The Aristocrat

“I’m…going to visit a friend.”

“That’s not what I asked. Are they expecting you?”

“No.”

“You don’t have an appointment?”

Shit. I hadn’t thought about the logistics of this. It wasn’t like I was visiting Leo at a normal house. It hadn’t occurred to me that I might have trouble gaining access. “Um…I’m just going to wing it.”

“With all due respect, madam, I don’t want to be privy to your antics if this is some sort of stalker situation.”

What? I shook my head. “I promise it’s nothing like that.”

He sighed but kept on driving. Eventually, we arrived at what I assumed was the Covington estate. There was a long road that served as a driveway and then a fountain at the end of it. The brick property was surrounded by rolling, green hills and looked like something out of a movie—otherworldly.

The closer he drove to the main building, the harder my heart beat. There was no going back now. I just wished I’d realized sooner that this was going to be more complicated than ringing a doorbell and having Leo answer. I might have gone to Harvard and graduated law school, but sometimes I wasn’t very bright.

The driver pulled up to the front, and with wobbly legs, I got out of the vehicle. After I shut the door, he took off. I’d planned to ask him to wait for me, but he never gave me the chance.

Shit! He really did think I was a stalker and didn’t want to be associated with me. Thanks for your support, asshole.

With my pulse racing, I ascended the steps to the massive and ornate front door, flanked by two gigantic pillars. I rang the doorbell, which almost mimicked church bells.

A few seconds later, a man dressed in a black suit opened it. “May I help you?”

The words hardly came out. “Yes. I’m here to see Leo Covington.”

His brow lifted. “I trust he’s expecting you?”

“No, actually. I don’t have an appointment. But he knows who I am and would want to know I’m here.”

His eyes narrowed. “Your name?”

I cleared my throat. “Felicity Dunleavy.”

He pulled a device from his pocket that looked like a walkie talkie and spoke into it. He was so quiet that I didn’t understand what he said.

Then a much larger man appeared in the doorway. “Miss, we don’t let anyone into this house who does not have an appointment. If he were expecting you, he would have notified us. We keep a list of guests who are expected to arrive each day, and you’re not on it.”

“I understand. You have security measures you need to abide by. I’m not asking that you let me in, only that you let him know that I’m here.”

“If we bothered him whenever a random stranger showed up and tried to gain entry, surely neither of us would have a job,” one of the men said.

My heart began to race. “Listen, I’m an old friend of his. I absolutely guarantee if you tell him I’m here, he will not fire you.”

The two men looked at each other. A sheen of sweat formed on my forehead. This was not a scenario I had anticipated, despite the many ways I’d imagined the moment I showed up at his door.

“If you’re truly an old friend,” the smaller man said, “you should be able to contact him directly. He would then put you on an approved list of people allowed to enter this home. Until then, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises.”

This was not good. I did still have Leo’s number, and I supposed I could call him. But that seemed like a brash and informal way of letting him know I was here.

But it seemed I had no choice. I went to lift my phone from my purse, but after much patting at the bottom, I realized it wasn’t in there. I was so discombobulated this morning that I must have left it at Lavinia’s.

Shit! What do I do now? I looked up at the men blocking my path. “Listen, I really need your help. I’ve come all the way from the United States. I understand that he doesn’t know I’m here, but I promise you he won’t be mad if you just tell him—”

The door shut in my face.

The silence was deafening.

I can’t believe this is happening. I looked around and debated whether to scream. Somehow, I didn’t think that would go off well around here. But how else was I supposed to get to Leo?

Without a clue what else to do, I rang the doorbell again.

The larger man immediately answered. “Shutting the door was your cue to leave with some dignity. I didn’t want to have to use force to remove you from the property. But I’m afraid if you continue to insist on entering, I will have no choice but to carry you off the premises.”