Page 98 of I Knew You Were Trouble

Other than asking her outright, which would reveal my hand in the mix-up, I have no way of knowing. Unless…

After replying to Kate, I fire off a message to Marie. She keeps all kinds of odd hours and is constantly travelling for work, so I’ll either hear from her in the next few minutes or not until the end of the day.

It’s the former. A minute after sending the message, she replies:

Confirming they shared a room. Seen leaving hotel this morning, hand in hand.

Hand in hand! I have no idea how Marie procuredthatinformation, but it’s what we call in the matchmaking biz ‘proof of romantic entanglement’.

‘Yes,’ I whisper, punching the air.

‘That’s either good news, or you’ve started without me,’ says Tristan dryly.

I glance over and he’s watching me through slitted eyes, one hand lazily petting Saffron, who’s purring loudly.

‘Good morning, babe. I haven’t started without you – we can do that later,’ I say, casually moving sex with my hot husband down on the schedule. ‘It’s my client – she and the potential love interest spent the night together in Verona.’

‘The client who’s engaged to your boyfriend?’ he teases, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

‘Hilarious,’ I retort. ‘And yes.’

Tristan sniggers, then his eyes narrow again. ‘Hold on, I thought this case was about retribution.’

‘It still is. But now there’s a potential HEA.’

‘Since when?’

‘Since my client spent the night with the love interest,’ I state matter-of-factly.

‘Makes perfect sense,’ he quips, his head shaking slightly.

‘It doesn’t, not really,’ I acknowledge, ‘especially as, until recently, I didn’t think Kate was ready to get involved with someone new – not this soon after finding out about Dunn.’

‘What changed your mind?’

‘Freya and George. They helped me see the situation differently,’ I admit. ‘Nearly six years in and I’m still evolving as a matchmaker. Andthatcould mean an HEA for someone who came to me seeking revenge.Revenge, Tris. Talk about a turnaround.’

We share a smile that speaks to a deep understanding of how invested I am in my career, how much I love what I do.

Neither of ushasto work any more, not with Tristan’s inheritance and how shrewdly he’s invested it. Financially, we’re set for life, but it has never occurred to either of us to simply stop working. Tristan loves his job as much as I love mine.

‘And how do you know they spent the night together?’ he asks.

‘Marie,’ I reply with a waggle of my brows.

Tristan’s eyes widen. ‘So, you had Marie spy on your client?’

‘Yep.’

‘I see, and is this something you’ve done before?’

‘Spying?’ I ask, stalling. Because the only other time I’ve spied on a client, it was Tristan – long before we recognised we were into each other – andIwas the spy.

‘Mm-hmm,’ he replies.

‘Maybe.’

It must click why I’m being cagey, and he sits up suddenly and gawps at me. ‘Was itme?’

---