AS SOON AS Thane was distracted, Sydney rushed out of the room and into the elevator, pressing the lobby button multiple times. Her cousin had to be the sweetest person in the world, and it would be just like Lucy to set Sydney up in order to lift her spirits. But it was a pity date, and only made her feel more pitiful. How the heck did Lucy know Thane Allen anyway? Sydney’s aunt and uncle had money, which meant they had connections; maybe Lucy contacted him through one of them.
The doors popped open and she walked to the lobby, finding Lucy in the sea of faces. Her cousin rushed toward her. “There you are! I thought you’d left.”
“Sure you did.”
“I just got here. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. Really, I am. Look, what you tried to do was sweet and all, but...”
“What the devil are you talking about, Syd?” Lucy demanded, seeming to be genuinely confused.
“The whole Thane Allen thing.”
“What Thane Allen thing?”
Suddenly Sydney wasn’t so sure about her cousin’s involvement. “Oh, come on, Luce. It’s blown. You really expect me to believe that Thane Allen asked me to dinner, and you had nothing to do with it?”
“What the—?”
Sydney waved her hand. “It’s all good. I figured it out. Like I said, sweet, but not necessary.”
“Hold on a tick.” Lucy grabbed Sydney’s arm and pulled her to a stop. “Thane Allen’s here? In this hotel and he asked you to dinner?”
“Yeah. But you knew that. You set it up.”
“I bloody well did not! If I was going to set anyone up with Thane Allen, it would be me!”
“Lucy, quit messing around.”
Lucy scowled. “Sydney Roslyn Warren, I am quite literally not messing around. Did you or did you not meet Thane Allen, and did he or did he not invite you to dinner? For real?”
Oh, shit! Sydney’s heart raced. “I really met him and he really asked me to dinner.”
“Holy shit balls,” Lucy breathed out with a groan. “What did you say?”
“I told him he was a really good actor. Onscreen and off.” Sydney swallowed with a grimace. “I thought I was being set up. I thought it was a pity date.”
“Sydney! You didn’t!” Lucy wailed. “Bloody hell, love, you are the daftest woman I’ve ever met.”
“You really didn’t put him up to it?” Sydney asked as she wrung her hands.
“And exactly how the hell would I have put Thane Allen up to it, Syd? Oh, my god, just because we live under the rule of the same queen does not mean we all know each other!”
“I never said you did,” Sydney grumbled.
Lucy pointed to the elevator. “You need to go back and accept.”
Sydney’s mouth dropped open. “I am not running back upstairs and begging him to take me out, Lucy. Let’s just go home.”
“The sexiest man alive just asked you out, are you really going to blow him off?”
“What possible reason would the sexiest man alive have to want to take me out, Lucy? It’s ridiculous.”
Lucy crossed her arms. “Maybe he thinks you’re gorgeous.”
“Then maybe he’s blind.”
“You’re an idiot, lovie. Truly.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “I’m starving. Let’s just get home, okay?”
“I’m going to talk to Dad and see if he can get in touch with him.”
“No, you’re not!” Sydney squealed. “Please, Lucy, don’t okay?”
“Fine.” Lucy sighed. “I think you’re insane, but fine.”
“Thanks. Now, lead me home.”
Lucy giggled, and they headed toward the Tube.
They arrived home to an empty house, and Sydney decided some cooking therapy was on her list today. She had to find something to distract her from her strange encounter. “Luce!” she called up the stairs. “Spaghetti and meatballs sound good?”
“Sounds amazing!” Lucy called back. “Need some help?”
“No, I’m quite capable of setting the house on fire all by myself.”
Sydney grinned at Lucy’s four-letter response. Lucy couldn’t even boil water, which blew Sydney’s mind. Even though both families had plenty of money, the cousins couldn’t have been raised more differently. Sydney did her own laundry, cooked twice a week when she was home, and contributed to the household chores. Lucy, not so much. The Ashworths had a live-in housekeeper, along with Leticia, who provided meals six days a week. Tonight was her night off, so Sydney was taking her chance to get in the kitchen.
She grabbed her iPod, cued it up to the new Fallen Crown album, and got her groove on while she seasoned and rolled out meatballs. For the first time in a long time, she was feeling a sense of relief. She’d felt it when Thane had touched her and now she felt it again. Strange, but she wasn’t going to question it too much. It was a nice feeling. One she’d like to get used to.
Once the meatballs were formed and cooked, she made her magic sauce, and then boiled the pasta. She and Lucy had a quiet dinner, albeit fancy since Lucy insisted on setting the table with the good china, and then Sydney powered up her Kindle and got lost in a book.
Tonight was the first night in forever she was determined to actually relax. Turn off her brain enough to enjoy an epic historical saga. Maybe she’d even sleep. It would be bliss.
* * *
“Sydney Warren,” Thane said as he paced his hotel room. “All I know is that she’s American.” And she’s in trouble.
“That’s not much to go on,” Niall said.
They’d just finished their interviews and were now back in Thane’s suite discussing the events of the day.
“Have you tried to speak with her… you know, telepathically?” Charlotte asked.
“Aye. I can’t quite find her thought pattern.”
“Is this her?” Charlotte asked, and turned her laptop to face Thane.
He leaned down to see the screen. “Yes! How did you do that?”
She giggled. “It’s called a Facebook search.”
Thane sat down and took the computer from her, scrolling through Sydney’s profile. “Damn, it’s set to private. I can only see her profile picture and her friends.”
Charlotte waved her hand toward him. “Hit the friend request button. If she accepts it, then I’ll be able to see more and reach out to her.”
“Done,” he said, and handed the laptop back.
“You really don’t have a Facebook page?”
“Not a private one,” he admitted. “My team handles all my social media pages and such.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes and closed her computer. “You and Niall are so old.”
“You may want to hide yours before this movie hits, Charlotte,” Thane warned. “If you don’t, you could run the risk of people finding out things about you that you’d rather stay private.”
Niall picked up the computer and began hitting keys.
“Nye, what are you doing?” Charlotte asked.
“Hiding your profile,” Niall said.
“What? What do you mean?” Charlotte gasped, grabbing for the computer. “You can’t just unfriend people, Nye.”
“I didn’t,” he said.
She frowned at the screen. “Gah! You shut down my account?”
“It’s safer.”
She glared at him and Thane knew she was yelling at him telepathically. Niall raised an eyebrow at one point and then Charlotte blushed beet red.
“Really, Nye? You’re unbelievable,” she snapped.
He chuckled. “I know, baby.”
“I hear your concerns,” she said carefully. “But I just sent a request to Sydney. If my account is disabled, she won’t be able to respond.”
Niall stared over at Thane. “You have a man, right?”
“Aye.”
Niall smiled and turned back to Charlotte. “Thane’s man will find her.”
She rose to her feet, closing the laptop as she did. “Excuse us, Thane. I need to verbally spank my husband and would rather not have an audience.”
“Moira’s next door, love,” Niall pointed out.
She let out a frustrated groan. “And she can hang with her sitter for a few extra minutes.”
Niall chuckled.
Charlotte gave Thane a saccharin smile. “Sorry, Thane, I have a man to murder.”
Thane choked back a laugh and nodded. “Don’t let me stop you.”
She headed for the door and Niall rose slowly to his feet, a goofy grin on his face. “Have a great day, brother.”
“You as well.”
Thane watched as Niall followed his mate and shook his head. Niall had changed. He was the epitome of a good man. He always had been. It kind of made up for the actions of his brother, Max, who was somewhat of a loose cannon. Niall was the nice guy, the one who never lost his temper, and the one who had patience in spades. But when Niall met Charlotte, he suddenly had an edge. Not one that made him difficult, just one that made him sharper. Charlotte had a unique set of gifts and if Niall had been a lesser man, their bonding could have been disastrous.
Thane smiled and grabbed his cell phone. It was time to call his “man.”
“Hello, Thane,” Wallace said, cheerily. “What can I do for you?”
Thane chuckled. “Actually, I’m wondering if you can find someone for me.”
“Of course I can. Who?”
“I don’t have much.” He rubbed his forehead. “A name and nationality…general description, that sort of thing.”
“No worries. Just give me what you have.”
Thane gave Wallace what he knew and then moped around the hotel suite while he waited. The London premiere was in two days and tomorrow would be full of more interviews and press before he’d get a break. Once the premiere was done, he could go home; however, it was the first time in a very long time that he wasn’t interested in escaping to his cottage. Right now, he wanted to find his mate and go about wooing her so they could go home together.
He poured a glass of whiskey and stood at the window overlooking Piccadilly. His thoughts turned to Sydney again, wondering where she was. He couldn’t imagine she was far if she’d ended up in his hotel. At least, not so far he couldn’t get to her relatively quickly.
Dropping his forehead to the cool glass, he closed his eyes and focused. Maybe if he could settle his mind, he might be able to speak with her. His natural gift of empathy should give him that ability, but he wasn’t sure how it worked with a human.
He didn’t have long to try as his phone buzzed in his pocket seconds later. “Yes.”
“I can’t find her,” Wallace said.
“What?” Thane asked.
“She’s either some kind of a computer hacker or someone’s hiding her. She doesn’t really exist.”
“How the hell does she not exist?” Thane snapped. “Charlotte found her on Facebook in a matter of seconds.”
“Well, she’s not on Facebook anymore.”
“Shite.” Thane rubbed his forehead.
“I’ll keep looking, but I doubt we’ll find anything today. I’ll call you as soon as something changes.”
“Right. Thanks.”
Thane hung up with a frown. Grabbing his drink, he flopped onto the sofa and continued to try to connect with the elusive Sydney Warren the old-fashioned, non-technical Cauld Ane way.
* * *
The next morning, Sydney knocked on her uncle’s office door and entered when bid. Uncle Cary was a large man with salt-and-pepper hair and a deep voice that both terrified and comforted most people, depending on his mood.
“Good morning, love,” he said, and rose to his feet, hugging Sydney gently. “How did you sleep?”
“Okay.” She sat in the chair opposite his and smiled. “I think I’m ready for all this yuckiness.”
“It’s not so bad, Syd. I promise. Your parents organized everything remarkably well, so you have several options. One of which is to do nothing, at least for the moment.”
“Ooh, I like that option.”
Her uncle chuckled. “I had a feeling you’d say that, so I gathered all the information and saved it here.” He handed her a flash drive and a manila file. “Plus, I printed everything out. Should you have any questions, let me know.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Uncle Cary. Thank you.”
“Anytime, love. Now, we need to talk about something else, something you might find a little invasive.”
Sydney settled the file on her lap. “Okay.”
“I have disabled your social media accounts.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to be invisible for a while.” He frowned as he took a deep breath. “Also, I have let Lucy know and she’s a bit annoyed with me, but you will need to have security with you anytime you leave the house.”
“Seriously? Why?” Sydney bit her lip. “Am I in danger?”
“We don’t think so. Right now, it’s a precaution.”
“A precaution?” she challenged. “Uncle Cary, tell me. Did something happen?”
“Nothing I can talk about at the moment. Will you trust me? At least for a little while?”
“Um... I guess.” Sydney had no reason not to trust him and it wasn’t like this never happened. She remembered Lucy complaining about tightened security a few years ago when her dad was making a big merger. There’d been death threats and Uncle Cary had hired bodyguards for both Lucy and Anson.
He gave her a bolstering smile. “I know it’s a pain, but you’ll find you forget they’re even there.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“Humor an old man, eh?”
“Do you think it’ll be a permanent thing?”
“No, love, I don’t. But it’s permanent for now,” he admitted.
Sydney sighed. “What if I meet some dashing Brit who sweeps me off my feet? I can’t have some strange man following me on dates.”
Uncle Cary chuckled. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“Okay.” She smiled, begrudgingly. “Thank you for everything, Uncle Cary. I really appreciate it.” Sydney wasn’t sure that was sincere, but since she was in her uncle’s home, she would trust him.
“Don’t mention it, sweetheart. You know you’ve always been like another daughter to me. You are the very best of my sister, you know. You remind me so much of her.”
Sydney blinked back tears. “Thanks. I often wished Anson and Lucy were really my brother and sister. You guys were always so close and I wanted that.”
“We were close, but you feel free to torture Anson just as much as your mother tortured me. Lucy’s far too nice to him.”
Sydney giggled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good.” He rose to his feet. “Lucy mentioned something about a Thane Allen movie premiere tomorrow night?”
“She did?” Sydney began to think of ways to commit cousin-cide as she stood. “What did she say?”
“Just that she wanted to go.” Her uncle cocked his head. “Why?”
Sydney relaxed. “Oh, nothing.”
He hummed in suspicion. “Anyway, I’ve wrangled a few tickets if you’d like to go.”
“Oh, wow, that sounds fun.”
“We’ll make it a family outing.” Uncle Cary grinned. “Dinner first?”
“Perfect.”
“Good. I’ll have my assistant set everything up.”
“Can’t wait.”
Sydney hugged her uncle again and then went to look for Lucy.
* * *
The next evening, the house was awash with excitement. Sydney had never been to a movie premiere before and felt her stomach flutter with nerves as she and Lucy dressed in cocktail dresses and their favorite heels.
The premiere was being held at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square and the family had the choice to walk the red carpet with the celebrities or enter before they descended. A resounding agreement was reached to skip the circus and sneak in early, so they had to be out the door in less than an hour.
“I wonder if he’ll ask you out again,” Lucy mused.
Sydney ignored the shiver that thought created. “I doubt we’ll even see him.”
“It’s very possible we’ll sit quite close to him.”
“No!” Sydney gasped. “Really?”
Lucy giggled. “Really. It’s an intimate event on celebrity event scales.”
“Why did you do this, Luce? Maybe I should just stay home.”
“No way. Look at it as a nice family outing and if we see the famous and gorgeous Thane Allen, then it’s a bonus.” She raised an eyebrow. “Besides, you’re probably right. We probably won’t see him... but if we do, I doubt we’ll interact with him.”
“Exactly.” Sydney took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Cool.”
Lucy laughed. “Why do you get so nervous around boys, Syd?”
“Um, hello, he’s not just a boy, Luce. He’s Thane Allen, and I was kind of rude before, so I’m half expecting him to shun me and tell the world what a bitch I am.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
Sydney shrugged. “Hopefully, if he sees me, he’ll just ignore me.”
“There’s the spirit.” Lucy grinned.
“What about you? No Zach tonight?”
Lucy and Zach had been exclusive for just over a week now and she was still basking in the new love glow. Sydney had yet to meet him, mostly because he wanted to wait to meet Lucy’s family until they were “more secure.” Sydney couldn’t quite decide if she liked that or not, but figured Lucy would make it happen when she wanted it to happen.
“Dad could only get tickets for the five of us,” Lucy said.
“He can have mine,” Sydney offered.
“Nice try.” Lucy giggled. “Shall we?”
Sydney shook off her nervousness and grabbed her jacket and purse. She followed Lucy downstairs and into the waiting car with the rest of the family.