Page 95 of Broken Crown

“It’s all quite perfect, really.Several guests mentioned seeing you and Captain Lawson get into a somewhat…heated argument last weekend.Couple that with the fact that Jameson Gates was just found murdered and an eyewitness observed a man matching Lawson’s description breaking into the house, and overheard a loud altercation inside, it was enough to convince a judge to sign an arrest warrant.”

“No.”My breathing comes in shallow gasps, the room spinning around me.Not just because he’s trying to frame Creed.But because Jameson’s dead.

“Oh, yes.”He flashes a smile, then frowns.“And when they find your body, it won’t be too much of a stretch to tie him to your murder, as well.After all, he does have a history of sneaking into your apartment undetected.Does he not?”

“You…” My voice catches.“You won’t get away with this,” I say once more, but this time my words lack any sort of conviction.

“Oh, but I already have.”He smirks, then leans toward me, barely a whisper separating us.“Now tell me where it is.And maybe I’ll put in a good word for Captain Lawson.Provide an alibi for him, since he doesn’t exactly have one.”

I blink, a part of me considering his offer, if for no other reason than to protect Creed.Save him from all of this.

But I know Creed.He’d be pissed if I traded his freedom for the truth.

So instead, I glower at Silas.“Go ahead and kill me, because I’m never telling.”

With a deep sigh, he pulls himself to his full height once more and retreats from me.My palms sweat as I watch his every move, unsure what he’s going to do next.

Truthfully, I don’t really want to know.

“I was afraid you’d be difficult.”

He pulls a knife from the inside pocket of his suit jacket.Lifting it in front of his face, he inspects it with a smile that causes my muscles to tighten.Then he closes the distance between us, my resolve withering away to nothing when he presses it against my throat.

“Trust me, princess.”

I tense, doing everything to prevent my body from trembling, not wanting to show him even an ounce of fear.

“We have ways of getting the information we need.”He drags the knife from my throat and toward my blouse, slicing off each button.“Do I need to have Kane come in here?Give you a bit of…” He licks his lips, eyes skating down my body, focusing on my chest.“Encouragement?”

“Why?Can’t get it up yourself so you need him to do your dirty work for you?Is that the only way you can get your kicks now?By watching someone else get off?”

I’m breaking every rule I’ve ever learned about what to do when held hostage.I was trained to be agreeable.Not do anything to make them angry.

But all my training has involved being abducted by someone for ransom, usually by a terrorist group wanting to make a name for themselves.

We never covered being abducted by a high-power player in our own government hoping to cover up criminal acts by a former monarch.I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the rules are vastly different.

“You think you’re so smart?I guess I’ll just have to prove that I have absolutely no problem getting it up.”

Panic races through me as he steps directly in front of my face and starts to unbuckle his pants.

Then a gunshot pierces through the rustling of his zipper, his hand frozen mid-way down as my heart skyrockets into my throat.

Silas’ eyes fly to the closed door, holding his breath as he listens intently for further movement.But there’s nothing for several long moments.That doesn’t put him at ease, though.Especially since this gunshot wasn’t from a silencer.

Quickly zipping his pants back up, he tightly wraps his fingers around my bicep and yanks me to my feet.

“Let’s go.”He brings the knife to my throat with one hand and roughly forces me to walk.

I have no idea what’s going on, if that gunshot was from someone here to help or Kane killing yet another innocent person.

All I can do is pray it’s not Creed.That he was smart enough to stay away once he learned he was being framed for murder.He wouldn’t come here, would he?Not after our argument.

But I know better than that.

After all, he kept me in the dark about Kane Kingsley because of the oath he made to protect the royal family above all else.

No doubt, that oath is exactly what will bring him here, despite the risk.

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