Chapter 3 No.3

Delilah POV

Three days of silence had settled over the Mcclain Estate, thick and suffocating like a wool blanket. Since the night of the Gala, Jaden and I had existed in separate orbits, ghosts haunting the same hallway.

I sat at the long mahogany dining table, pushing a piece of dry toast around my plate. My phone, hidden in my lap, was silent. Charley was still digging, mining the digital depths of Jaden's life for the ammunition I needed to blow it all apart. Until then, I had to wait. I had to breathe.

"Pack a bag," Jaden said abruptly, not looking up from his tablet. His voice was tight, strung with a tension that made the hair on my arms stand up. "We're leaving for the Hamptons in an hour."

I froze, my fork clattering against the china. "The Hamptons? Why?"

"The Harvest Moon Assembly," he muttered, finally glancing at me. His eyes were bloodshot, rimmed with dark circles that spoke of sleepless nights. "Carter is back."

The name sucked the air out of the room. Carter. The Alpha King. Jaden's older brother and the terrifying ruler of the Blackwood Pack. I had never met him-he had been away expanding pack territories in Europe since before our arranged marriage-but his reputation was a living, breathing monster in this house.

"I'm not going," I said, my voice steady despite the sudden spike in my pulse. "We had a deal, Jaden. I stay out of pack politics, and you leave me alone. I'm not parading around in front of your family just so you can play the devoted husband."

Jaden slammed his hand on the table, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "Do you think I have a choice? This is a direct summons! An Alpha Command!"

He stood up, his chair screeching against the floor, and marched over to me. The scent of his fear-sour milk and burnt rubber-was so pungent it made my wolf curl her lip in disgust.

"Carter isn't like father," Jaden hissed, leaning down until his face was inches from mine. "He smells weakness. He scents lies like a shark scents blood. If I show up alone, he'll start asking questions. He'll dig. And if he digs..." Jaden's voice cracked, panic fracturing his arrogance. "I need you there, Delilah. You will wear the sapphire ring, you will smile, and you will keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?"

He was terrified. The man who tormented me daily was trembling at the mere thought of his brother.

"Fine," I whispered, pulling away from his foul breath. "I'll go."

"Good," he straightened, adjusting his cuffs, the mask of superiority sliding back into place. "Be ready in twenty minutes. And put on something that reflects your position."

I left him in the dining room and ascended the marble stairs, my legs feeling heavy. I wasn't doing this for him. I was doing it to buy time. If Carter Mcclain was as perceptive as Jaden feared, one wrong move could expose everything-including my plan to destroy Jaden.

Inside the master bedroom, I moved to the vanity. My hands were shaking as I opened the velvet-lined jewelry box. I needed my diamond studs-the simple, elegant ones that were the only gift from my late mother. They were my armor.

I picked up one stud, the diamond catching the morning light.

I reached for the second one.

My fingers brushed against empty velvet.

I frowned, tipping the box toward the light. Nothing.

Panic, cold and sharp, pricked at my skin. I dumped the contents of the box onto the cold marble counter. Necklaces, bracelets, and rings spilled out in a glittering heap, but the second earring was gone.

"No, no, no," I breathed, dropping to my knees. I frantically patted the thick carpet, checking under the vanity, inside my purse, even in the bathroom sink.

It wasn't here.

My mind reeled back to three days ago. The Citadel Hotel. The penthouse suite. I remembered the cool weight of the diamond as I'd taken it off, the distinct clink it made when I placed it on the nightstand before... before everything blurred.

I had left it there.

I sat back on my heels, the blood draining from my face. A diamond earring wasn't just a piece of jewelry; it was a breadcrumb. A distinct, traceable clue left in the private quarters of a stranger, a silent testament to a mistake I couldn't undo.

If Jaden found out I lost it, he would fly into a rage. But if that stranger found it...

I didn't know who the man in the hotel was, only that he was powerful, rich, and likely a Mcclain associate given he was staying at the Citadel. If he decided to find the owner of the jewelry, he could lead a straight line right back to me.

You're paranoid, I told myself, forcing a breath into my constricted lungs. It's just an earring. The cleaning staff probably vacuumed it up.

But my wolf paced anxiously in my mind, whining at the loss. She didn't care about the diamond; she cared that we had left a piece of ourselves with him.

"Delilah! The car is waiting!" Jaden's voice boomed from the foyer below.

I scrambled to my feet. I couldn't look for it anymore. I grabbed the remaining diamond stud and shoved it deep into the back of my underwear drawer, hiding the evidence of the pair.

With trembling fingers, I reached for the heavy sapphire ring Jaden had demanded I wear. I slid it onto my finger. It felt cold and heavy, like a shackle.

I took one last look in the mirror. The woman staring back was pale, her eyes wide with a secret terror that had nothing to do with Jaden Mcclain.

I was walking into the lion's den, and I had left the key to my destruction in a stranger's bed.