Chapter Four — My Enemy Keeps My Secret

Darkness swallowed the corridor before I could react.

The emergency lights should have activated immediately.

They did not.

For one terrible second, the only sound I heard was my own breathing and the distant confusion rising from the ballroom.

Then Ronan’s hand closed around my wrist.

“Stay close.”

I almost pulled away out of instinct.

Almost.

But somewhere in the darkness, someone knew I was an Omega.

Someone had tampered with my suppressant.

Someone had photographed me from inside my own event.

And now the lights were gone.

For once, pride was less useful than survival.

“What happened to the backup system?” I whispered.

“Either it failed,” Ronan said, “or someone wanted this floor dark.”

His voice remained steady.

Mine did too, but only because I had spent most of my life training it not to betray me.

A faint metallic sound came from farther down the corridor.

Ronan stopped moving.

So did I.

“What was that?”

He did not answer.

His grip tightened.

Another sound followed.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Coming toward us.

My pulse accelerated.

Ronan pulled me backward toward the private lounge.

The door opened behind us.

He guided me inside and shut it without making a sound.

Then he locked it.

The room was completely dark.

I could smell him more strongly now.

Cedar.

Smoke.

Alpha.

The heat inside me reacted immediately.

My body seemed determined to humiliate me in every possible way.

I stepped away from him.

“Keep your distance.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“You can do that from farther away.”

“Apparently your heat disagrees.”

I glared toward the place where his voice came from.

Even in darkness, he was unbearable.

A thin glow appeared.

Ronan had activated the flashlight on his phone and lowered the brightness.

The pale light revealed his face.

He was no longer amused.

That unsettled me more than his arrogance ever had.

He walked to the window and looked down toward the street.

“Cell service?”

I checked my phone.

One bar.

Then none.

“Gone.”

“Convenient.”

I crossed the room and tried the internal security line.

Dead.

The building’s emergency systems had not simply failed.

They had been cut.

My skin prickled.

“This was planned.”

“Yes.”

I hated how quickly he answered.

“You sound very certain.”

“Because people do not accidentally disable backup power, internal security, and cellular boosters at the same time.”

I looked at him.

“You’ve dealt with this before?”

His expression changed slightly.

“Enough.”

That answer joined the growing list of things Ronan Ashcroft seemed to know too much about.

Another wave of heat struck.

I turned away before he saw my reaction.

It did not matter.

He saw anyway.

“You’re getting worse.”

“I noticed.”

“How long until it peaks?”

The question was too intimate.

Too dangerous.

“You don’t need to know.”

“If we’re trapped on this floor with whoever sabotaged you, I absolutely need to know.”

I tightened my jaw.

“Two hours. Maybe less.”

Ronan went still.

My pulse increased.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That expression was not nothing.”

“You’re telling me someone deliberately triggered your heat in the middle of a building full of Alphas.”

“Yes.”

“And then cut the power.”

My blood cooled.

I understood what he was thinking.

“No.”

Ronan looked directly at me.

“Adrian.”

“No.”

“This may not be about exposing you.”

“Then what?”

His silence answered before his words did.

I felt sick.

Someone had wanted my heat active.

Someone had trapped me inside Vale Tower.

And someone had known Ronan would be here.

I stepped closer.

“If you think this has anything to do with you, say it.”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Then stop looking at me like you do.”

He held my gaze.

For the first time, something close to uncertainty appeared in his face.

“I’m trying to understand why tonight.”

“That makes two of us.”

A faint beep sounded from Ronan’s phone.

He looked down.

A message had somehow come through.

His expression hardened.

“What is it?”

He did not answer.

I crossed the room.

“Ronan.”

He turned the screen toward me.

The message contained no number.

No name.

Only one sentence.

YOU FOUND HIM. NOW FINISH WHAT YOUR FAMILY STARTED.

My stomach dropped.

I looked at Ronan.

He looked just as disturbed as I felt.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“You expect me to believe someone sends you that message after sabotaging my suppressant, and you have no idea what they’re talking about?”

His jaw tightened.

“I said I don’t know.”

“Then give me your phone.”

“No.”

I laughed softly.

“Of course.”

“Adrian.”

“You know more than you’re telling me.”

“And you’re standing here alive because I haven’t told anyone what you are.”

The words stopped me.

He took one step closer.

“I could have walked back into that ballroom the moment I smelled you.”

I said nothing.

“I could have told your board.”

Another step.

“I could have called my father.”

His voice lowered.

“I could destroy everything you’ve spent twenty-seven years protecting before the lights come back on.”

My heat had nothing to do with the tension between us now.

“Then why haven’t you?”

Ronan stared at me.

For several seconds, I thought he would refuse to answer.

Instead, he said quietly, “Because whatever this is, I don’t think you were supposed to have a choice.”

Something inside me shifted.

Not trust.

I was not foolish enough for that.

But something close to understanding.

Ronan extended his hand.

“Give me your phone.”

“Why?”

“Because whoever sent those messages may be tracking it.”

I hesitated.

Then handed it over.

He powered it off.

His followed.

The room became quieter.

The darkness heavier.

Outside the door, footsteps returned.

This time, they stopped directly outside.

My heart pounded.

Ronan moved in front of me.

The gesture happened so naturally that I almost did not notice it.

He was shielding me.

My enemy.

The man who had every reason to expose me.

A shadow appeared beneath the door.

Then someone tried the handle.

Once.

Twice.

Ronan reached inside his jacket.

I expected a phone.

Instead, he pulled out a compact black pistol.

I stared at him.

“You brought a gun to my corporate gala?”

“I know your family.”

Despite everything, I almost laughed.

The handle stopped moving.

Silence followed.

Then a piece of paper slid beneath the door.

Ronan waited.

Several seconds passed.

He bent and picked it up.

His face changed as he read it.

“What?”

He handed it to me.

The message was handwritten.

ALPHA ASHCROFT, YOUR COMPATIBILITY WITH SUBJECT O-17 HAS BEEN CONFIRMED.

My fingers went numb.

Below it was a second line.

DO NOT LET THE OMEGA LEAVE THE BUILDING.

I looked at Ronan.

He stared back at me.

Neither of us spoke.

Then the emergency lights finally came on.

And for the first time in my life, I realized my secret might never have belonged only to my family.