It was all Max could do not to laugh. The look Bennett was giving him was one he’d seen many times. The first was on an evening where amidst smoke and fire, her defiance bored through him like a spear, thus saving her life, and tonight, that same bravado would end a conversation, at least for now.

“Yes, well, I didn’t bring you here tonight to talk about your faux guardian,” Maximillian said, leaning back in his chair. “My sources at the local constabulary have informed me that there’s been a police report filed about a woman who attacked two men in an alley a few weeks back.”

“Really?” Bennett said, pitching forward in her chair. “That’s interesting.”

“Is it?”

“Not so much the attack, but the fact they reported it.”

“I would have to say that’s because you didn’t compel them to forget it happened.”

“You know how I feel about that,” Bennett said, sitting back. “Besides, what’s the point of giving someone a message to take back to those in charge if they don’t remember what I told them to say?”

“The point is, the police now have a somewhat scant description of you.”

“Is that so?” Bennett said before finishing the wine in her glass. “And what exactly would that be?”

Max hesitated before answering. “A tall woman, dressed in black, with an English accent and electrifying blue eyes.”

“But my eyes are brown, Max,” Bennett said, standing up. “At least they are right now.”

“That’s not the point,” Max said, looking down his nose. “The point is, as you well know, the other council members are coming to Boston next year, and the last thing any of us need is attention.”

“Max, be serious. A tall, English woman wearing black won’t lead any copper to your door.”

“But it may bring them to yours, which is exactly why I’m telling you this.”

“They didn’t see my face, Max. If they had, they would have described it, but they didn’t. I don’t know how they saw my eyes, probably the hood I was wearing shifted, but without a clear description, the police have nothing to go on.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t be so nonchalant about this.”

Bennett pulled the cork from the bottle of Pinot Noir and refilled her glass. “I’m not,” she said, returning to her chair. “And I truly appreciate you asking me to come here tonight to discuss this.”

“But you’re not going to stop doing it, are you?”

“You know better than to even ask that question.”

“Still as principled as always, I see.”