Page 76 of Bloom in Darkness

Sabine looks at me. “Then you still owe eighty-seven thousand eight hundred and twelve dollars.”

“I know exactly what I owe.”

“Do you?” She steps a little closer. “Because the Kings have apparently convinced you that consequences are optional.”

She takes out her phone and turns the screen toward me. A police cruiser is parked outside the Forge. Another image shows somebody near the back entrance with a notebook in his hand.

I stare at the cruiser. “What’s that?”

“Insurance.” Sabine keeps the screen angled toward me. “Bloom. Illegal gambling. Unsanctioned fights. Enough questionable business practices to make the right detective curious.” Sabine locks the phone and slips it away. “Choose wisely and none of that needs to become your problem. Choose badly, and I make sure everyone understands exactly where to start digging.”

My face gets hot for a completely different reason.

“You’d do that because I didn’t return the rose you wanted?”

Sabine slips the phone back into her bag. “I would protect my business from two men who think they can walk in and take whatever belongs to me.”

My face goes hot. “I don’t belong to you.”

“Then prove you can afford to say that.”

I can't stop thinking about the cruiser outside the Forge after she leaves. Silas approaches less than five minutes later. He carries a rose between two fingers with the smug confidence of someone Sabine has already told I’m rattled.

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I take the rose he offers because taking isn’t choosing.

His mouth curves like he thinks that means something. “Good.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Rourke joins us with his own rose. “Sabine showed you the police?”

Silas turns sharply toward him. “Rourke.”

“What?” Rourke holds the rose out toward me. “He should know this is real.”

My fingers tighten around Silas's stem. "You called them?"

Rourke holds out his rose. "Information was provided. If you pick one of us, there is no reason for anybody to keep digging."

I take his rose too. "And if I don't?"

Rourke shrugs. "Then you get to find out how much the Kings still love you when the Forge is under investigation."

My stomach turns, and I walk away because if Rourke says one more thing about Bryn or Caelan, I'm going to throw one of these fucking roses at his face.

Two more roses find me over the next half hour. The older Valla who offers the next one asks about my tattoo for five minutes and never mentions my debt. I like him immediately for talking to me like a person instead of a balance sheet. Another comes from an Alpha/Beta pair who make me laugh because the Beta admits they came mostly for champagne and his husband has been trying to convince him to expand their pack for three years.

I take both roses. By the time I see Bryn and Caelan across the ballroom, I'm holding four.

Bryn looks at the roses, then at me, and I know immediately he hates every single one.

Caelan looks at him, looks at me, and starts laughing under his breath before crossing the room.

His collar shifts when he gets close, showing the bite again. I stare long enough for Caelan to catch me.

"You've been staring at this thing all day," Caelan says.