Fielding took a step back. He never should have come here today. This meeting was nothing more than an opportunity for his uncle to toy with him as he’d always done. Fielding was a grown man now, and he no longer had to play the manipulated nephew for his uncle’s games. “You know nothing about me,” he said, his voice so forceful he barely recognized it. “And I owe you nothing.”
“Ungrateful,” the Raven muttered. “Just as Waters is ungrateful. Should that man ever come crawling back to me, he will find himself on the wrong end of my temper.” He took his seat again and lit another cigar.
So Fielding’s suspicions had been right, Waters had not returned to the Raven.
“Do you know who hired me to find that damned box?” The Raven’s tone was once again calm.
Fielding remained silent.
“The nephew to the king of Prussia. Evidently one of his advisers told him if he secured that box, he could rule all of Prussia.” The Raven laughed. “So the fool contacted me to find it for him.”
“What is he paying you?” Fielding asked.
“That’s the beauty.” His uncle leaned forward as if they were as they used to be, friends sharing a conversation. “Once he’s king, he’ll grant me an island off in the Caribbean where I can rule as I so choose.”
“An island,” Fielding repeated.
“It was an agreement I made before I knew the box actually had powers. I do believe I’ll have to renegotiate our settlement,” the Raven said.
“What are you planning to do?” Fielding asked, knowing full well it was a futile question.
His uncle flashed a smile. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“I’m not giving you the box.”
“I don’t want to hurt her, but I will if I have to. Let’s see—” He scratched his cleanly shaven chin. “What curse does she wear?” He pretended to read through some notes on his desk.
“If you come anywhere near Esme again, I’ll kill you.” Fielding turned to go.
The Raven’s dark laughter filled the room. “Don’t be so dramatic, Fielding. You and I can come to an agreement.”
Fielding stopped; his hand remained on the doorknob.
But he said nothing.
“How about you come back to work with me. It will be as it used to be, you and I traveling all over the world. Together we can make new fortunes. And we can uncover what truly happened to your father that fateful day. I know you long to know, long to make someone pay.”
Fielding’s hand tightened on the knob as he fought the urge to turn back and wrap his fingers around his uncle’s throat.
“Come back to me, and I’ll leave Miss Worthington unharmed.” The Raven’s voice was slick.
It would be so easy. Make a deal with the devil and protect Esme.
“My offer won’t last forever,” his uncle said.
“Go to hell,” Fielding said. He didn’t bother closing the door on his way out.
He had the driver take him back to his own house instead of Max’s. He needed some time to himself. Time to decide what to do next. His house was deserted, which suited Fielding’s foul mood.
Though his servants had done their best to restore his home and clean everything, there were still signs of his uncle’s men having been there. Broken windows were covered, yet not repaired. His father’s collection of Roman urns, which had taken Fielding four years to track down after they’d been sold to pay off debts, had been destroyed. Bits of the broken pottery lay scattered in the open hearth.
Fielding collapsed onto a red-velvet Chippendale sofa. He’d been a fool to think he could ever dissuade his uncle from something the man wanted. Somehow, though, Fielding had hoped there was enough humanity left in the Raven to keep Esme safe. It appeared that Fielding had grossly underestimated him.
To make matters worse, it had become abundantly clear that despite his efforts to the contrary, Fielding was more like his uncle than he cared to admit. The Raven had guessed Fielding’s plan to make Solomon’s pay for his father’s death because that’s exactly what the Raven would have done.
Perhaps revenge was wrong; perhaps he would go too far. But Fielding needed to know what happened to his father. More important, he wanted to know who was responsible. There had been two other members of Solomon’s with him that day; both of those men had escaped the cave unharmed.
Fielding had been given an opportunity to discover their identities through his new association with Solomon’s, and he’d allowed Esme to cloud his mind. He’d almost lost sight of his goal. But he’d ignore it no longer. Tonight he would go to Solomon’s and uncover the information he needed, but first he would try once again to locate Waters.