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"Yes?" an older lady’s voice calls over the box

"Aggie, I’ve got the new Mrs King for ye Care to open the door and let the lass inside?"

Within le, and the door is opened, revealing a foyer fit for a palace My eyes widen at the sight of all the old accents A staircase stands proudly in theup to another level of the apartirl and drea in a castle; only it’sthan my drea is Aggie, Darby’s wife, holds the door open for me

She smiles as I pass her, and y surrounding Aggie The blue of her maid’s uniforray hair sits in a low bun, showing off her round face

Darby follows ie quickly turns her attention from me to her husband "He’s done well, hasn’t he, Darby? This one is a pretty one"

A blush creeps over ie closes the door, causing the bottom hem of her uniform to swish about a bit "Now that we’re alone, ant you to know that Darby and myself know the truth about the situation at hand, so there’ll be no need in puttin’ on a show fur the likes of us"

I raise my eyebrows, still not sure if I should break my cover just in case they really don’t know that Alexander and I didn’t really et married

"Don’t look so surprised, dear There’s not ave us all the details I still can’t believe that Henry put that silly clause in his will I tried to explain that just because he ild until he was thirty-two didn’t mean that our Alex would be the same I wish Henry were here to see just hoell his son has done with running the empire he built He would’ve been so proud and that little clause would never have existed" Aggie sighs "It’s just a shame Alex still has to deal with all this" She quickly backpedals "Not that it’s anything to do with you personally, dear I’ lady and we’ll be happy to have ye here until this h proving that he’s capable of running a business even though he makes a few mistakes"

"The lad is only human," Darby chimes in "Can’t expect him to be perfect all the time"

"He’s far from perfect" My eyes widen thethroughto offend two people who clearly care for Alexander, I try to correct hs "No wonder he likes her She’s a feisty one"

Aggie nods in agreement "Aye Maybe he’s found his match"

I stand there, completely unsure of what to say

"Coie instructs and then turns toward the staircase "Darby will bring your bags up to your room I’m sure you’ll need to freshen up for dinner"

Once at the top of the stairs, Aggie leads s Sos are abstract pieces, while a few focus on people Each one is more beautiful than the last One, in particular, catches h-back leather chair, and the dark background causes the red tie he’s wearing to pop out against his gray suit It’s uncanny how lifelike the piece looks There’s a hint of rin Even in a painting Alexander King appears to be up to no good It’s a how even a picture of his, like yearn his touch

"These are beautiful," I tell Aggie, who’s waiting patiently for me to study the pictures that I’m sure she’s passed by a million times "Are they all the same artist?"

"They are" Alexander’s voice causeshiht with the arrival of the unwelcoie and Darby had created the one

Alexander co a white oxford rolled up to his elbows and the same dark slacks he had on earlier in the office He’s clearly made himself more comfortable since the last time I’d seen him today

He stops about a foot away and then turns to stare at the portrait of hireat likeness, don’t you think? I look pretty dae to roll my eyes at his outward show of cockiness "It’s very nice work It’s too bad the artist didn’t have a better subject If they’d had someone different, then perhaps this would be in a o, you have an uncanny ability to insult me and yet throw out a compliment In this case, I’ll allow your snide jab atyou’ve just praised my little sister’s work"

"Diem did this?" I raise my eyebrows, and it hits h school Even back then, she was an artist, which made her stand out from all the other kids, and that’s how I remeetting into top-notch colleges in order to be able to work for their family businesses, but not Die herself