The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 314

Quinn halted mid-stride and, following the woman’s stare, turned toward the elevator bank.

A bell chimed softly. The doors parted, and the man at the front of the small entourage stepped inside with unhurried grace.

Quinn caught a single glimpse of his profile before the others closed in around him.

The sight struck her like a jolt of electricity; she froze where she stood. Even at that distance—nothing but a sharp-edged silhouette—heat roared through her veins, an unmistakable recognition she could neither name nor deny.

That’s... Rowan!

Her eyes flew wide. Before caution could steady her, she lunged toward the elevator shaft, legs pumping hard.

“Wait!”

Two security guards stationed by the doors shifted instantly, arms crossing to bar her path.

“Don’t touch me!” she snapped, her voice cutting through the clamor. She pivoted, drove a sharp elbow into one guard’s stomach, then swept the other aside with a practiced twist.

The elevator doors slid together with infuriating calm. In that final sliver of space, Rowan’s face was suddenly there—eyes on her, expression unreadable—before steel swallowed the view.

He had looked at her the way one would glance at a passerby on a busy street—blank, indifferent, gone.

A shard of doubt sliced through her certainty. Could she have chased the wrong man?

The man in the lift wore a tailored suit that screamed wealth and status, nothing like the Rowan she remembered.

His features, too, seemed sharper, older, as though five years had carved entire seasons into his face.

Yet truth mattered more than doubt; she had to know.

She watched the indicator lights descend—three, two, one—before freezing at the ground floor.

Quinn whirled and sprinted for the stairwell, breath ragged in her chest.

Bursting into the lobby, she caught sight of the suited figure already striding toward the exit, flanked by several attendants.

No. I can’t lose him again.

She broke into a run, every muscle tightening like a drawn bow.

“Stop her—she’s taken down our men!” A panicked voice sliced through the casino’s din.

A dozen black-jacketed security guards surged forward, fists raised, their polished shoes hammering the marble like rolling thunder.

Am I truly about to miss my brother again?

If this chance slipped away, who knows how many moons would pass before our paths cross once more?

Bang!

“Quinnie, what on earth is going on?” he asked, voice low but taut.

She fired back in the burr of Yarburn, “I just saw Rowan.”

During their years with the Falcon Special Forces, Quinn would sometimes chatter in Yarburn drawl with hometown soldiers, so Harlan had picked up the basics.

Now he grasped why the usually cautious Quinn had thrown caution to the wind.

Seeing the guards bunch their shoulders to charge again, Harlan drew a gleaming Black Gold Card from his pocket.

Inside this casino, that card was a crown.

“Gentlemen, misunderstanding, that’s all,” Harlan announced, letting the card catch the overhead lights.

“Misunderstanding or not,” the lead guard snapped, “even a Black Gold Card VIP obeys house rules. Take them!”

Harlan’s brow tightened.

Right then, Julius’ velveted baritone sliced down. “Are you still going to take them if I say they’re my friends?”