Page 9 of In Love After Office Hours

“I’m afraid so, ma’am.” Knowing what they were most concerned about, she added quietly, “But I’ll be spending most of my time in the library.” It was her polite way of saying that she knew they hated having her underfoot, and she would make it easy for them to forget she existed.

Both women visibly relaxed after she spoke.

“That’s good to hear,” Melanie murmured in relief.

“We’re both too busy to babysit,” Shane said, “so I really hope you don’t give us any problems while you’re staying here.”

“Of course,” Serenity said politely.

An impatient expression crossed Melanie’s face. “Then we have nothing to talk about.” She gestured for Shane to go back inside her room, and as she followed her daughter in, Melanie slammed the door shut behind her.

Serenity entered her bedroom, closing her door quietly.

She thought about Willem de Konigh as she took a shower and changed into her pajamas. After, she lay on her back, stared sightlessly in the darkness of her bedroom, and still thoughts of the Dutch billionaire persisted.

How odd, Serenity thought. She had never thought of a member of the opposite sex before.

She remembered Shane talking about Willem de Konigh, and something even stranger happened.

Pain, ripping into her heart, at the thought of Shane marrying the billionaire.

Painful...but odd.

It was Serenity’s last thought as she slipped into an uneasy sleep haunted by images of her half-sister dancing in the billionaire’s arms.

Chapter Two

AS SOON AS WILLEM’Slimousine started to move, he didn’t waste another second, pulling out the foldable laptop table from the side of the car, where his MacBook Pro was attached with a specially designed mount.

He typed Serenity’s name on the search box and was stunned a moment later when dozens of archived news reports showed up. He scanned the text swiftly but thoroughly, and questions he hadn’t even thought of asking were answered.

He had reminded her of her father, Willem realized grimly, when he had reached out to ruffle her hair. Apparently, it was a rather familiar gesture of the late and psychotic Daniel Raleigh when expressing his approval of his student’s performance.

Closing his laptop, he asked his bodyguards how long they had been speaking to Serenity.

There was a moment’s hesitation before Smit answered, “Almost an hour, sir.”

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