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“The more I ran away, the more I learned about the place I’d been to. There were other boys there, too. It was run by aristocrats. A circle of men calling themselves the Brotherhood of the Crimson Fist, you might have heard the name. The brothel was something they did in secret, their front was a smuggling operation of forged art and other valuables.

“They were too powerful, with nobody to stand up to them. Except that the Shadows did. As you know, vigilantes and all that.” He waved a careless hand. “I didn’t know that back then, nor did I care. The last time I ran away, I met a boy. Neville.”

“Your friend from the nightmare,” Victoria breathed.

“Right.” He nodded. “The night we ran away, I overheard a gentleman giving a roster of the Shadows’ operatives to the leader of the Brotherhood, in exchange for forged paintings. Later, I learned that he’d sold over half of them to cover the deep pit of debt he’d dug himself into. Later, I’d meet him and find out his name. But at the time, I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t get to sell all the paintings, though. Because soon he inherited a marquessate from his dead brother.”

“Wait a moment,” Victoria stopped him, trying to untangle his words in her mind. “The man who exchanged the paintings for the list was Caroline’s uncle?”

William nodded. “Yes. He inherited the title soon after when Caroline’s father died. Want to guess who killed him and why?”

Victoria’s mouth slacked open. “The Brotherhood? But why?

William smiled. “Because he was on the list of Shadows. And so were many others.”

Victoria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Caroline’s uncle was responsible for her parents’ death!”

“Yes. And he got rewarded for it with a title. I don’t know what happened next. But I suppose Caroline’s late uncle went to his old friend Wolverstone, repented his sins, told him the truth, and Wolverstone swept everything under the rug. Because when I returned from France, half of the Brotherhood had been eradicated.”

“You think Wolverstone killed them?”

William shrugged. “I do. Probably used his Shadow assassins to eliminate people who knew that Caroline’s uncle had provided the brotherhood with a list. Or perhaps people who knew something else incriminating about him. Either way, Caroline’s uncle became an upstanding lord. Nobody ever questioned why so many people died in the same year. Including many of the Shadows. Caroline’s parents, St. John’s, even Kensington. All wiped out. Because of her uncle’s selfish needs.”

Victoria sat there in shock, unable to form a thought.

William smirked. “Do you still think we should let Caroline see the journal? Do you think she needs to know the full extent of her uncle’s monstrous behavior and the aftermath?”

Victoria took a moment to process everything before she spoke again. “You knew about the list all along. That’s what you blackmailed her uncle with. That’s why he killed himself.”

“Couldn’t deal with being reminded of his sins, I suppose,” William said with a nonchalant shrug.

“If you tell Caroline all of this, then she will understand your actions more. She will be able to forgive you.”

He chuckled bitterly. “Yes, or feel extreme guilt for loving her uncle, a man who was responsible for her parents’ death.”

“She needs to know,” Victoria countered.

“If Roth was responsible for your parents’ death, would you want to know?”

She grimaced in thought. “Well, they were never good parents to me. I don’t know if I would hate him for it.”

“Very well. What if your uncle was responsible for your sister’s imprisonment?”

Victoria took a moment to digest the question and think it through. “I’d want to know, yes.”

“What if he was dead and there was nothing you could do about it?”

Victoria let out her breath. “I am not Caroline. She will find out eventually. She is tenacious. But if it comes from you, perhaps your relationship with her could be mended.”

“I am not looking to mend our relationship, Victoria. I am not seeking anyone’s approval. I am not craving anyone’s love. Not anymore.”

Victoria froze. Did he include her in that statement?

“And even if I decided to tell her everything, she might feel better about me, but she would feel a thousand times worse about her uncle, a man that she loved and mourned. It’s only going to add unresolved issues for her. She can blame me for his death all she wants. But if I tell her the truth, she will also blame her uncle for her parents’ death. How is that fair?” He shrugged. “If you still want me to steal the journal, I will. But that’s the extent to which I am willing to go. If you want to tell Caroline the entire story, you’re free to do so on your own.”

Victoria bit her lip. “I still want you to steal the journal.”

William nodded. “So I will.”