Chapter 281

Celeste Harper swallowed hard, her eyes darting around under Alexander Lytton’s intense gaze. She mumbled a half-baked excuse, barely believing it herself. “Uh… you’re older than me, and we get along okay, right? There's no business between us, so calling you ‘bro’ in private shouldn’t be a big deal… right?” Yeah, even she wasn’t buying that nonsense. Alexander stood by the end of the bed in silence, as if weighing something in his head. Celeste didn’t dare look up at him. She just had this gut feeling that his eyes hadn’t left her face once. After a beat, his voice came from the foot of the bed. “I’ve got a call to make. I’ll be right outside. Just yell if you need anything.” By the time Celeste came back to her senses, he was already at the door. She raised her voice slightly, calling after him, “Okay!” The door stayed ajar, and through it, she could hear him on the phone. His voice came and went—probably talking to some foreign business partner. The way he spoke, that crisp London a