I tried the family room next. Maddox was sprawled shirtless across the leather couch, long legs taking up too much space, watching a movie and day-drinking. He caught sight of me and lifted the bottle in offering. I shook my head and backed out of the room quickly before he tried to talk me into joining him. Booze would give me the exact opposite of a clear head.
Next candidate: the long hallway leading toward Donovan’s study. I made it halfway down the Persian runner before self-preservation kicked in. I stopped abruptly, spun on my heel, and walked deliberately in the opposite direction. That room was a black hole of bad decisions and binding agreements. I wasn’t stepping foot anywhere near it unless I absolutely had to.
Upstairs wasn’t any better for finding privacy. Evan was stationed in the monitoring room, watching the security cameras. Multiple screens reflected in front of him, every hallway, every entrance, and every supposedly blind spot that really wasn’t a blind spot at all.
Hard pass.
I had no clue where Mason was, which unnerved me. He was the sneaky one and could turn up behind me at any moment. Thank God, Raine was staying at the club. I couldn’t deal with another Corvo to maneuver around.
I spun and walked away so fast I nearly tripped over the decorative rug, my exit anything but subtle.
That left approximately three thousand square feet of mansion to search. I wandered through parts of the house I still hadn’t fully memorized despite living here for weeks, ducking into rooms only to find an obstacle in my way. “This house is too damn big,” I muttered under my breath, frustration mounting with each failed attempt.
Finally, after nearly fifteen annoying minutes and one genuine heart attack when I turned a corner and almost collided directly with Mason, I found the only door that wasn’t currently guarded, watched, or occupied by someone with the last name Corvo.
The wine cellar. It was small, cramped with rows of expensive bottles, and smelled faintly of wood and earth.
I slipped inside quickly and locked the door, pressing my back flat against the solid wood as my pulse thrashed wildly in my throat, praying no one saw me. It wasn’t glamorous or comfortable, but I could get drunk off my ass if things went to shit. Most importantly, it was completely, blessedly private.
Finally.
Opening my phone, I put in my earbuds and dialed the number.
One ring. My heart hammered.
Two rings. My palms went slick with nervous sweat.
Three rings. Maybe he wouldn’t answer. Maybe this was a sign to abort.
Then he picked up, voice low and cautious. “Hey.”
I let out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, my shoulders sagging with relief. “Hey,” I whispered back, glancing at the locked door like it might spontaneously sprout a fucking Corvo. “Can you talk? Are you alone?” I asked.
“Yeah. For now. What’s wrong? You sound weird.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m living with the guy who—” Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside. Close. Too close. I froze completely, phone pressed to my ear, barely breathing. The footsteps paused directly outside the closed door. A shadow moved across the gap at the bottom
“Kay—?”
“Shh. Hold on,” I whispered. The doorknob rattled once. Testing, checking if it was locked.
I didn’t move a muscle until the footsteps moved on, fading down the hallway. I waited ten full seconds before exhaling. “Sorry. Someone almost?—”
“Where are you?” Concern bled through his voice.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t have a lot of time to talk. We need to make this quick.”
“Are you sure about this?” His voice dipped. “About what we’re doing?”
Was I sure?No. Not even remotely, but that didn’t matter anymore. “It’s too late to back out now. Everything’s already in motion.” I pressed my shoulder into the cool stone wall of the wine cellar, the phone cupped to my ear.
“He wants me to bring you to him.” He sounded sad, and I couldn’t blame him. There was a tragic sort of poetry to being summoned by a monster you once cared for. A man who’d been in and out of my house, who’d ruffled my hair when I was little, who’dsworn he would protect me. A man who smiled at my father like a brother and then put a bullet in his chest.
“Good,” I said. “When?”
“Tonight.”
I closed my eyes. “Fine.”
