Page 42 of Royally Bad

One by one, I slid through the photos as she chatted next to me. Francesca was explaining what she did or didn’t like about her selfies—and there were hundreds—or why she’d taken a photo of every food course. I wasn’t listening; I was on the hunt.

Where ... where ... come on—yes!Shaking with excitement, I literally ran toward Kain. Behind me, Frannie shouted, “Hey! Be careful with that!”

“There!” Shoving the screen in his face, I tapped it repeatedly. “That’s him!”

Kain squinted at the photo. It was a long shot of the table, just before everyone had gotten settled into their chairs. Men in black suits were poking into the image on the fringe, their faces blurry or turned away.

Except for him.

Jameson was bent over the table, his hand half-touching a champagne glass as he filled it. The sight of his hard features and reedy torso made my blood race. And not in a good way.

He looked so normal here. When I compared him to the man who’d stalked through my hallway, hovering outside my door as I’d gotten naked ... it was too surreal.

“Sammy!” Kain grabbed me with one hand, stopping me from crumbling.

Sweat dotted my forehead; I locked my knees, gripping his firm arm with a grateful smile. “I’m fine. Maybe I should eat that muffin now.”

“You need to sit.” Guiding me to a chair, Kain helped me into it.

I noticed I was trembling, but I didn’t want everyone else to see. I nodded at the phone he still held. “Show them.”Give me some privacy over here,I thought, willing him with my eyes.

Kain understood. Turning, he brought the phone over to the others. “She says this is the guy.”

Hawthorne folded his arms. “One of the servers?”

“I doubt he was really a server,” Costello whispered.

Puffing air through his lips, Maverick said, “I don’t recognize him, could be a disguise or just a hired goon. Go meet with the Deep Shots, find out who he is.”

I wasn’t watching them, I was hanging my head between my knees and holding my forehead. Footsteps came my way, a hand tucking against my temple, then scooping my hair up and away. Kain looked down on me, his face tight with worry.

“Here,” he said, offering me the orange juice. “Drink.”

I didn’t argue, I tilted the glass and let the tart liquid wake me up. “I’m fine,” I assured him. “It was just a blood sugar crash.”

“Sure.” Kain was polite enough not to push it, but he knew I’d been freaking out. Seeing that man again, remembering everything, it had been too overwhelming.

I’d been burying the situation under a wave of denial. I couldn’t keep the act up once I saw that damn face. Jameson had seemed nice.Normal.Ifhecould attack me in the middle of the night, then ...

“My intuition sucks,” I mumbled. “I had no clue he was dangerous.”

“I don’t know,” Kain said. “You knewIwas no good right from the start.”

Grinning, I finished off the drink. “A broken clock is accidentally right some of the time.”

The charming dimples he had went deeper. “You feel better now?”

“Good enough for a muffin.” Pushing myself up, I headed for the tray of food. There were a few options; I was surprised Costello had bothered to put in the effort. Lifting a pastry, I nibbled the top. “Now that you know who you’re looking for, I’ll need a ride home.”

No one said anything. I endured a stab of unease, it worked under my ribs, fixing itself into place. Maverick waved Francesca’s phone, saying, “We don’t know who he is. Not yet. You can’t go anywhere until we’ve got this all tied up, Sammy.”

The phrase “tied up” was hitting too close to how I already felt being here. “This is insane,” I said. My eyes flashed to Kain. “Say something. Tell your dad it’s fine.”I need to get out of here!I wanted to ask Kain how my mother was—if he’d even gone there last night—but I really just wanted to see her myself.

Sheneeded me.

Kain’s face was placid, his eyes begging me to understand. “You’re in danger,” he said softly. “Until then, you’re safer here than anywhere else.”

I never suspected that his answer could cause me so much pain. Overnight, I’d gone from hating this man to relying on him. I knew what it was toachefor Kain. But I’d made the mistake of assuming he was on my side.

---