Page 66 of Sinful Palace

14

Logan

With my headheld high and my jaw tightly clenched, I strode toward the study my father was using while Thorne House was being rebuilt.

Willow was sound asleep back in our bedroom, exhausted from yesterday’s events. I knew she didn’t want me to talk to my father about any of the shit that was going on, but that wasn’t going to stop me. He needed to know I wouldn’t tolerate any fucking threats against her, no matter who he was.

I didn’t knock on the study door when I arrived. I simply tried the handle, found it unlocked and stepped inside. I was going for the element of surprise in the hope it would throw my dad off his game.

He was sitting at his desk, sipping at an espresso as he stared at his computer screen. When I approached, he glanced over at me with mild interest flickering in his eyes. “I was wondering when you’d finally show up,” he said in a bored tone.

I frowned. “I didn’t tell you I was coming.”

“I know, but I’ve been expecting you anyway.” He put his cup down. “Let me guess… you’re here to sneakily interrogate me so you can find out if I’m Q?”

I stared at him, brows lifting with surprise. That was unexpected.

“I’m not, by the way,” Dad went on before lifting his hand to smother a yawn.

I took a seat across from him and leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “How did you know why I came to see you?” I asked.

I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear him say it.

He picked up his cup again and stared into it. “I wasn’t honest with you the other day. I did hear you talking to Willow,” he said. He took another sip of coffee, swallowed, and went on with a slight shake of his head. “I don’t know why I lied. I should’ve just told you. I suppose I was hoping to avoid all of this drama.”

My chest tightened as something suddenly occurred to me. Something I should’ve already realized by now.

If he’d eavesdropped on the entirety of our conversation the other day, that meant he’d finally learned about Willow running over Chloe. That in turn meant Willow was in more danger than ever before. He wouldn’t let her off the hook for doing something so terrible to his beloved daughter. No way.

With that disturbing realization, the old guilt set in again, like icy wind ripping right through me. I knew I shouldn’t care about Willow so deeply. She left my sister to die, for Christ’s sake, and yet, I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her. It was messed up, but it was true.

I wished I could just switch off these fucking feelings. My life would be a hell of a lot easier if that was an option.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “So you came and stood outside our room and listened to us for twenty minutes?” I asked in an attempt to figure out just how much he’d overheard.

He chuckled. “No, it wasn’t like that,” he said, leaning forward. “I wasn’t lying when I said your mother and I decided to bring you coffee that morning. That was honestly the only reason I was in the hall.” He paused and casually waved a hand. “Anyway, Liz mentioned that you and Willow were having a rough time, and when we got there, I realized I could hear you talking. I figured I should stop and listen in for a few minutes. See if you’d patched things up. Then I realized you were talking about the Order. More specifically, Willow was asking you to investigate the whole society.”

I gritted my teeth and reached into my right jacket pocket. “So based on that, you sneaked in later and planted this?” I said, dumping the shattered remnants of the recording device on his desk.

His brows lifted as he stared down at the pieces, and his eyes widened slightly. It wasn’t the shocked and confused expression I would expect to see on someone who’d never seen the device before. He was simply surprised that I’d found it so fast.

“Well?” I said. “Is this yours? Or are you going to lie about that too?”

“It’s mine,” he admitted, lifting one palm. “But listen—I only put it there because I was worried about the two of you.”

“Worried?”

“Yes. You aren’t supposed to question the Order, so if you and Willow decided to investigate them and someone from the society found out, both of you would be viewed as traitors.” His brows dipped in a frown. “You know what the Order does to traitors, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard stories,” I muttered.

He went silent for a moment. “I know you don’t believe me on this particular subject, Logan, but I actually care about you,” he finally said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you or Willow. So I needed to ensure you dropped that topic permanently. Listening in on the rest of your conversations was the only way to find out if you had.”

I scoffed. “Where was all this concern when you ran straight to the rest of the Order and had them organize yesterday’s incident?”

He cocked his head to one side. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the body you dropped on the presidential parade.”

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