Sinful Palace: Ruthless Rulers Book 2

by Hart, Stella

  “Would I what?”

  “Would you ever let me go back to my normal life?” I asked, looking at him again. “Now that you know I didn’t purposely hurt Chloe, and you don’t have any real reason to hurt me or keep me locked up whenever you aren’t around.”

  “I can’t let you go now,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “You know that.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. Of course. I don’t even know why I brought it up.”

  As he tightened his possessive grip around my waist, it seemed clearer than ever that he had no intention of letting me leave him. I was delusional for thinking that he might do it just to let me find my way back to him.

  If I didn’t let Jamie help me, I would never taste freedom again.

  I glanced around the room. He was standing by a dessert table, chatting to the Secretary of State.

  “I might have an éclair,” I said, turning back to Logan. “They look delicious, don’t they?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Should you really have one of those?”

  “What?”

  He chuckled. “I’m not saying you can’t, but you said you didn’t feel well earlier. Eating something rich and creamy probably won’t help with that.”

  I forced a smile. “I feel better now. I think it was just a hormonal thing. My period is due soon, so that would explain it.”

  “Ah.” Logan nodded. “Well, I’ll go and get you an éclair, then. One or two?”

  “It’s fine, I’ll get it. I want to say hello to Secretary Janssen anyway,” I said. “Do you want one?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  I nodded and stepped away, making a beeline for the dessert table. I grabbed an embossed napkin and leaned down to pick up an éclair from the silver tray in front of me. Jamie was standing on the opposite side of the table, deep in conversation with Secretary Janssen.

  When he saw me out of the corner of his eye, he excused himself and turned toward me. I dipped my head in a brief nod and then took a bite of my dessert in case Logan was watching us.

  Jamie reached into his pocket and fumbled around for a few seconds. “I’ve turned the scrambler on again,” he finally said. “I assume you want to talk about Logan?”

  I flashed him a dazzling smile and held up my éclair, pretending we were simply chatting about the quality of the party food. “Yes. You were right,” I said. “He’s never going to let me go.”

  He nodded. “I thought as much,” he said softly, reaching over to grab a lemon tartlet. “So what do you want to do about it?”

  I leaned forward and gritted my teeth. “I want to go,” I said. “Tonight.”

  21

  Logan

  As I grabbed another drink from the serving table, I watched Willow out of the corner of my eye. She was standing by a dripping ice sculpture several yards away, talking to her mother and a group of White House staffers.

  Her beautiful curves were draped in a cobalt satin gown with a thigh-high split on one side which caught the eye of every single man in the room, and her blue eyes sparkled brightly under the crystal chandeliers as she smiled and chattered away. She looked like she was genuinely enjoying the party, even though it was just an act to avoid making her mother suspicious.

  I knew she was still broken on the inside over all of the terrible things that had happened to her, but I hoped at least one of tonight’s smiles was real. I loved seeing her face light up, and I loved the way everything around her seemed to glow when she looked happy. It was a far cry from just a few short days ago, when she couldn’t even get out of bed. Or all the months before that, when she’d been a cowering, trembling mess, afraid of her own shadow.

  So much of it was because of me.

  Everything I’d ever done to her played through my mind in slow motion, and I grimaced, feeling like a million splinters were stabbing my heart in every direction. My fucking fault.

  With a heavy sigh, I slipped a hand in my jacket pocket and felt the folded letter nestled within. It was an apology for every single thing I’d ever done to Willow. A confession of my true feelings for her. I planned on giving it to her at eleven, when the Christmas party fireworks started on the South Lawn.

  Ever since I discovered the truth about what happened five years ago, I’d been trying to find the right way to tell her how sorry I was for everything I’d done. How much I hated myself for all of it. How deeply I’d fallen for her, even though she should hate me for what I’d done.

  I wasn’t asking for forgiveness, because I didn’t want her to give it to me. Not even the smallest shred. I just wanted to tell her how much I regretted everything, and I wanted her to know she deserved a life without me.

  It was harder than I thought it would be to find the right words to express so many things. How the hell did you tell someone you were sorry for tearing them away from their life and torturing them for months on end for something they weren’t even responsible for? How could you say ‘sorry I got it so fucking wrong’ in a way that properly conveyed the gravity of the issue?

  How did you let them know that you didn’t want their forgiveness, because you knew you didn’t deserve an ounce of it, but you still wanted them to know how remorseful you were anyway because they deserved to hear it after enduring so much pain at your hands?

  It seemed impossible for me to get all of that out in a way that didn’t make me seem selfish; as if I was only apologizing to alleviate my own guilt. Words failed me every single time I tried, and soon four whole days slipped by without me saying anything on the subject at all.

  Willow had been distracted by our investigation into Q and our subsequent discovery that it was probably her mother, but that didn’t make it okay.

  I needed to say sorry, even if it meant nothing to her.

  I needed to make it right, even if it meant I lost her in the end.

  Eventually I decided to put pen to paper, hoping I could finally get it all out of my head that way. It worked. I’d written eight pages this afternoon, telling her everything I felt and begging for her to understand why I couldn’t let her go just yet.

  I knew she wanted to go back to the life she had before me, and I desperately wanted to set her free so she could have that, but it wasn’t possible right now. It just wasn’t safe. Her mother, my father, the rest of the Order… any one of them could hurt her if she tried to break the terms of our marriage contract.

  That meant she was stuck with me until I came up with a safe way to extricate her from the situation.

  It wasn’t that I was concerned with my own reputation and livelihood. If she wanted to go to the police and report me for what I’d done to her once she was finally free and safe, I would encourage it.

  In fact, I would drive her to the fucking station myself. I deserved to rot for all the terrible things I’d put her through.

  I let out another heavy sigh and glanced at my watch. It was half past ten. Thirty more minutes until I could take her aside and give her the letter while everyone else was distracted by the fireworks. Thirty more minutes until she knew the truth about how I felt.

  I glanced up to catch another glimpse of her gorgeous face, but she wasn’t standing by the table anymore.

  Frowning, I scanned the rest of the room, searching for her distinctive auburn hair and bright blue dress.

  She was nowhere to be seen.

  I spotted her friend Rowan standing by a dessert station a few seconds later. I thought about approaching him to see if he knew where Willow had gone, but when he noticed me looking in his direction, his eyes widened, and he quickly scurried away.

  “All right, then,” I said to myself, rolling my eyes upward. What a weird guy.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a new text from Willow.

  Hey. I ran into Simone a minute ago. She needed to use the restroom, so we’re there now. Just wanted to let you know in case you were wondering where I went.

  Relief flooded through me, and I tapped out a response. Thanks for lett
ing me know. How’s Simone?

  She’s good. Apparently she has a ton of gossip to tell me, so don’t be surprised if I wind up stuck in the bathroom with her for ages. Is that okay with you?

  Of course. I’m glad you’re finally having a bit of fun. You deserve it. Tell Simone I said hi.

  She says hello back. By the way, I thought I might be able to get some info out of her. Her father is a pretty high-ranking Order member, so maybe he’s told her some stuff?

  Yeah. Just be careful. Don’t make it obvious we’re poking around.

  I won’t.

  Good luck. PS: I want to watch the fireworks with you at 11, so try to be back out here by then.

  Okay. See you soon.

  I slipped my phone back in my pocket and scanned the room, quickly spotting some old friends over by the window. I threw back the rest of my drink and started heading over to talk to them.

  Halfway there, my phone started vibrating again.

  Assuming it was another message from Willow, I stopped and pulled it out. It wasn’t a text. Someone was calling.

  With a frown, I stepped over to a quieter area and answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Logan. It’s Cleo. Sorry to call so late.”

  “Cleo who?”

  “From the lab.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry. What’s up?”

  “Me. I’ve been working all freaking night,” she said with a groan. “Anyway, I finally finished sequencing that sample you gave me. Pretty interesting results!”

  “Yeah? How so?”

  “Well, you won’t believe this…”

  As Cleo continued, my heart began to thud painfully fast, and I felt as if a cold stone was plummeting through my insides. Once again, I’d been totally wrong about everything.

  I finally knew exactly who Q was… and it sure as hell wasn’t Quinn Rhoades.

  22

  Willow

  “Are you sure this is going to work?”

  I stared at Jamie’s reflection in the bathroom mirror, pulse racing. He was standing behind me with a small pair of pliers, eyes narrowed with concentration as he worked at the supposedly-unbreakable clasp on my necklace.

  He looked up when I spoke. “Try to stay calm. Everything will be fine.”

  “You’ve only had a few hours to plan this,” I said, anxiously picking at a split end.

  “I know, but trust me, getting you out of here tonight is the easy part. Keeping you safe and hidden from everyone afterwards… that’s the hard part. It’ll take a while to figure it out.”

  “So you haven’t planned it all?” I asked, brows puckering.

  Jamie held up a palm in a placating gesture. “I’ve done what I can so far, and I have some people working on a temporary safe house for you and your brother. It should be ready by the time we’re out of the city, and that’ll buy us some time to finish planning everything. When we’re done with that, we’ll head to the real safe house.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m just scared.”

  “I know.” Jamie patted my back. “Take a deep breath and try your best to stop worrying. We’ll be fine. You bought some time with Logan, right?”

  I held up my phone. “Yes. I texted him to say I ran into a friend of mine, and I told him we’re going to be gossiping in the bathroom for ages.”

  “Good.”

  “I said I’d watch the fireworks with him later, but that’s not for…” I paused and glanced at the phone to check the time. “Half an hour or so.”

  “That’s plenty of time.”

  “I hope so,” I murmured, looking down at the marble counter. I felt bad for lying to Logan, especially after everything he’d done for me lately, but I couldn’t face being a captive forever. I deserved better than that.

  The clasp on my necklace finally gave way, and Jamie drew his hand back. “There you go.”

  I took off the necklace and tentatively held it up, admiring the blue pendant and dazzling diamonds as they glimmered under the light. “It’s almost a shame to leave this behind,” I said. “It’s so beautiful.”

  Jamie frowned. “You can’t think about it like that. It’s a symbol of captivity.”

  I let out a heavy sigh and dropped the necklace on the counter. “I know. I just got so used to wearing it. I feel naked without it.”

  “I understand, but you have to let it go.” Jamie raised a brow and held out a hand. “Phone, please.”

  I handed it to him, and he ditched it in one of the toilets. “Okay, that’s done,” he said, returning to my side. “Now, let’s go through the plan.”

  “Okay.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek as he pulled out several pieces of paper from his jacket pocket.

  “I drew these little maps for you,” he said, handing one of the pieces to me. “Sorry about the terrible handwriting. You can still read it, right?”

  I pored over the makeshift map. “Uh-huh.”

  “All right. Here’s the plan. When we leave the bathroom, we’re going to head down to the lower basement level. We’ll walk fast, but not too fast, in case we run into anyone on the way. We need to look as normal as possible, so we don’t arouse any suspicions,” he said. “By the way, don’t worry about being followed by the Secret Service agents. I’ve sorted things out with them, and they won’t be bothering us for the rest of the night.”

  I nodded. “That’s good.”

  “There’s a storage cupboard in the lower basement level with a secret doorway behind it. It leads into the government tunnels.” He cocked his head to one side. “You’re aware of those, right?”

  “Yes. The Order uses them all the time.”

  “Right. Well, you’re going to head into the tunnels via that entrance, and then you’re going to follow the directions on this map,” he said, gesturing to the paper in my hands. “After you—”

  I frowned and held up a palm to cut him off. “Wait… you aren’t coming with me?”

  “No. I can’t.”

  My eyes widened. “Why?”

  “Well, for one, I need to be seen leaving the party alone so that no one connects the two of us anytime soon,” he replied. “Also, I need to drive down to Alexandria to pick up Jared. I’ll be doing that while you’re sneaking out of here.”

  “Oh. How are you going to get him out of my aunt’s place?”

  Jamie rubbed his chin. “Easily, I hope. I drove him down there the other week when your mom wanted him to go, and she gave me a spare key just in case I needed it. I know all the alarm codes as well,” he said. “Plus, Jared knows me, so if I sneak into his room and wake him up to tell him that we’re going on an adventure, he won’t scream his head off and wake everyone else up.”

  “Right. But what about me? How am I supposed to meet up with you if you’re twenty minutes away in Alexandria?”

  “Someone will be waiting for you at the other end of the tunnels. He’ll transport you from there.”

  “Who is it?”

  “An acquaintance of mine. He’ll take you to the meeting point,” he said. “Hopefully, Jared and I will already be there by the time you arrive.”

  I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know about this,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “How do you know you can trust these acquaintances of yours? What if they screw us over?”

  Jamie put a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s hard to trust other people, especially for someone like you, but sometimes you just don’t have a choice. Sometimes you have to put your faith in the people you think you can trust and hope to god you’re right about them,” he said. “The people helping us tonight have never betrayed me before, so I’m choosing to put my faith in them.”

  I nodded slowly. “I really hope you’re right about them.”

  “Yeah, me too. If I’m not, and we get caught…” He stopped and held up a palm, shaking his head. “No, we can’t think like that. We need to stay positive. It’s all going to work out, okay?”

  I forced a smile. “Okay.
What happens after I go into the tunnels?”

  Jamie tapped on the map. “Just follow this. It’s an easy route. One right, three lefts, and two more rights. I’ll give you a little flashlight to use so you can see where you’re going.”

  “What if I run into any Order members?” I asked, forehead wrinkling. “They could be down there.”

  “If you see or hear anyone coming, just turn off your light and duck into one of the alcoves on the side of the tunnel. Hide there until they’re gone.”

  “Okay.”

  “When you’ve finished following these directions, you’ll end up at some steps leading to a grate. That grate opens into an alleyway outside.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Don’t go up the steps,” Jamie went on. “Just duck into the alcove directly behind them and wait. Your driver will come along with a flashlight, and he’ll flash it three times at the top of the steps. Then he’ll say the codeword—ambrosia.”

  “Why ambrosia?”

  “Honestly, it was the first uncommon word I could think of,” Jamie said with a faint smile. “Anyway, do not go up those steps until you hear that codeword. That tunnel exit is hardly ever used, and it comes out in a tiny alley, but still… you never know who might be lurking around.”

  “So—three flashes of light and a codeword. Don’t leave the tunnel until that happens.”

  “That’s right. Once you’re out, the driver will bring you to the meeting point right here.” Jamie handed me another map and pointed to the top of Potomac Yard. “It’s a marina.”

  I arched a brow. “A marina?”

  “Yes. You had a very good point about Logan—and your mother, too—being able to look at flight records and surveillance images from airports and private airfields. But they can’t monitor small-scale water traffic, can they?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Once you get to the marina, we’re going to board a yacht. We’ll go all the way down the river and out here into Chesapeake Bay,” he said, trailing a finger down the map. “Then we’ll keeping heading south until we get out to the ocean. After that, we’ll cruise down to Wilmington.”