“We aren’t unprotected, Madame,” Jack answered smoothly. I hid my surprise and swallowed the mouthful of water I’d drank, hoping the massive crystal tumbler I held to my mouth covered my face. Did my lack of reaction come off as smoothly as Jack’s demeanor?   We aren’t unprotected? What does he mean? Is someone from Jack’s or Brom’s team monitoring us?

“I see,” Allegra responded after a beat, and glanced at the man who’d spoken to me in the café. He turned around and whispered instructions to two of the other men. One of them exited the room rapidly.

“Thinking two or three steps ahead, are you, Jack?” she queried in a dry tone.

He shrugged and casually shifted his stance to spread his legs slightly to balance his weight equally and then dropped his arms to his sides, from the crossed position in front of his chest that they’d been in until that point.

I couldn’t read all the body language that was apparently being exchanged between Jack and the men around, but it felt like the tension in the room had amped up noticeably.

I opened my mouth to speak, to bring the conversation back to what I pretended to want to arrange with Allegra.

But Allegra spoke before I could. “Relax, Jack. Neither you or Miss Palmer are in danger here. Do you know Fraser Soames?”

I looked at Jack, who relaxed again. A slow grin began to split his face. “He owes me 100 quid, actually. I’m not sure how I should go about collecting it from him.”

Allegra laughed. “Good luck with that. He warned us that that would be the first thing you’d say about him. And he told me to tell you it would be a cold day in hell before he would admit to losing that bet you’d made with him. He claims you cheated.”

Jack guffawed, covered his mouth, and then shook his head. He clapped his hands together, before exclaiming, still smiling. “He’s always been a sore loser. Not my fault that he decided to continue to use that particular pistol during our marksmanship competition.”

Allegra’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re still a good shot?”

“I can hold my own,” Jack answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Allegra stood up suddenly, motioning to me to continue to keep my seat. She walked to her assistant and, together with the man who’d talked to me in the café, they huddled in a corner.