Page 19 of His

“One is Cillian’s—though he’s supposed to be in New York handling business. The other is Leo’s. Do you remember him?”

“Yes, the shy, robotic house manager who resembles Chris Hemsworth.”

Astor cocks a brow.

“Don’t worry. You’re much hotter—and richer.”

“Phew,” he mocks.

I wink, then, “what are they doing here?”

“When I’m visiting you, I have Cillian stay to keep an eye on Valerie, and Leo has been hired to look after the property full-time.”

“Security detail?”

“Right.”

“Valerie doesn’t have an in-home nurse?”

“Yes, her name is Jackie, she comes during the days . . . although we’ve talked about extending her duties to stay overnight.”

“That’s a lot of people for a small house.”

“Tell me about it.” He looks at me, his face shadowed by the dark night. “You okay?”

I wring my hands on my lap. “I think so. Remind me of the plan again? We’re going with ‘housekeeper’?”

“I’ll take any other ideas you have, Sabine.”

We talked about it ad nauseam on the plane ride over, and decided that the live-in housekeeper was the easiest and most believable story.

“And I’m sleeping in the guest bedroom and you are . . . sleeping where?”

“I usually sleep on the couch, but I don’t really sleep. But with you here,” he wiggles his brows, “I’ll definitely be spending more time in the guest room.”

“What are we going to tell Leo and Cillian? They’ll recognize me.”

“Cillian knows everything and Leo is paid well enough to look the other way, trust me.”

“Money for loyalty?”

“Something like that.”

“What will you do during the days while I’m,” I air-quote, “cleaning?”

“Working.” He looks down, the first sign of stress I’ve seen on his face. “Cillian has stepped up to handle my job while I figure things out, but I’m still involved in most everything. And . . . I’m behind on things.”

“Because of me?”

“Yes. And you are completely worth it, Sabine.”

“You are completely out of your mind, Astor.”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

“Wait,” I pull back, nibbling on my lower lip. “What if I can’t do it? What if I hate it here? What if it’s all too weird?”

“Then we’ll go to a hotel, and I’ll figure it out.”

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