Page 92 of Solstice

Despite the rejection, the response gave me fucking hope. That was the first sign of the real queen I’d seen since Dmitri gave her to me.

“You stay here. Understand?”

I had no idea if she really did, of course. But we couldn’t risk her getting out or the king finding her, so with one more stern word to the guards, we left them there and headed back to our party.

26

Miri

THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING

“As you can tell, Miriam,” the CEO of Danae Enterprises said, pointing to the screen in front of me, “profits are up. Even if the joint US structure falls through, you’ve made a substantial impact to our cause.”

The room applauded, and I did my best to stay humble. “I couldn’t have done it without all of you. Truly.” I graciously smiled and pushed to my feet, keeping the grin on my face despite the wooziness behind my eyes. This had been a planned media excursion, one of the few Gran would let me have these days, and she’d been sure to assess me before I left.

I’d shrunk three sizes in the weeks since I broke things off with my spouses, and even the press had commented about the hollow look in my eyes.

“Miriam is heartbroken,”one of the newscasters had said.“I’d believe the leaked pictures are real based on that alone. Has anyone seen Ivy Washington these days? She’s a complete wreck.”

I had to swallow down the insult and carry on with my life like they weren’t bordering too close to the truth. Shame writhed in my gut like a snake, spewing its venom into my veins anytime I thought about my lost loves.

This is better,I reminded myself.Safer.

That was what kept me stock-still and frozen in Kensington, hiding in my ivory tower to wait for the villain to come to me.

All the news coverage had been about Lex and Ivy’s big day tomorrow, and the place where my heart used to be clenched again.

I have to protect them. I have to keep them safe.

I still didn’t remember what I’d done the night Reginald’s staff had supposedly overheard my “nightmare.” But perhaps ignorance was bliss. Perhaps it was better I not know. This did not change the fact I had become a liability in either case.

Perhaps you’d be safer with them,the logical part of my brain said,the way Ivy is.

It’s safer to stay away,the dark side repeated.Safer to be alone.

I felt so fragmented that I’d been paralyzed into inaction. I couldn’t go home to my loves, but staying still and quiet would get us all killed. Shoving all of that into a compartment somewhere in the agony of my heartbreak, I refocused on the present.

“Brilliant. I’m quite overjoyed to hear this,” I said. “And I do look forward to seeing what you come up with next.” I eyed my assistant at the corner of the room, and she pointed to her watch as if to indicate it was time to move on to my next appointment. I’d glanced at the itinerary this morning, but I hadn’t paid much attention because Yana kept me on task no matter what, the brilliant woman. I made my goodbyes and told everyone I’d see them at lunch before following her down the hallway to another meeting space. This one had no window on the door, and when she opened it for me, she stayed outside and nodded for me to go ahead of her.

No bodyguards first? No scoping out the space? Confused, I took a hesitant step inside and glanced around at the boxes of printer paper and the copy machines up ahead. “Is this a supplies cabinet?”

Yana shut the door in my face.

“Yana?”

“Good to see you, Juliet.”

The voice coated my spine like a warm campfire. Deep and melodic, it could have belonged to only one person. I turned on my heels and came face-to-face with Carter Scott leaning up against the plaster wall, looking like a walking wet dream with that panty-dropper grin on his stupid handsome face.

My Romeo.

My star-crossed lover.

My best friend until the end.

Emotions overwhelmed me, and I jumped into his embrace before I could stop myself, my arms going around his neck. God, he smelled exactly the same, like sunshine and soap andmale.I missed him terribly, as much as I missed the others. My eyes burned and, silly me, I couldn’t hold back my emotions. Tears spilled over my cheeks and down my chin.

He laughed when he put me down, wiping at my face with his thumbs.

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