I slide another pin into my hair, admiring how the choker is perfect with this dress. Slowly I run a thumb along the smooth underside of it, the space between where it sits and my thumb tight.
It clasps at the back with what feels like a small lock. And as I pull at it with my thumb, I realize something.
I could rip it off. Unlike the one he used to control me, I could rip this one off.
But the more I consider it, but more I realize I don’t want to.
I sigh and drop my hand, pick up a tube of red lipstick and apply it, and then I sweep my lashes with mascara.
Finally, I slide my feet into silver high heels and go looking for him.
Lucian isn’t here.
But the elevator is.
The doors are open.
I stand in front of it. Staring.
Heart thudding, I step inside and press the bottom button. Nothing happens. I work my way up all the buttons until one of them lights and the doors close.
It takes me down to where the offices for VMR begin. But not his floor.
My blood’s rushing fast. Is Lucian giving me a little freedom?
If he is, I decide not to take the bait, if that’s what it is. Besides, there’s nothing for me down here. He’ll be in his office so?—
I stop.
Breathe in.
The scent of bergamot floats on the air. The merest trace—and it reminds me of Kayla.
Without a thought, I spin, following the trail down hallways, pushing past workers who saunter along. Vampires. All of them. Maybe it’s just this floor, maybe it isn’t, but I smell the difference.
Not that I care. If my friend’s here, I’m finding her. The scent gets stronger as I head to a locked door.
I’m so focused I don’t notice someone near me, not until Lucian grabs my arm. “Where are you going?”
I glare at him, trying to tug free. “None of your business.”
He doesn’t release me. “This is my company,” he says. “Everything’s my business.”
“You left the elevator open as, what? A trap?” Anger drips fromevery word, need does too, and I fight the softness from earlier on the sofa in his bedroom, the magnetic want my body feels whenever he’s close.
“No. To show I’m beginning to trust you, and I expect the same back, Elliot.”
“I…” I stop. “What is this floor?”
“This is security, and Vittoria’s domain. There’s nothing for you here.”
He starts to pull me with him, but I fight him, digging in my heels. “No. I smelled something. Kayla’s perfume.”
“It isn’t her.”
“No one else I know wears it.”
A muscle twitches in his jaw. “She can’t be the only person in the world who wears it.”
