Page 48 of Sinful Palace

“But we never actually saw them, did we? We saw Q in his mask and robe and a few others standing in the shadows. How do we know your dad was one of the members in the shadows? For all we know, he was the one sitting on the throne. He could be Q.”

“Going by that logic, Q could also be any one of the other four council members who were there. It isn’t necessarily my dad,” I said. “For all we know, Q might not even be a council member at all.”

“But if he is a council member, your dad is the most likely candidate,” she insisted. “I figured out who the other four missing members were that night, and they don’t fit the profile. They’re nowhere near as rich and well-connected as your father.”

I rubbed the back of my head and sighed. “Willow, you’re starting to sound like one of those crazy conspiracy theorists everyone laughs at.”

She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “For god’s sake, Logan, we’re talking about a secret society that operates out of hidden tunnels beneath the city. I know how it sounds, but we both know this stuff is real, because we’re members.”

“That’s true,” I admitted. I held up both palms. “Look… I’ll do what I can to help out your mom, okay? I don’t know how yet, but I’ll try to think of something.”

She gave me a watery smile. “Thank you. What about the Order?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t investigate them. Even if you’re right and Q is actually my father, it’s still too dangerous. Like I said, if it was just me, that would be fine, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

She sighed. “Because you don’t hate me anymore.”

“Yeah. Believe it or not, I actually want to keep you safe,” I said, scrubbing a hand across my face.

“Well, that’s inconvenient.” She blew out a frustrated breath.

“Yes, it is,” I muttered.

“What if I try to escape again? Would you hate me enough to look into the Order then?”

“I know you’re kidding, but I’ll answer anyway,” I said. “I meant what I said earlier. I can’t hate you. Trust me, I’ve fucking tried.”

“Right,” she said. She picked up the loose thread again, nervously twisting it in her fingers. “Well, thanks again for saying you’ll try to help my mom. That’s the main thing I was asking for, and I know it can’t be easy for you to help her after the way she covered up what I did to Chloe.”

I clenched my jaw. “If she’s actually innocent in this whole Rutherford thing, then she doesn’t deserve to go down for it,” I said. “But once we know exactly what happened that night with Chloe, all bets are off. If we can prove she definitely covered stuff up, she’ll need to pay for that.”

“I know,” Willow murmured. She sighed and lowered her eyes again.

“Imagine if it turns out that she’s actually Q,” I said. I wasn’t being serious; I just wanted to wipe that morose look off her face. It reminded me of the tearful, wide-eyed, stare she aimed at me when I pretended to call Frank, and I couldn’t stand it.

She rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she said. She wasn’t smiling, but she no longer looked completely depressed. My stupid comment had been somewhat of a success.

I patted the bed and stood up. “I’m going to hunt down some breakfast,” I said. “Do you want me to have something sent up for you?”

“Maybe a coffee,” she said. “I didn’t really sleep last night, so I feel like a zombie.”

“How does a triple shot latte sound?”

“Perfect.”

“Okay. I’ll have a maid bring it up to you.” I smoothed down my jacket and turned away.

“Uh… Logan?”

I glanced back at Willow. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s just coffee.”

“No, I meant for all of this,” she said. “For actually apologizing and trying to find some way to work this out, even though it’s probably impossible.”

“It was your idea. I just needed some time to come around to it.”

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