Ria ran the information she had on the woman through her head quickly. There was nothing significantly important about Cara. She was on the board of both Engalls Pharmaceuticals and Brandenmore Research, of which Engalls was a division.
She was the daughter of Phillip Brandenmore, married to the man her father had chosen for her. She was younger than Engalls by ten years and her voice had risen against Breed law when it came up for vote several years before. She was a powerful figure in her own little set, regarded with wariness and considered a formidable enemy.
Horace Engalls had begun courting Sanctuary years ago in the hopes of acquiring Breeds to strengthen his security on his labs. He’d been turned down repeatedly. But he and Brandenmore both were associates of a very powerful senator that Sanctuary liked to keep happy. Which meant the two men had the invitations the senator requested for them.
Ria knew Cara well, just as she had known Cara’s mother before Phillip Brandenmore divorced her.
“Ria, my dear, what are you doing here?” Cara’s cool, superior smile hid the heart of a viper as she glanced at where Ria’s hand rested on Mercury’s arm. “And with a… man.” The pause had Ria’s eyes narrowing. “I’m surprised Dane allowed it.”
Ria arched her brow. “Dane’s my employer, Cara, not my brother.”
“I always assumed much more.” Cara’s laughter was light, vicious. “Perhaps I was wrong?”
“Perhaps you were,” Ria told her. “I haven’t seen Phillip tonight, though.” She glanced around the room, looking for Cara’s father. “I’d hoped to say hello to him.”
“He had an unexpected stop to make at the airport on the way.” Cara’s lips curved in smug satisfaction. “His newest little playmate, I believe, was delayed. He should be here momentarily.”
“I hope to see him before I leave then.” Ria smiled tightly, nodding to her as well as Horace. “Perhaps we can get a chance to talk later.”
“Oh, I’m sure we will, dear.” Cara’s tinkling laughter grated on Ria’s nerves. “I’ll make certain of it.”
Ria’s gaze sharpened on the other woman before moving away. The feeling of panic sweeping through her intensified.
“How is security holding?” she asked Mercury, keeping her voice low as they moved through the ballroom and he drew her onto the dance floor.
He danced as well as he made love, she thought, restraining her sigh, waiting as he checked the security points.
“Everything’s holding,” he murmured in her ear. “What’s wrong, baby?”
The endearment weakened her knees. Which was silly. Dane called her sweetheart or baby often. He always had. Yet the effect had never been the same.
She shook her head, lowering it as she let him draw her closer.
“Ria, we need to talk soon,” he told her softly, his voice deepening, almost a growl as she flicked her earlobe with his tongue. “Very soon.”
She closed her eyes and smiled. She could feel his erection beneath his dress jacket. She could feel him, warm and aroused, holding her as close as convention allowed.
“Do we have to stay very long?”
“Longer than we’re going to stay. Damn,” he cursed, his head lifting. “Let’s go. Jonas has just ordered us to Callan’s office.”
As he released her, she glanced at the minute receiver barely visible at his ear.
“What’s wrong?”
His hand settled in the small of her back, pressing her forward toward the ballroom doors.
“Hell if I know,” he muttered. “He’s not saying.”
The panic intensified. Ria couldn’t explain it; she couldn’t force him not to go to that office, but every feminine instinct she possessed was screaming out at her, demanding that she run, that she escape.
That instinct was a part of her. She always heeded it. The few times she hadn’t had seen her heart broken, her pride in shambles. And she had seen the pity for her weakness in Leo and Dane’s eyes. Always the sad, poor little orphan.
“Ria?” Mercury questioned her as they entered the foyer and moved to the back of the hall. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” She sent him a smile she hoped wasn’t as brittle as she felt. “I think the shoes are pinching my feet or something.”
Or something. The closer they moved to that office, the more she had to restrain herself not to turn and run.
“I hate it when you lie to me,” he snarled softly.
“I hate it when you ask me questions I don’t know how to answer,” she hissed back. “I’ve had a bad feeling all day.”
She clutched the side of her dress, lifting the long skirt as they moved closer to their destination. She could run now, she told herself.
Like hell. She wasn’t a coward. And it wasn’t physical danger she could feel awaiting her. She couldn’t explain the premonition. She had never been able to explain them.
“Jonas, Callan and Dane are waiting in Jonas’s office,” he told her. “Dane wouldn’t allow you to walk into danger.”
She shook her head. “It’s not danger.”
She could see the door. It was closed. They moved closer and she wanted to scream. She licked her lips nervously, ignored her sweating palms and waited as Mercury knocked on the door.
It opened, but only partially. Dane stepped outside.
“Mercury, I’ll stand outside with Ria.” His expression was livid.
“The hell you will.” Mercury tugged her closer to his side. “She doesn’t need a babysitter.”
The door swung open.
“Mercury.” The soft, feminine sigh shattered her as she stared back at the other woman in horror.
Shoulder-length golden hair, hazel brown eyes shadowed with a light dusting of bronze over the lids. High cheekbones, exotic eyes and a smile that trembled. And a face Ria had seen in her nightmares over the past weeks. Except that face had been younger, softer-and death had taken her years ago. Or it was supposed to have.
“Alaiya?” Shock filled Mercury’s voice, and seared Ria’s heart.
She stood still. Frozen.
Another woman’s arms touched his face, caressed it, though he almost pulled back. Another woman’s arms wrapped around his neck, and another woman snuggled against his chest.
“Oh, Mercury. It’s been so long.”
Those eyes blinked back at Ria, and for a moment she could have sworn she glimpsed malicious pleasure in the eyes of Mercury’s mate.
CHAPTER 18
She was going to disintegrate into a million pieces. Shards and fragments of her soul would be found on worlds light-years from Earth before the pain completed its journey.
She had been so certain she was his. So certain she had finally found a place to belong, because he owned her soul, and no one else ever had.
She felt Mercury pull away from her. His hand slid from the small of her back, and she heard a growl. An angry sound of pain that she wondered if she might have made herself.
She wanted to smash her fist into that perfect face. She wanted to tear all those perfect hairs from the woman’s head. She wanted to howl in rage, fear and pain.
“Ria, sweetheart.” Dane’s voice was at her ear. She could have sworn it was thick with grief. “Darling. Hold on. You don’t want to break here.”
She shook her head and stepped back, pulling her arm from his grip. She didn’t want him touching her. She couldn’t bear to be touched, not right now. Not while the pain was exploding in her brain, shattering her heart, nearly stopping it.
The slow, sluggish beat reminded her. It had done that the moment she realized her mother was never returning to her. That she would always be alone. She should have remembered, should have known it couldn’t be real.