Page 28 of Sinful Palace

“You can.”

“I hope so,” she said softly. She glanced at her watch again. “Oh! I better go. Sorry, darling. Time really flies when you’re having a nice conversation, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does.”

She rose to her feet, and I followed suit. “This was really lovely,” she said, a genuine smile lighting her face. “I hope we can do it again soon?”

“I’d like that.”

A hopeful expression creased her forehead. “Would it be strange if I hugged you?”

“Not at all.”

She smiled wider and wrapped her arms around me, enveloping me in a cloud of warmth and perfume. “It’s so nice to have you here,” she said, voice choking up slightly. “It’s been so hard not having a daughter anymore. I mean… it’s not that Chloe is gone, but you know what I’m saying.”

“Yes, I understand,” I said softly.

She pulled back and delicately dabbed at her eyes with one hand. “Okay, I’ll get out of your hair. Enjoy the rest of the tea. If you want more, just call one of the maids. They know my recipe.”

“Thanks. I’ll definitely do that,” I said with a warm smile.

She turned and stepped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her. The smile faded from my face, and I picked up my half-full teacup along with the teapot and dumped it all out in the bathroom sink.

It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate Elizabeth’s gesture. It was lovely, truly. However, I didn’t want to be calmed and sedated by the special blend of herbs. I wanted to stay active and alert now that I had a plan to get out of my contract with Logan. I wanted that fire inside me to start raging again, filling me with tireless energy and resolve toward my purpose.

Logan wanted to own me, and maybe part of him already did, but that didn’t mean I had to resign myself to it forever. Now that I had a real chance at getting out while keeping my brother and everyone else I cared about alive and well, I wanted to grab it by the horns and cling to it for all I was worth.

More than ever before, I wanted to be free.

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