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Ria stared back at hiht of his haold eyes and the flecks of blue that ed the color of his eyes, thatto the enemy

He wasn’t her enemy He was her lover, in every sense of the word In ways no other man had ever been

“Then it’s under control,” she said softly “And I have no doubt it will stay there”

If he hadn’t already lost his heart to her, then Mercury would have sworn he lost it to her then

“That still leaves a proble her into his lap even though they were too close to her cabin to do more than just this Just hold each other

“There areup here, Ria”

Her laughter, soft and light—he swore it warmed his soul

“I forgot to mention how much I absolutely detest parties,” she told hiht have to kick him for this one Or tell Leo on hi can be fixed with bling”

His lips kicked up in a grin His h The one that had pushed beneath his jacket so her fingers could play against his neck

“I’ll take care of Dane’s s,” he promised her “But the party’s a small one”

“Visiting VIPs and dignitaries? Three hundred at best”

“Three hundred and fifty” He sroaned and buried her face in his chest

“Too many”

“No, too m

any is the Christuest list, so far, is at a full thousand They’re predicting snow, and Callan is pulling his hair out as he and Kane work out the logistics of security for the children andrescreened for clearance and those that pass are on twenty-four-hour duty shifts The party is held on the fifteenth That allows for a private party on Christmas Day Four hundred, I believe”