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He’s next to me. With him out of the game, that leaves three of us. I’ll be gone by the next round. I would have left before, but I know my grandfather wants me to win.
“Let’s go,” I chime in.
Grandfather goes first with the smile of a victor spreading across his face as he shows his hand of cards. It’s a full house—three aces and two threes.
Carl is about to play next, but Jericho rushes through the door with a peeved-off look on his face.
Avoiding Grandfather’s intense stare, he walks straight up to me. The moment he leans down to whisper, I know something is wrong.
“I need you to come outside with me.Now.” He keeps his voice extra low, and there’s an urgency in his tone.
“What’s happened?” I twist to face him.
He bites the inside of his lip. “It’s Aurora. Just come.”
What could have possibly happened here? I left her with Madison and my mother. When last I checked, the three were talking about shopping and shoes.
“Sorry, guys, I have to go.” I place my cards down face up, showing I have a royal flush. From the defeated look on Carl’s face and the bright smile on my grandfather’s, I know I won.Mission accomplished.
Knowing Aurora needs me, I would have left anyway.
Sensing the need for discretion, I wait until Jericho and I walk into the hallway before I speak.
“What’s going on? Is she okay?”
“Physically, yes. Anything else, not so much. She’s fucking wasted. One of the waiters found her outside in the rose garden.”
“What?” That doesn’t sound like her. “Wasn’t she with Mom and Madison?”
“Mom and Maurice had to leave to catch their flight, and Madison was doing damage control with the other crazy little friend. Apparently, there was a flood in her apartment.”
That crazy little friend he’s talking about is Skye. He’s calling her crazy because, within five minutes of meeting him, she asked if she could have his babies.
“Whatever sent Aurora out there must have pissed her right the fuck off,” Jericho continues. “I assume you’d know all about that.”
I snap my gaze to him with my brows raised. “No. I haven’t done anything.” There’s a silenttodayat the end of that sentence. “What makes you think she’s mad at me?”
“When I went to help her, she thought I was you, so she cussed my ass from here to kingdom come and told me to eat shit and die.” He gives me a narrowed stare and clenches his jaw. “I figured I’d getyouto deal with her.”
I don’t even know what to say to him, so I keep quiet. I’m at a complete loss when it comes to figuring out what the hell could have happened.
Minutes later, we walk outside and make our way through the moor.
There’s no one else in this section, so I spot Aurora straight away in the rose garden with her arms wrapped around the trunk of the willow tree.
With her dress spread out around her, she looks like she’s part of the sea of flowers.
As she’s got her head pressed to the tree, I can’t tell if she’s sleeping or awake. Next to her are two bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne. All are empty, so no wonder she’s wasted.
While Jericho hangs back, I rush forward and crouch by her side, then touch her arm lightly so I don’t startle her.
“Goddess, hey there.” I rub her arm, loving the silky smoothness of her bare skin beneath my fingertips.
Aurora lifts her head and looks at me, squinting then frowning when she realizes it’s me. “You.” Her voice is a notch above a whisper but is filled with venom.
“Me.” I nod and give her a hope-filled smile, to which she frowns and looks me up and down as if I just contaminated her air space. “Is there a reason you’re hugging the tree?”
“I don’t want to fall over,” she mumbles, holding on to the tree trunk tighter.
