Ryland must see it too, because he makes a noise beside me. “Shit. We gotta get out of here.”
“Yeah.” Theo nods. “We’ll have to pin Adrian down another time.”
I can hear the undercurrent of worry in their voices, and it infects me too. They’re right. We need to leave, and we need to take Marcus with us.
In this deadly game of violence and intrigue, the appearance of strength matters. If Marcus collapses in front of an entire ballroom full of people, it will undermine the power we need to project as we try to sway people to our side. We can’t afford to show any weakness.
By the time Marcus reaches us, I can see the hard set of his jaw and the tension in his body. I slip my arm through his in what I hope is a lady-like gesture, and as soon as I do, I feel him give me some of his weight, allowing me to help support him.
“Can you leave? Can you come with us?” I ask quietly, hating that it’s even a question. I can practically feel Victoria’s gaze burning into the back of my head as we turn toward the door.
“I can do whatever the hell I want.” Marcus presses his lips together. “She doesn’t fucking own me yet.”
“Let’s go.” Ryland leads the way toward the ballroom door, carefully keeping his steps slow and even so Marcus can keep up.
I catch several people glancing at us as we leave, and I wonder what kinds of rumors and speculation will fly around in our absence. I hope like hell we’re not going to piss Luca off by bailing early on his party, but even that seems like a better option than staying.
As we slip out the door, leaving the luxury and finery of the ballroom behind, I glance back over my shoulder.
Victoria is standing in the same spot where she and Marcus talked to Luca D’Addario, although the older man is nowhere to be seen now. Groups of people talk and laugh around her, but she stands alone in the crowd, looking back at me with narrowed eyes. Her expression is unreadable from here, but as our gazes lock, I get the feeling I’m staring at a viper—one who won’t hesitate to strike if I get in her way.
A cold feeling trickles down my spine.
I hadn’t even met Victoria Tatum before this evening.
But in the space of a few hours, we’ve become enemies.
Chapter 15
The valet brings Theo’s car around for us quickly after we step outside, and we all pile in.
Theo gets behind the wheel as usual, while Ryland and I climb into the back seat with Marcus. It would be less crowded if one of us took the front, but that instinct to stay close, to band together, feels even stronger now than it did when Marcus was missing. I have a feeling that if Theo didn’t have to drive, he’d find a way to cram into the back seat too, just to be near us.
Marcus’s body seems to deflate as soon as the car door closes behind us. As soon as Theo starts to roll around the curved driveway, his shoulders slump, and he leans back against the leather seat.
“What happened?” Ryland asks, his voice low.
Marcus repeats what he told me in the laundry room, filling in more details of the story now that we’re all together.
“After we split up at the warehouses, Carson tracked me and Ayla down. I took three bullets in the back, and we went down. After that, shit gets a little fuzzy. I was barely fucking conscious. But I remember hearing Carson’s voice. He was standing right over us. Gloating. About to put bullets in our heads to finish the job.”
He clenches his jaw, reaching over to rest a hand on my leg, as if to remind himself I’m still here.
“I heard a shot,” he continues, “and for a second, I was sure that’s what it was. The last shot, the one that would kill me. Then Carson’s body fell next to us, and a second later, I was being hauled away. Victoria dragged me to her car, got me in the backseat. She told me she’d get me medical attention if I agreed to her terms. If I agreed to marry her.”
“Motherfucker,” Theo breathes, shooting us a look through the rearview mirror. “That’s who was working with Carson. She knew where he was, and she took him out.”
“What?” Marcus’s voice is sharp, a little strength returning to it as he sits up straighter.
Ryland shakes his head. “That bitch Natalie told us that Carson was working with someone else besides Dominic on this, although we never found out exactly what that person’s involvement was or how much they knew about the plan. But it’s pretty likely that person was Victoria. Unless she just lucked into discovering Carson’s whereabouts.”
Marcus’s features turn hard, his grip on my leg tightening. “So she played fucking everyone.”
“Yeah.” Theo sounds pissed.
Victoria killed Carson and threatened to let Marcus die if he didn’t agree to marry her, but it occurs to me suddenly that she didn’t kill me. She could have. Easily. I was unconscious on the ground, the easiest target she’d ever have. But she let me live.
I almost point that out, but I don’t particularly feel like defending Victoria at all right now, so I close my lips around the words.
“What happened after that?” I say instead, turning my head to catch Marcus’s gaze. He told me Victoria offered to save him, but I don’t have any idea where he’s even been for the past two weeks.
“She took me back to her place. She’s got a doctor on call just like we do.” Marcus runs his free hand through his hair, wincing slightly at the movement. “One bullet hit my lung, but the other two didn’t hit anything vital. I’d lost a lot of blood, but her guy is good. He patched me up and
