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No hesitation.
But then my eyes flick around the room to see the hundreds of people who would witness my attack. No expense has been spared for this event. The room overflows with flowers, the scent running up my nostrils every time I turn my head. People are dressed to the nines in ball gowns and tuxedos while black-tied waiters scurry around, ensuring everyone is looked after and every demand is met for our senator wannabe. The opulence is repugnant; the money these people have is obscene. We are wealthy, probably just as wealthy as these people, but we share our wealth with many, we invest, and we don’t flaunt.
It is called having class, and these people have none.
“She looks pretty happy to me, Carter,” Sebastian grits out from behind me. I can feel his anger at the situation pouring out of him, but it is no match for my own.
I watch her closely, and my gut churns. Her playing me is what a man like me should expect. That is what I deserve. After everything I have done, all the lives I have ended. And even though Sebastian’s voice is a constant in my mind, I know she didn’t do anything. Deep down, I know she is still my safe place.
“Something isn’t right. She wouldn’t play me like this,” I say to him as my eyes remain fixed on her. I see her step off the stage and greet her father, a crowd swarming them.
“It could all have been to get intel on us,” he grits out, wanting me to determine by looking at her from across the room if his suspicions are right. I shake my head in disbelief.
I thought what we had was real. It felt more real than anything else I have ever had in my life.
As she grabs Daniel’s upper arm to get his attention, I spot the large diamond sparkler on her finger. It is new, and I haven’t seen it before. Not on her hand, not on her dresser at home, not on her bedside table, not anywhere.
Something isn’t right; she is smiling, a big, bright smile that’s beautiful and contagious to everyone around her. But it isn’t reaching her eyes. I see how she moves away from her father and whispers something to Daniel, and then she steps away.
I stalk her, sticking to the outer rim of the room, watching her interact with people, playing the role of dutiful fiancée, carrying champagne, yet noticing that she doesn’t take a sip. She hasn’t all night.
She puts her head down and walks quickly then, and as I spot where she is going, my legs are moving before I even know what I am about to do. I see the bathrooms and I wait for her to enter, then a few more moments to ensure no one else follows her.
Stepping into the bathroom, I spot her leaning over the sink, her head down.
“Cat,” I grit out, my anger at the situation palpable as I watch her. She’s so fucking beautiful, and she’s so fucking mine. Why is she here?
“Carter!” she says in surprise as she stands up, her head whipping around in shock.
“Oh my God. No, you can’t be here. I can’t be seen with you,” she whispers fiercely, now panicking, grabbing her purse, her hands fidgeting. I know something isn’t right.
“What the fuck are you doing here with him?” I spit out, harsher than I mean to.
“Keep your voice down,” she reprimands me as she comes close, her hands cupping my jaw, her eyes glassy.
“Carter,” she says my name breathily as she puts her lips to mine, and every small but nagging negative thought I had melts away in that instant, my hands coming to hold her face, wanting to keep her close. But as quick as she kissed me, she pulls away.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask her in a grating whisper, my eyes searching hers for the answer I don’t think she’ll give me.
“I love you, Carter. So much.” She says the words that fill my soul like it is goodbye, and my stomach falls to my feet as I watch a lone tear fall from her eye.
“Cat, tell me what the hell is going on?” I press, but she is shaking her head, her eyes looking around the bathroom, and she starts to walk toward the bathroom door. I grip her arm as she goes, trying to stop her.
“I need to go. Please, Carter, please let me go.” Her voice becomes more desperate as she tries to free herself of my grip. The sheer fear in her face has me releasing her arm as I look at her in shock, raising my eyebrows.
“Cat, just talk to me. I can help.” I know deep down something is going on. Taking a breath, she stares into my eyes, and I can see the internal battle there. I can’t not hold her for another moment. Grabbing her around the waist, she yelps out in pain, and I pause, lifting my hands away like I touched fire.
“What did—” I start, looking at her wide-eyed. My gaze travels up and down her body, assessing her, and I notice the way she hugs herself, the way she seems pained to breathe.
“What did they fucking do to you?” I grit out, wanting to kill every last motherfucker in this room.
“Please, Carter, please, I need to go.. They are watching me…” she begs me, and I don’t know what to fucking do.
“Someone will come looking for me… someone can probably hear our entire conversation, Carter! I need to go…” she whispers harshly, her hands now trembling and voice coming out choked. Fear is painted all over her face.
She starts to walk away from me again, backwards toward the bathroom door, and out of my grip. I stand in total shock and watch her, before she stops, looking up at me with a glimmer of determination.
“Stegodyphus lineatus,” she says, her eyes pleading with mine, and I have no idea what she is talking about.
