Page 41 of Enemies

I take off the uncomfortable shoes and leave them in a corner behind a potted plant. As I start down the hall, I run into Ash.

“You should’ve come with me, American Girl,” he tosses.

“I shouldn’t have come at all.”

His grin fades as I grab a drink off a passing tray.

“Tell him I’m heading out,” I say. “If he notices I’m gone.”

Harrison

I told myself I wouldn’t feel a thing the next time I saw her.

I was wrong.

“Do you remember how we used to lie out all day sunbathing in Monaco?” Eva asks.

It’s not as if I still care for her, but the echoes of it fill my chest when I thought I’d burnt them out and remind me of something important.

I’m capable of caring.

“Where is your date this evening?” I interrupt.

“Singapore. Or maybe Tokyo.” She waves a dismissive hand as if his absence makes him unworthy of discussion.

I glance past her. “If this is your attempt to keep me from speaking with Christian?—”

“Of course not! I hoped I’d see you tonight.”

Her soft pout used to get to me, but now, in the hall where she’s cornered me, I see only the manipulation beneath.

“Well, now you have. Give my regards to your new diversion for me.”

I brush past her down the hall, determined to find Christian.

Though my primary purpose tonight is to pin down our host, I can’t stop thinking about the woman who excused herself from my side twenty minutes ago and hasn’t returned since.

As I pass impeccably dressed guests in tuxes and dresses in every color of the rainbow, my mind flashes back to my reluctant date handling herself in the den of rich vipers.

I’d half expected the seething sullenness she’d graced me with more than once, but in this exclusive crowd, she was both gracious and assertive.

It pleased me.

Everything about her tonight pleased me from the second she stepped out of her room in that dress looking even more stunning than I’d expected.

After spending my mother’s birthday with Rae, I did avoid her for the better part of the week.

Not because she’d done something wrong—on the contrary, I was thinking about her too damned much.

But when I learned my brother planned to bring her tonight as his date, something inside me broke.

The same part of me that purred with satisfaction when I drew her against my side, caressed her back with my hand like it was my right.

None of it means anything. Not compared to the reason I’m here.

I force her from my mind as I reach the doors of the library, spotting my quarry inside surrounded by a circle of men.

“How good to see you, Harrison.” Christian’s gaze lands on me, and everyone parts to let me in.

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