Page 169 of The Owner's Temptation

His brow creases. “Miss Knight only stayed a few minutes. Enough to apologize for canceling.”

I don’t blink. “Canceling?”

Langston nods, confused but not rattled. “Said you had a last-minute sponsor training session set for her tonight at your club. That you needed her.” He sips his wine. “Naturally, I deferred.”

What the fuck…

I pull out my phone and glance at the app again. Her tracker still pulses, right here. This restaurant. Thistable.

“She did give me this,” Langston says, holding out a small white envelope. “Said I could drop it off at the Ledger tomorrow with my sponsor report, but… if you don’t mind.”

I snatch it from him, already knowing what it is before I even tear it open.

Inside my palm lands a tiny speck of tech. No bigger than the head of a pin. Lightweight. Nearly invisible.

The tracker.

She removed it. Left it here. Withhim.

Fucking hell.

He would have had this with him all night. No matter when I found out, it would have looked like she was with him.

I clinch my jaw so hard my molars nearly crack.

If I had seen her little dot blinking at this assholes house.

I have to stop that thought before it goes further.

Something in me likes to think I would have kept my calm. Rang the doorbell like a normal fucking human being. But who am I kidding?

I would have blown his goddamn door off the hinges and put a bullet in his face. No questions asked.

She’s playing a game. A step ahead. Luring me here on purpose, smiling while she pulled the leash from around her neck and dropped it right in front of my feet.

Smart.

But this is where she loses.

Because now I know exactly where she is.

She told Langston I called her in for training.At my club.

Which means she’s atThe Masquerade.

The Devil’s Playground.

My domain.

I know every inch of that place. Every corridor. Every secret door. Every two-way mirror, every crawlspace above the suites. I designed it to give the illusion of power to others—while keeping therealpower inmyhands.

Let her think she’s hiding.

Let her think she’s bold.

Because when I find her?

I’m not going to scold her.

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