He quickly sent a message.
Meetings all day, but can I stop by later?
Arden: I’d like that. Not for long though. I have plans tonight.
Plans. Karaoke night with Penny and the others. A rare moment of lightness in a life too often shadowed by threat and memory.
A flicker of a smile tugged at his mouth. Then faded.
He glanced back at the open folder. Pages of corruption. Evidence. Collateral damage.
And through it all, his thoughts circled one place.
One person.
Arden.
The ideaof her being dragged into this web, of her name sitting in the same breath as Evelyn’s schemes, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Arden had nothing to do with any of this.
And she was in the middle of it.
Because of him.
Because he let her in.
Because she stayed.
Gideon leaned back in his chair as the sun spilled molten gold across his desk, painting everything in the quiet glow of a promise he hadn’t made yet, but would.
Whatever was coming, Arden wouldn’t face it alone.
The line between business and personal had blurred long ago.
But tonight?
It felt like a fuse.
Lit.
CHAPTER 49
A Rose and a Warning
Her muscles ached—the deep, satisfying burn of exertion lingering beneath her skin. The ghost of every strike, every pivot, every ruthless takedown from the Krav Maga session she’d thrown herself into hours earlier lived in her frame. The sweat had long since dried, but the hum of adrenaline stirred in her blood, her pulse ticking slightly faster than normal.
Not restless.
Ready.
Still tuned for combat.
She stretched her fingers, rolled one shoulder, then stepped up to the counter. The scent of espresso curled around her—warm, rich, anchoring. But her mind was miles away.
Evelyn’s voice coiled around her ribs like a vice, a poisonous echo that refused to fade.
And beneath it, something quieter.
