'Oh, is it cold outside?' asked Laurent. The evidence of it was all around him, from the thawing scarf he'd discarded to the red spots high on his cheeks. His lips were still cold, yet after the anger that had propelled him here and Damen's hands, huge and warm against him now, it was impossible to recall the chill beyond the windows.

'I hadn't noticed.' He looked up at Damen, enjoying the concentration of those dark eyes on his many buttons. 'Will you seek him out?' Laurent wondered, yet unable to escape his own curiosity. It was Damen's way to believe the best of people, but it was also his way now to trust Laurent's judgment. 'Or leave him be.'