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One of the guards pulled open the front door. Aiden stopped Hays and Elizabeth with a hand on Hays’s arm. “I understand reconnecting and true love better than most in the world, but this …” He pointed at the two of them. “We can’t have a hint of this once we step off the plane in Arizona.”
Hays hated it, but nodded that he understood. The entire situation was much larger than his need to be close to Elizabeth.
“Hays strengthens me,” Elizabeth said, focused on Aiden, not him. “But don’t worry, I know how to stand on my own.” As if to prove that point, she walked away from Hays.
“She’s quite an extraordinary lady,” Aiden said.
“Yes, she is.” Hays focused on Aiden. “Do you really think Benjamin will walk into a party undefended, knowing Elizabeth will have armed men around her?”
“He believes Elizabeth is still in his control. Did you not hear his voice? But I know he’ll have tricks up his sleeves and alternate plans. We’ll prepare for every eventuality.”
“All right.”
“Hays. Quaid is bringing pieces of the puzzle into play, but thank you for not questioning what we’re planning. I know that isn’t easy when you’re used to being a leader.”
“Not at all.” Hays studied him. At least he was acknowledging Hays was in the dark.
“Can you please continue to trust us?”
“I’ve done it for this long.”
“All of two days,” Aiden teased, grinning. He dropped his smile. “Your role is to stay by Elizabeth’s side. Don’t let Peter or her father take her hostage, and don’t trust anything her father says. You can taunt Peter or her father. No stress. It’s what I would do.”
“Thank you for that approval.” He nodded. “Anything else you can tell me?”
“I pray you can trust me. It won’t all go according to the plan in my head. Things rarely do.” He grinned. “But with Elizabeth’s help we’ve got techs ready to destroy him financially and take out some of his connections at the same time. Exposing him at a party filled with media will work. We will triumph.”
Hays was impressed with Aiden, but even more so with Elizabeth. She was very capable of standing on her own. She’d done it for many years.
Did she need or love him? Even if she did, would she ever admit it, or would she stay strong and aloof to protect him?
Chapter
Nineteen
Elizabeth’s nerves thrummed as she and Jarom mingled and greeted people at their fake engagement party in a beautifully decorated and sprawling mansion in Gilbert, Arizona. Darkness fell outside, though the patio and pool lights illuminated part of the large backyard.
Hays wasn’t far away. His very presence strengthened her, and though she preferred him holding her close, right now she had to stand on her own. Just as she’d done for many years.
She, Hays, Jarom, and all the bodyguards had indistinguishable earpieces in. Aiden hadn’t given her much detail besides the instruction to stay close to Jarom and Hays, not to believe her father, to play her role of impressive billionaire like she’d done so many times before, and to trust him. He promised he had prepared for every eventuality, but she knew her father too well. He’d throw a curveball. Somehow, he’d hurt everyone she cared about.
She looked at Hays. His deep-brown eyes made her quiver with longing for him. What if her father killed him?
Hays had told her to lean on his faith. She didn’t understand faith or heaven and had never known God’s love, but Hays did. Elizabeth felt like a dejected child who’d never been loved by her own parents or her heavenly parents. Was that not God’s fault or her fault, but all on her father and mother, like everything else rotten in her life?
As she smiled and spoke with people, she found herself saying a quiet prayer in her head.
Please, God. Protect Hays, Aiden, and all these people who are risking their lives to take down my father. If it is possible, let us triumph over him. Please watch over Jacey, Cade, Quaid, and Anna. If I can give my life for Hays or my siblings, please let me do that.
Maybe the prayer was all wrong. She didn’t hear a voice or feel any reassurance that it would all work out, but she had no idea what praying people felt. She did notice her hands were steady and her heart rate wasn’t racing out of control. Was that prayer or because Hays was close by?
People had been spilling into the elaborate party for the past twenty minutes. Some she recognized—actors and actresses, influencers, politicians. Some she did not, but Aiden had explained there would be undercover police and FBI agents loyal to him posing as guests. Aiden had his men spread throughout the party as well, with guards inside and out and a contingent manning cameras and sensors for the large property. The low thrum of a helicopter circled above the property. It was high enough not to be too loud but to keep an eye on everything from a different vantage point.
There were reporters and paparazzi everywhere, watching, waiting for something. Some did spontaneous interviews with celebrities, but most kept their focus on her and Jarom, hoping for another announcement or maybe wondering if the engagement was real or a coverup. After all, Elizabeth Oliver had been kidnapped and her guards supposedly butchered by the infamous Aiden Porter, which had caused an uproar. Then Jesse’s show had revealed Aiden and his men actually rescued her from her kidnappers for her fiancé, the billionaire bachelor Jarom Love.
Lots of drama. They were salivating. Nobody knew who the kidnappers were, and that had to be driving them insane.
She and Jarom moved together to the back patio above the pool glowing blue in the evening sky. They held hands and greeted party guests, all who congratulated them on their upcoming nuptials. The Jesse episode had gone viral, and the invited guests were thrilled to celebrate with the sensational couple.
