‘I think everyone already knows,’ I said, forcing myself to smirk.

He glared. ‘We’re leaving.’ He pointed at Jamie. ‘Me and him.’ He ran a hand through his hair and I watched as it flopped down against his forehead, one golden curl standing out against his perfect skin. ‘You will stay here until morning. If you keep quiet and don’t answer the door, you’ll get three times your usual fee.’

What the hell was going on here? What were they up to? ‘I guess I can do that,’ I said hesitantly.

All business now, Byron nodded. ‘Jamie, we’ll stick to the rest of the plan. You stay downstairs in case anyone gets suspicious. If you need to, you can come up here and pretend to check on me from time to time.’

‘Where are you going?’ I asked.

‘None of your business,’ Byron said sharply.

Jamie touched my arm. ‘He’s sneaking off to see his fiancée,’ he said. Well, I knew that was a lie even without my Truth-Seeking Gift. ‘It’s nothing against you. He’s just not that into the whole stag night thing.’

‘Yeah,’ Byron muttered unconvincingly.

I moved past him and perched on a sofa. ‘Sounds like easy money to me.’

‘Do up your shirt.’

‘Huh?’ I glanced down and realised I was still proudly displaying my – or rather Chardonnay’s ‒ rather bounteous assets to the world. I licked my lips. ‘Don’t you like what you see?’

‘I’m not interested,’ Byron growled. There was an edge of anger in his words that I’d ever heard before, not even when he’d discovered I could steal magic.

If Jamie hadn’t been present, I might have played around some more. Instead, I nodded and fastened the buttons. ‘So where is your lovely bride?’ I asked casually.

He ignored me. ‘I’ll be back before dawn.’

‘See that you are,’ Jamie said. ‘You know what could happen if this gets screwed up.’

Byron’s answer was flat. ‘I’d better not screw up then.’ With that, he walked to the sash window, yanked it up and disappeared into the night.

Jamie looked at me. I held up my hands. ‘I’ll be good.’

‘Can I get you a drink or something while you’re waiting?’

I shook my head. ‘I’m absolutely fine. You go and enjoy the rest of the party.’

‘Thank you for this.’ He was being honest. Jamie Moncrieffe really was a nicer guy than anyone gave him credit for.

I shrugged. ‘I’d hate to stand in the way of true love.’

He scratched his chin. ‘Have we met before? I’m sure we haven’t but there’s something about you that’s incredibly familiar.’

Er… ‘I get around,’ I purred. ‘Maybe you’ve been to one of my parties before.’

For a moment, he looked absolutely terrified. ‘I don’t think so.’ He opened the door and stepped out. ‘Thanks again.’

The second the door shut behind him, I sprang into action. I grabbed a chair and propped it underneath the doorknob ‒ that would keep him out for a short while if he felt the need to come up and check. Then I dashed to the window and peered out. Byron was already on the ground, running towards a parked car. I flipped over the edge of the window sill, dropping cat-like. I had no idea what he was up to but I was going to find out.