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“To hide anywhere else.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“Positive.”
“But—” Leif starts to say, but then stops and listens to something, probably coming through his earpiece, since Knox tends to do the same. “Yes, I’m with him… No… ask for Damián instead.” He looks around. “West to the main house… Yes… And Finni is there? Okay. On it.” He turns back to me. “Cil, I have to go check one of the perimeters, and Damián is going to take my place.”
“Okay.”
“Finnian is right over in the kitchen, so you can go there and wait for Damián.”
“Thank you for asking for Damián and not… you know.”
“Of course,” he says, and waits for me to get back inside before he leaves.
I wander down the service stairs and follow the scent of melted butter and sugar.
Damn…
I am a floor away from the kitchen, and it already smells delicious.
As soon as I enter the kitchen, I see Finnian sitting on a high stool, piping ganache into macaron shells.
I walk over and pull up a stool beside him.
“You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, lad,” Finnian says softly.
“Mind if I help?”
Finnian pauses, eyeing me before reaching into a tray and handing me a pastry bag full of pistachio filling. “Don’t you have a whole grand circus to run upstairs, Mr. Host?”
“I don’t want to be up there,” I say, taking a tray of empty green shells and starting to fill them. “It’s quiet in here, and it smells great.”
We work in silence for a few minutes, but as peaceful as it is, I can’t bear it.
Every second of silence is just enough for my mind to wander right back to Knox.
“Finnian?” I ask, keeping my eyes fixed on the tray. “How did you meet the Harknetts?”
Finnian smiles, and I can tell this is something very nostalgic to him. “Ah, well. The first one I met was Logan. I had just opened ma bakery in New York with ma sister, Ada. Fresh out of Jedburgh, Scotland, mind you. I was as green as they come, had nae clue how rough the city could be.”
“What happened?”
“I was out on the street painting our shop sign.” Finnian chuckles, shaking his head. “An’ like a total fool, I left ma phone an’ wallet on the bench.”
“No, Finni!” I gasp, because that’s got to be one of the dumbest ways anyone can lose their things.
“I know, pretty daft. An’ of course, a bloke walked past, snatched them right up, an’ took off running.”
“Did you run after him?”
“Nae, I started shoutin’ like a madman. An’ out of nowhere, Logan came sprinting down the street. He tackled the thief, smashed him good, and walked right back to hand us ma things.”
“Wow, that’s some meet-cute.”
“Aye, I was struck right then and there, head over heels for that man.” Finnian blushes, and—oh, my God!
Finni is in love with Logan?
