ALEXANDER
I leaned back against the headboard on my bed, working on my laptop. Then my phone began to vibrate beside me.
I glanced at the caller ID. Irene.
With a sigh, I dragged the phone toward me and answered. “Hey, Irene.”
“Hey, where did you go?” her voice came through sharp, edged with that familiar impatience. “I checked your chambers earlier, and you weren’t there. You weren’t in your office either. Where did you vanish to?”
I rubbed a hand over my face, debating how much to tell her, because she could make a big deal of it if I told her I was in Faye's room. But Irene could smell half-truths a mile away, so lying wasn’t worth it. “I was in Faye’s room,” I said evenly, “but I’m back in mine now.”
For a moment there was nothing but stunned silence on the line. Then her voice c
