Page 20 of The Sentinel

I clenched my hands into fists at my sides. “You gonna tell me why you followed me, or do you just enjoy being a menace?”

“Why does it have to be one or the other?”

I exhaled sharply. “Marcus?—”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out something, and held it up between two fingers. A thick ivory card. Black ink.

My name written across the front in bold, looping script.

I snatched it from his grasp, scanning the text.

The words were simple.

Dominion Defense Corporation invites you to The Charleston Masquerade.

I blinked. Then looked up at him. “A ball?”

Marcus grinned. “I was going to slip this under your door at the hotel, but here you are instead.” His gaze flicked over me, slow and knowing. “Saves me the trouble.”

I scoffed, waving the card in the air. “This isn’t an invite. This is bait.”

His grin widened. “Smart girl.”

My heart pounded. Oh, this was dangerous.

A masquerade. An elite event, hosted by the Danes. It was exactly the kind of access I needed—an open door straight into their world. A chance to get close. To listen.

But it was also his world.

I exhaled, tilting my head, watching him. “And let me guess—you’ll be there?”

Marcus stepped in, closing the last of the space between us. He leaned down slightly, his lips brushing just past my ear.

“Better believe it,” he murmured.

A full-body shiver rolled through me.

He took a step back, like he was about to walk away.

I should have let him. I should have turned and left, should have gone back into the bar, should have sat down and ordered a drink and focused on my damn job.

Instead—

“Wait.”

The word slipped out before I could stop it, too sharp, too quick.

Marcus stilled. Then, slowly, deliberately, he turned back, his head tilting slightly as his gaze flicked over me, knowing. “Couldn’t resist, could you?”

I didn’t even know what I was about to say. Why I had stopped him.

Except that my thoughts were spinning—wild, reckless, dangerous thoughts.

The alley was dim, the bar’s glow flickering just beyond us, and there was a door to my left leading to a hallway. Bathrooms. A quiet space. A place where no one would see.

Jesus.

I barely had time to shove the thought away before Marcus’s smirk deepened, like he could see it written all over my face.

---