Rome stared at me. “Alright. But whatever the hell happened tonight, you want to talk, I’ll be downstairs breaking bones.”
I nodded. He left. I turned back to the screens. I didn’t chase people. But I wanted to chase her.
And for the first time, I didn’t know what the hell to do next. The room was empty now. Just me, the screens, and the ring on my hand I couldn’t stop looking at.
I stared at it for another full minute. Then pulled out my phone and tapped Luca’s contact.
He answered on the second ring. “Yeah.”
“I need a track.”
“Name.”
“Madeline Thorne. I need to know if she’s still in the city.”
I heard the soft clack of his keyboard immediately.
“She left the event an hour ago,” he muttered. “Didn’t head to a private estate. Looks like she rerouted to a hotel.”
“Can you access the hotel system?”
“We own it. Give me thirty seconds.”
Luca never needed more than one question. That was the thing about my brother, he didn’t need context to protect me. He just moved.
“Found her. Suite level. Tower 3. Under her full name. Want the room number?”
“Yeah.”
“2114.” Luca didn’t ask what I planned to do. “I’ll send the override key to your private line.” He paused. “Do you want a hallway scrub too?”
“No. Just the door.”
“Done.”
The message buzzed in my other line a second later, access code, staff name for cover, and the digital key to get into her room without anyone knowing.
I smirked. “Thanks.”
5
Vince
I should’ve knocked. But I didn’t want to give her the chance not to open it. So I pressed the code. The door opened. The suite was quiet. Luxury features with the crow crest embossed and city views.
She was on the bed. Looking beautiful wearing a hotel robe, legs tucked under her, hair pinned up. But it was clear she had been crying. Fuck. I hoped I wasn’t the cause of those tears.
The second she saw me, she scrambled back like she didn’t trust what she was seeing. Her foot caught on the bedding and she nearly fell off the mattress.
“I’m sorry,” I closed the door behind me.
“You could’ve knocked!”
“I didn’t want to risk you not letting me in.”
“Oh. My. God.Crow!That is the point of the door!”
There it was. Finally the tone I remembered. Not dynasty-trained. Justher.I exhaled slowly, watching her pace once near the bed.
