Chapter 931
Skye sighed, but she took the dress. It was impossible to say no to Victoria. She was like a golden retriever puppy — eager, clumsy, and aggressively affectionate.
They squeezed into the large dressing room together. Victoria insisted on help with her zippers.
“So,” Victoria chattered, wrestling her way out of her jeans, “is Liam coming tonight? I mean, after everything that happened at the warehouse with Parker, I know he’s capable, but… he’s also kind of terrifying. Like, obsessively terrifying.”
“He’s coming,” Skye said, unbuttoning her blouse. She let it drop to the floor. “And yes, it’s obsession. Liam doesn’t know how to love things he can’t control. You saw how he operated during the rescue — efficient, but cold.”
She turned her back to the mirror to step into the red dress.
“Whoa,” Victoria said. “Skye, what happened to your back?”
𝗗𝗈𝗐𝘯l𝗈а𝖽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘗𝘋𝗙𝘴 𝘰n 𝗴а𝗅ոov𝗲𝗅ѕ.𝗰𝗼m
Skye froze. “What?”
“There’s a scar.” Victoria reached out a tentative finger. “Right here. Under your shoulder blade.”
Skye twisted to look in the tri-fold mirror. There, faint but distinct, was a crescent-shaped scar — pale white against her skin. It looked like teeth marks.
“I… I don’t know,” Skye frowned, touching the spot. “I’ve had it as long as I can remember. I assumed I fell on something as a kid.”
“Weird,” Victoria said, her eyes widening. “It looks like a bite. You know, Ethan Vance — Julian’s creepy brother — he used to have this thing about biting people when he was little. My dad told me a story once about how Ethan bit a girl at that sanitarium they all went to — Blackwood. He bit her so hard she needed stitches. Julian apparently beat him up for it.”
Skye’s blood ran cold.
Blackwood.
The missing pages in the diary. The familiarity of the greenhouse. Julian’s expression on the balcony.
“Did your dad say who the girl was?” Skye asked, her voice barely steady.
“No idea.” Victoria shrugged, stepping into her pink tulle explosion. “Some random kid. Probably why Julian is so weirdly protective of everyone. Guilt complex, you know?”
Guilt.
Before Skye could process the revelation, the heavy curtain of the dressing room was ripped back.
“Hey!” Victoria shrieked, clutching her dress to her chest. “Occupied!”
Liam Kensington stood in the opening, breathless, his hair windblown. Two large men in suits blocked the corridor behind him.
He ignored Victoria entirely. His eyes locked onto Skye, who stood in her bra with the red skirt half pulled up.
He wasn’t looking at her with desire. He was looking at her with panic.
“Get dressed,” Liam ordered. “We’re leaving.”
“Excuse me?” Skye grabbed a silk robe and pulled it around herself. “You can’t barge in here, Liam. This is a private suite.”
“I don’t care about privacy,” Liam said, stepping into the room. The space shrank instantly. “I care about you breathing. My security team just picked up chatter. There’s a credible threat against the Gala tonight.”
“What kind of threat?”
“The kind that involves C4,” Liam said grimly. “The Mastermind has moved assets into the city. They aren’t targeting the guests, Skye. They are targeting the heirs.”