Chapter Eight
Aurelian
“How does it feel to be anidiot, Ari?” he muttered angrily to himself as he shaved. The face that looked back at him in the mirror offered no helpful answers. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? No, you had to scare the poor woman. She needs yourhelp, Ari.”
Aurelian continued to mutter fiercely as he worked at his face. What the hell was all of that? That was fucking this morning; sex for the sheer joy of it, not part of any training regime or anything of the kind. They were attracted to each other and had gone at it like people possessed.
He flicked an errant dollop of shaving cream into the sink. “And then afterwards?” he said under his breath. “She wants to know if this is just a…thing you do; I don’t know, she wants to know if she is just another ride, I guess? And I tell her she is not, I tell her she is actually someone special to me, and…” He accidentally pushed too hard, and a few droplets of blood welled up on his neck.
“Merde!” he swore sharply, patting at the cut with a tissue before applying a styptic pencil to stop the bleeding. He regarded himself squarely. “Aurelian, sometimes you don’t know anything about anything.”
He gave the styptic a moment to do its work then wiped his face clean with a towel. Aurelian considered his next steps. He would contact Marc to arrange a pickup of things Kait needed then follow up with Colin Turner about financial irregularities around the time of Talia’s murder…
Talia’s murder! Of course. That’s why Kait pulled back. How could the poor woman think of anything in the long term when she sought justice for her sister? “Aurelian Reynard,” he told himself, “you are the prince of idiots.”
He went to his closet and selected his clothes. “All you need is time, my friend,” he said. “Time, and to solve a murder.”
A few minutes later, he strode out of his bedroom, feeling refreshed and confident. Kait was wrapped up once again in his terrycloth robe, sitting at the kitchen island and working on a list.
“Excellent,” Aurelian said briskly. “Text me the list when you are done. I will pass it on to Marc, and you will have delivery of your items within an hour or two. On the fridge is the network password if you wish to do any research while I am gone. The network is encrypted, so feel free to search as you please.”
“And where are you going?” asked Kait.
“Me?” said Aurelian, surprised. “I have to go to work.”
“And I’m supposed to just stay here?”
Aurelian paused. “Kait, I don’t know what to say. I thought you understood your life is in danger. For your own safety, you cannot leave.”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing!” she protested.
“You are not just sitting here and doing nothing.” Aurelian tried to placate her. “You need your things, and you have to be here to receive them. You have a secure wireless network you can use to continue your research.”
Kait appeared to be prepared to argue further then stopped. “Does your network have access to Pleasure House records?” she asked instead.
Aurelian nodded. “Yes, up to a certain security level. Research away by all means, but please be careful to leave no footprints.”
“Got it,” said Kait.
Aurelian felt relieved, then a sudden thought struck him. “I almost forgot! The only thing the Shazlik told me last night was one word: Holloway.”
“Holloway?”
“Yes. I have no idea what it means, if it is a real clue or is just meant to mislead us. But, either way, now you know everything I know.”
Kait’s eyes softened. “Thank you, Aurelian.” She put her hands on his chest and stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss.
Aurelian was surprised but delighted.
“Have a good day at work, honey!” Kait grinned.
“Sassy little brat,” said Aurelian, shaking his head. But he was smiling as he left the apartment.
***
When Aurelian arrived at his office, Colin Turner was in his waiting room.
“Mr. Turner,” he said affably. “The very man I was hoping to meet.”
