Page 263 of Romeo

I stood and crossed the room.

“Jasper?” Fiona asked.

“Yeah?”

“You got quiet again.”

“I’m thinking.”

“That usually gets me in trouble.”

A smile pulled at my mouth as I opened the closet. “Sometimes.”

“What are you thinking about?”

My eyes landed on the duffel at the bottom.

“You should get some sleep.”

“That was not an answer.”

“Nope.”

“Jasper.”

I hooked the bag with my foot and dragged it toward me. “Dors bien, Ma Belle.”

Her silence turned immediately suspicious. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“That sounded like something.”

I smiled down at the bag. “Goodnight, Fiona.”

“Jasper.”

The warning only made me grin wider. “Sleep.”

She huffed, but laughter followed it. “Goodnight.”

I waited until the call disconnected before lowering the phone.

The room suddenly felt too quiet.

And Virginia felt way too fucking far away.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Fiona

By closing time, I had wiped the same section of counter three times.

I realized it when I caught my reflection in the dark window over the sink and saw myself staring at absolutely nothing with the rag motionless beneath my hand.

“Productive,” I muttered.

The shop had emptied almost an hour ago, leaving behind the strange quiet that always came after a busy day. The music was off. The lights in the front windows made the glass reflect the room back at me, and every little sound seemed louder without voices filling the space. The walls settling. The faucet dripping once before I tightened it. My keys scraping against the counter when I reached for them and missed.