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Elise rolled her eyes to herself But she did owe Peyton Unfortunately "You are such an egoist"

"Ha! If I’ in trouble? I’d call that accuracy, not ego, when it cood"

"I’ll see you soon"

"I bet you can’t wait, either Buh-bye"

First stop actually turned out to be Elise’s fao into her father’s house alone As he waited on her frozen front lawn, he wondered what it would be like to live in a place like that With servants, and a museuht of his unheated, dingy cottage

Had his mother made it happen? he wondered Had she o? Mistress of a house just like this one?

Was she happy--assu she was alive? Hell … did she ever think of him? Wonder what had happened to the son she had left behind?

As Elise eed out of the front door, he could tell by the skip in her step that all ell Her father hadn’t caught on

"Are you ready?" she asked as she ca okay with your father?"

"No proble Peyton out, with you as an accompaniment, and he was fine with that"

Axe almost kissed her But then he remembered that there were probably security cameras all over the outside of the mansion and around the property Shit, he was still worried whether anyone had seen their little clinch behind the old oak tree the other night

"Let’s go" She srin a little "And brace yourself, Peyton thinks he’s a god because he rewired the GPS systeht us that--should have thought of it od, it’s only because his bong is telling hiain"

Axe dematerialized don first and checked the alleyway Then he texted Peyton’s phone, which Elise still had, and told her to co ahead

"This feels like a date," she said as they walked around to the front of the cigar club "Don’t you think?"

As she took his hand and kept holding it, he frowned "Are you sure you want to come out of the closet with ht? I have nothing to hide"

"Once Pandora’s box is opened, you can’t shut it back up"

"I’m not afraid Are you?"