Page 8 of Control's Undoing

Colum tilted his head curiously, making her wonder if he understood the question.“I’m the archivist.”

Annie was torn between groaning in frustration or laughing out loud.She was leaning toward the latter because it was clear Colum wasn’t being obtuse, wasn’t purposely avoiding her questions.

Instead, he was giving her blunt, honest—far too simple—responses, and strangely, she found it endearing.

Before she could ask what exactly the archivist did—God help her if he said run the archive, because she reallywouldlose it—there was another knock at the door.

Colum sighed, his shoulders slumping as he turned to answer.While she was attempting to hide her amusement, Colum made no bones about the fact he wasn’t pleased to have visitors—expected or not.

Annie peered over Colum’s shoulder as he opened the door, spotting a tall dark-haired man she assumed was Xavier Allard.

Annie had been recruited to join the Trinity Masters when she was twenty-four, and in the years since, she’d never been directly contacted by the Grand Master.Her membership hadn’t involved anything more than attending the annual galas held at the Boston Public Library, where members of the secret society gathered to socialize and network, and waiting for her arranged marriage.

So she was surprised when she’d received a phone call from the Grand Master a week and a half earlier, asking her to travel to Ireland to help deal with an issue.

To say she’d been shocked, not only by the request but by the Grand Master’s revelation that there was another secret society like the Trinity Masters in Europe, would be an understatement.

In the days since that phone call from the Grand Master, her curiosity over this mission had grown.As of right now, she’d been given few details about what it was she was being asked to do.The Grand Master had simply sent her flight details for her trip to Dublin, informing her she would meet with two members of the European secret society, Colum O’Connor and Xavier Allard, and all would be explained to her.

She hoped it was Xavier who was doing the explaining, or they could be here until the Rapture trying to draw the details out of Colum.

Unlike her, Xavier stayed silent once Colum opened the door, his posture almost indolent.Awkward silence ticked by and Annie bit down on the urge to say something.When Xavier arched one dark brow, Colum offered him the same wordless invitation to enter, stepping aside without even saying hello.

“Xavier?”Annie asked, smiling.

Xavier’s dark gaze slid to her.Whoa.She felt his attention land on her almost like it was a physical pressure.Intense, probing, and there was something almost cruel in the slight smile that curved up one corner of his mouth, drawing her attention to his well-trimmed beard.

Xavier was at least half a foot taller than her, with a trim, almost lanky frame.His jet-black hair hung low over his forehead, though that was clearly a style choice as opposed to Colum’s shaggy, two-months-overdue-for-a-haircut appearance.Xavier’s eyes were as dark as his hair and framed with long, thick lashes most women would pay big bucks for.He wore tailored slacks and a black turtleneck under a long camel-colored coat and port-wine-colored scarf.It was fashionable in that effortless way that said either everything he wore was expensive, or he knew how to put in a lot of effort to look effortless.

If she hadn’t already known he was French, the chic outfit would have given it away.It basically screamed, “I’m French.”

“Oui.And you’re Annie Ward.”

“I am.”She shook his hand, smiling warmly before gesturing to Colum.“And this is Colum O’Connor, the archivist,” she added at the last minute, just for shits and giggles.

Colum nodded once, seemingly pleased that she’d handled the introductions, then ran his hand through his hair a few times.One bit stuck up, thanks to the finger-combing, and she resisted the urge to flatten it down.

“Master of the archive,” Xavier said, his tone impressed in a way Annie didn’t understand.“Interesting that I didn’t know this existed.”

Colum lifted his shoulders slowly, though Annie wasn’t sure if that was meant to be his response or if he was uncomfortable by the question.She hadn’t known it existed, but she wasn’t a member of the Masters’ Admiralty.Xavier was, so…was the archive a secret?Her shoulders twitched with an uneasy feeling, but she forced it down.

Xavier didn’t notice the silence, still taking in his surroundings.Like Colum, Xavier was attractive, but while the archivist’s looks were unassuming, Xavier’s dark-eyed intensity, and the vague air of disdain, definitely added to his appeal.

“Why am I here?”Xavier’s cold tone as he addressed Colum made Annie’s eyes narrow.She felt oddly protective of the archivist, even though they’d just met.

“Why amIhere?”she asked in a much kinder tone.“I came all the way from New York.”Annie kept the smile on her face, widening it to show her teeth when Xavier looked over at her.

Xavier’s gaze slid down to her feet then back up.Damn it, that should have been insulting, not hot.She returned the favor, looking him over, then pursing her lips in a “not bad” expression that made his eyes narrow.She suppressed a smile.

Xavier and Annie both looked at Colum, and he almost visibly shrank under their gazes.

“I mean…” Colum ran his hand through his hair, and now, several more strands were standing straight up.

“Colum,” Annie said.“Is there somewhere more comfortable where we can all sit down and talk?”There was only one chair in the office, and she had come directly here from the airport, failing to get much sleep on the red-eye from JFK to Dublin, too keyed up about the trip.

Colum nodded, jerking his head toward a staircase near the front door.“We can go up there,” he said, leading the way.

Xavier lifted his hand, gesturing for her to go ahead of him.

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