Page 5 of Sinful Palace

I felt my blood pressure rising with every word that came out of her mouth. “You had my fucking house set on fire so you could get out.”

“I had no idea Teddy was going to do that.”

“Oh, well that makes it all better, then,” I said, tongue dripping with sarcasm.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she drew in a deep breath and spoke up again. “I know you have no reason to trust me now, or ever again, but I’m telling the truth. I was going to come back. The plan was for you to be distracted long enough for me to go to the meeting point, grab the file, and go home. All without you ever noticing I was gone.”

“So you’re telling me that when you walked through that gate, free as a bird, you didn’t feel different? The air didn’t taste a little sweeter?” I replied in a mocking tone. “Enough to make you change the plan and run away for good?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t let anything happen to Jared,” she murmured. “You made it clear you wouldn’t give me a second chance after last time.”

“And yet you still took the first opportunity to run. You risked it all.”

“I didn’t. Not really.” She started to cry again, tears dripping all over her face. “You know I’m not lying. You saw those messages,” she continued in a choked voice. “Please just have a heart for once and think about it. Punish me, not my brother.”

I hated to admit it, but she had a point. She hadn’t given anything away in the online exchange that could make me or my family look bad. She’d painted me as a reasonably concerned fiancé, citing that as the reason she couldn’t leave the house to meet the alleged NSA source, and when he offered to help her sneak out, she made it quite clear that she couldn’t leave for very long. An hour or two at most.

On top of that, I’d seen a message from him apologizing for the fire. While I wanted to blame Willow for the near destruction of my family home, I had to acknowledge that she was clueless about it until it happened. Sure, she agreed to let the guy do something to cause a distraction at the house so she could slip out undetected, but she didn’t know exactly what it was.

She disobeyed me, clearly, but it wasn’t a true escape attempt. Not like the last one.

With an exasperated sigh, I slammed my hands against the steering wheel. “Okay. Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “I won’t touch your brother. But I will punish you. Consider this strike two.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“That means you’re out of chances. You know what happens if you get to strike three.”

She shook her head vehemently. “I won’t.”

“You better not,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “If you take one step out of line again, I’m calling Frank.”

“I know.” She swallowed thickly and reached one hand over to grasp at my jacket. “Thank you for understanding.”

I shook her off. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I growled, trying to ignore the jolts of electricity blazing a path through my body, radiating from where she’d grabbed me.

She jerked away. “Sorry.”

“Stop saying that,” I said, twisting my face into a scowl as I took a left turn.

“Why? I am sorry, for everything that happened tonight. For the fire. For Teddy.”

“Sorry doesn’t take back all the shit you’ve done,” I snarled.

“I know.”

“You realize this is the second time your shitty, fucked-up decisions have almost killed my sister, right? Mal and I got her out of her room with only seconds to spare before the ceiling collapsed on her bed.”

“I’m sorry.”

I kept going, unable to stop myself now that I’d gotten started. “I know you didn’t light the fire, and you didn’t know Teddy was going to do it, but you still caused it in the end. It’s the same shit with the Vespa incident. You don’t remember doing it, but you still did, didn’t you?”

She nodded morosely. “Yes.”

“Maybe your mother was right about you the other day. You’re nothing but trouble.”

That was all it took to get the waterworks started again. Willow covered her face with her hands, leaned forward, and sobbed loudly.

I ignored her for the rest of the drive, too infuriated to look at her or speak to her again.

We finally arrived at our destination, and I slowly steered my car through the palatial scrolled gates at the entrance. They were modeled after the gates of Versailles—plated with gold and topped with majestic baroque ornaments, cornucopias and crowns.

A smooth, hedge-lined road stretched out beyond them, leading up to a sprawling structure which could only be described as a modern hotel crossed with a fairytale castle.

Willow’s eyes widened as we headed down the rambling driveway. “This is where we’re staying?”

“Yes. My family owns it, so we might as well use it,” I said.

When we’d parked in my reserved spot, I got out of the car and went around to Willow’s side to assist her as she climbed out on unsteady legs. Her cheeks turned pink as she took in the glittering lights and soaring turrets ahead.

I smiled thinly. “Welcome to Wonderland.”

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