My heart is safe.
But it is not secure.
I cry so hard I make myself sick.
There’s a soft knock on the door and I flush the commode. “One moment, please!” I get up off the floor, brush my teeth, wash my face, and then open the door to the bathroom.
“Oh… darling. Are you sick?”
I gag again at Kane’sdarlingand turn to vomit in the sink. “Yes, I’m so sorry. I think the lobster bisque didn’t settle very well with me.”
I look up to see Kane holding a hand over his mouth as though me being sick is going to make him sick. “Well, are you feeling better now?”
I brush my teeth again quickly. Once I’m done, I smooth my hand over my stomach and rub the other across my forehead. “A bit. I’m sorry. What a dreadful way to spend the morning, isn’t it?”
He reaches for my hand and grasps it. “It’s no matter. Besides, I suppose I should get used to it. Morning sickness and whatnot when you’re pregnant with my children.”
Projectile bile shoots out of me and onto his chest.
We’re both so surprised we stare at it horrified.
I cover my mouth with my hand. “I’m so sorry!”
“Right,” he says with disgust and scurries out of my bedchamber.
I brush my teeth a third time and then flop onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of yesterday. Not the massacre but what happened in the morning beforehand.
I was dining in the dining hall alone when the doorbell rang. The house manager answered, and I swore I heard a familiar voice but with an English accent. I went to see who it was to find Francesca in a uniform. Though I was dumbfounded, she pretended not to know me, and I took the hint, forcing the surprised look on my face away.
“Oh, good morning.”
She nodded at me. “Morning. Are you the owner of the home?”
I shook my head and let my gaze travel to the house manager, Weeple. The little older man rolled his eyes at me and left us.
“What are you doing here?”
She kept her voice low. “Rewiring the cameras. Raven found blueprints to a facility underground. We’re trying to get into it. We’ve been able to case the grounds via drone—thanks to Aleksi—we have an entry point. Now we just need to figure it all out but we need to get in first." She hands me a small rucksack. “Damon said you’d know what to do with that. And put on your microphone. We haven’t been able to hear anything. Keep it on at all times. Soon we’ll have eyes everywhere, but we need to be able to hear what’s going on, too.”
I shoved the little sack between my tits immediately.
“Go away,” she said, “Let me do my part.”
So I did.
I was around the corner when she explained she was with Ironclad and their systems alerted them to a security breach. About an hour later, Kane, looking a bit distraught, found me in my designated room.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“Yes. I just came from downstairs. Everything is in order. Everyone should start arriving soon. I want you to dress your best. I can’t have my future wife looking all… well…” He gestures to me, and I look down at my off-the-shoulder oversized sweatshirt and leggings, then back to him. “Homely.”
My gun is suddenly calling my name from my purse. I am going to murder him in cold blood.Don’t break. I let out a soft chuckle. “Of course, I’ll… get on it right away.” Kane turns to leave me to get dressed so I can wow his pathetic friends or whatever they are to him. “Kane?”
“Yes, love?”
I smiled and played with the hem of my sleeves. “What exactly is going on tonight?”
He tipped his head back and nodded. “Ah, I forget how ignorant you are at times of these matters, darling. No worries. Think of tonight as Darwinism, yes? Only the strong survive the first night, which makes the rest of the games that much more satisfying.”
