Page 63 of Savage Seduction

“Thank you, Nana.” I give her another quick hug until London pulls at me to follow her upstairs.

“Max and I have to do some studying upstairs,” London explains.

“I thought finals were over. Didn’t you say you passed that exam?” Nana cocks her head, giving London the side-eye. “Don’t lie to me now.”

“She means we have some studying to do for work,” I quickly say. “I have a big new exhibit I’m helping put together at the museum. Have you seen the advertising for the King Tut Exhibition?”

Nana claps her hands together, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, Maximo. I am so proud of you. I knew once you had your foot in the door at that big stuffy museum, they’d be needing your help to keep it going.”

I feel my cheeks warm. “I don’t know about all that, but the King Tutankhamun Show and Exhibition is set to open in a couple of weeks and there’s a ton of work still to do to get it ready. London’s been helping me learn as much of the history as possible so I can impress my boss.” It’s not a total lie. London is going to help me research, and there is history involved; I just leave out the part about it being my own personal history and the madman who’s after me.

Nana shushes us toward the stairs. “You two have fun now.”

“Thank you.” I smile and start up the steps.

“Don’t forget though,” Nana calls after us. “This old house has creaky floors and I’m tired. Don’t keep me up all night with you two dancing to Madonna or some other new jive you call music these days.”

Madonna? “I give you my word,” I assure her, hand on my heart. “We’ll keep it down… sleep well.”

She blows us a kiss and hobbles slowly back toward her bedroom.

“I love her,” I whisper to London as we reach the second-floor landing.

“She’s something special. You know what she told me about you?” London asks as we continue to her room.

“About me?” I inquire.

She nods, opening her room door. “She told me that if I were ever to get pregnant, she hopes it’s yours.”

I make a face. “I thought she knew I was gay.”

“Oh, she does,” London replies as she shuts the door. “But she said we’d make beautiful babies… not like her best friend Natasha’s grandkids, who she refers to as unfortunate.”

I stifle a laugh. “She’s hilarious.”

London sits in front of her computer. “Pull up a chair.”

I slide the rocking chair next to her and sit. “Before we start, I have to tell you something. I went for coffee with Ben, and it went really well.”

“Uh, huh,” London responds, distracted.

“It wasn’t easy, but I told him pretty much everything. Well, not everything… but more than I’ve told anyone other than you in a very long time.”

“Uh, huh,” she repeats.

“Are you even listening to me?” I ask. “You were the one who wanted details, and now you seem distracted.”

She shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ve heard a single word you’ve said… I have some crazy stuff to get to and you’re not going to be thinking about your date either in a minute.”

“You’re making me nervous,” I admit. “What did you find? Is this the stuff you had to show me in person?”

London pulls out her laptop and sets it on the desk next to the desktop monitor. The screens sync. “I’m going to use both computers to help hide our location.”

“Really?”

“That’s the simplified version, yes.” She nods. “I was online earlier, around the time I called you to come over. Someone was tracking me. I did everything I could to evade them. Pretty sure I managed to, but it was close.”

“Who was it? Were you able to track them back?”

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