That only stunned him more. How had she found out? And why had she gone digging into his past?
Anger and fear swirled together into a heady mixture that had words rushing from his mouth. “I don’t talk about my war because it was bloody and miserable and ended in a goddamn explosion that ought to have killed me just before my entire company was slaughtered. I don’t tell people about my family’s origins because they’ve no right to judge who my mother is or where she came from. I’m not the one under investigation. I am not a mystery to solve.” His breath was sharp in his lungs, and it strained his tight throat to breathe. He’d thought they were on the right path, but now he realized that she’d simply been looking for information, more pieces of the puzzle of his and Adrian’s involvement in Petrov’s murder.
At his side, his fingers were tingling. It was cold. He’d been whipped into such a fury he hadn’t remembered to turn the radiator on when he’d returned to the flat. He glared down at his hand before burying it in his pocket.
“I know you’re not a mystery to solve,” Saffron said quietly. “I just thought … I just want to understand. Why your brother is undersuspicion. How you know Nick. Why you’re keeping so much from me.”
Alexander’s whole body flushed with heat before a wave of cold overtook him. “I don’t know Nick.”
“You do,” Saffron said flatly. “I saw you two arguing the other day at the U.”
“So you are spying on me.”
Saffron’s head snapped back, eyes wide and angry. “I am notspyingon you! I am simply trying to—”
“I am trying to keep my word,” Alexander interrupted. “There are things you cannot know, Saffron. You must accept that.”
He hadn’t meant to sound so desperate. But he hoped that her wide-eyed look of surprise meant he’d gotten his point across.
“Very well,” Saffron whispered and turned away.
He didn’t follow her out of the flat, but he did wait until she was well away before ruining the order he’d been so careful to create.
CHAPTER19
There were voices within her flat when she arrived, Elizabeth’s alto responding to two male voices. Saffron could have hidden in her room after greeting her and Colin, ignoring whatever good time her flatmate had planned for her beau, but it would be rude to abandon two guests.
Saffron sighed and pushed the door to the flat open.
The irresistible scents of tea and fresh ginger biscuits drifted down the hall to her. If she was required to be social after arguing with the inscrutable Alexander, at least she would enjoy the refreshments.
She hung up her coat and hat, and paused when she recognized the coat and hat just next to hers. Lee.
As she approached the parlor, his voice could be heard, and immediately cut off when she stepped into the room.
“Everleigh!” he called jovially from an armchair. He rose, as did Colin and Elizabeth, and greetings were exchanged.
“I was worried I’d miss you,” Lee said, resettling into his seat.
Saffron accepted tea and biscuits from Elizabeth. “Just staying late at work. Lots to make up for after the conference.”
Elizabeth launched into her own complaints about all the filing that had awaited her after her own brief absence from the lord’s office. Lee shot her a sly smile when Colin began his own account of the last time he took leave from his work.
“Ah, but the pot’s gone cold,” he said with exaggerated sadness when he reached for more tea.
Elizabeth glared at him. “It has not.”
“I’ll tend to it,” Saffron volunteered. The two men rose as she did, and Lee followed her out, saying over his shoulder, “I’ll help.”
“You’re about as adept in the kitchen as I am,” Saffron grumbled. “It’ll be a shock if we don’t burn the whole place down.”
Lee chortled and planted himself at the kitchen table. He looked around the kitchen with curiosity. He’d visited the flat a number of times during their work on the study, but Saffron couldn’t recall him ever being in their kitchen before. She glanced around the room herself, wondering what he observed.
The stove was old but spotless, as was everything else in the room. Elizabeth refused to let dirt, crumbs, or a hint of mold within their home. The kitchen was her sanctuary, and so it was scrubbed daily. Bits of Elizabeth were visible in every corner, from the particular brand of wine she kept on the counter to the new painting she’d bought in Paris from a street vendor. It was a market scene with warm colors that matched the autumn season during which they’d visited.
“Not that I’m not pleased to see you,” Saffron told Lee as she lit the stove, “but why are you here?”
“I’d say it was merely because I wanted to drop in on Elizabeth and irritate her, though I did that expertly anyway. She was clearly planning on a quiet night in with her beau.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Though the choice of this fellow is quite … unexpected. He’s as dull as toast. Why is she stepping out with him?”
