‘What on earth is that?’
He opened one eye and frowned. ‘Don’t interrupt me! I’m concentrating.’
I leaned back and kept my mouth shut, doing everything I could not to grin. After several seconds, he looked at me again. ‘The Lia Saifire is in the possession of a young Sidhe man. He has dark hair, two adorable dimples in his chubby little cheeks and he’s staying at the Astor Hotel in room number 907. Ta da!’ His brow creased. ‘Hold on. Where are we right now?’
‘We’re on the floor next to a coffee table.’
‘The floor where?’ Bob’s eyes narrowed. ‘Wait a minute. We’re in the Astor Hotel too! You bitch! You tricked me! That’s what you wanted to know all along!’
‘Oops.’
‘I hate you, Uh Integrity.’
‘Sorry, Bob,’ I said, obviously not sorry at all. ‘Knock knock.’
Bob sniffed loudly. ‘Who’s there? Bitch.’
‘Raoul.’
‘Raoul who?’
I gave him a serious look. ‘Raoul with the punches.’
‘I hate you!’ he howled.
‘Bye Bob. Go back and catch up on your sleep.’
He waved his fists in the air. ‘I’m going to pay you back, you know.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ I nudged him gently with the tip of my finger. ‘Go on. Off you go.’
He turned his back on me and folded his arms. ‘I’m not talking to you.’
‘I deserve that.’
‘You’re damn right you do.’ Without another glance at me, he leapt back into the letter opener. I only just managed to shield my eyes in time. ‘Sorry,’ I murmured again. ‘Needs must though.’
I returned the blade to its sheath and considered what he’d told me. I knew exactly who he was referring to. What didn’t make sense was why Byron had palmed off the jewel to one of his entourage rather than keeping it for himself. Unless it was a gift, of course. A pretty expensive gift, though.
I leaned back on my hands. It appeared I’d been attempting to seduce the wrong Sidhe. Oh well. It was a lady’s prerogative to change her mind. I pushed away the flicker of disappointment. From the blush I’d received from my new target in the bar yesterday, he’d be far easier to manage than Byron. I just needed to shift gears slightly.
I got to my feet and yanked down my dress. As I was about to pull on my shoes and leave, I heard the buzz of voices right outside the door. Shite. I grabbed the shoes, my bag and the letter opener and made a dash for the spare bedroom. Byron’s timing sucked.
Chapter Eight
I pushed myself into the corner of the room away from the door. In theory, I no longer needed to spy on Byron and find out what he was doing. but it was possible he was with his Sidhe mate who had the Lia Saifire. That would be useful to know. When I peered through the open gap, it certainly wasn’t so I could catch another glimpse of the Moncrieffe heir. No sirree.
There was only one person with Byron and it wasn’t Mr Dimples. It was some massive guy who was blocking my view. I wrinkled my nose. Come on. Get out of the way. I could hear Byron chatting about something to do with keys, which made next to no sense to me. The big guy shifted his weight. Jeez. He was the size of a freaking Wild Man. A second after that that thought, I smelled the cloves. No. Sodding. Way.
My heart hammering against my chest, I pulled back from the door and pressed against the wall. Why would the Wild Man enforcer be here with Byron? It wouldn’t make sense unless he was working for him. Unless Byron himself was the moneylender who’d bought Taylor’s loan. Several pieces slotted into place. I was a complete and utter fool. I thought I’d been manipulating him when all along he’d been the one manipulating me.
I thought of the letter I’d received demanding my presence at the Sidhe court. The one that had made me ramp up my plans to leave Aberdeen. When I didn’t answer, Byron must have put his own plans into action.
He dangled the cherry of the Lia Saifire in front of our eyes then yanked it away, ensuring at the same time that the jewel’s whereabouts were well publicised. He found a weak spot with Taylor and bought his loan, then demanded immediate repayment – along with impossible interest – to force the issue. Who else but a Sidhe princeling could pull the police’s strings and get Brochan and Speck arrested on nonsensical charges? Byron pretended to be into me while I pretended ? sort of pretended ? to be into him. He made me promise to come back tonight. All this was part of some elaborate plot to make me do as he wished and go to the Sidhe court. I still had no idea why but I didn’t bloody care. The utter wanker. The total bastard. The…
‘You can come out now, Integrity.’
I swore bitterly and flung open the door, glaring at him. ‘You prick,’ I hissed. ‘You set me up.’
He linked his hands behind his head and grinned at me. ‘You set me up too.’