“I havemoremail?” said Wesley. “Is half of London in New York right now? Why do they feel the need to get in touch?”
He accepted a sealed telegram from the clerk as Mateo took his own mail. “Do we have any other messages? Missed phone calls, perhaps?”
“No, sir,” the clerk said.
Sebastian frowned.
The three of them stepped away from the desk to a quiet spot along the wall near the elevator. “Jade knows we’re only here for the night,” Sebastian said. “But no message.”
“I really do want to hear what she and Mr. Zhang might think about the brooch.” Wesley frowned. “I’d say let’s pop ’round her business tonight, but I haven’t a clue where it is. I was blindfolded last time, and Arthur is far too overprotective to give the location away through his driving.”
“Maybe we go to the Dragon House for dinner?” Sebastian said. “I bet we can find that.”
“The place you just called and the waiter said he hadn’t seen Mr. Zhang for several days?” Wesley said. “I say we go to Arthur’s.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened. “Arthur’s?”
“I know the name of his building,” said Wesley. “And there’s probably somewhere near his flat where we can have dinner.”
“You two can have dinner,” Mateo said firmly. “I don’t need to be there.”
“Are you sure?” Sebastian asked.
“I don’t know,” Mateo said. “Am I sure that I don’t want to share your table while the two of you fuck each other with your eyes?”
“Oh please,” said Wesley. “You know who was fucking Sebastian with their eyes? Miss Loretta, that’s who.”
Sebastian rubbed his temple.
“I’m not coming.” Mateo held up his bee book. “I want a sandwich and to read my books alone in my quiet room that’s not moving. I’ve got weeks of work to catch up on. Sebi, come up, get what you need from your trunk, and then get out and don’t come back until morning.”
He headed toward the elevator. Sebastian lingered behind with Wesley. “You really want to go see Arthur? Are you sure?”
“He’ll know where Miss Robbins is,” said Wesley, “or at least he ought to know what’s going on.”
“But won’t it be awkward?”
“Why would it?”
Sebastian sighed. His time under blood magic was heavier than the brooch in his pocket. “Because...you know.”
Wesley gave him an assessing look. “Not because of him and me, surely?”
“Of course not.” Why would Arthur andWesleybe awkward? They were friends. “No, you’re right. It’s a good idea, to go see him.”
“Of course it is,” said Wesley. “I’d hardly bother with bad ideas. Be back down in thirty minutes. Dress for dinner.”
Sebastian stopped himself from making a face. Maybe it was the childhood on a tropical island, but he liked comfortable clothes and eating good food outside. Wesley, however, came from rules and structure, formal meals in formalwear. He despised the casual trend, so when he saiddress for dinner, it probably meant he’d show up in white gloves and a top hat.
And it probably meant he’d pick somewhere full of people who would wonder why they were together. Sebastian had a brief interlude with a man he’d shared a tent with in the army, not serious enough to even call a fling, but Jasper had been adamant that he and Sebastian couldn’t be seen together during the day.You’re pretty as a girl, Jasper had snapped, the night after Sebastian had tried to sit at the same table at the mess.And everyone knows Latin men love to fuck. If rumors start about us, it’ll be your fault.
Nine years later, Sebastian knew Jasper was a bigot and an asshole. But he’d probably been right about rumors, and people might be even more likely to gossip about a viscount like Wesley. But Sebastian was the one becoming embarrassingly attached to Wesley’s company, and a suit was a much smaller ask than a boat across the Atlantic and a train ride to Ohio. Wesley had been willing to come with them, so Sebastian could do what Wesley wanted, including visiting Arthur and a formal dinner their night in New York.
The elevator let Wesley out on the second floor, and then Sebastian rode up to six to change and clean up. The hot water and needle shower were heavenly on his muscles, but he forced himself not to linger.You have to get used to the brooch and the new magic, he told himself.You have to shake this malaise.
He followed the shower with a quick shave, and then joined Mateo in the hotel room as he dressed in the clothes he’d grudgingly bought in Paris for first-class dinners on the ship: a black dinner jacket with a black bow tie and waistcoat.
Mateo was sprawled on the bed closest to the window with the newspaper open to the middle. “Who’s winning the series?” Sebastian asked.
