Vivian's POV
I find him near the service corridor behind the ballroom twenty minutes later, having watched him excuse himself from Elise's side with an expression I recognize instantly, because I've worn it myself more times this year than I want to admit. It's the look of someone trying to escape a room before he says something he can't take back. Trust Chase Whitfield to make even a strategic retreat look like a runway exit.
"We need to finish that conversation," I say, cornering him against the wall outside a door marked private. Adrenaline and fury and something far more dangerous tangle together in my chest, and I can barely tell them apart anymore.
"Vivian, this really isn't the place."
"I don't care what place it is." I step closer, close enough that he has nowhere left to retre
