“Breathe,” he demanded again.
And spite spurred me forward.
I forced in a trembling, wet breath, deeper than any in recent memory. Held it. Exhaled.
“That’s it,” Logan whispered.
He stroked my hair.
I dragged in another ragged breath.
He punished me with a kiss to the cheek.
“Good girl,” he murmured. “See? You’re fine.”
My chest rose again. Uneven, but obedient.
He pulled away. If I had to guess, he was recomposing himself.
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, as if that was something I wanted. “Don’t move.”
I wouldn’t.
I waited until I was fairly certain he was gone before closing my eyes.
I’m sorry, I thought.
Not for Logan.
For my babies. For Vinny. For Serena. For Benji. For Skye. For Reed.
Their names drifted through my fading thoughts as the room floated farther and farther away.
And in the quiet corner of a room I never wanted to be in, I stopped fighting.
Chapter 28
Benji
Ithought the hard part of tonight would be getting Vinny into the Stellar estate.
It wasn’t.
He, Reed, and I slipped inside without question.
No, the hard part was finding Violet.
The ballroom was suffocating.
Too bright. Too loud. Too many scents layered over each other, cologne, expensive liquor, territorial alphas puffing themselves up for dominance.
And Violet was small. So small.
It felt like searching for a needle in a haystack, except the haystack was moving and laughing and blocking my view.
Vinny and Reed weren’t having any better luck.
We’d agreed to split up. Cover more ground. Don’t draw attention. Find her first, then find each other.
