Chapter <b>197 </b>


    Amber’s POV


    We followed Roman all the way out to the ballroom before I realized Julian was no longer behind us. Clutching Alice’s hand, I started ncing around, looking for him. I was trying to be subtle at first, not wanting to be rude to Roman, who was trying to talk to me, or to tip off Alice, who seemed distracted by the band and the pretty dresses and the hors d’oeuvres the waiters were carrying around.


    “You seem distracted, Amber,” Roman said after a moment.


    “I’m sorry, I just –“I started.


    Alice finished, “Mommy, where’s Julian?”


    “Yes,” I told Roman. “I realized we’ve gotten separated. I was looking for him.”


    “He must be around here somewhere,” Roman said. “Unless you think he might have just left you here?”


    There wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening. “No,” I said.


    Roman hummed as he joined us in ncing around. “I know,” he said. “Let’s go out to the balcony. It looks over the courtyard. Perhaps we’ll have a better view from there. If he’s down in the courtyard, we’ll be able


    to see.”


    “Why would he be there?” I asked. Not to be rude, but he was right behind us. If he vanished somewhere between the ballroom and the entrance, then he probably just got lost trying to find the bathroom or


    something.


    Roman’s smile tightened somewhat. “We’ll have a better vantage point from there,” he insisted, which again seemed strange, but I supposed he was right. Plus, with how crowded it was in the ballroom, we weren’t likely to find him out here.


    “Alright,” I said, conceding… for now. “We can check there, but then I think we should head back to the


    entryway.”


    “Of course,” Roman said, and offered me his arm.


    I ignored it for now and continued forward on my own, my hand still clutching Alice’s.


    As we stepped through the ss doors out onto the balcony, I realized how crowded it was out there as well. That was strange. Typically, party guests would like to stay inside to enjoy the music. And was it just me, or did it seem like many of the guests wereing outside, almost like –


    Suddenly, a pop sounded in the distance as a firework exploded in front of us, over the courtyard.


    “Fireworks, Mommy!” Alice said brightly. Pulling away from me she rushed to the railing of the balcony, where she pped and cheered.


    **


    I took point beside her, but continued to try to look around for Julian. It was hard to see though with the


    sudden burst of light, and the shadows it created dancing all over the courtyard.


    “What a coincidence,” Roman said. “Perhaps we had better stay to watch the fireworks since we’re here.


    Alice seems to be enjoying them.”


    I couldn’t argue with that, as much as I might have wanted to, and found myself agreeing. “Only until the


    fireworks are done. Then we have to get back to finding Julian.”


    Roman just smiled at me. “You look very pretty in the light of the fireworks,” he said.


    Swallowing hard, I pretended not to hear him, returning my attention instead to the disy.


    Julian’s POV


    “That’s up to Amber, don’t you think?” I said.


    “She has a lot on her mind<i>,</i><i>” </i>Rafael continued. “In her distraction, she might not know what’s best for her. As her brother, I have every intention of helping her find a more suitable match. You, Julian, are not it.”


    “I’m an Alpha,” I said.


    “We all know about your history,” Rafael said. “I’ve read the newspaper articles.”


    “The tabloids.”


    “Do you dispute their underlying truth? You are married to my sister but you kept it secret for a long time. You’re rtionship with Olivia forced her onto that ne. And when it went down, you assumed she was


    dead without searching for her.”


    Chapter <b>198 </b>