Page 16 of Breathe Me: Smith & Belle

“Why were you in the rain?”

I rolled my eyes. “Because my bear of a husband told me to be ready to go in five minutes, and it took him ten to arrive.”

That shut him up.

“Where are we going?” I asked. He hadn’t bothered with specifics when he called. In fact, he’d sounded rather uneasy when we spoke.

“The house.” He hesitated, stealing a glance at me.

“Our house? What’s wrong?” I frowned.

“I met with Georgia this afternoon. She told me that…”

“What?”

“I don’t actually know.” The car slowed as we turned onto Holland Park into a traffic jam. He tapped the leather-bound steering wheel impatiently. “What is going on here?”

“We were only in Sussex for two days. Don’t tell me that you already forgot the traffic.” I said dryly, but he didn’t laugh.

He craned his head, trying to see around the back-up of vehicles in front of us. He really was worried, which only made me feel more panicked.

“What exactly did she say?” I asked.

“That we needed to go by the house. That we should see it in person.” A car next to us turned and Smith guided us over, moving us incrementally closer to whatever disaster awaited us in Holland Park.

This couldn’t be happening. I wasn’t ready to commit to Thornham. I thought I had more time, but if something had gone wrong at our home in the city, what choice did I have? Convincing Smith that we needed a new London residence was unlikely. Never mind that we would have nowhere to stay tonight. I could call Clara and we could go there, but I doubted Smith would be fond of that idea. I was supposed to have more time. I rubbed circles on my belly. She would be here any day, but I wasn’t ready to fully give up my life in London. Not until she came or we felt ready to be on our own.

Or maybe ever.

The more time I spent in London, the more I wondered if I could give it up to move back to the country. What was I supposed to do with my time there? Make menus for the cook to prepare and wander the grounds? Adopt a few dogs? Take up hunting? What had I been thinking?

I opened my mouth to spill all of my thoughts to Smith when the traffic opened up and we plunged past the lane next to us, turning onto the street that led us home.

From the outside nothing looked wrong. It was the same stately townhome, the same cozy street, the same quiet, sleepy vibe, I’d expected to find. The windows were dark, though, and that was odd. After making the mutual decision not to hire staff in London, given they had a disturbing tendency to be spying on us in the past, Smith had installed an electronic surveillance system that allowed us to keep an eye on the house, turn lights off and on, even unlock doors remotely in case we needed to let someone in. Georgia was on the list of people who had access, given that she was much closer in case of emergency.

“I thought we had the lights set to go on in the evening?” I asked. It was a precaution meant to make the house look occupied to potential thieves.

“We do,” he said grimly. He maneuvered the car to an empty spot on the street in front of the house and parked. “Stay here.”

“Like hell,” I said. “Georgia said we should both see it.”

“If there’s someone in there,” he growled.

I shook my head, unimpressed by the alpha male on display and opened my door. “She would have told us that! I bet the stupid system isn’t working. You know she didn’t approve of it.”

“I trust a computer more than a man,” he said.

“There’s a man behind the computer,” I pointed out as he joined me outside the car. I held out my hand, and he took it, somewhat grudgingly. We climbed the steps to the house, Smith fumbling with the app on his phone. But when we reached the door, it was already cracked open.

“For fuck’s sake,” Smith bit out, his forehead furrowing.

“You didn’t do that?” I tried not to let my sudden nervousness slip through.

“No. You’re right. Georgia wanted to show us the bloody thing is broken. I’ll call out the company tomorrow.”

“But tonight?” I felt uneasy staying here now. What if the doors unlocked overnight and we woke to find someone in our house? Smith would protect us at any cost. I’d learned that lesson before. I didn’t want my husband to have more blood on his hands, though.

“Wait here,” Smith ordered. This time I didn’t argue as he opened the door and reached for the light switch as the overhead chandelier burst on followed by a loud chorus of “surprise.”