Moriarty—who had dark eyes like the clouds of a storm just before rain breaks—flicked his gaze to hers from the sidewalk in front of her. And for just the briefest moment, he smiled back.
Not as the Professor.
But as theMastermind.
There he was.
There wasMoriarty.
“If you can call someone who comes to question you regarding what seems to be every crime in London an acquaintance, yes, I suppose we are.” There was a new life in his expression. There was engagement. It was as though he was seeing her for the first time. “And what do you know of Mr. Holmes?”
“Enough.”Enough to know to read through my own personal belongings to figure it out first.“But perhaps we are also…acquainted.”
“I see.” He straightened his shoulders. Good god. She hadn’t realized he wasslouching.It was like watching Dr. Jekyll transform into Mr. Hyde. He wasn’t just over six feet, he was easily just as tall as Vile, and with the broadness of him, the air he carried instantly changed.
She couldn’t help but stare. Oh. Yeah. Okay. Yep. That was Moriarty all right.
Oh, she’d done a very bad thing by picking Sherlock as their next stop on their unwilling game of death-match-through-fiction.
Namely because Moriarty was one of the most handsome things she had ever seen. And there was a dark fire in those eyes of his that made her want to follow him into the void and never look back.
Sidney’s right. I really, really needed to get laid more.
Moriarty snapped her thoughts back to the moment. “I was impressed when I heard you outplayed him.” He turned his attention back to the road ahead of them as they walked. She did the same to keep from tripping over a brick in the walkway. And to keep from gawking. He kept talking. “Though I admit I wonder how much of that was due to his eagerness to dismiss the ability of awomanto have an equal measure of intelligence to his usual foes.”
“It’s hard to say.” She shrugged. “I find it’s often difficult to distinguish between a person’s natural predisposition to believe thateveryoneis lesser than they are, and a tendency to think that allwomen are inherently fools. And believe me, the two are not mutually exclusive.”
With a laugh, he reached into the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out a small leather notebook. Taking it out, he jotted something down before tucking it back away. “I resemble that remark, I suppose.”
“You and he are a lot alike in many ways, Professor.”
“As you insinuated.”
“I was insinuating far more than that.”
“I am aware.” His smirk was just as wry as hers had been earlier. “And as amusing and scandalous as the thought may be, I hate to disappoint. I do not enjoy the company of men in such a way, though I do not fault those who do.”
“How very forward-thinking of you.” All those poor fan-fiction writers.I felt a great disturbance in the F—Wait.Was she on that list of fan-fiction writers now? Unwillingly, maybe. But yes, she supposed she was.
Wait.
Could she?—
She was in control of the fiction around her, right?
Could she make them?—
No. No. She wasnotgoing there.
Moriarty snapped her train of thought again, thankgod.“The small-mindedness of humanity will never cease to amaze me. No. I say, let those whose idleness allows for such flights of fancy to amuse themselves in any manner in which they deem fit. They are harming no one.”
Fascinating. “Do you not believe in the existence of love, Professor?”
“No.” It was a statement of fact.
Whoa.That was a whole-ass can of worms to unpack. She stared straight ahead. “That would explain the lack of a wife.”
He laughed. Hard. As if she’d actually said something that struck him as funny. “I believe I enjoy your company, Miss Adler.”
That felt like…an honest compliment. And not one he threw around often. “Do call me Irene.”
“And you may call me James.” Another honest compliment. They approached what looked like a Parisian restaurant, and she was honestly a little excited. Fancy French food in Victorian England as Irene Adler sitting across fromProfessor James Moriarty.
Yeah, she was probably going to die horribly.
And she still wanted to stab Vile in the leg for the kiss debacle.
But this wasfun.
