Page 41 of Stripped

Ailsa looked around. "I got a text you would be staying here. I brought some fresh scones." She set a basket down on the table.

"Wraith isn't here."

Ailsa looked up at her, her eyes darkened in shadow. "Wraith," she said it as if it were the first time she'd heard the name.

Pim nodded. "I assumed you two were friends."

Ailsa shook her head. "I've never met Wraith. We had a mutual friend, my personal protection officer, Agent McFadden, and he were friends."

"Were?" Pim questioned, speculating just how Wraith was connected to the Duke and Duchess of Torridon.

"He passed away in the line of duty almost a year ago."

'Men died in my care because of my decisions.' And she wondered, not for the first time, what exactly he really did."I'm sorry," she said.

The duchess' eyes focused on the bed. The blankets and sheets lay in disarray, Wraith's dress shirt and slacks haphazardly discarded on the ground and his belt still fixed to the headboard. Pim felt the heat of a blush stain her cheeks, and her bottom, where he'd spanked her, throbbed with humiliation. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I never introduced myself. I'm Pim."

Ailsa smiled, turning a blind eye to the bed. "I know. I saw you dance the other night. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I'm sorry about your grandfather."

Pim nodded. "Thank you. That's right, I remember seeing you backstage. The whole night is a bit of a blur."

"You were with Wraith?"

She nodded, remembering now how odd it was he'd kissed her then.

"I should get going. It will be time for his nap soon," Ailsa said, patting the baby's back.

"He's precious. What's his name?"

"Robert. We call him Robbie." Ailsa kissed the top of his head. "I'll come back later and drop off dinner."

"Thank you, Duchess."

"It's just Ailsa." She paused at the door, as if she wanted to say something else. "He's happy? Wraith, that is. It would be important to McFadden that he be happy."

Pim's eyes narrowed. "He's complicated."

That made the duchess laugh, for some reason. "I'll see you in a bit."

Pim shut the door behind her. Picking up Wraith's clothes, she tidied up the cottage. Someone knocked on the door again. What now? She opened it, expecting to find the duchess. The needle of the syringe hit her neck before she knew what was happening and everything went dark around her.

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