“You know he caught me and Sarah scrapping earlier?”
“Scrapping?” Milan frowned, not understanding.
“Fighting,” she translated.
“No shit! I thought Sarah looked…less polished than usual. Why were you fighting?” He chuckled, seemingly delighted at the idea.
“Over you,” said Lydia bluntly.
They had arrived at an emergency exit. Milan pushed the bar and opened the door, taking them out into the clear summer night.
“Let’s go into Kensington Gardens,” she suggested. “It’ll be quiet there.”
Chapter Fifteen
They walked on in silence, avoiding the crowds that were milling out of the concert hall. They crossed the road and headed into the park, only stopping when they arrived at the Albert Memorial.
Another woman’s monument to a hopeless, deathless passion, thought Lydia. How appropriate.
They leaned against the railings, looking up at the high-gothic architecture for a moment before Milan spoke.
“So? What did you want to say? And why were you fighting over me?”
“Are you and Sarah very…close?” Lydia tried to pick her words carefully, having no idea how Milan was going to react to this.
“You want me to talk about Sarah? To you? I don’t think I can.”
“Okay, I’ll put this another way. How do you feel about Julius Hackmeyer?”
Milan turned to her, frowning in bemusement.
“I think you know. I think von Ritter will have put you in the picture.”
“Partially. He’s never told me the full story. But I know there’s bad feeling between you.”
Lydia paused. She was going to have to blurt it out.
“And he and Sarah…”
“Oh, I know she used to see him. That’s what interested me about her.”
“You wanted to get some stupid revenge on Hackmeyer by dating his ex-girlfriend?”
“No, no, not revenge. It just seemed…fun. A good joke, you know? And I like her.”
“But did you know she was still seeing Hackmeyer?”
Lydia felt Milan’s arm, which had been resting against hers, tense. The answer to that was no, then.
“She isn’t.”
“She is. I saw them
together, in an…intimate setting. They planned to let you find out before the concert. I think they were hoping I would tell you—that’s why they went to the same club as von Ritter and I on the same night. They wanted it to unsettle you, sabotage your big moment.”
“You are serious? You saw them together? Where? Some club?”
“A club von Ritter goes to sometimes.” Lydia wasn’t comfortable with the idea of disclosing her dabblings in BDSM to Milan.