Chapter 21
Astrid
When Hex opens the door just enough to reveal his face, my first thought is to tell him that he looks terrible. Somehow he looks worse than he did when I dropped him off this morning, but I hoped he would have at least taken a nap and gotten some rest.
“You didn’t answer your phone,” I tell him, hating the awkwardness hanging thick in the air. I already miss the way we started reading each other. I didn’t think a faux relationship would make it this bad. The only difference between now and yesterday is that gossip story.
Well, that and the fact that he tried to get out of the relationship.
“Phone,” he says, the word coming out slow and thick, and he glances behind him without opening the door any wider. There’s a sound of metal hitting flesh, and he brings his phone in front of him to look down at it. Did someone throw it to him? “Ah, sorry, Storme. I didn’t see your texts.”
“Is someone in there with you?” I ask, rising on my toes to try to see over his shoulder, but he’s too tall. My first thought is that he’s hiding Eloise Blackmere, but that would be ridiculous. He barely gave her the time of day the other night, and that was before he and I…
Before we did absolutely nothing because he pulled back before our lips touched.
“No,” Hex says, then winces. “I mean yes. It’s…” Sighing, he pushes the door open the rest of the way, and I hold my breath in anticipation.
I let it all out at once, more relieved than I should be. “Sander. You’re back?”
Sander shrugs. “I’m back.”
He doesn’t look much better than his twin, and I look from one man to the other, cataloguing the differences between them. There aren’t many. Aside from the obvious—Sander’s wet hair and Hex’s t-shirt versus Sander’s Henley—the biggest distinction is slightly longer beard growth on Hex’s face.
Was he really that scruffy this morning?
How long has it been since I last saw the princes together and up close?
Clearly too long because I’ve somehow managed to forget that they’re identical.
Staring at them now, I have to wonder how I ever thought I could tell them apart.
If I didn’t know better, I might have thought the twin sitting on the couch was actually Hex and it was Sander who opened the door. But…
I look from one to the other again, trying to reconcile what my brain and my gut are telling me.
“You wanted to talk, Storme?” the one next to me says, lifting an eyebrow.
I swallow and squint at him, searching for any sign that I’m wrong. Or maybe that I’m right. I don’t know anymore. “Well…”
With a grunt, he lowers himself heavily into a chair and starts tapping his fingers on his leg. The familiar gesture breaks me out of my stupor, reminding me of why I came in the first place.
“Virek wants to see us. Immediately.”
Something like confusion flashes across Hex’s face, and he glances at his brother before he nods at me. “Alright. Should I be worried?”
I wish I knew. “That depends on your conversation with Blackmere. Virek got his hands on the recording from your phone, and he’s not happy.”
Looking down at his phone, Hex clenches his jaw as he processes. He’d better not still be hungover, but he’s not computing things as quickly as he usually does.
“Hex!” I snap when he’s quiet for too long.
“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters and doesn’t do a good job of holding back his scowl. “Give me an hour, then I can—”
“When I said ‘immediately,’ that wasn’t hyperbole.” We’re technically already late; I texted Hex an hour ago.
“Fine,” he grumbles. “Can I at least have ten minutes to check in with Sander? I haven’t seen him in over a week.”
Virek won’t be thrilled, but with how beat up Hex was about his brother’s safety over the weekend, how can I deny him a few minutes?
It’s just my job that might be on the line…
“Ten minutes,” I agree and offer an apologetic smile to Sander.
My smile drops the instant we make eye contact.
I can feel his gaze, right down to my toes, and that feeling warms me from the inside out.
Sander frowns. “How is your investigation going, Agent Storme?”
My words catch in my throat as I stare at him. I look at Hex, and his expression has softened to something more familiar, but for a second there, I could have sworn…
Maybe it’s a good thing Sander was out of the country this weekend, or I might not have survived having both princes around. This is way too confusing.
“Ten minutes,” I say again and slip out of the room, hoping some fresh air will give me perspective.