Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

yammering. But a touch made him glance down, and the sight of Fiona’s slender fingers on his sleeve caused something hard and painful to catch in his throat.
    “How did you know?” she whispered. “How could you know? You’ve only just met me, and yet . . . and yet you knew exactly how I was feeling.”
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
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    He had a moment to wonder if a man could drown in her eyes, before the car slammed to a halt.
    “We’re here, or at least as close as I’m going to get you,” Sean snapped.
    “You don’t have to do this,” Christophe told her, ignoring the driver and Declan for the moment. “I can go listen and find out what they know.”
    She squared her slim shoulders and lifted her chin. “Yes. I do. I’m going with you. Someone murdered those guards and I’m going to find out who did it. Then we’ll get the sword back.”
    She’d said we. We’ll get the sword back. A flash flood of fierce joy rushed through him, in spite of the circumstances.
    “Let’s go to a press conference, then.”
    “I’m going to work the crowd. Find out if anybody knows anything, what the rumors are, and so forth,”
    Declan said, reaching for the door.
    “Good, but don’t be obvious,” Christophe told him. “We don’t want you to become a target. Whoever they are, they’ve almost certainly got men in place in the crowd watching and listening.”
    Declan nodded and left.
    “Why do you think that?” Fiona asked him. “They got what they wanted, why would they be here?”
    Before he could answer, help came from an unexpected source.
    “He’s right,” Sean said grudgingly. “That’s how I’d have done it, back in the day. Need to keep eyes and ears on the investigation, find out how hot the situation is. You’d best get out now, before I get moved along or ticketed. I’ll be circling. Just give me a ring when you need me to swing back in and pick you up.
    Same spot.”
    Christophe nodded his thanks and opened the car door. When he and Fiona were on the sidewalk, he watched the car pull away.
    “You have a good kid there,” he finally admitted. “He’d do anything for you.”
    “That’s what I worry about, especially now. If I put him or Declan or Hopkins in danger, I’d never forgive myself.”
    “Hopkins? I’d be more worried about anybody trying to face him down. That man is a warrior dressed up in a butler suit.”
    A true smile appeared for an instant on her face. “Yes, I’ve often thought that. He will never tell me much about his younger days, but I get the feeling he wasn’t always a butler.”
    “I’d put coin on that,” he agreed, taking her hand. “So let’s play tourist and go back to the Tower of London.”
    “We should be thankful they don’t behead people there anymore, I guess,” she muttered.
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    “Nobody will touch so much as a hair on your aristocratic head while I’m alive to prevent it,” Christophe vowed, all humor vanishing.
    She stopped and stared up at him, a curiously vulnerable expression in her eyes. “Why would you care so much? Or want to protect me? Surely not simply because we . . . slept together. You just met me.”
    Part of him was wondering the same thing, but damned if he’d admit it. “You’re my partner. It’s just good business,” he finally said.
    Fiona pulled her hand away from his and a sheet of ice masked her expression. “Right. Of course. How could I forget? And so long as you have blackmail material on me, I’m stuck with you. Come along, then, partner. We have a crime to solve.”
    Regret swept through him as she marched off, not looking back once to see if he followed or not. Crime solving. Right. Christophe and Sherlock Holmes. Conlan was undoubtedly going to have something very unpleasant to say about this. He grinned at the thought, shoved his hands in his pockets, and strode off after his unwilling partner. At least he could piss off the high prince and the high priest all in the course of one mission. The day was looking up.

Chapter 14
    Fiona stormed off toward the main gate, berating herself for her foolish moment of softening toward that criminal. What had she been thinking, to sleep with him? He was so aggravating. Annoying.
    Infuriating.
    Delicious.
    She ran a hand through her hair, suddenly as disgusted with herself as at him. She decided to break her sexual fast and it had to be with a jewel thief. Who just