Page 113 of Face Off

“I said I would handle the cheating. I never said I’d prevent it.”

Her grin appeared slowly. “We’re definitely going to win.”

Across the room, Bliss began explaining arrival assignments. Charm and I would greet the remaining VIP guests before the lawn games, including the Harlens when they arrived late that afternoon.

Cade’s attention found mine from the front of the room. Rider checked his phone, watched the screen long enough to confirm something, then slid it facedown beside his plate. Neither of them spoke, but I understood. The plan Cade referenced last night was already moving around me.

I felt Charm’s fingers tense against my arm.

The reaction lasted less than a second. She released me, reached for her clipboard, and drew a line beneath the arrival time as if Lance and Crystal were another item she could organize into submission. Her father hadn’t even entered the property, and her body already remembered how to prepare for him.

I didn’t move my hand away. Charm could claim she intended to fight for me, but this was the part I needed to see. Wanting me in a castle filled with our friends was easy. Keeping her hand in mine when Lance Harlen stepped from that car would answer a different question.

I didn’t need the answer to that question—but I wanted it for reasons I wasn’t willing to waste my energy on.

“You good?” I asked quietly.

Charm kept her attention on the page. “Ask me when his car pulls up.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“It’s the answer you get.”

She used my words without looking at me.

My mouth curved despite the warning moving beneath them. “Careful.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Depends how often you plan to steal my lines.”

“I’ve already taken your flask.”

“Bliss has my flask.”

“Because I took it from you.”

I leaned closer until my mouth rested near her ear. “You’re becoming reckless, mami.”

Her breath caught, but she turned her face enough to bring her lips dangerously close to mine. “Maybe I’m finally having fun.”

The answer struck deeper than the flirtation carrying it.

This was what I had wanted for her. Charm laughing before breakfast, wearing ridiculous pink without wondering who might judge her, eating beside me, and anticipating a day built around nothing more dangerous than embarrassing games with people who loved her.

She had learned how to live after I was gone. The knowledge hurt, but I refused to make her happiness another thing she had to apologize for. I wanted this version of Charm—the one who laughed before breakfast, stole my flask, and stood close enough for everyone to recognize she belonged inside my space.

I wanted her before Lance arrived and reminded us how quickly freedom could become fear.

Charm tapped the itinerary against my chest. “Scavenger hunt at ten, Captain.”

“I hate scavenger hunts.”

“You’ve never participated in one.”

“I hate this one preemptively.”

“You’re afraid I’ll beat you.”