“Are youing?”

    “In a minute,” I said. I needed a minute topose myself after this onught of new emotions. If I wasn’t wearing so much makeup, I’d ssh cold water on my face. Instead, a moment alone would have

    to suffice.

    “I’ll see you out there,” he said, unlocked the door, and stepped out.

    “What took so long?” Olivia asked.

    “I had ss in my hand,” Julian replied stiffly, then continued on away from the bathroom. With the click

    of her heels, I heard Olivia scurry after him.

    Chase’s POV

    Seeing Julian return with Olivia and no Amber in sight made Chase somewhat uneasy. He wasn’t worried

    exactly. At least, he wouldn’t admit he was, not wanting to give more weight to whatever he felt for Amber than absolutely necessary.

    She was supposed to be a mark. Someone Chase seduced and left broken hearted by Olivia’smand.

    She wasn’t supposed to be someone Chase actually found himself caring about.

    Yet, since opening up to Amber about Violet, he couldn’t admit some of his perspective had changed.

    Amber had listened in a way that no one else in his life had. Yes, she was acting as his healer, but she

    still could have dismissed him as so many others had. But she didn’t. She listened and even sympathized

    with him, if her caring expression was anything to go by.

    He didn’t want to like her, knowing that would make what he had to do to her so much more difficult, but

    he found that he was struggling to maintain the kind of emotional distance he usually kept up with his

    lovers.

    Yet… he still found himself leaving the table and walking to the bathroom. He still knocked and opened

    the door.

    His heart still clenched in his chest to find Amber there, dabbing tears from the corners of her eyes with a

    paper towel.

    She seemed surprised to see him, her eyes going a little wide. “Chase?”

    He was surprised too.

    “Alpha Julian came back without you,” Chase said. “Ady should always have someone to escort her to

    the dining table.”

    It was a teasing reference to an old, traditional, silly rule of a bygone era, but it still seemed to lighten her

    mood, for which he was grateful.

    To continue the y, he offered her his arm. “May I be that escort, my queen?”

    Amber rolled her eyes at him, a sure sign that she was starting to feel more like herself. Around Chase, she seemed to roll his eyes a lot.

    Yet, even so, she still epted his arm. “I feel foolish,” she admitted.

    “Doesn’t it feel good to be foolish every once in a while?”

    She didn’t reply, but her mood continued to lift, so Chase took that as a victory.

    Then, he led her from the bathroom, and back to the table, where Amber broke from him to hold her

    daughter closely.

    As Chase sat, Olivia gave him a sharp look. He saw it, then immediately nced away.

    When Amber rejoined the table, returning to her seat, Olivia’s sharp eyes shifted to Amber, and then to

    Alice.

    “Alice,” she said. “That’s such a charming ne. Where is it from?”

    Alice looked at Amber. Strangely, despite the innocent question, likely Olivia simply trying to make conversation, they both seemed somewhat nervous.

    Why?

    Amber spoke up, “It’s something I got her.”

    “How darlingi,/ii” /iOlivia said, her eyes narrowing a little. Like a shark in the water, Olivia would notice their tension, and with how she felt about Amber, she’d push for more. “May I see it?”

    “No!” Alice shouted suddenly, clutching the pendant on the ne with both hands.

    The shout was so loud that it quieted the whole table, with everyone turning to look at the little girl.