Nate was silent for a moment, then it looked like he made a decision. “Someone’s been hacking our banks. The attacks comefrom Bath and Bristol, and as I’m the only one in our family who’s ever been close to the Fortescues, my grandfather sent me to find out what I could. It’s annoying we were interrupted so swiftly last night, but it didn’t look as if James’s emails would have borne much fruit, in any case.”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “That title—‘Le Mort d’Arthur’. Our family’s descended from King Arthur.”
His sceptical expression reminded me that, no matter how hot he was, he was a banker, just like the rest of them. “You think you’re descended from King Arthur? The king of legend who probably never existed?”
“Arthur Pendragon,” I reminded him. “Means chief dragon. Now where doyouthink that name came from?”
He was still staring at me, though I didn’t think he was seeing me any longer. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s true. All that matters is thatJamesbelieves it. I assumed that email referred to the Mortimers because Charlie sometimes called me Mort, and his family started using that nickname for me. But what if...” He looked away across the park, and I sat silent, waiting for him to share what he was thinking. “What if it refers to both our families? What if this is all connected?”
I huffed a laugh at such a stupid idea. “You think he’s stealing your money to become even richer than you, and he wants us on board so he can claim some sort of historically derived authority for becoming the leading family of the dragon world?”
As I said it, suddenly it didn’t sound so ridiculous. “Isthatwhy he keeps throwing Ella at all the straight male Teagues? If she has a child from our bloodline…”
“That poor kid. No wonder she’s so unhappy about you being here,” Nate said, and I tried not to be offended on behalf of my straight male relatives. “Though with the banks, I think it’s notonly about stealing our money but about ruining us. He intends to humiliate us in the eyes of the world, both dragon and human.”
“Which would remove your influence as well as your money,” I pointed out. “I’m kind of surprised your families are at war. I thought you rich, banker types spent your time doing rich, banker-type things together.”
He shot me a disenchanted look. “The Mortimers and the Fortescues have nothing to do with one another. It caused a hell of a storm in both families when Charlie and I got together.”
I twisted around on the bench and hitched my knee up, making myself more comfortable. “What were you doing with that wanker in the first place?” From what I’d seen so far, Nate was nothing like Charlie Fortescue.
“He’s not a wanker.” It came back swiftly. Surely too defensive for an ex. Perhaps I’d misread his reaction to Charlie.
“So, the way he spoke to you before groping you without permission…” And that was without all the ways I’d seen him act before Nate arrived. He’d come into the room when we were having our first welcome party, subjected every member of our family to an insultingly evaluating examination, and then walked out again. None of us was good enough for him.
Nate had looked away from me, staring across the gardens. “He wasn’t like that then,” he said, and paused for so long that I thought he’d finished speaking. “At least, I don’t think so.” He rubbed his forehead. “Perhaps he was, and I didn’t see it because I was a wanker too. I thought—”
He broke off, shook his head slightly and turned back to me. Determination replaced the distant look in his eyes. “We may be looking for the same information. Even if we’re not, we can help one another.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though if they’re responsible for the attacks, I’d have thought they’d be suspicious of you. Instead, they’ve invited you to stay.”
“I suspect James wants to keep me under observation.”
“Can we use that? Can you distract them so I can do some more looking around?”
Nate hesitated, perhaps suspecting I wouldn’t pass on to him whatever I found.
“I wouldn’t mind being the distraction,” I assured him, “but if they’re already suspicious of you, they’re not going to leave you unsupervised.” Maybe that was why Ella was all over him.
“I suppose I could,” he said at last, reluctantly. “Though I don’t know how I can distract them, short of stripping in the drawing room.”
“I said distractthem, not me.” I was heartened to see the flash of humour in his face. He wasn’t impervious to my flirting. Speaking of which… “Was there any particular reason why you kissed me earlier?”
“To stop you saying anything stupid,” he said, a glint in his eye.
“Oh, really? What if I was about to say something stupid right now?”
His gaze strayed to my mouth before he looked away again. “If we’re going to do this properly and stay safe, we’d better go to the Jane Austen Centre in case anyone asks.”
I’d thought he was about to kiss me, but something had changed his mind. I still didn’t understand who Nate Mortimer was, though that didn’t stop me wanting to screw him. Seemed like he was a bit less eager. Oh, well. Now we were working together, I’d win him over with my charm and captivating personality.
Chapter Seven
NATE
I’d been tempted to kiss Alex again. But kissing would lead to other things, and if we slept together, he’d probably want a repeat hookup. I didn’t do repeats anymore. Not since Charlie. So then things between us would become awkward, and we couldn’t risk that if we were to succeed in deceiving James Fortescue. It would be safer not to dabble in the pool of Alex Teague.
I kept reminding myself of that as we went around the museum, though it became increasingly difficult to remember. The subversive laughter in Alex’s eyes every time he found something to work into Jane’s secret life as a theatre groupie was enticing.
