Page 103 of Pretender

Sophie puts a hand on mine and I press my lips together. When I say those words out loud, I know how true it is. Aiden’s power is not just over my business now, but also … my heart. Fuck, how did I let this happen?

“Have you asked him what it is?” Sophie asks.

“Not directly. He’s closed off about his dad, and maybe he’ll tell me one day. I just don’t want another Henry situation where I fall for someone’s charm and it turns out they’re an entirely different person behind it.”

“Let’s do some sleuthing tomorrow,” Jamie adds.

I look at her pointedly. “Don’t make it awkward.”

She grins.

“When have we ever?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

curiosities

AIDEN

“Are you sure this is right, sir?” Mo asks from the front of the car, his eyes on me in the rearview mirror. I glance up at the place again. It’s a black building with white, hand-painted signage: Viktor Wynd’s Museum of Curiosities.

Linnea’s friends stand outside talking to each other, unaware of my arrival. Jamie’s curls blow sideways in the wind, covering her face, and she laughs as Sophie brushes it out of her eyes. I turn away before it becomes more intimate. Where’s Linnea?

“Yes, seems like this is it,” I say.

“There’s a skeleton in the window, sir.”

“I can see that.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

According to his frown in the mirror, he means it.

“No. Thank you, though.” I chuckle. “You can take a break, and I’ll call when we’re done.”

I exit the car and breathe in the August breeze carrying with it the smells of this little slice of East London—exhaust fumes, pizza, and something wet and earthy that can probably only be explained by the nearby canal.

“Hello, ladies,” I say, straightening out the sleeves of my black shirt as I turn my back to the wind, and they wave back with wide smiles. Sophie gestures to the museum behind her.

“Ta-da!”

“Interesting choice of location,” I say, exploring the window display closer. There’s a taxidermy mole gazing into a crystal ball.

“Thought we’d take you somewhere you haven’t been.”

“And it’s small, so it’ll be nice and quiet. Hard to find that in London, isn’t it,” Jamie adds.

“We could’ve just met up at Linnea’s,” I say, leaning closer to the window to see more. Is that a stuffed unicorn behind the bar inside?

“Linnea doesn’t have absinthe.”

“Where is she, anyway?” I ask.

“Oh, we came from Sophie’s family. And we may have sent her on a bit of a roundtrip.” Jamie looks at her phone, swipes a few things around and nods. “Yep, she’s in an Uber coming through Covent Garden. She’ll be a little while.”

She winks at me. “How about we go and have a drink while we wait?”

“Absinthe, I presume?” I ask, nodding to the bar inside.