Page 134 of Brushed By Moonlight

No loss to the world,I couldn’t help thinking.

Henrik scowled. “Lucky? No. She tried. I stopped her just in time.”

Too bad,I nearly blurted.

“Then what? Don’t tell me you let her go?” Roux demanded.

Henrik flapped a hand. “It seemed like a fair trade.”

Bene snorted. “Let me guess. You were too sluggish to stop her.”

“I might have been,” Henrik admitted, closing his eyes and settling back.

Mina reappeared alone, shooting daggers at Henrik.

“Dammit. Celeste could be heading for Gordon with a full report right now,” Roux muttered.

Henrik shook his head. “Celeste won’t talk. I made sure of that.”

“How?” Roux demanded.

Mina made a face, muttering, “Do we want to know?”

“Simple,” Henrik said. “I made it clear the way things stood.”

I huffed. “Like what? That our original plan failed? That Mina is in Mallorca with us?”

Henrik shook his head. “Our plan was working. It was Celeste who nearly botched the job. She’s the one who has to worry aboutustalking to Gordon, as I made perfectly clear.”

Bene snorted. “Before or after she took you to bed?”

Henrik gave him an icy look. “Both, if you must know.”

Roux’s brow furrowed. “He’s right. Celeste won’t want to discuss the details of last night with Gordon any more than we do.”

I grumbled in disgust, but the tiger had a point.

“She won’t talk,” Henrik said with whatever smug dignity he could gather. “So, a win-win in the end.”

“Except for Delphine,” Mina growled.

Henrik pretended not to hear. What an ass.

Mina went on pacing. “What about Baumann and Dobrov? You’re not worried about them coming after us or demanding an investigation?”

“Nah. As far as they know, you three died in the fire,” Bene said cheerily.

My dragon snarled viciously.

Roux didn’t seem offended by the comment. “They’ll assume the paintings were lost in the fire. And Baumann won’t encourage a detailed police investigation, because he can’t admit to keeping anyone prisoner or inviting an illicit art dealer to his party. That would ruin his reputation.”

Mina scoffed. “Reputation? He’s the worst kind of criminal.”

“Well, that’s the way the world works,” Bene said, digging into his eggs and toast.

We absorbed that cheery message in glum silence. But birds sang from the trees, and the wind whispered through the olive grove. The sun warmed my face, and Mina’s presence did too. So, maybe the world didn’t run on such a shitty premise after all. At least, not entirely. There was peace and beauty to be found in it too. Maybe even love.

The next time Mina paced by, I caught her hand and held it.