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The kiss is reassuring as much as it is blood-boiling, a reminder that he can hold all that intensity inside his big body and still make me feel completely safe in his hands.

Which would be a lot easier to appreciate if my heart wasn’t trying to beat its way out of my chest.

Jesus. Is it hot in here?

I whine when he pulls away, but before I can suggest that I skip the party and go home and get naked, he’s out of the truck. While I get my heart rate under control, Hunter walks around the truck and opens the door for me.

“I’ll just be over on campus, if you need me. Text if you want to come home any earlier.”

“I will.”

He smiles down at me. “Have fun, Nettie. You’ve earned it.”

His words, and the fact that I can sense him watching me as I walk up the front porch of the spa, give me that last little bit of courage to walk up to the door beneath the banner that says, Congratulations Story and Verity!

I’m going to my first baby shower.

I turn before opening the door and wave at Hunter through the windshield. He lifts a hand in return, and then I step inside with two gift bags hanging from my fingers, one for each of the soon-to-be mamas.

I shut the door behind me and step into the waiting room.

“Oh.” I stop when I realize I’m not alone. Trudie Stein stands by the coat rack, working her arms into a camel-hair coat. Her short, graying hair is sprayed into an immovable armor. Pearls sit at her ears and throat, and her freshly manicured nails are painted a respectable beige as she clutches her purse at her side.

“Arianette.”

“Mrs. Stein.”

Her eyes move down my outfit. My dress has a high lace collar with velvet buttons that go down the front of the bodice. The sleeves and skirt flare out, the latter skimming my upper thighs. Patterned tights disappear into heeled patent leather Mary Jane’s. Distaste twists at her mouth, but I notice her gaze lingers over the rings on my finger before shifting over to the gifts.

“Invited to the celebration, I see.” Her expression recovered. “There’s nothing more exciting than bringing two new royals into the world, is there?”

Faint laughter comes from the back of the building. The other girls must already be here.

“I should get back–”

She takes a step toward me. “I’m glad I got a chance to catch you, alone, for once.”

I stiffen. “I can’t imagine what we’d have to talk about.”

“My son, for one thing.” Her chin lifts. “The one that went into those woods with you and never came out? Remember him?”

“Of course I remember him,” I struggle to hold on to a lot of memories, but the ones with Armand are vivid and unrelenting. “Maybe we can find another time to discuss that night. Today I’m here to celebrate two new royal babies.”

Her hand snatches out and grabs my wrist.

“I’ve always known you were part of it.” Her voice is low and dangerous. “Was it your idea to kill him? Did you think it would make you more favorable to the Baron King to bring him a fresh kill? A wedding gift perhaps?”

Suddenly, this is a secret I don’t want to carry anymore. If Trudie wants the truth, she can fucking have it. “Do you really want to know what happened that night?”

“Tell me.” She’s so close that I can smell the champagne Adelanie gives her guests on her breath. “Tell me everything.”

“He was the first to find me during the hunt. He tracked me down and pinned me to the forest floor. I knew right away that he wasn’t going to take me back to the King like he was supposed to.” I pull the cuffs of my sleeves down over my wrists. “That was a problem. The King was clear that no one was to take my innocence, but your son had other plans. He told me he had a favorite game. Do you know what it was?”

Trudie blinks. A moment of apprehension flickers through her eyes, and I keep going.

“He loved virgins.” The word tastes like ash on my tongue. “Spoiling them, apparently. And he’d been trying to get a claim on a royal house girl for years. So he didn’t care what rules the King had or who I belonged to. In his mind, I was his to take.” I tilt my head. “I wonder where he got such perverse entitlement.”

“He was born to be a Royal. It wasn’t his fault the system was rigged against him.”