The grand marble staircase stretched before them like an executioner’s ramp.
Aurora kept her left hand lightly tucked into the crook of Kieran’s arm, her expression a mask of effortless high-society amusement. As they climbed toward the mezzanine, her dark eyes darted between the massive, gold-leafed mirrors lining the wall.
Behind them, four operatives in tailored security suits matched their pace, keeping a disciplined twenty-pace distance. Ahead, two more stood casually near the arched entrance of the private VIP galleries, hands clasped low over their waistlines a dead giveaway for concealed subcompacts.
They were boxed in. Trapped in a velvet vice. Exactly where she wanted them.
"Count?" Kieran murmured, his lips barely moving as he inclined his head as if whispering something aff
