“Damn you,” Liam said, pushing forward as if to rise. Only physical weakness held him down. “You were the informant. They were ready for us when we went that night—”
“Yes. I’m not proud of that miscalculation. Apparently my warning put the tongs doubly on guard. I am sorry.”
“Be sorry for the girls we couldn’t save.”
Shame was not an accustomed emotion to Perry, but it was one he’d begun to learn. Love did that to a man. “I shall make up for that,” he said evenly, “in time. The next morning I learned of your expected rendezvous with Caroline at the Poodle Dog, and saw to it that the invitation she received was altered.”
“You sent Mac in her place.”
Liam’s coldness belied the concern he’d shown earlier for Rose. Perry wondered how much he’d underestimated the threat to Liam’s pride. “It was my idea, Liam—don’t blame her. You see, she couldn’t accept that I’d tried to kill you, however little her faith in me seems justified. But she was worried about you—deeply.”
That gave Liam pause, enough that Perry felt a renewal of hope. If the man had his eyes opened to the chance he had right in front of him…
“You made sure Caroline walked in on us,” Liam said.
“I did. But Rose didn’t know that was part of my plan.”
“And what about the drugged wine?”
Ah. There was no avoiding this confession. Perry wrapped indifference around himself and spoke without a trace of emotion. “That was an error—an overeager waiter in my employ. If Mac hadn’t succeeded in winning your interest, I determined to get you out of harm’s way. I could only delay the tongs for so long, and I knew they meant to kill you eventually, whatever the risks.”
“You put Mac at risk. She almost drank it.”
There was more dangerous anger in Liam now than at any time before. Another hopeful sign.
“The drug would only have rendered you both unconscious. I have connections in this city and beyond that you know nothing about. I could have spirited both you and Rose to a safe place, long enough to convince Caroline you were not truly interested in her, and the tongs that you were no longer a threat. I would never have harmed either one of you, Liam.”
He only stared at Perry as if he wished he were on his feet and capable of knocking his former partner to the floor. “If Mac had been harmed—” But he caught himself and was satisfied to twist his sheets into tortured balls between his fingers.
“And was Mei Ling’s kidnapping also your idea, Perry?”
“No. The tongs knew you’d come if they abducted her. I took full advantage of the trap. I told them I’d have a carriage to get you out of Chinatown when you came to rescue Mei Ling, and all their problems would be solved.”
“And you thought you had everything so well controlled that no one would be hurt? Not Chen, not Mei Ling?”
“It was a risk, but I did what I could to minimize it. Did you wonder why it was so easy to free Mei Ling and hold off the hatchetmen until she and her uncle escaped? I did what I could without betraying myself. When it was apparent they might kill you, it was necessary to hit you in order to assure them of my sincerity.”
“And what if you had got me away?”
“I would have gone through with your ‘disappearance,’ at least until matters with the tongs had cooled. Quite a moot point now, since they know I betrayed them.” Perry rose and walked halfway across the room. “I doubt the tongs will feel comfortable making any further attempts on either one of us, given the renewed police interest in their activities. Nevertheless, I think a change of scenery might be advisable for the players in the game.”
“Is that all it ever was to you, Perry? A game?”
Strangely enough, that accusation hurt more than any of the others. “It was never a joy to me, Liam—not here, and not in England. I would like nothing better than to settle into a quite uneventful life with the woman I love.”