They returned from the gala without incident.
That, in itself, was almost suspicious.
Chris had noticed Adelaide, of course, noticed the way she positioned herself too carefully and the way her attention drifted where it had no reason to linger. He had also seen the man beside her, older, composed, and unmistakably Malek in the way power sat on his shoulders like only a man that inherited it could. Adonis Malek, Viscount of Clearstone.
Chris had catalogued it, filed it away, and then, deliberately, let it go.
Nothing had happened. No approach, no misstep, no line crossed that could be answered without escalation. Whatever the Maleks were planning, they had not begun it there, and Chris refused to grant them importance they had not yet earned.
His mind, instead, stayed on something far more uncomfortable.
The staff.
He did not say anything about it. He had no doubt that Dax, Killian, and Rowan would have acted immediately the moment Chris opened his mouth.
