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Looking around, she could only see vibrant couples and satisfied guests. She hated to miss her own event, but she’d only be gone momentarily. Besides, Arianna always told herself that if everything didn’t run like clockwork, with or without her presence, it wasn’t planned well enough. Tonight, she had pulled off the ideal Christmas Ball.
Brad and Faith waltzed past her, yanking her attention from her perfect event and the note in her hand. They swirled so close she could swear she smelled his clean, fresh bergamot and cedar scent. A tumult of emotions raced through her—longing, hope, anger, betrayal.
And Brad … Their gazes locked.
It was only a brief moment, but his golden-brown eyes filled with an intensity and longing that lifted her.
Suddenly, her flawless ball was elevated. The instant connection to Brad, the man she’d loved for most of her life, turned up the contrast on the event, sharpening the colors and smells and the entire experience.
His mouth formed her nickname: ‘Ari.’ Then he and Faith were gone, waltzing past with the other couples.
Arianna blinked, swaying on her heels. She tried to breathe normally and couldn’t. Everything was cloudy, confusing.
Fresh air. Escape from this room and Brad’s overwhelming presence was the only solution. No one could ever compare to Brad, not for her. But he’d left her and now that he had come back to Augustine, had he come straight for her? No. He had come to her ball with a beautiful sweetheart in his arms.
She pressed a hand to her chest, fighting the dull pain there. Meeting Mason, laughing and teasing with a handsome man whowasinterested in her … that was exactly what she needed right now.
Quietly slipping out the double doors of the ballroom, she clicked down the main hallway of the Augustine castle and toward the side staircase. It was quieter away from the crowd and music. Disconcertingly quiet as she descended the two flights of stairs to the lower levels and hurried through the hall to one of the rear exits.
It would be chilly outside. She should’ve grabbed her coat, but Mason could keep her warm. They hadn’t kissed yet, but she liked him and wouldn’t mind seeing how a kiss between them went.
No kiss had ever compared to Brad’s.
Arianna pushed that intrusive and un-called for thought away. After the shock of seeing Brad again, it was good she was meeting Mason. She’d need strong support and humor like Mason’s if Brad was back in Augustine for good, since one glance could make her want to push her friend Faith out of his arms and claim that spot.
She yanked open the rear exterior door and walked out into the chilly December night. Light spilled from the windows of the massive twelve-story castle towering above her, sparkling on the lightly-falling snow.
Old-fashioned lamp posts lit the garden paths. The trails were packed with hard snow, and she skidded with each precarious step of her spike heels. The heel points were sharp enough they should dig into the snow, but the teenaged Princess Kiera and her sidekick four-year-old Princess Sunny had run, danced, and flipped along these trails often and had turned them into ice paths. A dusting of new snow decorated the path, making each step more treacherous. The snow fluffed into the air with each mincing step she took, touching the bare skin at the top of her foot. She shivered. At least the silver heels enclosed her toes.
Her gown was a burgundy sequined Calvin Klein original. It had long sleeves and fell to the ground, but with a V-neck and a slit to her knee in the front, she had exposed flesh at her neck and legs that immediately prickled in the cold air. Her hands were cold as well, especially as she discovered she needed to hold on to snow-covered trees, bushes, and benches to progress along the trail. She loved her ‘shoe weapons’ as her dad liked to call them, but it was too slick for a spike heel out here and her feet were freezing.
Mason’s secret rendezvous might not be as romantic as she’d hoped. If he appeared to wrap her in his strong arms, maybe he could warm her up and rectify this situation. She hadn’t reached the fountain yet. Maybe he had an entire party planned for just the two of them.
“Mason?” she called, inching forward and wishing he’d come assist her. She adored her spike heels but these splippery shoes were a catastrophe waiting to happen.
No response. The garden appeared quiet and deserted. Was he hiding by the fountain or possibly not here yet? She didn’t fancy waiting in the cold and missing out on the ball she’d worked so hard on. Plus, Brad was in the ballroom. What if he’d finished his dance with Faith and started searching for Arianna?
She longed to see him.
No! That pathetic longing needed to be done. Brad was a family friend, a childhood playmate, and a teenage infatuation. Nothing more. No matter that remembrance of their one shared kiss could still light her up from the inside out, she could not let her heart be entangled with a man who ditched her and all his friends for eight years.
She squinted through the thick foliage. Even without leaves, it was hard to see the other trails snaking through the garden, especially as pine trees flocked with a blanket of snow mingled with the deciduous, snow-covered limbs. The lamps were mostly romantic decorations, meant to light the path but not illuminate the entire area.
Was that fast breathing she heard?
A chill ran down her spine, and it had little to do with the glacial night air and her lack of coat, gloves, hat, or practical footwear.
She rounded the corner and finally the bench Mason had indicated by the snow-covered main fountain appeared. Where was he?
She shuffled forward, praying she wouldn’t slip and fall, and glanced around. The night should have been peaceful and beautiful, light snow falling, the garden a winter wonderland, but something was off. Uneasiness prickled at her neck.
Glancing down, she saw a white card on the bench, similar to the one the server had handed her. She picked it up, her fingers numb with cold, and flipped it open. She read the printed card, shook her head to clear it, blinked twice, and then read it again.
Surprise!
Beautiful Arianna Gunnell.
It is your honor and privilege to be Victim Number Seven.
