Page 13 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

“I think I knew that.” I screwed up my memory trying to keep straight what had been said during interviews. “He’s only one old enough to have worked here. I remember it coming up.”

“That’s good,” Georgia murmured absently, moving his file to the other side of the desk.

“I don’t really see what this has to do with our problems.”

“I just find it odd that you’ve got a household staff full of people with connections to the original owners.”

“I doubt there’s a lot of jobs available locally for people in their lines of work,” I pointed out. “I hardly think that means they’re out to get me. Besides, I don’t know any of them. Why would they come after us?”

“Maybe someone asked them to.”

Georgia hadn’t given up on her concern that this might be linked to MI-18. She’d brought it up a number of times since her arrival, and despite having no evidence to support her theory, she seemed more convinced than ever. With anyone else I might have written this off as paranoia. But Georgia wasn’t prone to overreaction. She was always the one who managed to keep things on an even keel. Something about this situation bothered her on a visceral level. Truthfully, it bothered me, too. It scratched in the back of mine like a stray, unwanted but determined to get inside. Both of us were far too rational to think there wasn’t an explanation for all the madness. We had enough enemies in our past, the last thing we were worried about was a house turning on us.

“What are you two doing for your anniversary?” Georgia asked.

I looked at her in surprise. “It’s not really our anniversary.”

“Word to the wise, never say the words ’it’s not really our anniversary’ to anyone again,” she said. “Especially your wife. Just buy her flowers.”

“There’s nothing to do in the village. I’m sure people around her just hit the pubs.”

“Edward told me about a dinner party,” she said. “You two should go.”

This was news to me. Why hadn’t Belle mentioned it?

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving Penny here without one of us,” I admitted. “I’m sure Nora would do just fine. I just…“

I couldn’t put my finger on it. As much as I appreciated the staff. I didn’t know any of them. I couldn’t trust them the way I could trust myself or Edward or Georgia.

“You need to get her out of this house.”

She might have a point. It was obviously a coincidence that Belle’s problems began when we moved here full time. But that didn’t mean that getting her away from those problems—even for a night—wouldn’t do her some good. “I’ll make her go with Jane and Edward. It will be good for her.”

“You should be with her,” Georgia said. “Anniversary, remember?”

“Someone has to stay with the baby, and I want you to go with them and keep an eye on things.”

“No dice.” Georgia shook her head and pushed back from the desk. “I’ll stay with the baby.”

“You’ll… What?” I’d heard her wrong. There was no way that Georgia Kincaid had just offered to babysit.

“I’m around a baby all the time,” she said defensively. “I won’t break it.”

“Her,” I said gently. “You just don’t seem the motherly type.”

“Neither do you,” she snapped. “Look, I can change a nappy. I can give a bottle. I’m not totally useless.”

“Are those really the new criteria now?” Belle’s cold voice cut in.

“Beautiful,” I said, whirling toward her and finding her standing with Jane just inside the door. “Georgia just offered to stay with Nora and Penny on New Year’s so that we could go out.” Georgia cleared her throat lightly, and I added, “for our anniversary.”

“You want to stay with our baby?” Belle’s surprise mirrored my own reaction.

Georgia looked even more put out. “You know, the Queen of England trusts me with her kid, so maybe you two could lower your standards just a little.”

“I didn’t know that you liked kids,” Belle said quickly, clearly worried that she had offended her.

“I don’t.”