Chapter 48
Chapter 48:
Eliza looked at their joined hands. Her heart gave a traitorous leap and began to race, thumping hard against her ribs.
Beep. Beep. Beep-beep-beep.
The cardiac monitor registered the acceleration. The rhythm grew faster, louder, filling the silence.
Dallas glanced at the screen, then back at her. The corner of his mouth ticked up.
“Your heart agrees,” he noted.
𝖱𝖾𝘢𝗱 𝘧𝘳𝘦e nov𝖾𝘭𝘀 о𝘯
Heat crept up her neck. “It’s the medication,” she said weakly. “Epinephrine causes tachycardia p>
“Liar,” he whispered.
He leaned down. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her lips. Instead, he pressed his mouth to her forehead — a lingering, possessive seal. A brand.
“Rest,” he said, pulling back without releasing her hand. “I’m not leaving p>
He settled back into the chair and stretched his long legs out, looking fully prepared to remain there until the end of time.
The chaos at The Plaza had not subsided — it had simply moved.
In a private staging room behind the ballroom, Anson Hyde was pacing back and forth, dragging his hands through his hair. His tuxedo was disheveled, his bow tie hanging loose and undone.
Claudine sat on a velvet settee, calmly checking her reflection in a compact mirror. She dabbed at a smudge of lipstick.
“You knew!” Anson spun on her. “You knew about the mango! I told you years ago p>
Claudine snapped the compact shut. “I thought she was exaggerating for attention, darling. You know how dramatic she gets. Always the victim p>
“She could have died, Claudine!” His hands were shaking. “Her throat closed. Did you hear that sound? Did you hear her wheezing p>
Claudine shrugged, adjusting the strap of her gown. “But she didn’t die. And look around — she ruined my engagement party. The press will have a field day. ‘Ex-girlfriend stages emergency to upstage bride.’ It’s embarrassing p>
Anson looked at her. Really looked at her. For the first time, the beauty he had prized seemed grotesque. Her indifference was reptilian.
“Get out of my sight,” Anson whispered.
“Excuse me?” Claudine rose from the settee, eyes flashing.
“I said get out!” He grabbed a vase from the side table and hurled it at the wall. It shattered with a satisfying crack.
Claudine flinched, then composed herself into a sneer. “Fine. Sulk. But remember who controls the capital for your merger, Anson.” She swept out of the room.
Anson stood amid the shards, breathing hard. He had to go to the hospital. He had to explain.
At Lenox Hill Hospital, Azalea Koch was standing in front of a vending machine, kicking the base of it with her sneaker.
“Stupid machine! Stupid night!” she muttered. “Give me my caffeine p>
She had been crying for an hour. Her eyes were swollen, her mascara long since ruined. She needed coffee, but the machine had swallowed her last dollar bill without producing anything.
“It requires patience, not violence,” a calm, unhurried voice said from behind her.
Azalea spun around, prepared to snap at whoever it was.