I glared at him.
He held my glare.
Then he said, “Fifty seconds.”
Gods.
There was nothing for it.
I raised my hands to the buttons of my blouse and started to undo them.
“Frannie,” Josette hissed.
Dax Lahn lifted a hand, his face now carved in stone.
“Do not make another move,” he ground out.
I turned my back to him, lifted my blouse and dipped it over my shoulder, feeling it fall down my shoulder blade and partially down my back.
I raised my other hand and swept my hair to the side.
The air in the room went still as I heard Lahn’s shocked, “Jesus Christ.”
I pulled my blouse back up my shoulder instantly, redid the four buttons I’d undone and turned smartly to him.
“I am from somewhere else,” I proclaimed. “This somewhere else is far away. In order to leave that place, I had to do terrible things. The man who did this to me…” I drew in breath through my nose and straightened my shoulders. “I have a good deal of money. It’s not strictly legal money, but it’s mine. I earned it. I have quite enough to care for me and Josette, who looks after me in a variety of ways and has done for some time, and I have more. Much more. I wish for it to do good. However, I need to use great caution when I use that money so certain people cannot locate me and certain governmental departments don’t…”
I trailed off, drew in another breath and shook my head in disgust, looking to Josette.
“Come,” I demanded. “It’s clear we’ve made an error in our selection of worthy organizations.”
Both Josette and I began to stomp past him, for my part demonstrating openly the height of the insult I felt had been delivered, when I saw his arm come out and heard his, “Ms. Drakkar…Franka, wait.”
I halted and turned my head to the side and up (and this up was up, Noc was tall, Dax Lahn was a veritable giant).
“My apologies,” he murmured. “Something must have been missed.”
“I fear it was, however—”
He gestured to the rather smart leather chairs in front of his desk. “If you’ll take a seat.”
I lifted my chin further for a different reason. “I’d rather not.”
“Perhaps we can start again,” he suggested.
I turned fully to him, feeling Josette close to my back.
“I fear this would not be wise on my part. We do not have this client confidentiality as we’re not clients of yours, but I do hope with the part you play with First Mother House you’ll understand there are women with certain needs and I am one of them so you’ll do me the respect of behaving accordingly.”
“Of course, you have my word, but—”
I interrupted him, my thoughts on Noc’s future employment and what he might do in it.
Therefore, I said, “We shall not start again for it’s without doubt you’ll be setting someone on investigating the veracity of my statements and when you do, you’ll find that I exist. Josette exists. And yet, if your investigator probes deeply enough, you will find we do not. I think you understand my meaning with this. Thus you’re likely to feel that the reliability of my statements isn’t exactly reliable. However, one does what one has to do and Josette and I did just that. I shall not share who I was in a previous life or where I lived it. And I’ll not invite further verbal misuse, or other, at your hands should we speak again and you doubt my story.”
He moved closer to us, not that close, but it was closer.
When he did, I felt Josette nearly tuck herself in my back.
Dax Lahn didn’t miss her movements, undoubtedly read them both correctly and incorrectly, but he’d already stopped, getting close so he could drop his voice very low.
“You are not the first in your position, Franka, to feel the need to falsify her identity.”
“I’m sure that’s true,” I retorted. “And I’m equally certain this is a dire state of affairs for I’m also certain that I’m far from the last. Thus me wishing to give a substantial donation to someone who’s doing something about it.”
“If there’s someone, outside Josette, who can corroborate what you say, just one person, then—”
Bloody hell, was I going to do what I needed to do?
Love was on the line.
I had no choice.
“Noctorno Hawthorne,” I declared.
His head twitched at hearing Noc’s name, which gave credence to Noc saying it was most unusual here.
Then again, it was unusual in my world too. It was simply that a prince had it, and whenever it came to royals, that was that.
“He’s a police officer from Seattle who…well, there was…” I affected an uncomfortable swallow and softened my voice when I went on, “He was lovely with me. And he and I, we…” I looked demurely away and then back to see what I saw many a time from the my-world Lahn when he regarded his Circe (though with obvious differences as this Lahn was regarding me).
A tender warmth of features that I felt settle around my heart.
If I had not known I was doing the right thing (and I already knew that), I would have known in that moment.
“He’s here, with me, and Jo,” I carried on quietly. “He is not living under…he’s himself. And if you were to look into him, contact him, he would verify all I’ve said to you today.”
“Can you give me a contact number so I can phone you when I’ve had that verification?” he asked gently and finished respectfully, “I hope you understand the need for it.”