Page 25 of Last Resort

Those brown eyes of his were trying to dig her secrets out of their hiding spots. It was unnerving, especially when her biggest one involved him.

“The sooner we go out there, the sooner we can be done,” she whispered. “The sooner Stella is safe.”

He held her gaze for a moment, then another. Finally, he walked out the door, holding it open for her. “If this happens again, we’re calling it.”

She nodded and slipped back into the crowd.

For the rest of the night, Maci played it safe. She talked with all kinds of people, sticking close to Rich. It was Brax in her ear now rather than Chance. She thought he might be mad at her until she caught him moving around the gala with the other patrons—blending in perfectly in his black pants and shirt.

He was staying near her in case she needed him. The thought both warmed and terrified her.

By the time the gala was winding up—no sign of anything suspicious from anyone—Maci was exhausted.

“We’re done for the night, Maci,” Brax said through the comm. “If the stalker was going to try something he would’ve already done so. You and Rich head to the car, then we’ll make the switch.”

She was staying at Stella’s penthouse apartment to further the ruse. The place was much fancier than her own, but right now that didn’t matter. She just wanted a bed and to sleep for a hundred hours.

“Who has babysitting duty tonight?”

“You get me, the best Patterson brother,” Brax said. “That okay?”

She forced a smile. “You know it.”

Not Chance. Probably for the best. Being alone in an apartment with him would just make everything more complicated and sleep probably impossible.

But still, she couldn’t stop the disappointment pooling in her gut. She liked all the Patterson brothers, but Chance was always the one she would choose to have nearby.

Even when she knew that would spell disaster.

Chapter Eight

Nothing.

Three public events over the next four nights and they were no closer to catching the stalker than they had been when Maci first went undercover. It certainly wasn’t Maci’s fault. She was playing the role of Stella damn near perfectly.

And Chance hated it.

He disliked seeing her face made up to look like someone else—someone not nearly as spunky andrealas Maci. He even disliked the clothing she wore. The outfits may have been much more expensive than her normal wear, but he preferred her in her jeans and blouses over these gowns and heels.

And Rich... If Chance had to watch that man touch the small of Maci’s back—the very place Chance’s fingers itched to be—much longer, he wasn’t sure he could be responsible for his actions.

“Any sign?” Chance asked his brothers.

“None.” Brax’s frustrated voice matched his own. “Is this guy playing with us?”

“I don’t know.” Chance rubbed the back of his neck.

Tonight he was in the control room and Brax was out on the floor as immediate backup for Maci should she need it. He and his brothers had taken turns, so no one would remember seeing them at other events.

The pattern had been the same. They showed up, Maci played her role remarkably well, and they studied everyone around her. Anybody who talked to Maci got checked. Hell, anybody who’d looked in her general direction got checked.

Dorian Cane and his team had provided assistance—checking identities and running unknown people through facial recognition software. Dorian himself had sat in the control room with Weston yesterday in case he might recognize anything they were missing. As an experienced security professional who kept his ego out of the situation, his presence had been appreciated by all of the Pattersons.

But still nothing.

“I think maybe the stalker is on to us and knows Maci isn’t really Stella. To continue to parade her around isn’t going to change anything,” Chance said.

They’d already had this talk with Dorian. He had upped the security on Stella in Europe, although there hadn’t been any suspicious events there either.

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