“… Absolutely not, totally out of the question!” Berking’s tone was mocking.
Another male voice murmured something unintelligible over the stomping footsteps and huffing breath of Berking climbing the stairs. Alexander swore under his breath. An encounter with Berking was the last thing he needed right now. He sped his steps.
“And I’ve said, it is not a concern! Everyone knows he got his funding through less than savory means, so it’s no surprise at all!”
The large man rumbled to the top of the stairs and paused, whipping out a handkerchief and blotting his shining face. Another man, thin and reedy, with pale hair that might have been blond or white, frowned at Berking. Berking caught sight of Alexander standing in the hall, causing Alexander’s insides to lurch unpleasantly as he grinned and started toward him.
“Ashton, my boy! What are you still doing here! Should be out strutting around with some beautiful bird!” His booming voice set Alexander’s teeth on edge.
Alexander wondered if he should pretend he was on his way back to his office. He was in the middle of the hall, no doubt looking suspicious. “Bird, sir?” he repeated absently.
“Yes, Ashton, a bird! A woman!” Berking’s face was red with exertion.
“I have to prepare for the expedition. Plenty of birds and fresh air in Brazil,” Alexander said with a half-hearted smile. He forced his eyes to stay on Berking rather than on the light shining through Maxwell’s office door, lest he give Berking the idea to drop in on Saffron.
“Of course, Ashton, of course! But I’ve heard that Brazil is full of many kinds of birds with voluminous, colorful plumage.” Berking winked a bloodshot eye at him and wiggled his eyebrows, clearly not referring to birds at all.
Alexander opened his mouth to reply, but Berking laughed suddenly.
“Or is it that you have a bird in the cage, Ashton?” Berking nearly managed a normal speaking voice, clearly his idea of a whisper. He nodded his head toward the office door they stood before, saying “Don’t want to be disturbed, eh, Ashton? Is that Miss Everleigh you’ve got in there?”
Alexander cleared his throat, hating how his eyes darted to the door. “That’s not—”
“No need, no need!” Berking winked. “I would take advantage while you can; that particular bird is a rare one to capture. You might pass on your technique to us!”
His jaw clenched, but Alexander tried to look just embarrassed. It wouldn’t do to bring even more attention to him or Saffron by arguing with Berking’s implications.
“Let’s go, Glass, let’s leave the young to be young. We have work to do!” Berking barked at the man, Glass, and clapped a heavy hand on his back again, making the pallid face wince. He nodded to Alexander, clearly not as approving of his supposed exploits as Berking, and they made their way down the hall and out of sight.
Alexander slipped into the office. He crossed to Saffron, who was craning her neck back to look at the door.
“Is he gone?” she whispered. The pallor of her face had deepened, rendering her deathly pale.
“It looked like he was going up to his office,” Alexander said. “Are you all right?”
Saffron turned back, but not before Alexander caught her expression. It was not unlike the bleak expressions of relief he’d seen on his fellow soldiers when silence fell after a merciless volley. Grateful for the reprieve, but weary of the constant onslaught.
On a face he was most used to seeing smiling, the look worried him. “I doubt he’ll try to come in here.”
She looked at him in question.
“He seemed to think we were … spending time together,” he said.
From the way she looked away, he probably shouldn’t have said that. He’d heard the gossip making the rounds through the building, the same as everyone else. Unlike most, he’d written off the story of her failed attempt to seduce the head of her department as vicious talk, especially considering Berking was a pig. But perhaps there was something to it.
“Of course that’s what he thinks is happening in here,” Saffron muttered. She shook her head slightly. “Would you mind looking at my arms? I can’t see how they’re progressing anymore.”
Alexander nodded and sat in the chair. Her eyes followed his hand as he reached for hers. The streaked skin was smooth and cool to the touch.
His eyes lifted to hers. “Can you feel that?”
She shook her head, eyes wide. “I can’t … I can’t feel it at all.”