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“We wanted to cap the evening off with something spectacular, so it’s time to unveil the art piece, and then the auction will begin.”
He claps his hands, and a few of the event staff hurry forward. The room goes silent, and the air is heavy with the feeling of anticipation. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. All these rich people in a room with something expensive and limited edition? I bet they’re beside themselves waiting to see it so they can try to outbid each other for it.
With a flourish, the tuxedo clad staff members pull the cover off the platform.
I blink.
The atmosphere in the ballroom shifts from anticipation to shock—and not in the good way. A woman near the front screams, the sound seeming to cut through the suddenly silent space. For a second, my brain can’t quite process what I’m seeing.
What… what the fuck?
The “art piece” is a big, metallic thing. Like some kind of pedestal made of a shiny, gold material. The real issue is what’s on top of it. A body, hacked up and draped over the pedestal. It’s barely recognizable, bloated and starting to decay, but there are two cuts on either side of the mouth that stop me dead.
It’s Ivan.
I know it is.
I gave him those cuts myself, taking pleasure in the way he screamed in pain as I cut him. I helped the guys hack his body up and stuff it in the bag. And then I stood there and watched Knox weigh it down and drop it into the river.
Now, somehow, it’s here.
It’s easy to tell when everyone else realizes what they’re seeing. The shock ripples through the crowd, and more people start screaming. Pandemonium breaks loose as people start demanding answers or rushing to get away from the body. I wonder vaguely how many people recognize that it’s Ivan St. James, whether they can tell from what’s left of his face or his expensive clothes.
But my mind can’t seem to process anything else. I feel frozen in place, just staring at the body on that stupid gold pedestal, reeling from the shock.
A hand wraps around my wrist, and I glance up to see Gage grabbing me.
“Goddammit,” he curses sharply. “We have to go. Now.”
He starts dragging me through the crowd before I can think of anything to say, and I just go with him. Knox and Priest are on either side of me, pushing their way through the surging mass of people who are all running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
It’s pure chaos in the ballroom, and I rely on Gage’s grip to keep me heading in the right direction because I can’t see the exit through all these people anyway.
Someone presses in close beside me, and I jerk away from them, managing to step on the hem of my dress and almost stumble as Gage keeps dragging me along. I knock into someone else’s shoulder and turn in time to see their face, which is concealed behind a mask.
For just a second, we lock eyes as we pass.
My heart stops, and time seems to freeze right along with it.
It’s a woman, and as I stare at her, I’m hit with memories all over again.
I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.
I’ve seen them light up in happiness when she laughed or brim with tears when she was sad. I’ve seen them wild with fear and dull with resignation more often than I ever wanted to. They’re eyes I never thought I would see again, eyes that are burned into my mind and my heart, and it doesn’t make any fucking sense for me to be seeing them here and now.
Before I can do or say anything, the woman I knocked into is pulled one way, and I’m pulled another. The exit looms ahead, and I stumble along, feeling numb and even more in shock than I was before.
We burst out of the hotel and into the night air. It’s quieter than inside, but only for half a second. Sirens fill the air, and Gage curses again, getting us farther away from the hotel and the mess inside.
The police are already on their way.
We get to a quiet side street, and finally they all stop, giving us a moment to catch our breaths. That’s easier said than done.
My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest, and my mind is spinning in circles.
I lean against the wall of a building, one hand over my chest, gasping for breath. I don’t know how I can feel numb and freaked out all at the same time, and it’s a weird mix of running cold and hot, feeling my blood beating through my body in icy rivers.
I stare down at the pavement, illuminated weakly by the streetlight a little way away. I know I’m not crazy. I know what I saw. Ivan’s body was in there, yeah, but after that…
