Page 17 of Perfect Sin

“You can try,” I say and rise from the chair.

Agendas

Raven

“It’s been twenty-four hours.The police won’t help, we can’t get a decent enough angle on the camera to see where the car went or the license plate. How are we going to find him, Lucien?”

“I have an answer to that,” my father says, strolling into the library where we set up.

“How?” I ask.

He grabs a garment bag laying on the back of a chair and extends it toward me. “You’re going on camera. If the police won’t do their jobs, you’ll entice the people to do it for them.”

“What is this for?” I ask, and unzip the bag. Inside is a demure dress, once again in royal blue.

“Blue is your color. When they get you on camera, no one will believe Sin left you willingly, like the police implied.”

“Not to mention telling people the truth shows the lengths Arthur Whitmore is willing to go to break up a marriage,” Lucien observes.

Damien smiles. “A bonus certainly. Like I said before, your marriage is the gift that keeps on giving.”

“How can you say that?” I blurt out. “The way he slumped over in the video, they clearly injected him with something. Who knows what they are doing now that they have him isolated.”

“Whitmore has no idea what his son is capable of, but I do because I trained him. I know you don’t trust me, but you should trust Sin knows how to take care of himself. We will get him back. Hopefully we do so before he makes a move. Our story will be far more sympathetic if he doesn’t kill his way free.”

“When are they coming?” I ask, looking at the dress again.

“Less than an hour. You should go get ready,” he orders then strides back out of the room.

“I don’t know what just happened,” I murmur to myself.

“He’s a self-serving asshole, but at least this time you’ll benefit.” Lucien takes the garment bag from me and pulls the dress out.

“A bit conservative, but it’s probably the right look. The last thing you want is to look nineteen.”

“I am nineteen, and only just,” I remind him.

He nods. “If the public believes your marriage is a youthful whim, they will be less interested in helping you. They might side with the Whitmores and think Sin is brainwashed by Damien. Despite the fact there’s never been any charges brought against him, there’ve been enough rumors over the years to give credence to those claims.”

A woman I don’t recognize enters the room. “Mrs. Sinclair, I’m your mother’s personal assistant. Your father sent me to help you get ready.”

Lucien nudges me to follow her. “I’ve got something I need to take care of before they arrive.”

“Should I bother asking what?”

He shakes his head. “You’ll see soon enough I imagine.”

I trail after my mother’s assistant to my room. While the look she creates isn’t one I’d choose to wear, I do look older and more serious. She puts soft waves in my hair and applies a neutral make-up pallet to my face. I look every bit the politician's daughter.

As soon as she’s done I venture back downstairs to mentally prepare myself for the interview. Some furniture has been cleared out to make room for a camera crew to set up. Lucien had described this room as Mother’s parlor when he gave me a tour after we were brought back. The walls are a soft yellow and the trim is bright white. The remaining furniture is sophisticated in an understated manner.

I have to hand it to him. Damien set the stage perfectly, even finding the one room in the house that doesn’t look like a set for a classic horror film.

“The reporter should be here any moment. We need to go over your story.” Damien hands me a bottle of water and gestures for me to sit down.

Once I sit, he begins. “You had a flirtation with Sin from nearly the moment you returned home. When you found out I planned to introduce you to the son of a business associate, you told Sin. Your brother was planning a cross-country trip before settling down and taking over more responsibilities now that I’m running for office. At the last minute you and Sin decided to go with him but didn’t tell me.”

“How am I supposed to explain the fact you plastered our faces all over the news?” I ask him. Lucien’s snark is wearing off on me, but my father doesn’t seem to mind.

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