Jay rose to his feet, his hard gaze meeting mine. “Nothing I didn’t already know.”
I stepped closer, so close that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Lifting my hand, I placed it on his chest, right over his heart.
It was pounding just as hard as mine.
His fingers curled around mine, pulling my hand away from him. Dipping his head to my ear, he exhaled unsteadily. “You need to leave.”
“Make me,” I whispered.
20
NOVA
His nose trailed down the side of my face, and for a moment, I forgot myself. This time, there was no coercion. This time, I didn’t tell myself I hated him. This time, it wasdifferent. It was just the two of us, alone in the maze, both on the same page.
I tilted my head, and his lips skimmed over my throat, his breath hot on my skin.
I melted into it, but suddenly, the heat was gone, and he was stepping away, a tortured expression on his face.
“You’re engaged. We can’t?—”
Gravel crunched beneath a shoe somewhere behind me—a distinctive, unmistakeable sound. Alarm flashed in Jay’s eyes, and then he moved, quickly pulling me towards him and then into the darkened path of the maze at his back. He motioned for me to merge into the shadows before he turned around, moving back to lean against the stone bench.
Carefully crouching down as best I could in my dress and heels, I held my breath, waiting.
“Attwood.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth.Anton.
It was difficult to angle my head so I could see the centre of the maze without moving my body, but I managed to peer around the hedge enough that I could just about see Anton standing in front of Jay.
“Volkov,” Jay said. “Were you looking for me?”
Anton laughed without humour. “No, Attwood. I was looking for my fiancée. Have you seen her?”
“Why would I have seen her?”
The gravel crunched again, and I watched as Anton closed in on Jay. I could only see Jay’s back, but I could see him squaring his shoulders, standing tall and strong as he faced Anton down.
“Hmm.” Anton hummed. “I don’t know…I’ve been spending the whole night chasing her around. Coincidentally, you keep disappearing too.”
“I’ve been with Arson. Ask your guards.”
“Yet, I saw Daniel in the ballroom before I left.”
Jay tapped his foot impatiently. “Are you trying to accuse me of something? If you are, just come out and say it. As you can see, Nova isn’t here.”
Anton studied him, his face impassive, before he made a show of slowly turning on his heel, looking all around the centre of the maze. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Jay snapped. “Fucking hell, Volkov. It’s not my problem that you can’t keep track of your fiancée.”
“My fiancée…who you want.”
What. The. Hell?
There was a long, tense silence between them. I didn’t dare to breathe, but my heart was pounding so hard I almost wondered if they could hear it. My calves were beginning to cramp in my crouched position, and I carefully placed my hand on the ground to help balance myself. Gravel bit intomy palms, but at least I was no longer in danger of toppling forwards.
“What I want is irrelevant. We both know that. Do you have a point, Volkov? Why are you here? Would it make you feel better to hit me, maybe? You wouldn’t be the first person tonight.”
