Page 124 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“I won’t be much help that day,” Aubrey says. “And there’s definitely no way I’ll be able to sneak off. Not with family, friends, a full bridal party, and a husband who’ll be dragging me around for the entirety of the reception so he can meet my parents’ friends.”

“That’s fine,” I say. “I’m not sure it’ll work, anyway. The wedding will come with extra security, I’d imagine, considering it’s happening at the mansion.”

“Actually,” Aubrey says, “that area of the house won’t be too heavily guarded. The billiard room is closer to the bedrooms and guest rooms, which is where a lot of my extended family is staying. There’s not anything to guard over there—except the safe, of course.”

“But adding extra men to keep an eye on the room would only make it obvious Holloway is hiding something over there,” I say.

“Exactly. Plus, I asked him not to add too many more patrols to that area of the house. I don’t want my family feeling like they’re being watched. Ludo is so set on solidifying the connection with my family that he agreed immediately.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” Oliver says brightly.

Rhett stands. “I just sent the mansion blueprint files to the printer. Be back in a second.”

I start pacing. Even without more eyes on that part of the mansion, sneaking into Ludo’s billiard room will be risky. If any of us got caught in there, what would our excuse be? That we got lost looking for the bathroom? No one would believe that for a second, especially since we’d have a safe cracker with us.

Speaking of, how the hell are we supposed to sneak one of those in? It’s easy enough to get our hands on one, but it’s not small enough to hide in a pocket.

“… get there fairly early the day of for hair, makeup, and photos,” Aubrey is telling Wren.

Right. Wren is in the bridal party. She’ll be able to roam the mansion without extra suspicion.

My stomach turns with dread at the thought of Wren getting caught while she’s cracking the safe. Yet it’s the thing that makes the most sense. Bridesmaids performlots of duties, including running to the bride’s bedroom for her to, say, grab her lipstick. It’s the perfect cover.

But if she gets hurt or caught…Dammit.We can’t put her in undue danger. This is exactly what I was afraid of.

I can’t let anything happen to her. I can’t let anything happen toanyof them.

“Ell?” Wren touches my arm lightly, and I realize I have no memory of her coming near me. “You look like you’re gonna puke.”

“I’m fine.” But the words come out of my mouth funny, and the room feels like it’s getting smaller and smaller. “I just…”

Focus, Elliot. They need you.

It can’t be Wren. She’s not ready.

“I’ll think of another way,” I mumble.

“Another way?” Wren asks. “What’re you talking about?”

“Ell. Hey.” Oliver puts an arm around me, taking some of my weight. As he leads me to a chair, he says something, but I don’t catch it.

“I’m good,” I say, even though it feels like something is constricting my chest.

What if I can’t do this? What if we mess up the plan and something goes wrong and one of us doesn’t make it? Or none of us do?

Chills sweep through my body. We can’t lose anyone else. Not when we’ve made it so far.

“Elliot,” Oliver says as he kneels in front of me. “You’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

But I can’t believe him. How can I believe him? We’re stuck. Helplessly, hopelessly stuck.

Oliver grasps my hands, but I barely feel him. All I can think is that we’re destined to fail. We’ve worked so hard, for so long, but what if we can’t finish what we started?

“O,” I say, not entirely sure why I do.

All I know is that I’m slipping, and I don’t know how to stop myself from falling.

Chapter seven