” Leif admitted after a moment. “There is nothing to lose for me, and nothing for you to lose either, Rafe.”
“Did you have to say my name?” Rafe leveled his brother with a glower.
“You seemed more than happy to give away mine,” Mavis replied. She knew it was a mistake, and one that she easily might have made too, but it still annoyed her that Arden had that piece of her.
Leif ignored his brother, keeping his focus on Mavis. “The only one with anything to lose here is you, Magpie.”
Rafe looked at her too, his gaze heavy.
She shrugged, as if they were discussing something as trivial as what to order from the hotel kitchen for lunch.
“A bit of effort isn’t much to lose when we stand to gain two million solas.
And who knows? The challenge Oriana Mayles presents might even be a fun change of pace.
Gods of Old know I could finish this con with Thaddeus in my sleep. ”
“You sound like you’ve made your mind up,” Rafe said, his voice gruff.
“Perhaps I have,” Mavis replied. “But as I told Mr. Ryskamp, we’re in this together. So the real question is, do you have your minds made up?”
Rafe opened his mouth to answer—a refusal, Mavis was sure, before he even uttered a sound—but Leif got there first, his voice quiet but firm. “I trust your judgment, Magpie.”
Rafe’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked at his brother like he’d never seen him before. Mavis understood his surprise—in as long as she’d known the two of them, Rafe had always taken the lead and Leif had never resented following. Leif gave Rafe a lopsided smile.
“As Mr. Ryskamp said, there’s nothing to lose if this fails, but if they pull it off, Rafe . . .” Leif trailed off, but Mavis heard the wanting in his voice too. They knew as well as she did that two million solas was more than money. It was freedom.
Rafe’s jaw clenched. “Fine, then. Mavis can help you in this if she wishes to, but make no mistake, Ryskamp—we might have nothing to lose if this fails, but should you even consider double-crossing us, I will make damn sure you lose everything. Are we understood?”
Arden nodded slowly, absorbing the threat. “We’re understood.”
“Good,” Rafe said, the word clipped. “Then get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”
Once Arden was gone, Mavis walked into the sitting room to find Rafe and Leif sitting on opposite sofas.
Leif already had a book open on his knee, but Rafe was only watching her with stormy eyes and his arms crossed over his chest. Oh, he was furious with her—and more than likely furious with Leif too, for taking her side.
“I know you think this is a mistake.” She allowed a pause for him to deny it, which Rafe didn’t take. “But if this works, we’re free of Minstead. For good. Don’t you want that?”
Neither answered, though Leif set his book aside and gave her his full attention. Finally, Rafe cleared his throat.
“Wanting anything in our position is a fool’s game, Magpie.” While his words were directed at Mavis, Rafe looked at Leif too.
“Then call us fools, but don’t pretend you aren’t one as well,” Leif said softly.
Rafe shook his head. “I know better than to reach outside my grasp, and while Leif has always had his head in the clouds, I thought you, at least, knew better, Mavis.”
A bitter laugh slipped past Mavis’s lips. “Oh, I do. And yesterday, two million solas was so far out of my grasp that I would never have bothered to try for it, but today, my reach is just long enough. How can I not grasp at it? Without trust we have nothing. I’m asking you to trust me.”
“I do trust you,” Leif told her.
“As do I,” Rafe followed, a beat later. “But let’s not pretend we don’t have a reason to be wary, Mavis—especially where Ryskamp is concerned.”
Shame clawed at Mavis’s skin, but she forced herself to hold Rafe’s stare and not let her mortification show. “I have never made the same mistake twice, Rafe, and I don’t intend to start now.”