I turned back to them.
“So the guy…uh, guy-er-guard who was watching them?”
“He’s been neutralized,” Loren said quickly.
“Neutralized?”
“He’s lying in a pool of his own blood downstairs.We’vecalled for the mortician.That’ll be cleaned up in a jiffy,” new hot guy said.
I wasn’t sure what I did just then, but I knew my mouth washanging open while I did it.
“Loren is a no muss, no fuss kind of chap,” new hot guyshared while sauntering to an armchair and throwing himself in it sideways, onelong, substantial leg tossed over an arm, the other stretched out on the floor.
Stiffly, my body, and eyes, shifted to follow his voice andhis movements.
“Allow me to introduce you to my friend, Marlow Gladstone,the Baron of Maitland,” Loren drawled.
“Errrrrrmm…” A girl in an outfit alot like the one at Ansley’s house, except the dress was gray, and the cap hadno ribbon in it, was standing at the door.
She stared at me.
Yes, I’d been kept under wraps.
Food was served, but I was always out of sight when ithappened, and the halls were cleared when I was in them.
Dad-not-Dad was taking no chances.
“Could you bring us some tea?”I asked.“And scones, jam,cream, that sort of thing,” I added, since I was starving.
“Excellent, cream tea at ten in the morning.I like thisone, Lore,” Marlow Gladstone declared.
Fantastic.
They only did those teas at a certain hour.
Well, whatever.
I was the lady of the house, in a sense, at least for now,so I could do what I wanted, and we were having it at ten in the freakingmorning.
“Yes, um…milady?” the maid asked after the fact ifI was, indeed, her lady.
I nodded to her.
She scurried away.
The men were all regarding me.
“Father was stingy with who he allowed to see me,” Iexplained, and at least that wasn’t a lie.
“Ah,” Ansley murmured, then took his own seat.
Loren decided to grace another doorjamb, which was a goodcall, he looked fab doing it.
Though, it was disconcerting that his eyes never left me ashe was doing it.
Until his head turned abruptly right before…
“Excuseme.”
