It was not his immediate intention to track down his head of house when Montgomery tugged the door open to head out to the balcony. Just an attempt to steal another moment of solitude, a moment to recharge before heading back in to try and navigate all the people and politics inside Mortensen’s estate.
However it wasn’t an unwelcome surprise to find that Athena had beaten him to it. A woman he’d only caught glimpses of most of the night. It wasn’t a cause for concern necessarily, not a doubt in his mind that she was a woman completely taking care of herself. But he doubted she was any more thrilled about being here than the rest of her house, regardless of whether she’d demanded Dominic’s attendance at the thing.
It had him plastering on a smile, easily pretending that his discovery was an intentional one. “I thought I might find you out here.”
He let the door close behind him, crossing to the woman’s side. Taking the opportunity to see how she was holding up, as if it was some warzone and not a mansion they were standing in. “Just getting some fresh air?” There was a teasing lilt to the question, some implication there that he wouldn’t dare accuse the head of his house of hiding.