The Judas Relic: An Evangeline Heart Holiday Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page B

you’ve been in a state of bliss. No.” He looked around the room, his gaze landing on the bed. “Better yet, get under the covers. I’ll get the towel.”
    I groaned, but did as he ordered.
    He opened the door to Lloyd, a large wrapped box in his outstretched hands. “Sir.”
    “Thank you, Lloyd.” Clay’s accent was getting better and he’d found an air of sophistication as well. “The Duchess and I have decided to take dinner in this evening.”
    “That can be arranged. I shall have the chef make the preparations. Say, seven?”
    “Absolutely splendid.” Clay closed the door and came to the side of the bed where I got out from under the covers and stood up. He handed me the box.
    “What’s this?”
    “For you.” A gentle smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Open it.”
    I eyed him and unwrapped the gift. Inside, under tissue was a floor-length, sleeveless red dress. It was simple but elegant and I held it up. It was also my size.
    “Your gown, my lady.”
    “You know my size?”
    He grinned and let his hungry gaze slip down my body. “I know women’s bodies.”
    I punched him on the shoulder and laughed. “Of course you do.”

Lina

    The next day flew by while snow fell outside in thick, fat flakes, helping us out by layering the ground with inches of fluffy padding. Last night, we’d worked late, making plans, eating crab cakes, lamb chops, and amazing side dishes, along with drinking some great wine. We’d joked and actually had some decent conversation that didn’t revolve around death, demons, and heists. I told him about Metatron’s visit and where we were headed. “Love Greece” had been his one comment.
    Malcolm called in the middle and I updated him, keeping details to a bare minimum over the open line. I did tell him that I’d be spending Christmas at Ralph and Anna’s, just so he’d know that I wouldn’t be alone. This would be the first Christmas that we wouldn’t be together and I was going to miss him. Clay had eased up on the teasing after that, unsure how far to press me to shake me out of my melancholy.
    Rising early, we got back to the planning until there was nothing left to cover. Now the time had come to make our way up the front steps of the castle and be announced as the Duke and Duchess of Merriweather. The snow had stopped falling, as if perfectly timed with the evening’s festivities, but the gardening crew had piled mounds of it on either side of the sidewalk, managing to dress it up with large torches that lit the long walk toward the entrance.
    Darkness wrapped around us like the fur cloak wrapped around me as we waited in the long line of party-goers. I wondered, not for the first time, about Clay’s clients. I was curious about a buyer who’d sent him after the first relic—Solomon’s ring, and now an obscure painting by this Oliver Lareux. Those were two totally different circles of people, prices, and status. It was odd enough for someone to be interested in the same religious relics I was, but paired with what we were attempting tonight, it was … unsettling.
    When I’d dug around in my sources for intel on Clay after he’d hijacked my heist, I’d found nothing about who hired him, only that he was well recommended and in high demand. From our surprise encounter, he’d certainly been a professional—enough to screw up my mission, and that was nearly impossible.  
    We weren’t quite to the point that I could flat-out ask him about his buyers. And while I realized we’d covered a lot of topics together, there was something about that level of privacy that I didn’t want to invade. I’d only told him the barest of details about who I worked with, and I’d left a few dozen out—on purpose. By asking him questions, I was opening myself up to them, and I had a lot to hide. Even from a guy who knew things no one else ever would.
    I shifted uncomfortably and assessed the couples walking up the front stairs to the mansion. They looked every