swallow. Adam is looking at me expectantly, a half smile on his breathtaking face. Any other woman would swoon if she was in my shoes. So why don’t I feel happy? “What about my father?”
“What about him?” Adam tilts his head, casting half his perfect profile into shadow.
“He’s fragile right now. Won’t this be a shock?”
“We can wait, if you like. Until your father is better.”
“I-I’d like that. There’s just so much going on.” I step away, rubbing my temples. “The board, the merger. The press keeps hinting that Belladonna is on the brink of bankruptcy.” And they may be right.
“Why don’t you let me worry about all that?”
Because I’m a big girl. I don’t need a man to save me. The retort is on my tongue when the band strikes up a rousing Strauss waltz. The room swirls with dancing couples. The figures start to blur…
I touch my face, wishing I had my glasses. It’s silly, but whenever I’m stuck on a problem, I switch from contacts to glasses or vice versa. A literal new way of seeing things.
“A-Adam?”
“Yes, sweet?”
“I think I need a moment. My contacts don’t seem to be working right.” There are two of you.
“All right, Daphne. I’ll wait.” He ushers me out of the ballroom, past a duo of hulking security guards to a private hall.
I pause with my hand on the bathroom door. “I won’t be long.”
“Good girl,” Adam says, already turning away and pulling his cellphone from his pocket. Even doing something as mundane as checking his texts, he looks like a model.
I turn away, making a face. Adam’s always been a little overbearing but tonight he’s coming on strong. I need an ally. I wish Rachel was here.
The bathroom is empty and blissfully quiet. I linger a few extra moments in the dark stall before emerging to wash my hands in the marble sink. My head throbs. My hands blur.
I knew I shouldn’t have worn these contacts. So what if my glasses make me look like a nerd? I am one.
Gritting my teeth, I remove the offending lenses. There, that’s better. Now if the room would just stop spinning.
“Daphne?”
I whirl with a yelp. Armand stands in the doorway between the bathroom and the ladies parlor. I didn’t even hear him come in.
“What are you doing here?” Without my contacts, his far away features are a bit blurry, but he stands out, a dark specter in the midst of pink and white marble. “This is the ladies room!”
“And I’m the biggest queen here.” He strikes a pose. “At least until Philip Waters arrives. Are you feeling all right? Your pupils are dilated.”
“I’m…fine,” I slur, leaning back on the counter. “Drink hit me the wrong way.”
“Hmmm.” He comes closer, leaning in to study me. “You haven’t been imbibing belladonna, have you?”
“What?”
“Renaissance women took belladonna to make their pupils larger—”
“I know that,” I flap my hand. “Believe me, I know everything about belladonna the plant that there is to know. And I have not imbibed it.” I’m just feeling a wee bit queasy…
“Good. Because you’re late for a very important date.”
“With Adam?”
“Not him, you sly girl. You’ve got another secret admirer. A beast of a man.”
“What?”
“I was told to give you this.” Armand hands me a rose.
I hold it close, staring at the whorl of red petals. “Who sent this?” The rose is exactly like the one left in my office. Rosa x hybrida. I know roses—my mother made sure of that.
It can’t be a coincidence. I’m this close to knowing who my secret admirer is.
“I don’t know. Big man in a scary mask. But what I wouldn’t give to find out.” He waggles his brows.
I put a hand to my head. Is this really happening?
“He wants you to meet him in the labyrinth. Take all right turns. Oh, and he says the future of Belladonna depends on it.”
What?
There’s a knock on the door in the outer parlor. “Daphne?” comes Adam’s muffled voice.
I stiffen, clutching the rose close. Is it a bad sign that I’m so tempted to grab this lifeline Armand is offering me—or the fact that it feels like a lifeline in the first place? What’s wrong with me? Any woman here would kill to be in my place with Adam waiting on the other side of that door for her.
“Is that Adam Archer?” Armand asks. “The plot thickens.”
“He’s worried about me.” I bite my lip.
“You do look flushed. Are you sure you’re all right?”
I shake my head and hold up the mysterious