Chapter 228
Alexander noticed the subtle shift in Blair’s posture almost immediately.
She was still offering polite smiles to the guests surrounding them, still quietly accepting their warm congratulations, but her eyes kept pulling back toward the heavy ballroom doors toward the exact direction Lucas had vanished.
Alexander followed her gaze, keeping his expression neutral. He didn’t press her. He didn’t make a scene.
Instead, he casually picked up a glass of water from a passing server's tray and offered it to her.
“You okay?”
Blair blinked, bringing her attention back to him. “Yes.”
“You’re somewhere else,” he said softly.
She offered a small, apologetic smile. “I’m fine. I just…” Her eyes flicked toward the archway one last time.
Alexander was quiet for a beat. Then, he gave a slow, understanding nod.
She looked up at him, her eyes softening. For a long second, she just stared, letting the relief settle over her.
Then she smiled. “Thank you.”
Alexander matched her smile. “Come on.” He gestured casually back toward the center of the room. “Your little prince is probably wondering where his princess ran off to.”
A quiet laugh escaped Blair’s lips. “Probably.”
They walked back toward the gathering together. Mave was over by one of the elaborately decorated display tables, proudly showing his little toy spaceship to an amused elderly couple.
“Mommy!” Mave caught sight of her and called out.
Blair’s face brightened. “There you are.”
Mave hurried over to her. “I found a real castle!”
“You did?”
“Yes!”
Alexander chuckled softly behind them. “It’s only been five minutes and he’s already taken over half the room.”
Blair laughed, picking Mave up into a hug. For a few brief moments, the lingering heavy tension faded away, replaced by the warmth of the room.
The orchestral music swelled gently through the venue.
Guests mingled over clinking glasses, and servers glided smoothly between tables with trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres. Camera shutters clicked near the media perimeter.
Nobody seemed to notice the tall man standing near the far, lit corner of the ballroom.
He didn’t look entirely out of place, but he didn't fit in either. His black suit was simple, missing the refined tailoring of the other guests, and there was no lapel pin or invitation badge anywhere on his jacket.
He stood just inside a service corridor doorway, holding an empty silver tray against his hip.
His dark eyes stayed fixed on Blair. When she shifted slightly to the left, his gaze tracked her. When Alexander bent down to whisper something to her, he stared. And when Mave darted past the edge of the crowd, his eyes followed the boy briefly before locking right back onto Blair.
A passing server paused beside him. “Hey, mate—are you with the secondary catering crew?”
The man offered a quick, practiced smile. “Yeah. Just taking a breather.”
The server nodded and kept moving.
The moment the server’s back was turned, the man’s smile evaporated into thin air.
On the opposite side of the ballroom, one of Alexander’s lead security detail raised a hand to touch his concealed earpiece. His calm posture instantly shifted into alert vigilance.
“Say that again,” the guard murmured under his breath.
A static-heavy voice muttered a quick response.
The guard took two discrete steps back into the shadow of a pillar. “Where?”
Another brief pause.
His eyes began scanning the perimeter of the room. “Understood. Stay on it.”
He immediately locked eyes with a second guard across the floor and gave a sharp, nearly invisible chin tilt. Something was wrong.
Over near the service doors, the suspicious man quietly set his empty tray down on a side ledge. Without making a sound, he stepped backward and slipped into the milling crowd.
~~
The man pushed through the heavy service doors, leaving the noise of the ballroom behind.
He dropped the act instantly. No more slouching, no more playing the overworked caterer.
He moved quietly down a narrow, dim corridor, turning right at the end of the hall and stepping through a heavy door that led into a concrete stairwell.
He went up steadily one flight, then another his shoes making almost no sound against the steps.
When he reached the top landing, he paused and looked back down over the railing, listening carefully to the silence below.
Clear. Nobody had picked up his trail.
He slipped into the upper corridor, stepping out onto an interior balcony that looked directly down over the ballroom.
From up here, the music felt muted, drifting upward like smoke. The sea of wealthy guests moved under him like chess pieces across a floor.
And Blair was impossible to lose in the crowd.
She was standing near the center of the room under the glow of the main chandelier, her hand resting on Mave’s shoulder as she laughed at something Alexander had just said.
The man walked slowly toward the gilded balcony rail, keeping his shadow low against the wall. A thin, crooked smile cut across his face.
“Look at you,” he muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on her. “Looking like a million bucks.”
He reached inside his jacket, his fingers brushing the cool, heavy metal of the weapon tucked against his ribcage. Just a quick check.
His eyes tracked from Blair over to Alexander standing half a step ahead of her. Then his gaze move across the floor, noting the four—no, five—security guards strategically positioned around the room's perimeter.
The smile slipped off his face.
“Would’ve been a hell of a lot easier if you came alone,” he grumbled quietly.
Below, Alexander paused mid-sentence, his head turning slightly as his eyes swept the balcony level.
The man instinctively pulled back into the shadows behind a concrete pillar, holding his breath until Alexander shifted his focus back down to the crowd.
The man let out a small, silent breath, a muscle twitching in his jaw. “Sharp bastard.”
He crouched low against the decorative stone railing, adjusting his posture so he had a clean, unobstructed view of the ballroom floor without exposing his silhouette to the lights below.