Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

house, then shut the door behind them, right in Christophe’s face. “Yes. I also saw the bit where your new partner claimed the two of you were in love. Shall I serve lunch or retrieve the Glock first?”
    She sighed. “I don’t know what we can do, so long as he has blackmail material on me. We—”
    The door opened, and Christophe sauntered in. “I guess you didn’t see me,” he said to Hopkins. “I’ll give you a free pass this time, but don’t let it happen again.”
    Hopkins looked at her. “Definitely the Glock.”
    “How about lunch? I’m starving,” Declan said, following Christophe inside. “Hey, why are we standing in the hallway? Let’s get some food. I’m off to get cleaned up, back in a jif.” He bounded up the stairs, and Fiona spared a moment to wish she had some of his energy. She felt as if she’d been up for days.
    “Indeed.” Hopkins led the way to the dining room and then vanished, presumably to find something for a late lunch. At the thought, Fiona’s stomach rumbled a little. She hadn’t been hungry for the pastries and fruit they’d had that morning, due to pre-book signing nerves, and was surprised to be hungry now.
    Someone claiming to be her had murdered those guards. “Brutally murdered,” Lord Fairsby had said.
    The room suddenly spun around her and she stumbled, only to find a firm arm around her back.
    “Are you okay? You need to eat and have something to drink,” Christophe said quietly. “You may be dehydrated.”
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    “No. No, I’m not okay. I’m not dehydrated. I’m thinking about those men. How can you joke about love and lunch and whatever, when somebody killed them? Brutally murdered, he said. Somebody claiming to be me.” Her chest was so tight. Too tight. Why was it so hard to breathe?
    “Not somebody claiming to be Lady Fiona. Someone claiming to be the Scarlet Ninja,” he said. “Nobody else knows that’s you.”
    “Except you, and you’ve already proven you’re capable of using it against me,” she said, yanking her arm away from his hand. “Do you think that makes me feel safe?”
    His lips tightened and his eyes turned to green ice. “My apologies for that bit of foolishness. I give you my word—no. I give you my oath, as a Warrior of Poseidon, that I will not betray your secret.”
    “Your oath?” She shook her head. “I don’t even know you. Why should I trust your oath? What’s a Warrior of Poseidon, anyway?”
    “I have been the victim of betrayal, Princess,” he said, so softly she had to strain to hear. “I would never turn that anguish on another.”
    Hopkins chose that moment to pop his head out from the door to the kitchen. “Tea will be served in a few minutes. I shall serve, since I gave the staff the entire weekend off, due to our new circumstances.
    Do you have any preferences?”
    The pain on Christophe’s face vanished as if she’d imagined it, and he grinned at Hopkins. “How about some of those little cakes?”
    Declan burst into the room. “Oh, yes, definitely cakes. Roast beef sandwiches, too, please. Thick ones—I feel as if I could eat an entire cow. Those book signings always wear me out.”
    Hopkins nodded and left the room again, and Christophe roamed around, pacing the floor, picking up objects and putting them back down.
    “Casing the room, are you?” Hopkins said, returning through a different doorway.
    Christophe shrugged. “You still won’t tell me where the good silver is.”
    Fiona remembered the last time the silver had come up in conversation, and her face heated up approximately a thousand degrees. Christophe must have had the same thought, because he flashed her a wicked grin.
    Hopkins, unfortunately, must also have remembered, judging by the way he glared at them both.
    “So, love at first sight,” Declan said, breaking the heavy silence. “I always wanted a brother.”

Chapter 15
    Christophe patted his full belly and finally put down his fork. “I’ll say one thing for you. You put out a great spread for tea. I expected something haggis-like, Your Scottishness.”
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    He grinned as she put her head in her hands and quietly moaned. He was having a great time with this fake cowboy act—he’d encountered enough of them in America’s Old West to know how to play it—and it was accomplishing exactly what he’d hoped. He’d kept her distracted and