Page 40 of Glorious Rivals

He decided to oblige her—for strategic reasons, of course.He gave her the photographs.“Fair warning, love: I’ll just steal them back.”

“You’re welcome to try.”Savannah turned and started walking away.“I hope you memorized the sequence on my arm,” she called back.“It’s high time we both tried working this puzzle on our own.”

“Rest assured,” Rohan called after her, “I know every inch of it.”Every inch of you.“First one to a breakthrough gets to make the other one grovel.”

Distractions were weakness, but motivation?Motivation was gold.

Chapter 31

GIGI

As it turned out, it took avery long timefor even a highly motivated individual to cut through silk bindings with a jagged rock, but there were two kinds of optimists in the world: those who hoped and those who madly persevered.

Gigi was the latter.At long, long last, a small rip gave way to a larger large one, which gave way to a strip of silk fabric falling to the floor.“Huzzah!”

Despite her optimism, Gigi had not thought much past step one of her plan.The obvious step two was to free her ankles, which she did, but as for step three…

Gigi felt her way to the door and tried throwing herself bodily against it a couple of times.No go.She changed tactics.It took her a full five minutes of crawling around in the dark, searching the wood floor with her hands to find the iron candle holder.Evenwithout any light, she was ninety-nine percent sure that she could climb the stone stairs if she hugged the wall and took her time.And once she got to the top…

How hard could it possibly be for a highly motivated individual with a hefty metal object to shatter a few windows?

Chapter 32

LYRA

Lyra stared down at the island.Taking a bird’s-eye view of Hawthorne Island to look for some kind of infinity symbol had been Grayson’s idea.Using the boathouse to do it had been Lyra’s.They’d already searched the mansion for anything bearing the infinity symbol—thelemniscate, as Grayson had called it.The roof of the mansion had proven inaccessible.

Hence, the boathouse.

Hence, the two of them at least forty feet up.

The top of the boathouse had lit up the second they’d stepped foot on it, just like the helipad.

“We could be looking for anything,” Grayson said, as they stared out into the night.“Trees planted in the shape of a lemniscate, mirrors in the ground, a pattern in the grass.”

“It’s pitch black,” Lyra pointed out.“Midnight is less than an hour away.”

“Yes.”Grayson Hawthorne and hisyeses.“Try the opera glasses.”He cast a sideways glance at her, and then his lips tilted upward on the ends.“Suggestion.”

“Why don’t I just assume they’re all suggestions from now on?”Lyra reached for the opera glasses.

“If it’s ever an order,” Grayson told her, “you’ll know.”

She shot him a look.“Same.”Lifting the opera glasses to her eyes, Lyra felt Grayson shift beside her, and instead of fighting her body’s awareness of his, Lyra let it roll over her.

“Nothing,” she informed Grayson.“Still pitch black.”Her mind went to the original owner of the diamond-encrusted opera glasses as she lowered them.She glanced at Grayson and knew his mind had gone to the same place.“You’re thinking about Odette.”

“Odette,” Grayson replied, allowing his gaze to linger on Lyra’s, “is not the only one I am thinking about.”

“I know.”A few hours earlier, Lyra would have ignored his confession or misinterpreted it, but she couldn’t unsee that drawing.“I didn’t dance when I was alone in the ballroom.”Lyra felt compelled to give him something true.She wasn’t even sure why.“I just couldn’t let myself do it.”

“I know,” Grayson replied.

Lyra wasn’t used to anyone being able to read her.“Now it’s your turn,” she told him, casting her gaze back out on the island.

“My turn for what?”Grayson said.

“Your turn to tell me something else that I already know.”