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“I’m sorry.” I sat on the edge of her bed. “No phone, remember? I couldn’t call you.”
“But I was back by nine. Where have you been? I thought something happened.”
Shit. I didn’t mean to scare her. And I didn’t know what I could or should say without revealing more than I was allowed. It was strange how yesterday, I felt like Brooklyn and I were the ones who shared the secret—we shared the bond of going through the Titan experience, but that had shifted overnight. I had some sort of weird allegiance to Damon. He was one I felt I shared the experience with—I didn’t want to share that with her. I didn’t know if that was selfish or naïve, but it seemed like something I needed to keep private.
“I-I was looking at a special collection.”
“You worked? After last night?” Her eyes bulged.
Lying didn’t feel like the right thing. My stomach twisted, but I continued to protect the truth.
“It was a rare collection,” I explained.
She sighed. “Only you would do something like that.” She eyed me suspiciously. “What outfit is that?”
I bit my lip. “Oh, it’s something D—I mean, he gave it to me.”
“Really? You look so elegant. Sexy and proper at the same time.” She winked.
I wondered if that’s what Damon had thought. I blushed, remembering our walk to the royal library. I wondered if he had discovered by now I had left. Or maybe he hadn’t noticed. He had world leaders to entertain. The house manager had made that clear.
“How was your night?” I asked.
She sighed, throwing herself back on her pillows. “Amazing.”
“That good?”
She nodded. “It was more than amazing. I wish I could relive it. Or that I had a picture. Something to remember it. Anything.”
I saw the way she looked at my clothes. I hadn’t thought of them as a souvenir, but in her eyes, they were. Proof that I had spent the night at the palace.
“I’m sorry. But you had a good time? That’s what counts, right? You checked it off your Galona bucket list.”
I wished I had something to give her. A coin from The Talon. A cocktail napkin. Something that said we had been there.
“I did. More than once.” She giggled. The curiosity was killing me. I wanted to know who it was, but unless she volunteered I couldn’t ask. I also realized that opened me up to more sharing and I didn’t want to trade stories. “Now that you’re home safely, I think I’m going to take a nap. I’m kind of exhausted.” She smiled sweetly.
I paused in her doorway. “Brooklyn?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for talking me into it.” I closed the door behind me and left her to her nap.
13
Damon
It was dark. My tie draped around my neck. We had been at it for hours.
I motioned for the server to walk over.
“Your majesty?”
“Please bring dinner. Whatever the chef recommends,” I instructed.
“Yes, sir.” He bowed and disappeared through one of the service doors that led to a tunnel system. It wound throughout the palace, connecting rooms where no one would have imagined a link.
“Paul.” I exhaled. “We are down to three points. Let’s have a drink, while we wait for dinner to arrive. We can cut one of these things during that time.”
