Page 119 of Glorious Rivals

Avery wasfamily, and family had always been Grayson’s concern.

“I want Odette’s location,” Grayson told Alisa.Hurting or not, his brain sorted through next moves at warp speed.“She knows something.And where’s Toby?”

“He’s been out looking for Eve for the last couple of hours,” Alisa replied.

“What does he know?”Grayson asked Jameson.“About Alice.”

“Nothing he’s felt like sharing,” Jameson replied, voice taut, jaw hard, eyes hollow.“And he’s not answering our calls.But like I said,brother, this is none of your concern.”Jameson looked from Grayson to Lyra and back again.“You have other concerns now.”

It couldn’t have been more obvious:He blames Lyra for this.He blamesme.

“Blame me all you want,” Grayson told his brother.“But est unus ex nobis.Nos defendat eius.”Grayson said the full phrasethis time.“Avery is one of us, Jamie.We protect her.Wewillfind her.”Grayson felt the force of that vow in every inch of his body.

“Iwill find her,” Jameson replied.“Oren and Alisa and their teams will.Nash will.Toby will.But you?”Jameson turned back and looked Grayson dead in the eye.“As far as I’m concerned, you and Lyra can go to hell.”

Chapter 85

ROHAN

Rohan could feel the labyrinth in his mind shifting, remade by a single new piece of information.Avery Grambs, missing.Without the heiress, there might well be no prize money—not immediately, at least.Not soon enough for Rohan to ascertain beyond any shadow of a doubt whether or not Savannah Grayson intended to keep her promise.

Why would she?Rohan did not appreciate being at anyone else’s mercy.He had to find another way.

There was always another way.

The paths laid out before Rohan were many and varied, his opponent crystal clear.This isn’t over, Duchess.

“What the hell is going on?”Savannah said, the first words she’d spoken to Rohan since she’d turned to him back in the final chamber and uttered the phrasethe house always wins.“Why did they bring us back here?”

I’m the house, Rohan told himself.There is no other choice.I have to be the house.

“One might conclude,” he told Savannah, “that there is asituation.”Rohan made his way toward the front of the yacht, just to see if she would follow.

She did not.

My terms, Savannah Grayson had told him.No one else’s.

“And when there is asituationof a certain sort…,” Rohan continued, pivoting to face her again, walking backward now.“The first thing you do is lock down every player on the board.”

The helicopter that had brought them here had already taken off again, headed back to the island, no doubt, for Brady Daniels.Even as we speak, there’s a team flushing him out.That was good.

For Rohan’s purposes, Daniels was key.

Were you forbidden from interfering with the game, Duchess?Rohan had the photographs, but those wouldn’t be sufficient to prove Zella’s hand in any of this.Did the Proprietor tell you that if the Grandest Game was called off, you’d be disqualified as a potential heir?Is that why you instructed Brady that the gamemustgo on?

The only real proof that Rohan had of Zella’s involvement was tattooed onto Brady’s arm.

Rohan continued walking backward, willing Savannah to follow—and finally, she did.Not done with me quite yet, love?

“You gave me your dice.”Savannah said those words like an accusation.

Rohan spun again and took up position at the railing on the front of the yacht, fixing his gaze straight ahead.“It was,” he said, “the strategic thing to do.”

“You took me at my word,” Savannah replied.

She really was going to make him say it.Vicious, winter girl.“What choice did I have?”Rohan kept his tone light, and then, despite himself, he turned his head to look at her.“Right from the start, what choice did I have with you?”He added the nickname solely to annoy her.“Savvy.”

“I despise that name,British, so here is my final deal for you.”Savannah Grayson was made for moonlight—that platinum hair, those pale gray eyes, which narrowed at him in the most delightful fashion.“You may call meSavannah, and I will call youRohan.”