by Rachel Jonas
The bartender returned with our drinks and I faced Levi again. “Do you even hear yourself? Since when did you become the guy who cares what others have to say?”
He frowned and then downed the shot. “You’ve clearly missed my point. We’re talking about you. I’m not the one whose world would crumble should a less-than-flattering article be published slandering my name.” He smiled. “I’m a gambling man. Therefore, bracing for the occasional loss sort of comes with the territory. You, however, have yet to get your hands dirty.”
Chuckling, I was then keenly aware of the moment I fell into his trap.
“There’s nothing wrong with living by a code, holding oneself to a standard,” I reasoned.
“It is when that standard isn’t even yours,” he shot back, ushering in the breadth of silence that followed.
“I brought a date because you forced her on me, and getting you to accept a firm ‘no’ is exhausting,” I quickly defended. It would have only strengthened his argument if I said nothing. “That’s why Cecelia is here. Not because bringing her made sense to me, or because I was concerned what anyone would think if I came alone.”
“I call B.S. It had nothing to do with my persistence. You showed up tonight with the beautiful daughter of a billionaire on your arm because what people think of you matters. Just admit it, Julian!” he insisted as a wide grin spread across his face.
“So, in your eyes, I’m just some weak-minded conformist?” I asked with a laugh.
“Hey, your words,” he added, raising both hands shoulder-high, as if to surrender. “I simply stated that sometimes you’re more concerned with being seen in a bad light than you are with your own happiness. So, you then, in turn, do what you did tonight, what you do best,” he added.
Intrigued, I tilted my head. “And what’s that?”
He motioned for the bartender to bring another round.
“You bend,” he stated. “And you do it because it’s the only way you can keep from breaking. Breaking the rules, breaking your mother and father’s hearts, breaking the mold,” he clarified.
I didn’t like how his rationale sat with me, didn’t like that it felt a little too close to the truth.
“Wow …” I couldn’t say much more than that, feeling my mood sink lower with the passing seconds.
“Wow indeed,” he replied. “But it doesn’t always have to be this way. It wouldn’t turn the entire world upside down if you went off the rails a bit.”
I liked to think that was true, but he had no clue what it was like being my father’s son—the pressure, the constant fear of disappointing him, disappointing everyone.
Levi stood and my gaze followed him. “You know what I think you need?” he asked, buttoning his tux jacket as he scanned the room. “You need a push, someone to challenge you to go after whatever it is you want tonight. So, I’ll be that someone,” he concluded.
There was an intrigued gleam in his eyes before he turned to our brother from the North. The next instant, Silas stood, too, coming closer. He placed a hand on my shoulder and followed Levi’s lead with one statement.
“Julian … go get what you want.”
With his words, my head cleared. As if a fog I hadn’t even realized existed suddenly burned away.
I lifted my gaze again, and plain as day, I saw the manifestation of that very thing Silas spoke of—what I wanted. Or rather, who I wanted.
She was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, and I’d been oddly aware of her presence even before now, before my stare was locked on her. In one crazy-impulsive moment, I decided to just … go for it.
I downed my shot and slammed the glass on the bar.
“Apologize to Cecelia for me.”
“Where are you going?” Levi called out as I put distance between us. He and the others caught up quickly.
My abrupt start toward the beautiful stranger finally got her attention, earning me the chance to look directly into those eyes. As I made this move that was completely out of character—leaving a date high and dry under any circumstances—I gave Levi a simple explanation.
“Just showing you I’m not afraid to break.”
CHAPTER TEN
Corina
Pierce had been talking for roughly ten minutes and still managed to say nothing at all.
It was clear he, and probably the rest of Vol’s staff, had been trained in the art of evasiveness. Apparently, details surrounding the incident with HIN-190487 were completely under lock and key, but I couldn’t just let this go. Not knowing they were hiding so much, not knowing all the work our team had put into making tonight happen. There was a reason this woman and the child she gave birth to were still alive and well after successfully ‘donating’ a supply of tainted blood.
And my team needed to know how she, and whoever else was behind it, pulled it off.
My eyes were beginning to glaze over as Pierce veered off topic yet again. My gaze drifted above his shoulder to the crowd when I lost interest. Yes, watching the Ianites fake sincere smiles was more entertaining than this conversation.
I scanned for more faces from the directory, someone who held a lower position maybe, someone I could crack a bit easier, but then my attention was stolen …. by four fast-moving figures that charged straight toward me.
Four men whose faces didn’t even register right away, because having them storming in my direction couldn’t have been good.
I would have expected someone of their status to send sentinels to arrest me if I’d done something wrong, but … that had to be what this was about. The only plausible reason for whatever was happening was that I’d, somehow, given myself away.
They knew.
Which meant I was done.
Stunned, I couldn’t make myself run. Maybe I’d been so well-programmed to hold my composure that I couldn’t even break character. Not even if my life depended on it, like it did right now.
Nothing Pierce said stuck with me at that point, as my life flashed before my eyes. Four whispered words reached my team, so they’d at least have an idea of whose faces were the last I’d seen before death.
“The princes are coming.”
It sounded like Felix choked on his drink in my ear as his voice came through the com. “…What? As in … all of them?”
Pierce assumed I was speaking to him when I uttered the statement, prompting him to glance over his shoulder as the royals rushed toward us.
“What the heck happened, Cori? Is your cover blown?” Felix was frantic and I heard Liv trying to calm him in the background.
I couldn’t respond because they were here now, all four maybe two feet away. Each kept those focused, silver gazes trained directly on me.
Standing so close, as opposed to seeing them through a television screen, they were overwhelming, each in his own way. I’d read all their stats online, had seen countless photos, but nothing prepared me for this, meeting them.
A clean, citrusy cologne made me breathe deeper, just hoping to get a better whiff of it than the breath I’d taken before. I wasn’t sure whose scent it was, but enjoyed it more than I cared to admit. Their presence preceded them and was nearly tangible. I’d never felt anything like it before, the sensation of anyone’s soul encircling me, weaving through my hair, my limbs, all over—that powerful feeling multiplied by four.
Standing in the shadow of their tall frames, the breadth of their wide chests and shoulders, I felt my lips part, but no sound came out. Just a soft breeze of air that left my mouth.
Most Ianites were beautiful creatures, but this quad up close was … devastating. Each set of silver eyes bore through me, their odd iridescence flickering when they caught the light in strange ways. I imagined this to be what it might feel like to encounter a pride of hungry lions alone in the darkness. Their intense gazes were almost hypnotic, an effect pictures hadn’t revealed.
“Pardon me, Your Highnesses,” Pierce said with a bow, reminding me he was standing there. “I was just leaving.”
&n
bsp; The princes didn’t say a single word to the man as he departed, didn’t acknowledge him. They just stared.
At me.
It was hard to breathe, and had it not been for Liv’s voice in my ear, I might not have blinked.
“It’s customary to curtsy,” she whispered. It wasn’t like they could hear her, but she kept her voice low anyway. “Hurry before you give yourself away.”
Placing one foot behind the other, I took the material of my dress between my finger and thumb, and then lowered a few inches.
“Good evening, Your Highnesses.” I finally uttered the greeting, but the words didn’t come out so easily.
I was terrified, shaking like a leaf, still unsure why they made such quick work of coming over to me.
“Good evening.” Julian had led the pack toward me, so it made sense that he’d be the first to respond.
I looked him over, taking note of details that shouldn’t have mattered. The buzzed sides of his dirty-blond hair tapered into a trendy cut. It was short, but long enough on top to style with a little product. A shadow of facial hair shaded a firm jaw, framed pale, coral-toned lips I stared at way too long. Even in a tux, dressed to the nines, it was clear he would have been just as captivating in a t-shirt and jeans.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Levi dipped his head to acknowledge me next, and he may as well have sung those words. His voice, deep and melodic, was almost entrancing.
The ruby and diamond-trimmed bezel of his watch caught my eye when he slipped both hands inside the pockets of his tuxedo. I should have been ashamed that I’d followed his life enough to know the touch of red in his watch and cufflinks was his signature, but I wasn’t. When our eyes met again, one corner of his mouth quirked with an unexpected half-smile. Intrigue filled his gaze, and … my stupid heart went wild.
That look alone made me wonder if, maybe, this wasn’t an ambush. But if not, then what?
“Evening, Miss.” I glanced over when Silas’ polite greeting touched my ears. I offered another smile, somehow hiding how frazzled my nerves were with the four of them being so close.
“Evening.” My eyes never left him as I replied, for no other reason than the fact that he was so incredibly easy to stare at.
There was a curious look on his handsome face. He was most often mentioned for his scholarly accomplishments, but as we stood within a foot or two of one another, it baffled me that his good looks hadn’t overshadowed every other quality he possessed.
He was, perhaps, the most alert of them all, seeing as how the others seemed at a loss for words. But … not Silas. He was cool and collected, and like the others, had taken my breath away.
My gaze slipped to Roman next although he stayed quiet, noting that he hadn’t foregone the sexy, rugged look he’d been captured sporting lately. Despite having cleaned up a bit to look the part of a gentleman tonight, that animalistic glint behind his eyes told of another side. One where he cared little about coloring inside the lines. One that made me imagine him wild and unbridled in all the wrong ways.
With this one encounter, I understood what all the fuss was about. Understood why the term ‘most eligible bachelors’ had been tossed around so often. As far as monsters went, they were wildly attractive.
Julian turned and addressed the others.
“Gentlemen, would you mind giving me a moment?” he requested, but his words confused me more.
I swallowed hard as Levi Buchanon himself leveled a look my way, one I felt all the way down to my bones.
He gave Julian a loaded nod.
“… Of course,” he uttered as his gaze slipped over me one last time. Motioning for Roman and Silas to follow, the three sauntered back across the room.
My eyes were glued to them for a moment, noting how each, at separate times, glanced back—Levi still sporting that slick smile, Silas’ curiosity still present, and Roman not giving much away beneath his hooded brow.
It was only marginally easier to breathe now that it was just Julian and I. I had his full attention again, and that of so many others who surrounded us. Mostly women around my age, maybe a few years older. His wordless, metallic stare nearly broke me, and had it not been for the sound of his voice ending the silence, I might have cut my losses and tried to make a run for it.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” The sound that left his mouth was deep, sultry.
“I am. Thank you for asking.”
He gave a shallow nod, but didn’t look away.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation, but … I couldn’t stop myself from coming over.”
I knew what this sounded like, knew it seemed like one of four incumbent rulers of the free world was saying he’d trekked across the room just to talk to me, but that couldn’t have been.
“No need to apologize. We were nearly finished,” I replied.
I swore he hadn’t blinked even once. Nervous, I adjusted one of my straps that didn’t need adjusting. A look dragged the length of my entire body—from my feet, slowing at my hips, and then melting over my exposed chest, before he completely stalled at my throat.
My hand rested there, thinking he must have seen how my pulse had gone crazy being near him. Their hearts beat at a snail’s pace compared to ours. If he noticed …
“Have we met before?”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t believe we have. I don’t make it to these events often, so …”
He nodded, holding my gaze. “Didn’t think so. I was certain I would’ve remembered if we had.”
Freeing his hand from his pocket, he held it out to me. “I’m Julian,” he offered, one corner of moistened lips tugging up into a smile.
He wanted my hand. My very warm hand.
I had to remind myself of all Liv and I had gone over; it was okay to touch them.
The satin of my glove eased over his palm and he gripped it gently, lifting it to his lips the next second. When a kiss was placed there, I somehow had the presence of mind to stay in character.
“Corina. Corina Travis.”
While it may have seemed innocent enough to reveal my actual last name, linking myself to my parents as a Prescott could have had deadly consequences.
“Corina,” he breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
Heat flashed through my cheeks and I prayed they weren’t red.
“Are you from the Capitol or just visiting for the event?” he asked next.
“I’m from the area,” I answered truthfully, not offering more information than he requested.
“And … are you here alone?” That coy smile of his was back and I was surprised it brought one out of me, too.
“I am. Are you?” I realized right away how stupid that was to ask. “Of course you’re alone. You wouldn’t have come over here if you weren’t.”
That once innocent grin turned wicked just before he laughed, glancing over his shoulder right after. I followed his gaze to Levi standing between two clearly peeved blondes. It only took me a moment to recognize them as the McNamara twins, daughters of the man who had likely designed ninety-percent of the gowns floating around this room tonight. One had her eyes locked on Julian and I, leaving me to guess she’d been his date tonight.
He faced me again, scrubbing his hand across the stubble on his chin. “So … about that.”
I didn’t know what to say, acknowledging that whatever he felt, he felt it strongly enough to excuse himself from … freakin’ Cecelia McNamara … to come over here. A small part of me, the part I couldn’t seem to control with him standing so close, was flattered.
Julian’s lips parted as if he readied himself to speak, but it was the well-timed flash of a camera that stopped him. Another off to my right caused his once relaxed posture to turn rigid, as if suddenly remembering he was under the ever-watchful eye of his people, suddenly aware of the audience our interaction garnered.
I’d lost his gaze for a moment as he glanced around, taking in the sight of stunning faces masked in overstated
paint. When he turned to me again, it was with a look I couldn’t quite place, a strange mix of frustration and hopefulness.
“Would you object if I asked you to step away with me?” He offered a slow smile that spun my insides into knots. “Promise to bring you back in one piece.”
“Cori! Is he freaking flirting with you?” Liv asked loudly, her voice edging on amused when it blared in my ear.
“I wouldn’t object.” I answered Julian’s question instead, ignoring Liv’s while blinking, trying to remember how to breathe.
It crossed my mind that he might be a wealth of information concerning HIN-190487. In fact, I was adamant in convincing myself this was the reason I so readily accepted his invitation to disappear together for a while, but … in my heart of hearts I knew better. It’d been his charm, his allure, that earned him such a quick response.
He was more than pleased I said yes. The release of tension in his brow and jaw made that clear, the hint of a smile confirming it further. Seeing him come to life when I accepted, his offer excited me in ways that weren’t allowed. Not with all I knew him to be, with the oppression I’d known humans to suffer at the hand of his kind over the centuries.
But then a chilled hand went to the small of my back, causing those thoughts to scamper toward the shadows where they were easy to ignore, even if only for a moment. As I was led through a crowd comprised of men who revered him, and women who suddenly envied me, it was almost as though there was no distinction between our two worlds.
His.
Mine.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Corina
Bodies parted, making room as we moved toward the exit. It wasn’t until we reached the gallery that I second-guessed this, questioned whether I was playing right into a trap. Our pace was swift as Julian led me toward the foyer where I entered more than an hour ago. However, instead of heading out through the grand entrance like I expected, we turned down a broad corridor flanked at either side by somber-faced, uniformed men, earpieces visible.
