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My lungs burn, starving for air.
I lift my face and step back to meet his eyes. Nothing but unwavering sincerity reflects back at me. A ripple of confusion tightens his brows. He takes a moment to ascertain the location of our target. Then his attention belongs to me again.
So.
No.
He doesn’t know the truth.
Not at all.
And I can’t handle any of this right now.
Gathering my gown, I turn in a rush of fabric toward the closest exit. My men part like a tide to let me leave. The world spots, dark blots encompassing my vision as what I can only assume is a panic attack creeps up on me. It’s too hot, suddenly. Too cold. The balmy night wraps me in a fist as I flee from the distant cry of strange birds, the murmurs of conversation, an auction rallying to begin.
Lace and Chip.
Lace and Chip are somewhere, waiting for me, my personal team. My personal backup.
I forget where we coordinated to meet if I needed them.
My head is spinning right now.
Rowan doesn’t know anything. He’s genuinely interested in cementing a life with me. He has genuinely planned to ask…to ask my papa for my hand.
Tears overwhelm me, and I lose my footing in the grass, sinking my heels halfway into the turf as a sob rattles my bones. I swear, wrapping myself in a hug.
Before I can so much as regain my balance, someone’s hand skims up my thigh.
I shudder. “Rowan—” My voice breaks. “Please.”
The weight of my gun lifts from its holster, then a different murmur hits my ears. “Not your Rowan, princess.”
Before I can reboot my emotions, regain my gun, and take the defensive, an arm’s around my throat—choking me—as a drug hits my bloodstream, and it’s…
Well.
It’s almost poetic, isn’t it?
As my vision splotches and fades all I can think is that, even in the darkest places, life has such a twisted sense of humor.
Chapter 35
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rug, meet wool.
One’s pulled out from under you; the other’s over your eyes.
Rowan
Okay. New plan.
I lost sight of our target shortly after I lost sight of Briar. He was our one lead, and I threw it away. Because…because I miscalculated. Making matters worse, she vanished without a trace alongside our target. Just like how our parents disappeared. My men saw nothing and have no information. By the time I got past security, she was gone.
If the Maxim Project has her…
My mouth goes dry as I roll her ring box over in my hand, breathe deep, and walk circles in my room, desperately trying to clear my head. I’ve contacted Lace and Chip. I’m waiting on them to get here. I need help, the kind of help Briar magically creates. I hope her friends have enough of it to bypass our weeks of hunting for the lead I squandered so far.
