Page 95 of Marked By Moonlight

“Shit, I need a bigger scarf. And perfume…”

Then it hit me, and I gaped at him. The other guys had been making me wear a scarf for days.

I smacked Marius on the arm and yelped, “They already know?”

At least half the commuters in our carriage looked up. The other half looked carefully away.

My cheeks burned as Marius nodded miserably.

“They’re in this with you?” I shrieked.

More looks while Marius squirmed in his seat.

“No. They just… They care about you, like I do.”

I put my face in my hands. Very sweet — in principle. Yet all I felt was burning shame.

The minute we marched into the suite where the others had spent the night, I crossed my arms and glared.

“We’ll be discussing this. Soon,” I growled, motioning to my neck.

“Talk to him, not us.” Bene pointed at Marius.

Roux shook his head firmly. “No time. We have a murder on our hands.”

He was right, and I chastised myself for being so self-centered. A woman I’d met the previous day had been brutally murdered. It was awful. If I had said or done something differently, might she still be alive now?

A knock sounded on the door, and Bene muttered, “Please, don’t let that be Gordon.”

Roux looked through the peephole, annoyed. Then he stiffened and opened the door. “Good morning, Gordon.”

I froze. Surely he was joking.

Roux shot us significant looks as he slowly opened the door. Bene winced, glancing at the empty takeout containers and paperwork littering the place. He backed toward the dining table, blocking Gordon’s view of the worst.

“Good morning?” Gordon huffed. “Good bloody morn—” He spotted me, then caught himself. “Oh hello, sweetheart.”

I hugged him, stepping sideways to make him turn toward the wall. “I’m so glad to see you. Such terrible news.”

The truth of the second half of my statement helped cover the lie of the first, and my position gave Bene a few seconds to clear the table. God, I was getting as devious as the rest of them.

“Terrible, indeed.” Gordon glared at the guys like they were to blame.

They gazed back with poker faces capable of winning millions in Vegas.

“Good to see you, sir,” Roux said smoothly. “Glad you could make the trip so quickly.”

Surprisedwas more like it.

It was close to ten a.m. When had Gordon learned about the murder, and how had he gotten to London so quickly?

Private jetanswered the transportation part, but what about the rest?

“We were just discussing… Well…” Roux hesitated, looking at me.

Everyone’s eyes followed, as if I were a child who hadn’t yet figured out there was no tooth fairy.

“Discussing what to tell the police if they question what business we had with Raisa,” I said flatly, looking right at Gordon. Unlike Mallorca, there was no need for secrecy about my involvement here.