Page 91 of Glorious Rivals

“How very careless of you,” Savannah said.“Fortunately, I am never careless.”She withdrew her dart.

As far as pretenders went, she was flawless.

She crouched, running her hand around the side of the plaque until she found the hole he’d spoken of.Rohan let his fingers join hers, skin against skin, right before she hit the spot in question.And there it was—a tiny hole, a hitch of her breath.

Savannah pushed his hand aside just far enough to thrust the tip of the golden dart into the hole—a perfect fit.

But nothing happened.

“May I?”Rohan asked, fully anticipating her response:You may not.

Savannah Grayson, however, had the absolute audacity to give the dart to him, placing it in his hand just a bit harder than necessary but giving it to him all the same.No matter how many openings Rohan gave her, she was apparently set on doing this to her own specifications—betraying him inhertime, inherway.

Rohan stood, forcing himself to keep right on looking at the way thatshelooked clad in white as he set his mind to devising a distraction that would allow him to keep her dart.

“What now?”Savannah said, and he heard the familiar intensity in her tone—notweakin the least.

What now, Rohan?the Proprietor asked in his mind.

Rohan slipped the dart up his sleeve as he turned.“Follow me.”

Chapter 66

ROHAN

Why are we here?”Savannah asked, her voice hanging in the humid air like a portent of things to come.

Herewas the ruins, that once-grand Hawthorne mansion burned very nearly to the ground.Rohan had always been drawn to the broken and the ruined, but that wasn’t why he’d brought Savannah here.

“This place is an obvious landmark,” Rohan commented.“A key part of the board, yet to be used.”Just as you have yet to truly use and discard me.

“Why are we here, British?”Savannah Grayson was not a person who enjoyed repeating herself.“The ledger is back in the forest, somewhere near the tree.It has to be.”

“What would you say if I told you that we’re simply giving Brady Daniels time to make his next move?”Now that Brady had possession of Rohan’s dart, he was bound to show up at the treeeventually.He’d clearly already figured out the darts were needed.“Let us see whathediscovers.”

“Have I ever given you the impression that I rely on the discoveries of others?”Haughty was a good look for Savannah Grayson.The world around them was black and gray except where it was green and overgrown, wild in contrast to his opponent’s icy control.

Find an excuse to leave me.Go to Brady.Take his deal.Rohan had always had infinite patience in waiting games, his next move always dictated by strategy and strategy alone, but this time, he tired of waiting.

If not now, Savvy, then when?

“If Brady has yet to prove useful…” Rohan turned slowly, making a show of taking in the view of the ruins.“Then perhaps we should take him out.I am now in possession of a third photograph.”

Savannah processed that in silence.You don’t want him disqualified, do you, love?Once he’s out of the game, perhaps that offer of his no longer holds.

“What did the third message say?”Savannah asked.

Rohan offered her an abridged version:“It’s time.”He gave Savannah a look.“I tend to agree.Three photographs, at least two of which were almost certainly received while he was playing the game.”Rohan gave a little shrug.“I’ve taken out rivals with less.And Jameson Hawthorne is predisposed to believe me.”

“You’re working for Jameson.Forthem.”And there it was.Her anger.Her weakness.The Hawthornes and Avery Grambs.

“Like you, Savvy, I work only for myself.”

“You are so desperate to believe that, aren’t you?”Savannah said, and the lines of her body said so much more.

They said that she was ready for a fight.Aching for one.And Rohan did hate to disappoint.

“Perhaps,” he said, his voice low and pitched to surround her, “the game makers will disqualify you both.Brady, for communication with his sponsor, and you, because they’ve discovered yours.”