Magdalena waved her hands. "I didn't take my wards faltering into account, and therefore couldn't predict the splash Mr. MacKenna created amongst your clients. I knew you would accept any gentleman worthy of your pleasure, so I was more focused on how they would fit together. This creates a kind of puzzle, but it can be solved. For now, I have wards to address."
"They are failing then?" I asked.
"Fraying, at the very least," she admitted with a scowl.
"And Ezra is…"
Magdalena's lips pursed sympathetically. "He won't be back until I can sort the matter of his membership out. I'm sorry."
I nodded, but the news made me feel a little queasy too. The whole event was so…abrupt, and in spite of my bath, I was starting to feel a little dirty in the aftermath.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest, darling? As Amon said, we can begin anew tomorrow."
Magdalena was already digging through the odd assortment of supplies littered around her office. I curtsied out of habit, and Booker was there at my back as I turned through the halls for the stairs that would take me back up to my bedroom.
The sheets were still tangled in my room when I arrived, and they smelled of campfire and sex. My lower lip wobbled as I stared at the spot where I'd fucked Ezra. Ezra who'd been so swiftly escorted out of my presence with no clear idea of when I might see—I snorted at that thought and corrected myself—meet him again.
Booker remained outside the door. He'd been charged with protecting me, but now we knew the presence in my room had only been Ezra. I was tempted to drag Booker in with me anyway, to take comfort from him now that I'd been denied it elsewhere.
Exactly what got you into this mess in the first place, I thought, lips twisting in frustration. I shut the door on the hall and resolved to keep only my own company for the rest of the day.