Page 46 of Final Cost

“Go. I understand.”

He heads to the far corner of the room, leaving me to daydream about my sudden home ownership. How does this work? Do I need a plumber now? An electrician? What about furniture? Maybe I should rent it out as an Air B & B and or some such?—

Lucien comes back, his face thunderous as he resumes his seat. “Bad news.”

I’m at the point where I don’t even wait for dread to flood my body. It’s just all dread, all the time. “What now?”

He roughly rubs his hands over the top of his head, spiking his hair again. “The doctor says the police subpoenaed him, so he talked to them earlier today. Told them what Ravenna told him. Which was that she was afraid of me.” His lips twist. “That I’d hit her before and she was afraid I’d hurt her again. She told him that was why she didn’t want him sharing her medical records with me.”

Sudden outrage threatens to gag me. “Oh, my God. You need to call your lawyer right now and let him know so he can —”

He cuts me off by making an impatient sound and reaching for my hand again. “Marry me.”

My heart stops. In a night full of shockers, this is the absolute cherry on top.“What?”

“We could fly to Vegas tonight and do it.”

“But… You’re not allowed to travel, Lucien. The police told you not to go anywhere.”

AnI don’t give a fuckshrug. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

“But…Why?”

He gives me a swift look of adoration. “Because I want you to be my wife. And I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be a free man. This may be our only chance to do it.”

“Don’t say that.” Rising panic makes my voice shrill. “Even if you get arrested, you’ll get bail. Your lawyers won’t let you stay in jail. You’ve been telling me that this whole time.”

“I’m not counting on that,” he says grimly. “I’m a flight risk with my resources. The money. The jet. The yacht. The overseas homes. I’m hopeful, but bail may be a long shot for me.”

God, I feel shaky. It’s a good thing I’m already sitting down. My trembling knees would never carry my body weight right now. This is all too head-spinning to absorb. “You want to marry me?”

There’s that adoration again. “I want you to be my wife. Bottom line. But …” He sobers. Drops his gaze and clears his throat. “Full disclosure. There’s another reason for us to get married.”

I feel cold suddenly. Wooden. “What is it?”

“If we’re married, you’ll never have to testify against me.”

I blink, my heart lurching. So there it is. His ulterior motive. He doesn’t want to marry me just for me. I should have known that things with Lucien would always be more complicated than that. “I see.”

“Don’t look at me like that.” He leans in to nail me between the eyes with all his smoldering intensity. “Everything I just said about wanting to marry you is true. But you are a witness. The police will call you to testify against me.”

“Because you threatened Ravenna the night you kicked her out, you mean?”

“That. And everything else that happened that night. How angry I was that she tried to impersonate you with your perfume so she could seduce me.”

“Right,” I say dully. “And all of that gives you more of a motive to kill her.”

He gives me a sharp look, eyes narrowing. “What the fuck?” he says, and there’s no hiding his dismay. “Youdothink I killed her. This is why you said I only had ninety-eight percent of your trust the other day. You think me wanting to marry you is another manipulation.”

“No,” I say, but it’s halfhearted at best. We both know it. “We still haven’t known each other that long yet, Lucien. This is all such a whirlwind.”

A disbelieving look. “Ms. Scott. Our entire relationship has been a whirlwind. Why should our marriage be any different?”

“I don’t know,” I say helplessly. “I don’t know what to do.”

His expression softens. He reaches into his other pocket and produces — oh, God, it’s a black velvet ring box.

“What are you doing withthat?” I cry.

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