Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(40)

A hundred questions were there to be asked, and growing every hour.

AJ yawned.

She moved out of the room. “Get some sleep.”

“Where’s your room?” he asked, coming to his feet.

Is that a tired smile on her face?

Yeah . . . it is.

“You don’t have to worry about me being afraid,” she told him, and that tired smile grew.

AJ shook off her comment. “Oh, no, no . . . that’s for me.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a big place, I need to know where to go for protection.”

That had her laugh enough to know his charm wasn’t completely lost on her. She took a few steps down the hall and opened the door next to Claire’s. “Satisfied?”

“No. But I’m getting there.”

She lifted a hand, showed him her palm. “Good night, Junior.”

Only after she was securely inside her room did he move back into his room. He started to close the door and decided to leave it open a crack.





Chapter Sixteen



“I don’t like this. Any of it.”

“You have to trust me.”

Linette reached out and placed the palm of her hand on the side of Brigitte’s face. She wanted to smooth away the worry with the pad of her thumb, but the lines of stress were still there when she moved her hand away.

“I hope you know what you’re doing. If Pohl has his way . . .”

“He won’t. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for seven years. Now that it’s here, I won’t fail.”

“I hate this.” The muscles on Brigitte’s arms tensed with unused energy.

“Go, beat up your assistant. You’ll feel better.” It was a joke, one they used often.

“Come over tonight,” Brigitte said in a softer voice.

Linette shook her head. “I can’t, love. Too many people focused on me today. When things calm down . . .”

There was no way around the disappointment in her eyes.



Sasha sat across from AJ, a cup of coffee filling her hands. The man looked like he could use a week’s worth of sleep, but he’d gotten up before she had. She gave him points for that.

The morning fog had yet to lift, and the view outside the windows gave a sense of security, as if the moisture in the air kept out anything bad and kept all the good inside.

“Your friend Neil has quite the spread.”

“It’s not his,” she told him. “This house belongs to his brother-in-law.”

AJ glanced around the dining room. “Be sure and thank him for me.”

“I will.”

The Harrison estate had a full staff, even when there wasn’t anyone around to use it. One of the women who worked there brought out a try of scones and an assortment of jams. AJ looked up at the girl and mumbled a thank-you.

She smiled with a blush. “Mr. Neil likes a full breakfast when he visits. Would you like the cook to make one for you as well?”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No bother at all. It’s what we do.”

AJ glanced at Sasha, his eyes requesting help.

“I’m sure if the cook prepares it, someone will eat it,” Sasha told her.

The girl curtseyed. “Very well, mum.” And she was gone.

AJ glanced over his shoulder as the girl left the room. “I’m used to pouring my own bowl of Froot Loops in the morning.”

“Froot Loops is not on the English breakfast menu.”

The coffee started a slow burn in her stomach. Sasha decided a scone was as good a source as any to keep that burn from becoming a hole.

“How did you and Neil meet?”

Not used to personal questions, Sasha answered as simply as possible. “Through Reed.”

While she nibbled on her breakfast bread, AJ slathered cream on his and took a big bite. “So how did you meet Reed?”

“Why are you asking?”

He paused, looked at her over the knife in his hand. “I don’t have a hidden agenda, Sasha. It’s called getting to know someone. I ask a question, you answer. You ask a question . . . I answer.” He took another bite, talked around it. “Conversation.”

She took her time swallowing. “I’m not good at that.”

A slight gleam hit AJ’s eyes. “Conversation?”

“Answering questions.”

“So, we’re just supposed to sit here and watch each other eat?”

She washed her bite down with her coffee. “You can go in the other room.”

His grin had the corners of her lips pulling up. There was light in his eyes that seemed to sparkle even brighter off the damp edges of his hair. His casual charm and patient questions might not have been her method of interrogation, but they seemed to be working on her.

He placed both his elbows on the table and stared at her as he took another bite. His mouth was overly animated as he chewed. He repeated the action in complete silence, eyes glued to hers.

Sasha gave up. “I met Reed while he was spying on my sister-in-law and her friends.”

AJ stopped midchew. He quickly swallowed and wiped the cream from his lips. “I thought you said you were an orphan, that you didn’t have any family.”