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I tighten my hand around his. We’ve already had this argument, and Adrian being in Philadelphia doesn’t change the agreement we made. His presence only gives me another reason to hate it.

I turn back to Ronan. “Can you connect Adrian to any of the three deaths?”

“Possibly Eric Walsh. Adrian was in New York when Eric died, and I found a credit-card transaction from that afternoon less than four miles from where Eric crashed. The transaction puts him nearby, but it doesn’t prove he had anything to do with the accident. I’m still working on Megan Price and Thomas Keating.”

Nash leans forward, studying the information on Ronan’s screen. “Zee’s checking the same thing now that he has Adrian’s real name. He can work backward through old addresses and travel records instead of trying to trace a burner.”

Ronan nods. “I’m sending Adrian’s photograph to Taylor and the few people who need to recognize him Saturday. Until then, nobody goes near him. If he realizes we’ve identified him, he could warn Alina and they could change whatever they’re planning.”

I look at Nash. “If you see Adrian at the gala, you stay away from him and get to me or Taylor. If he approaches you first, you move. I don’t give a fuck what he says or what he wants.”

Nash studies Adrian’s face for another moment before nodding. “I’ll move. But this gives us an advantage too. Alina and Adrian still think he’s nothing more than a name we found on a burner. They have no idea we know what he looks like.”

Ronan goes back to tracing Adrian’s movements while Nash stays at my side, his fingers still wrapped around mine. Whatever Alina and Adrian are planning for Saturday, they expect us to walk into that hotel without recognizing him.

We’ll make sure they keep believing that.

Chapter 38 Nash

Three days later, we walk into the hotel ballroom knowing Adrian Dare has been in Philadelphia since Tuesday and could be somewhere inside. Every person on Duncan’s security team has his photograph, but that hasn’t stopped Duncan from touching me at least a dozen times since we left the house. His hand stayed on my thigh during the drive, moved to the back of my neck while we waited to enter, and now rests against my lower back as he guides me through the crowd.

He hasn’t asked me to stay home again. He hasn’t tried to change the agreement we made or told Taylor to haul me out of here simply because Adrian might show up. Duncan is walking into this ballroom with me beside him even though Alina knows I’ll be here and a man we suspect may be connected to three deaths arrived in Philadelphia four days ago. I know exactly how much that costs him, so I don’t say a word about the hand that hasn’t left me since we walked through the door.

Duncan’s hand shifts from my back to mine as we reach the registration table. The woman checking names recognizes him immediately, her professional smile widening as she finds him on the list before turning her attention to me. “And your guest?”

“Nash Campbell. He’s my partner.”

I look at him before I can stop myself. He’s called me his partner before, but hearing him say it here is different. This isn’t his penthouse with only the two of us or his family gathered around us. We’re standing in a hotel ballroom filled with people who know exactly who Duncan Murphy is, and he says it without hesitation, like there was never another way he planned to introduce me.

His fingers tighten around mine while the woman finds my name, hands us our place cards and directs us toward the ballroom. Once we’re out of her hearing, I move closer to Duncan’s side. “I really fucking like hearing you introduce me that way.”

His thumb moves across my knuckles. “You’re my partner, A Sholas. That’s how I’ll introduce you.”

I squeeze his hand as we walk into the ballroom. I don’t need anything more than that. The ballroom is already crowded, with servers weaving between guests carrying trays of champagne and a string quartet playing near the far wall, the music nearly lost beneath hundreds of conversations. White-covered tables fill most of the room, and massive screens beside the stage cycle through photographs of the charities receiving money tonight.

I spotted Taylor once when we came in, but I haven’t looked for him since. Ronan positioned security throughout the hotel before we arrived, and the last thing I want to do is give Alina a reason to notice where any of them are by constantly checking for them.

Duncan guides me farther into the ballroom, stopping every few feet when someone recognizes him. I meet board members, executives, donors and people connected to organizations I’ve only heard of because their names are plastered across buildings. Every introduction is the same. Nash Campbell, my partner. After the first few, I stop waiting to see if he’ll change the wording depending on who’s standing in front of us.

Most people barely react. A few glance between us with obvious surprise before smoothing their expressions, but if Duncan notices, he doesn’t give a shit. His hand stays against my back as we move through the room, and there’s something almost ridiculous about how good it feels to stand beside him while he makes it clear to everyone we meet exactly what I am to him.

We eventually reach his family. Kieran and Alessia are talking with another couple, and Alessia’s face warms as soon as she sees us. She touches my arm, tells me I look handsome, and draws me into the conversation as naturally as if I’ve been attending these things with Duncan for years. Declan and Xavier are nearby with Conor and Jaxon, and seeing Jaxon standing beside Conor instead of somewhere in the room with security reminds me Duncan meant what he said. Jaxon is here because he’s Conor’s partner, the same way I’m here with Duncan.

I’m listening to Alessia when Duncan’s hand presses more firmly against my back. The pressure of Duncan’s hand barely changes, but after the last few weeks, I recognize it immediately and follow his gaze across the ballroom.

Alina is standing in the middle of a group, smiling at something one of the men beside her says. She looks exactly like the woman who used to walk into Murphy Enterprises as if she belonged there. Expensive dress, perfect hair, every detail carefully put together. If we hadn’t spent the last few weeks pulling apart her life, I’d never look at her and think the name she gave Duncan belonged to another woman.

Her gaze finds us across the room and stays on me before slowly dropping to Duncan’s hand against my back.

“I see her,” I say quietly.

“She’s been watching us.”

I expected her to notice me. What she’s seeing is more than me simply showing up. Duncan has spent the evening introducing me as his partner, his family has pulled me into their circle without hesitation, and he hasn’t taken his hand off me for more than a few minutes since we arrived. Alina watches us for several more seconds before turning back to the people around her.

I keep my attention off her after that. We didn’t come here to force her to do anything. If she has a plan for tonight, we need to give her enough room to follow it.

For the next half hour, nothing changes. Duncan continues introducing me to people while I keep Alina at the edge of my attention and scan the room occasionally for Adrian. I haven’t seen him, but with hundreds of people moving through the hotel, that doesn’t mean he isn’t here.