Page 57 of Broken Princess
Another wave of heat flushed through my body. “No.”
“She must be having a lot of fun on her trip, then! Too busy swimming, tanning, and sipping cocktails to think about all of us suffering here in the cold,” she said, letting out a tinkling laugh.
Lord, give me strength…
“Yeah, I’d say so,” I said, forcing a smile. It probably looked more like a grimace, but it was the best I could do.
Mom’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that reminds me. I saw on the news that there’s meant to be some sort of storm blowing through the Caribbean over the next few days. I hope the seas don’t get too rough down there. I’d hate for something to happen to Willow or any of her friends.”
I flattened my lips and shook my head. I knew exactly what she was up to; trying to plant a seed in my head about storms and rough seas so that it wouldn’t come as a total out-of-the-blue shock when the news of Willow’s ‘tragic yachting accident’ broke sometime in the next few days.
She was pure evil.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” I said. “Anyway, speaking of news, did you hear about that plane explosion?”
I didn’t miss the way her eyes wavered ever so slightly before returning to their usual calm state.
“Yes, I did,” she said. “What a terrible tragedy. I suppose a lot of people wanted that man dead, though. His family aren’t exactly popular, are they?”
“No, they’re not.”
She brought her hand to her chest, brows shooting up. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you why I was looking for you,” she said. “The staff downstairs called up and told me there’s someone here to see you. Rowan Harris. You went to school with him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“I had no idea you two were friends.”
“Never used to be, but Willow is pretty close with him, and he works at the NSA, so we run into each other occasionally.”
“So you’re getting friendly for her sake.”
“Something like that.”
She patted my shoulder. “Well, that’s nice. He’s always seemed a little strange to me, but his parents are lovely people. I’m sure he’s lovely too.”
I nodded. “I better go find him.”
“Of course, darling. I’ll see you tonight for drinks.”
I allowed her to give me a hug, clenching my jaw the entire time, and then I escorted her out of the room with one hand on her back, wanting to keep her as far away from my sister as possible.
When I got downstairs, Rowan was standing by the main reception desk, nervously twisting his watch around his wrist and flashing awkward half-smiles at random passersby. When he saw me, his eyes widened, and he rushed toward me. “Hey. I got your messages,” he said.
My brows wrinkled. “What messages?”
He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “About Willow. The plane.”
I rubbed my tired, burning eyes and nodded slowly. I’d forgotten all about this until now, but during the initial stages of shock last night, I’d sent a flurry of messages to Rowan detailing my failure to save Willow.
“Right. Thanks for coming to see me,” I muttered, shoulders sagging.
“Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” he asked. “Somewhere quiet. Private.”
I nodded. “There’s a library on the second floor. It’s for guests who want to relax and read, but it’s usually pretty empty because most people who visit this place want to drink, dance and fuck.”
“Sounds good,” Rowan replied. “Er… the library, I mean.”
I led him over to the private elevator, and we rode to the second floor in silence. The guest library lay at the end of the main hall. “After you,” I muttered, holding the door open for Rowan.
