Page 120 of Guarded Knight

Occasionally, one of them speaks into their sleeve, though I suppose it wouldn’t be strange for a large hotel’s event manager and a security officer to have that set up.

Freya reappears after chatting with catering and Kevin at the far end of the room. Anton trailed her in stealth mode the whole time.

She tries to act normal, but her thoughts are a split between me and likely whatever fake conversation she had with Kevin. That must have been hard. I don’t have a nuanced relationship with Kevin. I just need to act professional, and that’s easier than what Freya has to do.

“You look incredible, Lara. Like a CEO and a fairy godmother had a power suit baby.”

I laugh, tension cracking slightly. “High praise.”

“Kevin’s just finished talking to the board members,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear. “He said he had something personal planned for today.”

A shiver runs through me.Personal?

Gabriel steps close behind us to listen but not seem part of the conversation.

“Personal for me?” I ask. “Or personal for you?”

The way her features fall, the wordpersonalhas taken on a whole new shape.

“I don’t know. I… just wanted to get away from him. Most of his words went right through me.” She lowers her voice. “I’m really nervous.”

“Me, too, babe. Just remember, we’re not here to storm the castle. We just have to act normal. Buy time.”

“What the hell is normal?”

I sigh. “It’s a philosophical question we don’t have time for.”

She shakes her head and almost laughs. This is truly absurd.

Gabriel steps closer, pressing his earpiece and pretending to show us something on the clipboard. “Where is Kevin now?”

Freya points to the clipboard, playing the game. “He’ll be here…” She senses something in her peripheral vision, looks up, and beams. “Hey!”

Just then, Kevin materializes beside us—smooth and polished, with perfectly combed hair that screams East Coast old money. He claps a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder but pretty much ignores him like he does those considered minions.

He leans in and air kisses me on the cheek. “You ready to make history?” he asks, eyes glinting. “Biggest year on record.”

He takes Freya’s fingertips. Anton’s gaze flicks to Kevin’s hand, and the heat in it could laser that shit clean off.

“Baby girl,” Kevin addresses Freya as if she’s more important than he’s ever treated her. “Could you help set the tables with the volunteers? We’re one man short.” He doesn’t wait for Freya to say yes or no. “Chop-chop.”

Anton follows Freya into the ballroom, and Gabriel has now slid behind Kevin, who still hasn’t even thought about who this man might be. He’s so pompous. So entitled.

Kevin’s lips curve up into a thin smile. “Speech ready? We need to make sure everyone remembers who built this place.”

“How could I forget?” Even I don’t believe the sweetness in my voice. It’s damn hard to pretend not to want to strangle this man.

He rubs his hands together. “All right, I’ve got places I’m needed. It’s looking good, Lara.”

He walks off, and I let go of the breath that was tight in my lungs.

For the next hour, everything unfolds like a performance we’ve rehearsed a hundred times. Gabriel fades into the background, not too close, but never far. He’s a shadow stitched to my spine.

Anton has his eyes on Freya, who’s doing a damn good job of pretending not to want to murder Kevin. Together, we play our parts—the poised speaker, the poster child, the attentive staff.

I have ten minutes until I give my speech, and then we can eat and go. God, I hope Rio stitches things together fast on his end. We need to take Kevin down. Find Belinda. Expose these two, and maybe more of them, for the cons they are.

I’ve never been good at being something I’m not. I don’t know how much longer I can play this charade. I’ll have to full-on lie again to the donors if it drags on. Maybe after I’ll call them one by one to apologize. I push away the shame that tells me I’ve been part of this scam, complicit or not.