When Love Finds Its Way Back (Cassienne and Dreston) novel Chapter 346

Share

Chapter Three Hundred And Forty–Six: They Planned This Meticulously

+15 Bonus

Not far away, Corren Thornwyck stood with Aurora Stephen. Unlike the hurried crowd filtering out of the gala, neither felt any rush to leave.

Aurora glanced toward the hotel entrance, the heavy residue of the evening’s tension still hanging between them. The shift had been jarringly fast–one moment they were celebrating, and the next, they were speaking of criminals.

When Corren opened her car door, Aurora offered a faint, amused smile. “You don’t have to escort me like I’m fragile.”

“I know,” he replied simply.

“Then why are you doing it?”

Corren considered her question for a beat before answering with honesty. “Because I want to.”

A sudden warmth bloomed in Aurora’s chest. She fought to keep her expression neutral, but Corren caught the subtle shift

anyway.

Shaking her head, Aurora stepped closer to him. “You’re becoming dangerous these days.”

Amusement flashed in his eyes. “How so?”

“You keep saying things that leave me with absolutely no counter–argument.”

“That sounds like a good thing to me.”

Aurora laughed, and the sound caused Corren’s expression to soften. Without thinking, he reached up and brushed a strav lock of hair away from her face. The quiet intimacy of the gesture silenced her instantly. Stepping just close enough, he pressed a slow, tender kiss to her forehead. 1

Aurora froze, the lingering warmth of his lips catching her off guard. Before she could process the feeling, Corren cupped her face between his hands with surprising care. His gaze locked onto hers, entirely undivided. “Stay here,” he instructed softly, his tone fiercely protective. “I’ll be back.”

He pressed a second kiss to her cheek, leaving her heart pounding in clear betrayal. A rare, genuine smile broke across Corren s face before he finally stepped back.

Aurora stared after him, shaking her head. “You really are dangerous.”

Corren let out a low laugh, and for the first time all night, a true sense of safety washed over her

1

A few minutes later, Dreston stepped away from the vehicles to survey the hotel entrance though his posture waited perfectly composed, those close to him knew the signs: he was furious. It wasn’t a loud, explosive anger, but a coal betha, quaes that intensified by the second.

His immediate priority was lockdown He doubled the guards around Cassienne’s veluche, nitored the reinfekcient at Jessica’s SUV, and assigned extra protection to Aurora Drivers kept engines ulling, ready to bolt, while the rest of lux parison–al security detail fanned across the parking lot, communication humming through then earpieces

Once he was certain the women were entirely secure, Preston turned to Steve “Hotel management

Steve nodded, understanding the command mstantly

Moments later, Dreston re entered the hotel, flanked by Corten, Merrick Ashbourne, fell Sandler, Ray Simpson, and Steve They were no longer moving like guests, the celebration was over

They were escorted to a private conference room near the executive offices, where the hotel’s general manager and head of security arrived within minutes, looking visibly shaken The mention of a kidnapping plot being on hestrated on the property

+15 Bonus

changed the manager’s deireanor completely.

“Mr. Tremofit,” the manager said tightly, “if criminals are using our venue to plan an abduction, you have our full cooperation.”

Dreston gave a sharp nod. “I need every camera feed covering the hallway outside the ladies‘ room. Expand it to the adjacent service corridors, emergency exits, staff doors, and parking exits.”

The head of security logged into the surveillance archive on a secured hotel laptop. He retained control of the interface, navigating the system himself while Dreston and his men monitored the screen from behind a necessary protocol, as even Dreston couldn’t simply seize a private establishment’s raw data without proper authorization.

The playback began. Crowds moved through the corridors, staff went about their duties, and guests filtered in and out of the restroom. Everything looked mundane until Ray leaned forward.

“Stop.”

The footage paused on a man wearing a hotel uniform. A low–brimmed cap and ptain glasses obscured his features, and while he moved like an employee, his surveillance of the corridor was entirely too deliberate.

“Rewind that,” Ray ordered.

On the second viewing, the anomaly became obvious. The man glanced toward the emergency exit, paused, and checked it again a few seconds later.

Corren folded his arms. “He’s nervous.”

“Or waiting for a cue,” Merrick added, his expression hardening.

The head of security frowned deeply at the screen. “We don’t have anyone of his build assigned to that sector tonight.”

The room went completely silent. Dreston’s eyes remained locked on the monitor. “Then he doesn’t belong here.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify