Page 73 of Marked By Moonlight

Ping!His phone chimed with a message he read aloud.

“Apparently, the countess is unavailable to view the painting in person. She’s doing a photo shoot in Bali.”

“Bummer,” Bene lamented.

Roux crossed her name off the list. “That leaves us with three.”

“Who do you think the client will choose?” Bene asked.

I shrugged. “I find her impossible to predict.”

He stood and reached into a massive feline stretch, then scratched his belly. “I wonder how long this will take, and where Gordon will send us afterward to wait for our next assignment.”

“Back to Château Nocturne,” Marius said, as if it were obvious.

Henrik’s eyes hit the floor, while Roux and Bene glanced at each other, then at me.

“Not the château?” Marius asked, puzzled.

I bit my lip. Had I made the right decision?

“Henrik has not proven that he can follow the rules,” I said in a major understatement. “I’ll be letting Gordon know when we finish here in London.”

“And if he’s out, we’re all out.” Bene glared at the vampire.

Marius stared at me, and I burned to say something like,I was kind of hoping you and I could work something out.

But he’d barely spoken a word to me since that night in Paris. And no matter how my body burned for his — more than ever lately, for reasons I couldn’t explain — that didn’t exactly form a solid foundation to build a healthy relationship upon.

“Maybe you could reconsider,” Bene tried.

“You mean, reconsider if I want to be alive or dead?” I snipped, glaring at Henrik.

“I apologize. A thousand times,” the vampire said, sounding genuinely contrite. “If I could go back in time and change what happened, I would.”

“Well, you can’t go back in time. Especially once someone is dead,” I snapped, cutting him no slack.

Bene scratched his head. “Maybe we can find a better solution.”

I was all ears, but no one said a word. And even if they’d been bursting with ideas, there was another complication.

I swallowed hard. “That will be tricky, now that I’ve agreed to host the regional police championships at the château.”

Everyone stared.

“The regional police championships?” Marius’s voice registered hurt and betrayal.

If I could have shrunk to the size of a mouse and scurried away, I would have.

Instead, I forced my chin up and indicated Henrik. “Are you telling me I have grounds to reconsider?”

Marius’s throat bobbed, and even Henrik appeared mired in a well of regret.

Roux shook his head. “No. You’re right, and we have to live with that.”

My heart sank. Could they, though? And could I live with myself if the consequences were as dire as they’d hinted?

I glanced at Marius, hoping to find understanding in his eyes. But his face hardened, and he turned coldly to the door.