LOGINGREY'S POVThe camera light went off and I set down the script I hadn't used. I didn't need it. Talking to a camera wasn't difficult when you'd spent fifteen years making people believe exactly what you wanted them to believe. Penelope was already on her tablet. "I'll push it through the pack network first, then the wider city channels.”I nodded, steepling my fingers together. "Good. And the story?""Newlywed wife, overwhelmed after the wedding night incident, stepped out without telling anyone." She looked up. "I'll make sure it's the only version people hear."I leaned forward, my brows scrunched together. "Handle any outlet that tries to run something different.""Already have three on standby," she said. I nodded. "Go."She left but Cade remained where he was. I walked to my desk and picked up the next file but Cade stayed still. I sighed and waved at him dismissively. “Out with it.”"The council contacted me an hour ago," he said instantly. "They want an emergency meeting."
POPPY’S POVThe taxi smelled like pine air freshener and the driver had been talking since I got in. I didn't mind. Silence would have made me think too hard."... and then my sister-in-law shows up to the wedding in white. White!” He huffed, shaking his head vigorously. “Can you imagine? My wife hasn't forgiven her to this day and that was six years ago!”"Wow," I said, which was the fifth time I had said it."Six years! Women remember everything, I tell you." He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. My cap was pulled low and the sunglasses were big enough to cover half my face. If he thought it was strange, he hadn't mentioned it. "So what about you? You said you're heading to the border?"I bobbed my head. "Yes."He nodded then grinned. "Running away with someone?”I blinked."I'm not judging," he said quickly. "My cousin did the same thing. Family didn't approve of the girl, so one night…" He snapped his fingers. "Gone. They have three kids now. Beautiful family.""Something li
GREY'S POVI had booked the clinic out for the day and then made every staff member swear confidentiality.The waiting area was eerily quiet except for the hum of the AC and Annalise sitting across from me with her hands folded in her lap, pretending to look calm.I scrolled through my emails with nonchalance."Did you have to do it like this?" she said finally.I shot her a glance. "Like what?""Book out the entire clinic.” She hissed, then shook her head. “It's humiliating."I returned my gaze to my phone. “Maybe you've forgotten but we're both married to different people, Annalise. I can't afford a scandal.” She went quiet. Just as the doctor came, I stood and shook his hand."Thank you for accommodating this," I said. "I know it was short notice.""Not at all." He glanced briefly at Annalise, then back to me. "Is she the one?” I bobbed my head. “How soon can I get the result?”“Before the end of today,” he said, then turned to gesture for his nurses. “Take her to the exam room.”
POPPY’S POVGrey wasn't home but the moment I told Cade everything, he immediately pulled out his phone then called out for Penelope and Lana."Lock down the east wing," he said into his phone, already walking. "I want you to pull the CCTV from the last three hours and get someone on the perimeter check now."Penelope arrived two minutes later, slightly out of breath, and wrapped both arms around me before she even fully entered the room."I've got you," she said. "You're okay."I held onto her, still holding the card even though my hands hadn't fully stopped shaking.Lana came in behind her and took one long look at me. “I heard what happened. Are you okay?”I shook my head and sucked in a sharp breath. She patted my shoulder just as Cade returned, his brows furrowed together."Tell me exactly what happened," he said. "Walk me through it."I nodded and I told him about coming upstairs, kicking off my shoes, lying down and finding the envelope. I told him I had thought it was from Pe
POPPY’S POVGrey's body went stiff the moment Edric said the words ‘unfinished business’. Whatever it meant, it was something serious. I looked at Edric then back at Grey.What just happened? "Continue what you were doing," Grey said, and his voice was perfectly normal.He wasn't looking at me. He was half-turned toward Edric, already moving. "We'll talk later."And then he just left.I stood in the middle of the training ground holding my staff and watched the two of them walk away.And I had absolutely no idea what to do with the feeling sitting in my chest. I stood there for another ten seconds. Then I put the staff down and followed them.I made it approximately forty feet before Penelope jumped right in front of me, nearly scaring me half to death. “Dammit, Penny!” I gasped, pressing a hand to my chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”She ignored me, gathering my hands together and squeezing. "You missed breakfast again. Poppy, you cannot keep skipping meals, your body n
GREY'S POVThe council meeting was giving me a headache before it even properly started.Twelve people talking at once will do that."... completely unacceptable that Blackhawk operatives were able to infiltrate a secured event!”"... the perimeter protocols clearly failed and someone needs to answer for it!""... at a wedding of all places!”I sat at the head of the table and let them go for exactly three minutes. That was my limit. After three minutes, I pressed two fingers to my temple and said, loudly enough to cut through the noise. "One at a time." I gave them a hard look. “Please.” They fell silent and I sighed. The truth was I was just as angry as they were. More, probably, because it was my wedding and my security that had failed. Three Blackhawk operatives loose in a hotel full of pack leaders and their families was not a small thing. The fact that we contained it before anyone important got hurt was the only reason I was sitting in this room instead of burning somethi
POPPY'S POVThe older women did exactly what Grey had described, and two children walked towards me. A girl and boy, they couldn't be older than seven, the girl looked at my lapel with huge eyes."I like your flower," she said, pointing to it.I looked down at the small pin Penelope had added to t
POPPY’S POVTomorrow was the wedding but tonight… there was a dinner at the main packhouse. I had never been there before and my curiosity had been piqued since Penelope mentioned the dinner tonight. She was describing it to me while pinning up the last section of my hair. "It's where the ful
POPPY’S POVThere was no good reason for Annalise to be here. She was Edric's wife and Grey's first love. I had no idea what to do with any of that.So when I stopped in the doorway of the front reception room, I sucked in a deep breath and squared my shoulders.Annalise was standing by the windo
POPPY’S POVI couldn't move. My hands were flat on his chest and his face was right there and our mouths were pressed together and my brain had stopped producing useful information. I could feel everything. The floor under my knees, the warmth coming off him, the specific solidity of his chest un







