Page 85 of Broken Crown

“I didn’t say what I’ve done is right.I know it’s not.At the time, I didn’t care.I was egotistical.Narcissistic, even.So I agreed to help my father.Then something happened I didn’t anticipate.”He smiles sadly.“I fell in love with Callie.I wasn’t lying when I told you I loved her.I did.But I knew there was a ticking clock hanging over her.Knew the second I found the recording, they’d kill her, even if she was clueless as to the contents.”

“Which is what happened.”

“Yes… And no.”

“No?”

“After dating her for months, my father was tired of waiting.Thought I’d gotten too distracted.So they made her…disappear.Unfortunately, they underestimated her relationship with Hayes.They knew she worked for him, but didn’t think he’d go to the lengths he did to bring attention to her disappearance.The last thing they wanted was for anyone to look into it.So Gianna suggested manufacturing a news story that would bury any mention of a missing woman.”He gives me a knowing look.

“That’s why we dated.”

“And why we were nearly engaged after Hayes accused me of killing Callie.It was just a ploy to manipulate the headlines.Make sure no one looked hard enough to uncover the truth.”

“But Adam did.Isn’t that right?”I press, my blood boiling at all the lives lost because of this.

Because of my grandfather and Silas Archer.

“They killed him, and planted enough evidence to pin it on Hayes.Two birds.One stone, more or less.”

“And you were still okay with all of this?Still didn’t think it was getting out of hand and to just come clean?”I lean toward him, throat tight.“Adam trusted you.”

“Which is why I’m going to come clean tomorrow morning at the privy council meeting.Tell them everything, starting with the murder of Prince Nicholas and his family, all the way to the attempt on your life last year and how they framed Charles Thacker for that, too.”

“Are you only telling me all of this in the hopes of cutting a deal?”I seethe.“Because I’ll do everything I can to make sure you serve every minute of the maximum sentence.I—”

“I’m tired of people getting hurt, Esme.That’s all.When this began, I thought once Callie died, it would be over and we could go back to our lives.”He licks his lips.“Now I realize it won’t ever end.Not when there are people out there who might expose the truth.Or who are smart enough to look beyond what you’re told and question everything.People like you and Creed.I’m just…” He hangs his head and stares at his feet.“I’m tired of all the blood on my hands.So if I can prevent even more blood from spilling, I’m willing to do that, to hell with the consequences.”

I scrutinize him for several long moments, searching for any sign of deception.He seems repentant.But one thing is gnawing at me.

“Why me?”

He shakes his head.“What do you mean?”

“If you’re planning on coming clean at the privy council meeting tomorrow, why tell me all of this now?”

“I guess for insurance purposes.”

“Insurance?”I furrow my brow.

“Let’s just say I’ve been on borrowed time for a while now.After our conversation last week, I needed to do something.Needed someone to know the truth.All of it.”He reaches into his suit jacket and retrieves a flash drive, extending it toward me.

“Is this what I think it is?”I ask in a shaky voice as I take it from him.

“It is.”

“How did you—”

“Callie,” he answers with a nostalgic gleam in his eyes.“I actually found it fairly early on in our relationship.”

“But you kept it to yourself because you knew what would happen once they had it.”

He nods.

“And after they killed Callie?”

“I don’t know…” He pushes out a long sigh.“I guess I didn’t want them to have it.Wanted them to believe they ruined their one shot at finding the recording.Liked watching them squirm trying to find it.So I carried on as if it was still out there.”

My fingers close around the small, cold metal stick.It almost seems to throb in my hand with the weight of its secrets.I can only imagine how much it’s burdened Jameson over the years.

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