Grabbing his mug, he strode upstairs. Molly huddled in one of the chairs in front of the living room window, looking out as she cradled her mug underneath her chin. Her eyes were reddened, but he didn’t discern any extra splotchiness in her bruised face. He guessed she hadn’t been crying. Probably hadn’t.

He sat in the opposite chair. “I’ll loan you forty thousand, interest free. And I’ll get you a car.”

She took in a quick breath. “That’s very generous. Thank you, but it’s a lot of money. What if I can’t pay it back?”

Unless he was badly mistaken—and he rarely was about people anymore—she was the type who wouldn’t rest until she found some way to repay him. “You might take some financial hits, like property taxes and other expenses, but eventually you’ll get the bulk of your estate. You can pay me back then.” A corner of his mouth lifted drily. “Either that or I’ll be dead, and the loan won’t matter.”

Her gaze widened. “Why are you going after someone so dangerous? What did they do to you?”

He thought about deflecting that, but then suddenly he didn’t even want to try. She had already guessed or discovered so many of his other secrets. What did it matter if she knew the whole truth?

“I was born to a life of wealth and privilege when the world still had empires and kings,” he said. “And at the appropriate age, I married an appropriate woman and fathered two sons. I became interested in improving steam-locomotion technology. The ruler at that time placed some significance on expanding railways, so when my father died, I inherited a lot of money and then I made more.”

Fascination overtook her expression. She swiveled to face him fully. “You had a marriage and family. Your wife… did you love her?”

He snorted. “No. In the circles we moved in, we thought of marriage differently. But she gave me two sons whom I loved, and for several years I had grown somewhat fond of her. Then I was badly injured in a carriage accident and lay in a coma for two weeks.”

She winced. “That was when your Power awoke, right?”

“Yes. I could feel it inside, burning like a furnace.” His expression hardened. “I couldn’t move or speak, but I heard everything that everyone said around me. What the doctors said. Things my wife said. What my two sons said. How the three of them planned on disposing of the family assets, and how tired they grew of waiting for me to die.”

“But it had only been two weeks?” Her gaze darkened with sympathy.