Warriors of Poseidon 06 - Atlantis Betrayed

aggravated at him enough during the meal to help keep her from brooding about those murdered guards. She’d even managed to eat a little. Still, it was time to make plans.
    “I’m going to hit the night side tonight. London’s underbelly doesn’t start rocking until after midnight.
    I’m heading out then to check it out and see who might know what about the theft.”
    Hopkins, who’d finally consented to sit with them, after Fiona had practically issued a royal command, nodded. “That’s where you’re going to find news, if there is any. I’m going with you. Declan can stay here with Lady Fiona.”
    Fiona put her teacup down with a distinct clatter. “If you don’t stop talking about me like I’m not in the room, I’m going to throw you both out of my house.”
    Declan chimed in: “You tell ’em, sis. Also, I’m going, too.”
    Everyone started arguing at once. Christophe watched Fiona, entranced with the way her cheeks flushed a dusky rose-pink when she was angry. The same color they turned when she was aroused. His pants started to feel uncomfortably tight, as he remembered the way she’d arched her back against the window, her pale skin glowing in the moonlight like a fever dream. He shifted in his chair, which was surprisingly comfortable, given the elegance of the room, and cleared his throat for attention.
    All three of them ignored him.
    “Hey. Hey.”
    They finally stopped talking and he seized his chance.
    “We can’t all go,” he pointed out. “Hopkins, I know I’d trust you to back me up in a fight, but you come off a little too much like a butler to go to the places I have in mind. The folks who hang in this kind of pub have never seen the inside of a drawing room.”
    Hopkins bared his teeth. “I am a butler. Also, appearances can be deceiving.”
    He stood up, hunched his shoulders, tilted his head to the right, twisted his mouth up a little, and suddenly, impossibly, the perfect, impeccable butler looked like a homeless drunk from the seediest part of the city. “Spare a euro, guv’nor?”
    Fiona gasped. “How did you do that? That’s rather terrifying.”
    Declan started applauding. “That’s brilliant. You should be on the stage, Hopkins.”
    “Definitely brilliant,” Christophe admitted. “But you’re still not going. You’re not a shifter, a vampire, or a sorcerer. You won’t be welcome, and nobody will talk to you.”
    “There’s no way anybody without magic pulled off that heist,” Fiona said slowly. He could tell she was agreeing with him only reluctantly, but it was still agreement. He’d take what he could get.
    Atlantis Betrayed – Warriors of Poseidon 06
    Page 65 of 188
    “Unless it was an inside job, which, though doubtful, is still possible,” he countered. “On a different but related topic, I don’t believe in coincidences. Why is this sword suddenly so popular?”
    “Let’s adjourn to my office,” Fiona said, glancing around. “We may be interrupted here.”
    Christophe followed the rest of them up the stairs, taking the opportunity to enjoy the sight of Fiona’s lush, curvy ass. There was something about her. Something different. It wasn’t just her body that was spectacular.
    When the realization hit, it knocked him back a step. He didn’t just lust after her. He liked her. He admired her courage. Sure, she was a thief, but she was a thief with integrity, if that even made sense.
    A thief with integrity. Oh, boy. He was in trouble.
    Fiona turned, waving Hopkins and her brother past her at the top of the stairs, and cast an impatient glance back at him. “Any day, now,” she said, tapping her foot.
    She was absolutely gorgeous and unbelievably desirable. He should run. He should run fast. Instead, he followed her up the stairs, wondering if this was how Prince Conlan had felt when he’d met Princess Riley.
    Terrified.
    Back again in her comfortable suite of office space, he commandeered the chair behind her desk, just to irritate her, and grinned when it was obvious he’d succeeded.
    “So,” he said, drumming his fingers on her desk. “Why Vanquish? There were plenty of jewels there that would have been easier to steal and more profitable to unload, right?”
    She narrowed her eyes. “You first.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Declan piped up. “She means, why were you after Vanquish?” The boy was nothing if not helpful.
    “Shouldn’t you be off chasing girls?” Christophe asked him.
    “It’s a fair question,