My eyes cut to her. “It doesn’t matter if it’s real. He’s not going to leave Carina. Why encourage her if he’s only going to hurt her? The man is married.”
“Then he shouldn’t have joined the society.” Her voice was angry.
“You’re annoyed with Sebastian, not me.”
“Maybe both of you.”
I leaned to kiss her on the cheek. “While you figure that out, I’m going to sign irrigation law and pay Lesage five million dollars for my freedom.”
I saw the smile sneak on her lips.
“Do you have to leave so soon?”
I looked at my watch. “I have ten minutes. Join me in the shower.”
She nodded.
And I realized this was how mornings were supposed to start.
36
Molly
It was strange to have all my things in a new set of apartments. My rooms were joined to Damon’s. On the other side of his spare bedroom was a corridor that connected his suite to mine. I didn’t need a set of rooms, but I realized that while I worked on my dissertation it was nice to have a space to spread out. I didn’t have to worry about Brooklyn stacking up my notecards.
I had left her a voicemail and sent two texts. She hadn’t responded. I’d try her again after lunch.
I had two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, an enormous bathroom, and a closet as big as a garage. There was no kitchen. Whatever I wanted came from the royal kitchen. There chefs on staff ready to cook anything the royals wanted, no matter what time it was.
I opened my laptop. Palace cyber security was at an all-time high. One of the tech guys had to reprogram my laptop with encrypted codes so that it couldn’t be hacked when I was out. As the king’s newest advisor that was a threat that concerned the intelligence force.
I wasn’t going to tell them I wasn’t an actual advisor. I let them do what they needed and waited to get my laptop back.
The screen lit up and I clicked on my email. I had poured a second cup of coffee after my shower with Damon. I wasn’t sure how we had mixed being so dirty with clean, but it was a fun experiment. I giggled to myself.
I deleted a few of the coupons in my inbox. Then I saw it.
The email popped open and I read it faster than any other message.
“Oh my God.” I placed the mug on the desk. I couldn’t believe it. I held my breath as if that was somehow going to affect the outcome of the message.
It had happened. London had accepted my request.
I read the email again, much slower this time.
I jumped from the chair, throwing my arms in the air. “Yes!” I spun around.
Six weeks in London at the XX, locked in a vault with rare texts. It was a career dream. My dream. I could almost smell the pages.
But oh holy shit. Damon was never going to be ok with that.
And my stomach flipped, realizing I didn’t know if I was either.
I was positioned at one end of the dining room table. I decided this was the best place to line up the notecards. I wasn’t going to host any state dinners here. It was unused space, and from what I gathered, the apartments were closed up when there weren’t occupants.
I looked
up when my new suite manager knocked.