The Outlaw Prince's Captive by Rayner Holly

Author:Rayner, Holly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Francesca looked at her phone. Eleven forty-five. Fifteen minutes until she would be required to call Laird and check in for the evening.

The rest of the day, following Viggo’s confessions, had surprised her with how peaceful it had managed to be. Francesca would have expected awkwardness. Instead, Viggo had put the alcohol away and gone into the kitchen. A moment later, he had called to Francesca to join him.

Much to her shock, she had found him taking down a series of ingredients, a mixing bowl, a cupcake pan.

“Have you ever had beet cupcakes?” he asked her.

“Did you say beet cupcakes?”

“I sell them at my stores,” he explained. “Much healthier than traditional cupcakes, and with quite an interesting flavor, too. I sell carrot cake cupcakes as well, but I imagine you’ve had those before.”

“I’ve had carrot cake,” she said. “Not in cupcake form.”

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll enjoy these.” He handed her the mixing bowl, already full of dry ingredients. “Stir that together, please.”

It seemed clear to her, now that she thought about it, that he had been trying to turn their conversation away from the hit-and-run, that it pained him to dwell on it.

I would feel tormented too, she thought now, shedding her clothes and pulling on a pair of soft flannel pajamas, if I didn’t know whether or not I was guilty of such a terrible crime.

What must it be like to know that you might be responsible for taking someone else’s life? It was true that the pedestrian had been struck by accident—but Viggo had also been drunk that night. Drinking and driving was unforgivable. If he had done it, and if someone had died as a result, it was absolutely his fault.

Francesca didn’t know what to think.

And she also didn’t know what to think of her own behavior. The things she had told him! She had gotten so caught up in the fact that he was opening up to her that she had forgotten her responsibilities. She had essentially handed him all the evidence they had against him.

Which means that now he’ll have plenty of time to come up with rebuttals and explanations. He could say that he had loaned his car to a friend.

She suspected that, down in his own bedroom, Viggo was also regretting his own candor with her. But that thought didn’t make her feel any better. If he was thinking twice about how openly he had discussed things with her, that only meant that he would be more careful going forward.

She was unlikely to find him so willing to talk again.

I gave up all the information I had. I told him everything about our case. And for what? He doesn’t even know whether he was there when the crime was committed. He doesn’t know if he’s guilty or not.

But the truth was, Francesca did find that fact helpful. It meant that he wasn’t as cold as he had seemed. He did care that someone had died. And, she thought, he wanted to know whether he had been the one responsible for it.

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