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That storyinto his cottage We all knew there wasproject was their way of giving ht I was truly wandering the house alone, handling all of their art

They had to be watching h the camera in the tablet I wasn't bothered When I did appraisals, my workspace was under surveillance Ditto for the collections I worked with at the college They'd have to be stupid or nuts to let a virtual stranger have free rein of their house From what I'd seen, the Sawyers were neither

It didn'tI was there to search, and they'd givenwith it Too bad my hours of work hadn't resulted inuest rooms on the second level of the Manor I'd found mostly empty rooms, some mediocre art, and no Emperor Vitellius

Dinner that night was a blur Savannah seated us at the end of the table out of the fray, and I spenthiust had been deeuest and his presence at the table was required

We got solances, but no one paid usto thank for that Apparently, she'd brought her new boyfriend to fa's new boyfriend, he was also the new CFO of the Inn at Sawyers Bend He seemed to be well-liked, but I could tell Tenn, Royal, and Griffen weren't happy about this development

Once dinner was over, I got August set up with a movie and slipped out of Tenn's suite with the tablet Quietly, I left the fa and the roo in earlier

I'd just started in there when Tenn cah to discover a second closet door at the back of theI'd find Vitellius stashed inside I just needed a few minutes alone to find out

Chapter Eighteen

TENN

Scarlett took off the second dinner was over She'd been skittish with er on her Hadn't even flirted I wasn'tUsually, I didn't have the patience for it

Scarlett was different I loved poking at Scarlett, teasing her, and seeing the heat rise in her green eyes, watching as her breath sped up and she tried to pretend she didn't want me

My cock wantedat her until she lost control and I could take what I wanted My cock was going to have to wait I was going to fuck her eventually, and it wasn't going to be because I pushed her into it I barely knew Scarlett, but ut read on her felt solid, like I'd known her all er her battle instincts If I pursued her the way I wanted to, she'd dig in her heels

Instead, I'd seduce I'd teust in —our circumstances, my instincts—told me sloas the way That kiss told h to make the choice herself

She was going to come to me

That didn'tI had to offer

After checking to uessed was Scarlett's path to the guest wing Most of the second floor was deserted, the rest of the fa TV As I'd expected, I found her in the roo just before dinner

A few ht I'd hts in the rooh in the sky to fill the space with light I stepped inside, swinging the door s on three of the walls, a any bed frame with a bare mattress, and a bedside table No lahts in here There weren't any

Just as I was thinking I had the wrong rooave her away I followed in tiht flicked on, a bright glare in the dark, illu survey showed nothing ers An abandoned shoebox, the lid askew, gold tissue crumpled inside