dining room. “Be sure and thank him for me.”
“I will.”
The Harrison estate had a full staff, even when there wasn’t anyone around to use it. One of the women who worked there brought out a try of scones and an assortment of jams. AJ looked up at the girl and mumbled a thank-you.
She smiled with a blush. “Mr. Neil likes a full breakfast when he visits. Would you like the cook to make one for you as well?”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“No bother at all. It’s what we do.”
AJ glanced at Sasha, his eyes requesting help.
“I’m sure if the cook prepares it, someone will eat it,” Sasha told her.
The girl curtseyed. “Very well, mum.” And she was gone.
AJ glanced over his shoulder as the girl left the room. “I’m used to pouring my own bowl of Froot Loops in the morning.”
“Froot Loops is not on the English breakfast menu.”
The coffee started a slow burn in her stomach. Sasha decided a scone was as good a source as any to keep that burn from becoming a hole.
“How did you and Neil meet?”
Not used to personal questions, Sasha answered as simply as possible. “Through Reed.”
While she nibbled on her breakfast bread, AJ slathered cream on his and took a big bite. “So how did you meet Reed?”
“Why are you asking?”
He paused, looked at her over the knife in his hand. “I don’t have a hidden agenda, Sasha. It’s called getting to know someone. I ask a question, you answer. You ask a question . . . I answer.” He took another bite, talked around it. “Conversation.”
She took her time swallowing. “I’m not good at that.”
A slight gleam hit AJ’s eyes. “Conversation?”
“Answering questions.”
“So, we’re just supposed to sit here and watch each other eat?”
She washed her bite down with her coffee. “You can go in the other room.”
His grin had the corners of her lips pulling up. There was light in his eyes that seemed to sparkle even brighter off the damp edges of his hair. His casual charm and patient questions might not have been her method of interrogation, but they seemed to be working on her.
He placed both his elbows on the table and stared at her as he took another bite. His mouth was overly animated as he chewed. He repeated the action in complete silence, eyes glued to hers.
Sasha gave up. “I met Reed while he was spying on my sister-in-law and her friends.”
AJ stopped midchew. He quickly swallowed and wiped the cream from his lips. “I thought you said you were an orphan, that you didn’t have any family.”
“I am and I don’t.”
“Both your parents are gone?”
“Yes.”
“But you have a brother?”
She took a bite. “He’s dead.”
Her short answers were killing him . . . she could see the frustration in his face. “I’ll give you the condensed version, and then we’re talking about something else.”
AJ put his food down and rested his hands on the sides of his plate, offering his full attention.
“My mother whored herself out to my father. After she had me, she attempted to blackmail him for money, so he murdered her.”
AJ’s smile faded.
“I grew up in a series of foster homes until I was old enough to be enrolled in Richter. I didn’t know it at the time, but my father’s wife, Alice . . . my half brother’s mother, knew about me the whole time. She kept me hidden at Richter, and Richter taught me how to defend and protect myself once I graduated. Once out, Alice was there, offering me employment to watch over her son, Fedor, and eventually his wife. Keep them safe from Alice’s then ex-husband, whom she didn’t trust. I had no idea Fedor was my half brother. But like all secrets, eventually things came to light. Alice died of cancer the same week my father murdered his own son.”
AJ’s jaw had dropped open. “Jesus.”
“No, I don’t think Jesus was there. I failed at keeping my brother alive, but I took Alice’s request to the grave and kept watch over Trina. Where I met Reed . . . and eventually Neil.”
“And your father?”
“He went after Trina through her second husband. I intervened. Now he’s dead.”
AJ’s jaw dropped. “You killed him.”
“I didn’t have the pleasure.” She rubbed her neck as if she still felt the man’s hands squeezing the life out of her. “Reed saved my life and the authorities took my father’s.”
AJ blew out a breath. “Damn, I’m sorry.”
“The night you and I met, you asked me