Page 110 of Sinful Palace

“I thought that might be the case,” I said with a grim nod.

Jamie’s brows gathered into a frown, and he moved closer. “I also heard that you were one of those babies,” he said. “My source told me that your father sold you to the Thorne family in a deal brokered by the Order, but the contract allowed for your family to keep you until you turned twenty-one.”

I swallowed hard. “That’s right.”

“Shit. I hoped he was lying about that one.”

“He wasn’t. It’s all true.”

Concern flashed in his eyes again. “I should’ve known something was wrong. I should’ve known you’d never willingly get engaged to Logan Thorne.”

“It’s not your fault,” I muttered.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh. I’m not being treated badly.” At least not anymore, I added silently, recalling the old wine cellar in Thorne House.

Jamie gestured toward my necklace. “I suppose this explains the bug on the jewelry,” he said. “That’s how the Thornes keep watch over you, right? Make sure you never tell anyone the truth?”

“Sort of. It’s a tracking device, too.”

“Fuck. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, tentatively rubbing my left forearm.

“Yes.”

“All right. There’s a few other things I should tell you,” he said, lowering his voice even further. “This will probably upset you, and I apologize in advance for that, but you need to know the truth.”

“What is it?”

“The Order killed your father. It wasn’t a suicide.”

I sighed. “I know.”

“Oh.” Jamie lifted a brow. “So you know quite a lot already.”

“Yes. But not enough. I still have a ton of questions.”

He nodded. “Shoot. I’ll answer if I can.”

“Do you know what the Order’s overall mission is?” I asked. “The reason they exist in the first place? Their end-game?”

“Not really, no.”

“Damn. I was hoping you would.”

He scratched his jaw and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I know the baby operation is how they make most of the money that funds the society, because black market buyers will pay a premium for kids,” he said. “But making money doesn’t seem to be the Order’s main goal. It’s just a means to an end.”

“I’d love to know what that end is. They don’t tell the lower-level members like me anything. They just get us to do stuff occasionally, without telling us why.”

Jamie’s brows furrowed. “From everything I’ve gleaned in my research, the main goal seems to be improving the country. I just don’t know how. All I know is what my source has told me time and time again: that the highest-level members always claim that everything they do is for—”

“The greater good,” I cut in, rolling my eyes upward.

“Yes. The greater good.”

“Whatever the hell that means,” I said with a soft sigh. “Wish I knew.”

Jamie went silent for a few seconds, lips tightly pressed together. “There’s something else I discovered,” he finally said. “The Order has a secret leader. They have a codename. Q.”

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