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Without a word, they climbed in, the vehicle pulling calmly away from the curb.

ChapterSeven

Colum: Can you find someone attractive and terrifying at the same time?

Franco: …

Franco: You’ve met my wife, right?

Unsurprisingly, the ride from the museum to the hotel was made in silence, as Colum and Xavier each stared into the distance, trying to come to grips with what had just happened.

Annie didn’t expect that silence to last.As they stepped onto the elevator, Xavier began muttering curses in French under his breath, while Colum ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief, speaking a lot of half-finished sentences.“I just… I can’t… I don’t… Sweet suffering Jaysus, that was…”

Yep.The shock was wearing off.

Colum had held it together better in the moment, but now that they were safe, he was devolving.Annie sighed and leaned back against the elevator wall.They needed to get it out of their systems.

Once the elevator reached their floor, they stepped off, walking toward their rooms.When they reached her door, Annie turned to face them.“So,” she began.

“Don’t say good night.”Xavier was still looking a little wild-eyed.“We’re not going to bed without talking about…” He pointed emphatically at his own eyeball.

It hadn’t been her intention to stay good night.It wasn’t a good idea to leave either of them alone in their present state.She could see they were freaking out.“I was going to ask if you wanted to come in.I have another bottle of Chardonnay.”

“I don’t think wine is going to touch the edge of this,” Colum said.

“Even so.”Annie unlocked the door to her room, gesturing for them to enter.Once they were all inside, she closed the door, leaning against it, suddenly weary from too many days of bouncing across the Atlantic.Her body was screwed up timewise, and all she wanted was to sleep for the next twelve hours.Unfortunately, that much-needed sleep was nowhere on the horizon.

The instant the door was closed, Xavier let out a string of rapid-fire French while pointing and gesticulating for emphasis.He was clearly talking to her—he was looking right at her—but she had no idea what he was saying.

Colum put a hand on Xavier’s shoulder.“You’re speaking French.”

Xavier sputtered to a stop, and for the first time, he looked younger, almost boyish.Most of the time, she’d describe him as sexy in a dangerous, smoldering way, but right now, he was flustered, and it was seriously cute.

Xavier heaved a sigh as he looked over at Colum, then closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, it was the sharp, dark stare she was used to.“You murdered someone.”

Annie scoffed.“Jesus.Is that what you’ve been thinking?I didn’t kill him.It was a small knife.The blade wasn’t long enough to pierce his brain.Or if it did, it wasn’t long enough to do any serious damage.But the shock and pain would have dropped him for a minute.He was moving when we left.”

“It wasn’t…” Xavier threw his hands in the air as he began pacing.He took two circuits before looking at Colum.“You saw it, yes?The knifein his eyeball.”

Colum glanced from Xavier to Annie.“That was a fecking lucky throw.”

Annie crossed her arms and waited.

“Unless…” Colum tilted his head, swallowing hard.“It wasn’t lucky.”

She wished this conversation wasn’t necessary.It wasn’t as if she was trying to hide her past.Most of her close friends knew about her former career.It was simply that, while she considered herself an open and friendly person, she didn’t spill her guts to every stranger she met.Plus, she loved her life, loved the person she’d become.There were times when she looked back on her past as if she was watching someone else.

Regardless, it didn’t look like she had much of a choice tonight.The heated looks Xavier and Colum had been giving her earlier in the evening were gone as they stared at her like she was a stranger, and not one they were particularly happy to meet.

“Why did you have a knife?”Xavier asked.“Twoknives.”

She lifted one shoulder casually.“I didn’t think we should go in there without a weapon.”

“We must go back.”Xavier stopped pacing right in front of her, face etched with alarm.“The knife.It’s still there!It’ll have your fingerprints on it.The police can trace?—”

“I’m not an idiot,” Annie interjected.“I didn’t leave the knife.”Reaching into her pocket, she pulled the blade out.It was still covered in bodily fluids.