Page 71 of Reluctant Heir

“‘I know what you did,’” she recites before taking a deep, gasping breath. “He knows, Connor. He’s going to kill me.”

“No, he’s not,” I tell her, reaching out and grasping her arm in an effort to ground her.

“He said a war is coming,” she says.

I catch the glisten of a tear on her eyelid, waiting to spill over and open the floodgates. She’s losing it, and I have to stop it. I can’t have her have a full-blown panic attack right now. Because I’m close to the edge now. His questions about loyalty make sense. He was baiting me, seeing if I would give up myself. He wants to know why I would kill my own father. My own blood. To him, that’s an unforgivable crime. I’ve sealed my fate in Viktor’s eyes.

“How can he know that?” she cries, and I feel Geo step on the accelerator to get us to the hotel quicker.

“Geo, when we arrive, call the pilot and have him ready the plane. We’re leaving tonight,” I tell him and wait for his nod before turning back to Wryn.

I sense that she’s spiraling, her movements getting shaky, her breathing labored, and I’m not sure how we got here so fast.

Why is this what has sent her into a tailspin?

I scoot toward her, grabbing her face in my hands, and force her to look at me.

“Wryn, stop. Watch me. Breathe,” I command, and I’m surprised when she does.

Her lips part, and she sucks air into them, in and out, her eyes never leaving mine. I stroke my thumbs across her cheeks in a soothing rhythm, unsure of what else to do.

“There. It’s okay. It’s going to beokay,” I stress.

I can feel her head give a subtle nod, sandwiched between my palms.

Her chest shudders again, and I continue to make sweeps across her skin with the pads of my fingers, calming touches. Her hands come up, wrapping around my arms, grounding herself. I don’t know what we look like right now. I just know I couldn’t have her out of control. I need time to think, to come up with a game plan. I need to know everything that Viktor said to Wryn.

“We’re here,” Geo says, interrupting our stare-off, and I finally pull my eyes away to glance out at the hotel entrance.

“Come on,” I say to Wryn, grabbing her hand and pulling her across the seat and then out the door that’s being opened for me by a bellhop. “We will pack up and be back down quickly. Wait here,” I tell Geo.

Then, I’m striding across the lobby, Wryn in tow.

She doesn’t speak, her face still pale, but she’s breathing easier. I don’t drop her hand, feeling like she needs the contact, and then we are on the elevator, heading toward our floor. She stares straight ahead at the closed doors.

As soon as we are inside the room, I push her down to sit on the couch in the common room and walk into my room, throwing the small amount of clothes and toiletries into a bag. I walk back out to see her exactly where I left her.

“I’m going to pack your stuff, okay?” I raise one eyebrow at her, and she looks at me.

“What? No, I can do it,” she says, standing and walking toward her door.

I follow her in her room, memories from last night assaulting me. I stare at the bed, remembering how she looked as I walked out the door, without a word. I’m an ass. And I’m an even bigger ass for wanting to do it all over again right now.

“Connor?” Her voice is tiny, and I look at her, appearing lost as she stares down at her bag.

“Yeah?” I ask.

She sits, and the slit in her dress reveals an expanse of her milky thigh. It’s seductive, enticing, intriguing to offer that teasing sight. I can’t resist it, and I edge closer.

“I’m scared. What is he going to do?”

Her words pull my eyes from her legs to her eyes and the swirling emotions I see in them. I drop to my knees in front of her.

19

WRYN

“You have nothing to be scared of,” he tells me.

---