The night air atop the Palazzo Reale was a sharp, biting contrast to the sweltering tension of the ballroom below. Kai moved like a shadow among shadows, his patent leather shoes silent against the ornate stone tiles of the upper balcony. He had tracked the blue fabric of Elea’s gown through the maze of the service corridors, his heart hammering with a rhythm that had nothing to do with the physical exertion. He saw the figure standing by the stone balustrade, silhouetted against the shimmering lights of the Bay of Naples. The person was no longer the charming socialite he had danced with minutes ago; she was a statue of alert, predatory stillness.
"Stop right there," Kai commanded, his voice as cold as the marble beneath them.
The figure did not run. Instead, she turned slowly, her fa
