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Where might you be going, cher?
Now I’m the one straightening. “Is she doing what I think she’s doing?” I murmur.
Kylian downs his whiskey and drops the empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray. “Looks like.”
I shove my empty glass on the same tray and glare at a woman half-dragging her redheaded omega daughter this way. The woman stops and spins around, dragging her daughter back the way they came. “How about we—”
“Find out where Lawrence’s omega is running off to?” Cian interrupts. “Why not? Might be the only fun we have tonight.”
Chapter3
Everleigh
The second I’ve cleared the ballroom, entering the antechamber that leads to the rear gardens, I pick up my pace. It’s empty, save for a redheaded beta servant dressed in the Wentworth light blue staff uniform.
She peels herself off the wall beside the open double doors, letting cool air inside, and moves toward me. Her eyes dip behind me because it’s rare for me to be apart from Lawrence.Especiallyduring a party. “Miss?”
She won’t know what happened to Lawrence, but that could change any second.
I fan my face. “I’m too hot in there. Could you…?”
Before I’ve finished speaking, she’s already motioning me toward a cream chaise lounge as she turns back to the party. “Please sit. I’ll be right back with water for you, miss.”
And then she’s gone and I’m alone.
Lawrence will be upstairs changing into a fresh shirt, pants, and a different set of cufflinks to go with this unexpected change of outfit.
Which means the time to act is now.
Stepping out of my heels, I kick them under the chaise lounge. I grip the hem of my dress, lifting it so I don’t trip over it as I power walk toward the patio.
I don’t dare run yet. There will be guests out there enjoying the cool weather. And nothing is likely to attract their attention—or set off their suspicion—than the mistress of the house sprinting out mid-party.
For now, at least, the coast is clear. I don’t waste a second of it.
Abandoning all decorum, I hike my skirt up over my knees as I sprint across the gray stone patio seating area, plunging into the landscaped garden.
There, I run into my first obstacle.
Up ahead, near the pool cabana, a man chuckles and a woman giggles. I hesitate. The sound of a metallic zip and then soft moans make me quietly curse.
I can’t go that way. Maybe if I’d timed things a little better, they wouldn’t even notice me. It’s dark enough in Lawrence’s landscaped gardens with orange trees, boxwood hedges, and a rose garden to hide myself. But they just started. They’re going to hear me rushing about, or worse, see me.
Whirling around, I dash toward the maze with a small fountain in its center. It leads to a quieter, darker part of the garden where I’ll have the most time to climb one of the boxwood hedges that mark off Lawrence’s property.
The only thing I’ve climbed is Lawrence when my heat was riding me hard.
Tonight, I’m about to learn how to scale a twenty-foot-tall boxwood hedge or die trying.
I’ve fallen for the fourth time, broken at least five of my nails, and tears of frustration are welling in my eyes when someone clears their throat.
A man.
I surge to my feet, spin around, and immediately recoil.
Three alphas, their heady pheromones making the distance between us feel minuscule, peer at me so blankly I have no clue how long they’ve been there.
I know who they are, of course.
