Nemesis Unlimited [1] Sweet Revenge (7 page)

The conductor sniffed. “Mind, this is a respectable train. Vulgarity is not tolerated, even from veterans.”

“We shall do our utmost to preserve the decorum of this conveyance.” By God, she could make herself sound sweet and meek! Jack hardly recognized her, until she turned her gaze back to him, and there was nothing sweet or meek about her. Just determined.

As he stood toe-to-toe with her, she looked so much smaller than him, yet he’d be a fool to underestimate this woman. He might have more bodily strength, but she was clever as hell and more resolute than a prizefighter. Dangerous qualities on their own. Together, they were lethal.

Wrap all that in a lovely package like Eva, and a man had to watch where he stepped, or else he’d go plunging to his death.

Quickly, the conductor entered, took their tickets, and scurried off.

She narrowed her eyes. “Do you think you can control yourself?”

“No,” he said.

Her lips quirked, and he realized with a start she was holding back a real smile. “Well, you’re honest. There’s some credit in that.” She nodded toward his seat. “Sit, Mr. Dalton.”

“Ask.”

“I will not—”

“Five years I had men telling me where to go, what to do, how to think. Nobody asked me anything. Just ordered. But I ain’t in prison anymore. So if you want me to do something, you better ask.”

She must have seen that he meant every word, because at last she said, “Please, Mr. Dalton. Please sit.”

“You first.” He flashed his teeth. “They say it’s rude to sit before a lady.”

She made a very unladylike sound at that, but she did take her seat. With cagey glances, the two men did the same. Finally, Jack also sat down. They all stared at one another as if holding lit sticks of dynamite.

“You lot say you’re seeking vengeance for the, what did you call it? Downtrodden and voiceless.” His words felt like acid. “Where were you five years ago when Edith lay dying? She needed you then.”

“As we said, Nemesis didn’t exist five years ago,” said Marco.

“But if it had,” Simon added, “we would have done everything we could to help her.”

Jack sneered. “That’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever heard. Easy to make promises when they don’t have to be kept.”

Spreading her hands, Eva said, “Unfortunately, your sister is dead. Nothing you or I can do can change that. But what we
can
change is whether Rockley will ever harm another woman. When Miss Jones’s father came to us, we did some investigating into Rockley’s history. He’s done this kind of thing before—hurt women. Your sister, Miss Jones, and others. Yet his rank and power make him virtually untouchable.”

“He can’t hurt anyone if he’s dead.”

“That isn’t an option,” she said.

“Cut off his cock, then.”

Both Marco and Simon winced.

“Tempting as that prospect might be,” she murmured, “there are other ways we can harm Rockley, and get a measure of retribution for his latest victim. And that, Mr. Dalton, is where you come into play.”

*   *   *

Dalton was all calculation as he stared at her. She had familiarized herself with his file, knew the general details of his life. But for a former street rat turned boxer turned bodyguard, he possessed far more intellect than she had expected. That made him all the more treacherous. Underestimating someone was a short journey to catastrophe.

Bitter experience had taught her this valuable lesson. She had the scars to prove it.

“Lay it out for me,” Dalton said.

“Rockley will pay for what he’s done. To Edith, to Miss Jones. The dozen other women he’s hurt. Do you know how he seduced Miss Jones? He saw her behind the counter at one of her father’s shops. Wooed her. Made promises of marriage, promises that he’d help promote her father’s business to his genteel friends.”

“He didn’t make good on those promises,” Dalton surmised.

“As soon as she slept with him, he abandoned her. All her letters went unanswered. Her calls were turned away. And she realized she’d ruined not just herself, but if word ever got out about what happened between her and Rockley, her father’s business would suffer. Such is the nature of our
moral
world.” She drew a breath. “So, you see, we
will
bring Rockley down, make sure he is utterly ruined. But it must be done from the inside. Chip away at his foundations until he collapses.”

“And you plan on doing that, how?”

Marco planted his hands on his knees. “We find out everything we can about Rockley. His associations, his movements. He’s too well guarded for us to get close enough to learn more, but we do know that, on top of some suspicious connections, he’s involved with illegal enterprises. Somewhere in all that is the key to taking Rockley down.”

“That is why we need you.” Eva kept her attention entirely on Dalton, watching the minute shifting expressions that crossed his face. No, he was far from stupid. There was a fatal, gleaming intelligence beneath the abundance of muscle, and she feared it as much as it drew her in.

He made a sound that was part growl, part laugh. “Him and me weren’t chums. We didn’t unload the secrets of our hearts over pints of bitter. All I did was watch Rockley’s back when he’d go jaunting about town.”

“Exactly.” Warming to the subject, Simon leaned forward. “You’ve got intimate knowledge of Rockley’s habits, his movements and vulnerabilities. Information available nowhere else.”

“He’s got plenty of other blokes working for him.”

“But
you
are the only man who has ever left his employ and lived.” Eva had researched the subject exhaustively. From the beginning, she’d been leery of using Dalton. Nemesis was only as strong as its people, and reading his file had convinced her that he was too vicious, too undisciplined, his connection to Rockley too personal to handle the mission.

She was still wary of him, but not quite for the same reasons.

“So I’m going to be the one who draws up the map.” He drew an
X
in the air. “Ten paces then dig here for the treasure.”

“The treasure in this case being Rockley’s weaknesses.”

He considered this, looking out the window at the dark countryside speeding past. She had to give Dalton credit. He played this game close, revealing almost nothing. She was well trained in the art of deciphering people. Being experienced with deception, she could see its painted surfaces everywhere. Whatever Dalton thought, he kept those thoughts deliberately obscured.

“Supposing I don’t help you,” he said at last, turning back to face her. “Supposing I tell the lot of you to go bugger yourselves and I find Rockley and kill him.”

“You wouldn’t get that far,” Marco said, “before we stopped you.”

Dalton smirked. “Think you could?”

“Consider everything we’ve done tonight,” she said. “What we’re capable of.”

His nostrils widened, his lips compressing. Yes, he understood exactly how Nemesis operated. They had him well and truly trapped. And he didn’t like it.

She couldn’t blame him. Her own life had followed a course of her own choosing for that very reason. Freedom was a rare delicacy for most women. Sacrifices had to be made in order for her to taste that delicacy. She never regretted those sacrifices, for the end result was infinitely better.

Dalton had been imprisoned, and now Nemesis had him caught once more. No one would care for the circumstances, and a man such as him would chafe like a wild bull beneath the yoke.

“Say all this works, say we do bring Rockley down, I’d better get something in return.”

“You’re in no position to make threats, Dalton,” Simon clipped.

Hostility snapped between the two men like a whip.

Though she seldom played the role of peacemaker, she had to diffuse the tension before Simon and Dalton began to throw punches. “You might get a chance to start over.” She added quietly, “And justice for Edith.”

Dalton became as mute and still as a mountain. As forbidding as one, too. How would they ever control him? He had broken himself out of prison for the chance to kill Rockley, a feat few could achieve. The irony almost made her laugh. By proving he was exactly the man Nemesis needed, he had also proven he would not easily submit.

The train began to slow, and the conductor walked past, calling the name of the stop.

As the station slid into view, she and the others eyed the platform, searching for waiting police. The only people standing on the platform were a few weary travelers and an old woman with a battered pram. Instead of a baby, however, the pram held paper-wrapped bundles. Pies. Passengers stepped out of the stopped train to buy pies from her, tearing into them before they even got back onto the train. Not everyone could afford the dining car, and it was likely closed at this hour.

Eva pulled a handful of coins from her reticule and handed them to Simon. “I think we could all use something to eat.” She nodded toward the old woman.

He stood, but not before grumbling and giving her a sour look. Marco chuckled as Simon hopped off the train.

Dalton drummed his fingers on his knee, his gaze vigilant.

When Simon returned, he carried an armful of pies, all but throwing them into everyone’s laps. “Hope everyone likes mutton. If you don’t, too bloody bad.”

“What excellent service,” said Marco.

“And so courteous,” she added.

Still scowling, Simon unwrapped his meal and took a bite. “Sod off,” he said deliberately through his food. He accompanied this charming request with a spray of crumbs.

After the stationmaster made a final announcement, the train pulled from the station.

Marco dug into his food, and she pulled open the paper to break off pieces of savory pastry. As she nibbled, her gaze kept straying to Dalton. The pie looked like a fairy cake in his large hands, and he stared at it.

Longing gleamed in his eyes.

Prison diets didn’t include mutton pies. At best, a convict could hope for a few ounces of boiled meat thrice a week, maybe a bit of cheese. The rest of their food was gruel, tough bread, and potatoes. With a diet so austere, a mutton pie would look like a dish straight from the queen’s own table.

So why wasn’t he eating it?

His gaze kept darting to Marco and Simon. Not precisely as if he were afraid they’d take his food, but distinctly uncomfortable with their presence. Oddly, he didn’t look at her. Just the other men.

She sifted through her memory for some clue as to why Dalton couldn’t allow himself to eat, no matter how much he wanted to.

And then she understood why.

Slowly, she slid her foot across the floor, then nudged Marco’s boot. He frowned at her. In response, she flicked her gaze toward Dalton, back to Marco, then to the door of the compartment.

He raised a brow.
Are you sure?

She nodded.

With a shrug, he stood. Herein lay one of the many benefits of working closely with the same people for several years. Words were often unnecessary.

Marco gave Simon a speaking glance. Another silent exchange, this time between the two men. Dalton watched it all, but said nothing. At last, Simon relented, and also got to his feet. He followed Marco out of the compartment, but not without sending Eva a look weighted with significance.

Poor Simon. He’d been brought up to think women were delicate, fragile creatures that had to be sheltered and protected like so much china bric-a-brac. Decades later, with ample evidence to the contrary, he still struggled.

Simon and Marco drifted down the passageway, carrying their dinners. They had left the door to the compartment open.

Dalton stared at her. “How’d you know?”

“I read reports about prisons. Before we—”

“Baited me to break out.”

That was the truth, and she didn’t feel the smallest twinge of embarrassment. “If Nemesis planned on employing you, we needed to get a sense of where you’d been, how you’ve been living.” She glanced down at the wrapped pie. “Convicts eat alone in their cells.”

Five years had passed since he had eaten in anyone’s presence. It would take more than a few hours to break him of the habit.

“I can’t leave you here alone, though,” she said. He could try to escape.

He shook his head. “It’s different with a woman.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I should hope so.”

Slowly, as if uncovering a forgotten treasure, he unwrapped the pie. His fingers stilled. Without looking up, he muttered, “Thanks.”

A single word, reluctantly given. Yet her heart contracted sharply. She tried to push away sentiment, for she had a job to do, and she’d do it well. She always did. His simple, unadorned gratitude touched her, though.

Working with Dalton was going to be far more challenging than she’d planned.

He moved to take a bite, but his gaze flicked back to her. She noticeably looked away, staring out the window. Yet the darkness outside and brightly lit interior made the window a mirror, and she watched him eat his first meal outside of prison.

With the first bite, his eyes closed. A groan echoed in his chest. A sound of deep, sensuous rapture.

Unexpected heat uncurled in her belly, settling between her legs. If she wasn’t watching him eat, she would have believed him in the throes of sexual ecstasy. The window’s surface reflected Simon’s concerned face as he peered into the compartment from the open door—and no wonder. Likely both he and Marco thought Dalton had her pinned beneath him, making up for five years of enforced celibacy.

But no, Dalton merely ate. Simon disappeared to allow him privacy, and Eva almost joined him. Yet she couldn’t move, couldn’t look away, her pulse a thick beat through her body.

She expected him to devour his food in a few quick gulps. Instead, he took his time with it, breaking off pieces of pastry as if to feel its texture, and licking his fingers slowly. Impossible for her to watch his tongue and lips without thinking of them on
her.

Damn him, why couldn’t he behave only as a beast? Why did he have to reveal unforeseen depth of feeling and sensuality? How was she to deal with him, when he refused to conform to her fixed beliefs?

Despite his slow consuming of his meal, it was only one mutton pie, and he finished it with obvious reluctance. Before he could lick the paper, she said, “Have the rest of mine.”