"Eight. Maybe nine, if you count?—"
"I count everyone. Names, Declan. Give me names."
As Declan started listing off people I’d met tonight, people who’d shaken my hand and welcomed me to the family, I realized with growing horror that one of them was a traitor. Someone in this house, someone who’d sat at that dinner table and smiled at me, was actively trying to get Roman killed.
And now I was part of this world. Now, I was a target too.
I backed away from the door on silent feet, my heart hammering against my ribs. By the time I made it back to my room, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely turn the lock.
Roman had promised to protect me, but how could he protect me from threats he couldn’t see coming?
How could anyone protect me from an enemy who was already inside the walls?
7
CASSIE
Iwoke before dawn with a knot in my stomach that had nothing to do with the nausea I was feeling.
The conversation I’d overheard last night played on repeat in my mind—Declan’s voice cutting through the darkness, warning Roman about a mole, about how close their enemies were getting. Someone from Roman’s inner circle was trying to get him killed, and now I’m probably the target too.
I slipped out of the massive bed, my feet hitting the cold marble floor. The Egyptian cotton sheets that had felt like luxury last night now felt like chains. Everything about this place—the opulent bedroom, the fortress-like walls, the armed guards— felt less like protection and more like a very expensive prison.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I could see the sun just beginning to rise over the estate grounds. Somewhere out there, Roman was probably already awake, already planning, already carrying the weight of an empire on his shoulders.
The thought made my chest tighten with something I didn’t want to examine too closely.
I found him in his home office two hours later, standing behind his desk in yesterday’s clothes. His hair was disheveled, his jaw shadowed with stubble, and there was a glass of whiskey at his elbow despite the early hour. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept, who’d spent the night wrestling with demons that refused to be tamed.
"You’re up early," he said without looking at me, his voice rough with exhaustion.
"So are you." I stepped into the room, closing the door behind me. "Did you sleep at all?"
"Sleep is a luxury I can’t afford right now."
The words were casual, but there was something brittle beneath them. Something that made me want to cross the room and touch him, to offer whatever comfort I could. But the distance between us felt charged with electricity, dangerous to cross.
"Roman," I started, then stopped. What could I say? That I’d overheard his private conversation? That I knew about the traitor, about how much danger we were all in?
He finally looked up, and the intensity in his blue eyes made my breath catch. There was something feral there, something that reminded me that beneath the expensive suits and careful control, Roman Creed was still a predator.
"Appearances are important, Cassie. This life is all about politics. I must prove to everyone that I’m stable, settled, ready to lead this organization into the future." His fingers drummed once against the desk—his tell for stress.
The tone of his voice sent a shiver down my spine that I tried to ignore. "I understand."
"Do you?" He moved around the desk with predatory grace, closing the distance between us. "Because if you can’t handle this world, if you can’t be what I need you to be, then we need to discuss alternatives."
"What kind of alternatives?"
His hand reached out, fingers tracing along my jawline with devastating gentleness. "The kind that I’d prefer not to think about."
"You’re trying to get rid of me?" The words came out sharper than I intended, and something dark flickered in his eyes.
"I’m trying to get you to see how important this is."
"By threatening me?"
"By making you understand." His thumb swept across my lower lip, and I had to bite back a whimper. "This world is dangerous, Cassie. More dangerous than you know. And if something happened to you because of me?—"