Page 86 of Glorious Rivals

He did not look the least bitharmless.

Where Rohan’s muscles were long and lean, Brady’s were solid, defined enough that Rohan could make out, up and down his arms, where one muscle ended and the next began.Where Rohan’s skin was unmarked with scars, Brady had several, as well as a tattoo on the inside of his left arm, a black spiral lined with writing.His shoulders were as wide as Rohan’s own.But I have the greater wingspan.

Not that this was going to come to a fight.

“Violence would not be appreciated by the game makers,” Rohan commented, sauntering just a bit closer to his target.“It might even get us kicked out of the game.”

“Us,” Brady repeated.“Oryou, if I refused to fight back.I am notoriously nonviolent.”

The scholar was just standing there, waiting for Rohan to attack.

You’d like that, wouldn’t you?If I did Savannah’s dirty work for her?

“I’m curious,” Rohan said.“How exactly did I end up in your sights—or your sponsor’s?”Rohan put no heat in that question.He and Brady Daniels were just two fine and civilized men, having a little chat.

“Kind of egocentric,” Brady commented, “to assume that I’m targeting only you.”His grip on the golden dart never loosened.Rohan briefly wondered where Brady’s jacket was.

And then his gaze settled on the lines and exact fit of the lower half of his target’s armor.

“It’s not a crime to be an egotist,” Rohan declared.“More of a badge of honor, really, and let’s face it: You always know exactly where you stand with a person who cares first and foremost about themselves.It’s the ones who give away their hearts to this person or that whom you really have to watch out for.Love breeds desperation, and desperation is such a dangerous bedfellow, don’t you think, Mr.Daniels?”

Rohan could practically see Brady assessing the meaning beneath those words—and this entire exchange.Yes, I know you made Savannah an offer.And yes, I know about the messages from your sponsor.

“My thoughts are my own.”Brady did not rise to the bait.“And so is your dart.”

With that, Brady went to walk past Rohan, and Rohan side-stepped just enough to ensure that Brady’s shoulder hit his—solid contact, in a move so smooth that to any outside observer, it would have painted Brady as the aggressor.

Rohan feinted like he mightdefendhimself, but he did not.He was too busy helping himself to something that Brady had been keeping tucked into his pants—the item that Rohan had seen, in the lines and fit of Brady’s remaining armor.

Another photograph.

Rohan waited until Brady was gone to make his way into the bathroom—and up onto the bathroom counter.He rose to his full height and lifted the photograph to a light overhead.It took longer for this one to heat up than the others had, with the fire, but eventually, the words—the message—became clear.

One of three.It’s time.

Chapter 62

GIGI

Let’s play a game,” Gigi said.“It’s called True or False.”

Eve considered Gigi for a moment.“I’m in.”

“No,” Slate grumbled.“You’re not.”

“You’re just cranky that you’re still taped to a chair,” Gigi told him.“You heard the ominous lady in the red cloak: It’s for your own protection.”Gigi set aside any and all trepidation she felt about beingbaitand managed a smile.“My, my, my…”

“How the tables have turned,” Slate finished.“Are you done yet, sunshine?Because I am your best defense against whatever walks through that door next.Both of you.”

“Sonowyou want to protect me?”Eve asked.“Or, excuse me, both of us.”

Gigi got the distinct feeling that Eve didn’t like to share.“True or false,” she said.“The two of you are the kind of employee and employer who make out sometimes.”

Silence.Complete and utter silence.And then came the sound of the wall parting.

Gigi whirled and saw a figure in red.The woman.She was back.Cloak billowing, she crossed the room, her red boots making not a single sound as she did.“Juliet Grayson.Evelyn Blake.Mattias Slater.”

Her voice.That voice.It sounds…