Page 48 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

“I’ll settle for a Scotch,” he said in a strained voice, “and an explanation.”

I tossed a look at my wife, who was carrying Penny slowly toward the house. Georgia walked over to meet her, Brex following closely behind. She couldn’t be in safer hands. Belle shot me a small smile as if to give me permission to ask him inside.

“I can handle that.” I shrugged toward the house. “Follow me.”

22

Belle

I’d never expected the nursery to become a social gathering place, but an entourage followed me upstairs as soon as we were inside the house. Someone had lit a fire in the hearth, making it as good a place as any to linger. Of course, I might not have concerned myself so much with the design of the living room if I’d known we’d always be upstairs.

“Honestly, this is shaping up to be the worst birthday ever,” Georgia announced as I finished changing Penny’s dirty nappy. Brex was lingering in the corner of the room, averting his eyes. Edward was rocking furiously in the glider. I hadn’t quite decided if he was on the verge of losing it or already over it.

“It is not actually your birthday,” I reminded her with a hiss.

“Play along, Georgia,” she said, doing an impression of me. “Which is it? What girl would be happy about the King of England crashing her day and taking all the attention?”

“When is your birthday anyway?” Brex asked curiously. We both turned to stare at him. “Not the time. Sorry.”

“You called Alexander. He showed up. What did you hope would happen?” I said to Georgia. I’d been filled in on the barest details since our arrival back at Thornham. Smith had uncovered more about the Thornes, and Georgia had, in her ceaseless wisdom and incredible narcissism, actually called the King of England to do a quick research project. The fact that Alexander had dropped everything to do it was the real surprise. There was already enough drama today. Not only did Georgia ignore the increased risk bringing the King here might mean, the worst part was that she hadn’t stopped to consider Edward at all.

I glanced over at my best friend again. He was still rocking in the chair.

“They have to talk sooner or later,” she whispered.

“Is that what this is about?” First, she had forced him to confront Clara and now Alexander. “Are you going to dig up David’s body and make him talk to him, too?”

“Impossible.” Georgia shrugged. “We never found his body.”

I was pretty sure she could take me, or I might have tried to strangle her. What was another murder amongst friends?

I decided to switch tactics and turned my attention to Brex. “What did you find that was so important that Alexander had to come all the way here to bring it? Don’t you have email?”

His usually bright smile dimmed, and he tilted his head meaningfully at Edward. Out loud, he said, “No clue. Poor boy just told me he could use some fresh country air.”

“He was just in Scotland,” Georgia said flatly. “And I thought you were supposed to be in Silverstone.”

Brex had been assigned to deal with transitioning Anderson Stone, the late King Albert’s illegitimate son, to the public spotlight. Considering all the royal family had dealt with recently, I couldn’t blame Alexander for being concerned for his estranged brother’s safety. He’d taken a break from that new role to oversee my time in London before Penny’s birth, but, as far as I knew, he’d returned to Silverstone after Smith and I brought the baby home to Briarshead.

It seemed Georgia had thought so as well.

“I...wasn’t needed there,” he said hesitantly. “Anders needed a little privacy.”

“I’m glad I was informed,” Georgia bit out.

“You’ve had your hands full,” he replied.

I picked the baby up and backed up a step, wondering if I should leave them to whatever disagreement they were circling around. But before I could, something occurred to me. “Wait, but what about Lola? Did she leave Silverstone, too?”

My business partner had been enlisted to work on Anders’s image due to her genius at handling publicity issues. She’d been in Silverstone for weeks now.

Brex cleared his throat. “Well…“

“Oh.” I finally understood. “That will be complicated.”

“Nothing’s happened yet,” he said quickly. “I just felt like Lola could handle him on her own.”

Georgia’s shoulders shook with barely suppressed laughter. “Brexton Miles, are you playing matchmaker?”