Page 90 of Risky Obsession

As we inched forward with the crowd, the guards studied every guest. The staff checked every ticket. The pregnant woman fanned and fanned.

“Kane, I have an idea.”

He glanced down at me. “Okay, what’s that?”

“Once we get near the entrance, I’m going to pretend to be sick,” I whispered. “We’ll say we need a doctor.”

“They still might make us wait outside.”

“What if I pass out, and you make a scene, demanding to go inside?”

His gaze held mine like he was processing my idea. “You’d need to be convincing.”

If only he knew. “I could pretend to faint.”

“That could work.”

“Make sure you catch me.”

“Of course.”

My heart pounded wildly as we neared the first set of guards. Yet they let us through after some serious scrutiny and we stepped onto the bridge.

“Can you believe this place?” Kane asked, his voice filled with wonder. “This bridge must be four hundred years old.”

The man in front of us turned. “You’re close. Three hundred and eighty-one years.”

Kane nudged us closer to them. “Really? What else do you know about this castle?”

The gorgeous middle-aged woman on his arm turned to me and smiled. “Now you’ve opened the floodgates.” She rolled her eyes at the man beside her. “You won’t be able to stop my husband now. He loves ancient architecture.”

I giggled. “My hubby is the same. I just feel so lucky to be here. I never imagined I’d attend a gala ball in a place like this.”

“Oh.” The woman’s eyes lit up. “Your first time?”

“Yes, and probably my last for a while.” I ran my hand over my stomach. “We’re having our first baby.”

I felt Kane’s gaze swoop to me.

“How lovely.” The woman smiled, and it was so genuine, I hated myself all over again for my lies.

We shuffled to the middle of the curve in the bridge, and the frigid wind whistled through the thick steel cables holding the bridge in place freezing me to my core. Towering spires reached for the sky at either end of the castle, and I wondered if armed guards were watching us from their vantage point.

“How far along are you?” the woman asked.

“Only nine weeks. And I’ve been so sick. I wasn’t sure I would make it tonight. It’s hard to believe something so tiny could make me feel so dizzy.”

We shuffled forward again, starting our downward approach to the check-in station.

The woman nodded. “I know that feeling. I was like that for all six of my children.”

“Six?”

“Yes. It’s his fault.” She grinned at her husband.

He chuckled. “It takes two, my dear.”

Guilt clawed at my insides over my deceit to this lovely couple. We stepped closer to the guards, and they scanned the crowd like hungry hawks.