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"Hey. Look at me—I mean, listen to me. He doesn't know anything concrete. He's fishing, but that doesn't mean he's caught anything."

"But if he's suspicious enough to show up at your brother's poker game..."

"Then we'll deal with it when the time comes." I keep my voice steady and reassuring, the same tone I use to calm spooked clients. "But tonight, I want to talk about something else. Something good."

"What?"

I think about the email sitting on my phone, about the opportunity it represents. "Can you get away this weekend? Maybe Friday night through Sunday?"

The question seems to surprise her. There's a pause, and I can almost hear her mind working through the logistics. "This weekend? I... Maybe. Why?"

"It's a surprise."

"Reign, I don't know if this is the best time for surprises. If Gio is watching me more closely..."

Her voice carries that familiar note of anxiety, the sound of someone who's been looking over her shoulder for too long. I hate that Vega has made her afraid, hate that she has to calculate the risk of every decision.

"Trust me," I interrupt. "I'll figure something out. Can you do it?"

She's quiet for a long moment, and I can almost hear her weighing the risks against her desire to say yes. The silence stretches between us, filled with everything we can't say over an unsecured phone line.

Finally, she speaks. "Okay. Yes. I'll find a way."

"Good girl. I'll call you tomorrow with details."

"Reign?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever this surprise is, it better be worth the risk."

I grin, thinking about the email and what it's going to mean to her. "Princess, trust me. It's going to be worth everything."

EIGHTEEN

AUDREY

“Are we there yet?”I adjust the silky blindfold Reign insisted I wear after we left his cabin this morning. “You know I hate surprises.”

Reign’s low chuckle vibrates through the interior of his truck. “Patience, Princess. We’re almost there.”

“You said that twenty minutes ago. And ten minutes before that.”

He gives my thigh a gentle squeeze. “This time I mean it. Five more minutes.”

I huff dramatically. “Can I at least have a hint?”

“No hints, baby. Just trust me.”

The car slows, turning onto what feels like a smoother road. My curiosity intensifies as we make several more turns before finally coming to a stop.

I hear his door open and close, then footsteps circling around to my side. The passenger door opens, and Reign’s hands are warm and sure as they help me out of the vehicle.

“Careful,” he murmurs, guiding me forward. “Three steps up.”

I navigate the steps carefully, thankful for his solid presence behind me. The air smells different here. It’s cleaner somehow, with a hint of aviation fuel.

“Reign, where are we?” My voice drops to a whisper as I hear voices in the distance, the sound of engines.