Page 71 of Hunters and Hydrangeas

The humor has leeched from Alfred’s face. “Do you have any idea how short your life will be if you kill a son of the Staulington line?”

“Do you have any idea how much I don’t give a crap? Where’s Sophia?”

“No? Well, maybe yougive a crapabout your girl. She’s the pre-vamp Ethan was so enamored with, isn’t she? Although she’s not a pre-vamp anymore. Gerald will beveryinterested once he finds out Cassian’s pet is one of his.” He smiles like a snake. “Get off me, and I might do you a favor and not tell him.”

“Piper is Cassian’s.” Noah shoves the stake closer, making the vampire wince.

Alfred’s gaze cuts over to me again, confused by Noah’s confident answer. “Not from where I’m standing.”

It occurs to me that Alfred is old enough to read my line, which isn’t terribly helpful right now.

“Sam is from the Sorin line,” I quietly admit to Noah. “He’s not one of Sophia’s. Cassian told me last night.”

Still holding Alfred against the wall, Noah half turns his head to look at me. “Sorin?”

“That’s right,” Alfred answers for me. “Gerald’s line.”

“What would Gerald want with her?” Noah demands.

Alfred’s eyebrows fly up, and then he laughs, abundantly amused that we’re missing something.

Noah yanks him forward and then slams him against the wall. “Tell me.”

Someone is going to call the front desk any minute.

Alfred grins. “You really are bad at your job.”

“Sophia was working for Gerald, wasn’t she?” Noah snarls. “He hired her, and he’s the one trying to keep Cassian off the throne.”

“Congratulations,” Alfred says condescendingly. “You almost figured it out on your own.”

“How are you involved?”

“I merely have bad taste in women. What can I say? I like them deadly and emotionally unavailable. Larissa fit the bill.”

“How is Larissa involved? Isn’t she estranged from her house?”

“Listen, I’d love to continue this conversation, but I’m finding it difficult to breathe with that stake pressing into my ribs. How about we meet tonight? I’ll give you a tour of my yacht—it’s new, you know. I worked with Traejen personally for a custom build. It cost a fortune, and it took a full year of negotiations, but I secured everything I wanted.”

“Good for you,” Noah says dryly.

“So, what do you say? Eight o’clock? I’ll have my people send your people the address.”

“What’s going to keep you from skipping town?”

“We both know you’ll have someone tailing me the second I leave the hotel. In fact, you probably have them on the line now.” He gestures toward Noah’s pocket. “Hello, Cassian.”

“Alfred,” Cassian says from Noah’s pocket, making me jump. Sure enough, Noah had him on speakerphone, just as he did when Sam ambushed us. It’s a handy trick.

“Eight o’clock,” Noah confirms, lowering the stake and stepping back, partially blocking me.

“Be sure to bring your girl.” Alfred nods my way as he passes me, heading for the elevators. “Let’s keep NIHA out of it, though, all right? The fewer people who know what line she belongs to, the better. News travels so fast after all—I swear vampires are the biggest gossips.”

Unsettled, I watch him walk down the hall and eventually disappear into an elevator.

As soon as he’s gone, Noah turns his attention to his phone. “When, exactly, were you going to tell me Piper belongs to House Sorin?”

“About the time I successfully transferred her into my house,” Cassian answers, unrepentant.

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