Page 124 of Sinful Palace

I took a deep breath. “So everything you said earlier about suspecting my mom and working with her to get close… that was a lie? You’ve actually been working for her all along?”

“No. I work for Q.”

“But my mom isQ.”

He smirked. “No. I just let you believe that to throw you off the scent until I could convince you to escape with me,” he said, putting the word ‘escape’ in air quotes. “Didn’t take long, did it?”

“If it isn’t my mom, then who the hell is it?” I asked, voice rising again. “Is it even a woman?”

Jamie lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “You’ll see.”

I slowly shrank back, shaking my head. “This doesn’t make any sense,” I said, voice quavering. “How can you work for Q? You aren’t even in the Order! You rejected the tap!”

“That’s the story, isn’t it?”

Comprehension finally dawned on me, and my eyes narrowed. “You’re part of the shadow council, aren’t you?” I said. “One of the secret members.”

“Aww, look who’s finally using her brain,” Jamie said, voice dripping with condescension.

I wordlessly sank to the floor, heart pounding so fast it felt like it would explode right out of my chest.

Jamie crouched next to me and clicked his tongue. “I guess you put your faith in the wrong person,” he said. “I warned you about that earlier, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, when you were lying through your teeth to trick me into going with you,” I muttered, avoiding his self-satisfied gaze.

“I had to do it. You were getting too close,” he said. He reached forward to tilt my chin upward, forcing me to look at him. “I just can’t believe how lucky I got.”

“Lucky?”

He smiled thinly. “Yes. You told me right to my face that you were secretly looking into the Order. That’s why I arranged for our little meeting tonight—so I could find out just how much you knew and report back to Q. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a little too much.”

I swallowed hard. “So everything you told me at the party was a lie to lull me into a false sense of security until you and your cronies could take care of the situation.”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t all bullshit. I had to sprinkle in some truth so I’d seem convincing,” he said, cocking a brow. “We really did kill your father for trying to open his big mouth to the media, and we really do make most of our money with a baby-trafficking operation. But not in the way I led you to believe.”

My upper lip curled. “You’re sick,” I hissed. “You, Q, whoever else is involved in this… all of you.”

“We’re not sick. We’re simply doing what’s necessary for—”

“If you say the greater good, I’ll kick you in the balls,” I cut in, pushing myself back up to my feet.

Jamie chuckled as he rose to his full height. “It’s cute how you think you have any power here at all,” he said. “If you knew where you really stood, you’d never speak to me like that.”

I took a deep breath and lifted my chin. “I do have power,” I said. “Q wants me to marry into the Thorne family. I don’t know why, but apparently it’s important to the cause, whatever the hell that is. So that means you can’t hurt me. You need me.”

“Sorry to burst your little bubble, but you’re wrong,” he replied. “You’ve been useful to us so far, in ways you haven’t even begun to comprehend, but you’ve become more trouble than you’re worth. That means you have to go.”

I stiffened. “So that’s it, then? You’re going to murder me like you murdered my father?”

Jamie snorted. “Of course not. You’re too valuable to kill,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “But I’m sure you’ll wish you were dead when you hear about our plans for you.”

“Why? What are you going to do to me?”

“You’ll see.”

“Stop saying that!” I said, gritting my teeth. “Just fucking tell me.”

His lips curled into another twisted smile. “All right. I suppose there’s no harm in letting you know,” he said, taking a step closer. “I’m taking you somewhere safe for now. A place where we can get you ready and make all the arrangements for your auction.”

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