Page 20 of Hush Money

“You’re really okay?” he says, voice husky.

“Yes,” I say, forgetting about my noble but godforsaken pledge to keep things at arm’s length between us for now and reaching for him. “Come here.”

He’s already on his way, wrapping me up in those steely arms and pulling me up against his chest. I hold him as tight as I can, wrapping my arms around his trim waist and keeping my head up for his forehead kiss. He palms my head on either side, helping himself to handfuls of my hair. His big body shudders against me, and I feel his lungs expand as he lets go of all that tension and breathes again. And just for a second, as I close my eyes and linger here where it’s safe and quiet and he and I are the only two people in the world, everything feels okay again.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say.

“You did.” I catch a glimpse of his flinty eyes as he comes in for another forehead kiss. “I don’t forgive you.”

This makes me smile. “It kind of feels like you’re forgiving me a little bit. Why don’t we find you a drink and see if we can get you to forgive me all the way?”

“Good idea,” he says with a final kiss as he pulls back.

“How is Ravenna?” I ask.

Those shadows take over his face again, tightening up his jaw. “Concussion, like we thought. They’re keeping her at the hospital for a night or two to run some more tests. I want them to do a full workup.”

“Good. How’s her memory?”

“The same,” he says, scowling. “So she says.”

“Hopefully it’ll come back to her now that she’s in familiar surroundings.”

A hollow smile from Lucien. “Spoken like someone who doesn’t know her the way I do.”

I can’t argue with that. “What about the police?”

“Fully briefed. They were there for a good chunk of the day. They’re doing what they always say they’re doing: looking into things.”

“That’s good. Maybe they’ll find some answers.”

“That would be a refreshing change. I was never able to figure out Ravenna’s next move. I keep hoping the professionals will. And that’s enough about Ravenna. Let’s put her on the shelf.”

My brows shoot up. “You want us to put the elephant in the room on the shelf?”

“Just for now. She’ll come off the shelf in the morning when I go back to see how she’s doing and meet with the doctors. Deal?”

“Deal. Now let’s get you that drink.”

I head toward the house with the idea of hitting the enormous bar area in the main entertaining area—I want to call it the living room, but that’s not a grand enough name for that kind of space in a house like this—but he takes my hand and tugs me toward a little path I’ve never noticed before. It works its way around the house, toward the back.

“Don’t we need the bar if we’re getting drinks?” I ask.

“I’ve got a better idea. I want to show you something. So we can kill two birds with one stone.”

He’s got an intriguing glint of mischief in his eyes, but it doesn’t strike me as sexual, thank God. “This sounds interesting. Please tell me it includes something for dinner.”

His dimples make a fleeting appearance as he flashes me a sidelong look. “When have I ever let you go hungry?”

“I’m glad you brought that up,” I say, submitting as he takes a fork in the path that leads away from the house toward a clump of mature trees at the edge of the sculpture garden. “What have you told your staff about me?”

“Nothing,” he says warily. “Why?”

“Because they’re watching me like a hawk, that’s why,” I say, scowling. “I tried to carry my own luggage to the cottage, and it caused some sort of code-red emergency. There was all kinds of consternation with people appearing out of nowhere. Then I wanted to go into the kitchen and get something to eat, but I decided against it because I didn’t want Chef or someone else to call the police on me. We’ve had enough drama around here.”

His expression clears. “I told them to take good care of you. Glad to hear they took it to heart. And…?”

“And I appreciate the hospitality, but there’s no need to make a fuss about me. I’m sure they’ve got their regular duties to keep them busy.”

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