Page 94 of Royal Bargain

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I press my forehead to the doorframe and close my eyes, breathing shallow.

This is it.

I can go now.

Or I can turn back.

I glance at my watch.

Time’s slipping through my fingers like water.

I stay frozen for what feels like forever, every muscle coiled tight, breath locked in my chest.

Then, movement.

One of them flicks his cigarette into the gutter. The other mutters something, too low to make out, and they both start walking. Not inside. Around the building.

Toward the front.

I count to five.

Ten.

The second their footsteps fade out of range, I move.

I push the door open and slip through, sneakers hitting pavement with barely a sound. I don’t look back. I can’t.

I bolt into the night, heart in my throat, the city swallowing me whole.

30

LIAM

Ibarrel through the courthouse doors, adrenaline still thrumming in my veins. I’m ready for a fight, ready to demand answers. But the second I catch the receptionist’s bored expression, a pit opens in my stomach.

“Volkov?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

She barely glances up. “Trial wrapped yesterday. Charges dropped.”

Dropped?

I blink. “What?”

She shrugs. “Didn’t have enough to hold him. Judge dismissed it.”

My pulse spikes. That’s not just a loss—that’s a damn ambush. I spin on my heel, phone already out, needing to get back to Ana, to Lily. If Anatoly’s walking free, there’s no telling what kind of game he’s about to play next.

Just as I’m dialing, my screen lights up with an incoming message.

Burns: Need you for strategy session. Now. Meet me at Campaign HQ. Priority.

I stare at the text, heart pounding.

He picked now? Now, when Ana could be in danger and everything’s spiraling?

I text back,Bad timing. Can it wait?

Three dots appear, then disappear. Then again.

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