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“Yes,” I whispered. The ache in my chest spread. Cian was out there watching over me, but still so far away. Desperation seeped out of every pore in my body. I was reaching a breaking point. “Tell me again what’s going to happen,” I breathed.
His voice was soft, calming. “You’re going to find what we need tonight, and once you do, I’m hauling ass up there to get you. We’re going straight to Delove and Dobbs, and if they choose to remain unreasonable, then we’re leaving. Scotland. Ireland. The Bahamas. Anywhere you want to go, Nova.”
I chuckled and closed my eyes. That would be a dream come true. Of course, it was a white lie, and we both knew it. There was no way I would ever leave Juliet, and I would never ask Cian to leave his brothers and sister. A life on the run, always looking over my shoulder to see how close the FBI was, or, worse, Kaviathin Voledetti? It just couldn’t happen that way. No, every moment counted tonight.
“OK, I’m going downstairs now. Wish me luck.”
“You got this, my queen.”
I walked down the circular staircase and glanced down at all the people walking around. There were a lot of them, at least sixty, and that was just in the main room. A waiter passed by with a tray of champagne and offered me a glass, which I quickly grabbed. Just a little something to calm my nerves.
Ryzen was standing near the fireplace, a group of five men and women surrounding him. His eyes brightened and he waved me over. I plastered a huge smile on my face as I approached the group.
“You look stunning, Nova.” He kissed my cheek, and Cian grumbled in the background. Ryzen held my hand and introduced me to the group of people, who didn’t try to hide their stares at my breasts, or the giant piece of jewelry collared around my neck. I spent the next thirty minutes dangling on Ryzen’s arm, offering a smile or laugh when necessary.
“I’m just going to run to the ladies’ room,” I whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek.
“OK, honey. I’ll miss you.” The women awwed and the men chuckled at his supposed adoration.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Cian muttered.
“Calm down,” I giggled and walked casually up the stairs. “It’s all for show, Cian.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s a fucking dead man for touching what’s mine.” Cian sighed. “I hate this.”
“I know,” I whispered softly to avoid looking like a mad woman talking to herself to anyone who might be looking at me. “I’m going upstairs to check his room first.”
I went to my room first and locked the door behind me before opening the connecting door to our room. Ryzen’s briefcase lay open on his bed, and I shuffled through the contents. There appeared to be architectural drawings of a high-rise building right on top. Underneath, I found a letter from the insurance company.
“Listen to this.” I read through the letter. “It says they have been working with law enforcement to ensure there’s no fraud taking place. It lists Delove’s contact information at the bottom. Why didn’t Delove tell us that?”
“I don’t know,” Cian murmured, “but I don’t like it.”
Had Ryzen been in contact with the FBI? That seemed like something Delove or Dobbs or, hell, even Ryzen would have mentioned to me. I snapped pictures of everything with my watch and cellphone and put it back in his briefcase. I went around the room, opening every drawer and looking through, trying to find the journal or anything else that could be useful.
“Seven minutes, Nova.” Cian’s voice was tense.
“Just one more minute.” I walked over to a large armoire and searched through it, not finding anything. “There’s nothing here.” I sighed.
“Get back downstairs, little star.”
“Yes, sir.” I chuckled and went back through to my room, then back down the circular staircase. I looked around, not seeing Ryzen, so decided to mingle with the crowd, offering a smile and hello. I was shocked when I saw the SNM triplets in the corner, and walked over to them. I hadn’t seen them since we had met at Covington’s fundraiser fiasco where Ryzen had won the bid.
“My favorite triplets.” I grinned and they reached down, embracing me in a hug.
“Miss La Roux, stunning as always,” one of them said. I glanced down at his cufflinks and saw the letter “S”.
“Thank you, Scott. You all look just as handsome as ever. What do I have to do to get a drink around here?” I chuckled when they all raised their hands at the same time, three waiters stepping over and offering me a glass of champagne.
“Watch it with them, Nova,” Cian growled. “They like to share.”
My cheeks heated, and I bit my bottom lip to stop my laugh. It wasn’t surprising; they were pretty sexy. And triplets? C’mon. What grown woman would turn down a night with three sexy men? Well, I would, because Cian was more than enough for me to handle. But maybe I should introduce them to Juliet. She would probably have the time of her life.
We spoke for some time, them telling me about a new complex they were building that would have a high-end shopping experience and the largest fitness facility ever built on commercial land. I nodded with enthusiasm and asked a lot of questions, because I didn’t want to come off as rude, especially after they had always been so nice to me.
“Sounds very exciting, gentlemen. Humor me for a minute. Are any of you single? I have a friend, my business partner, who I think might be perfect”—I looked between the three of them—“for you.”
They all nodded in unison. I was pretty sure Cian was right about the whole sharing thing.
