Page 109 of Ruthless Prince

“It does.” I nodded toward the bathroom. “Now get inthere.”

At twenty to six, she was finally ready. I took her arm and led her to the black car awaiting us downstairs. Mal and Adam followed closelybehind.

“You remember how to behave, don’t you?” I asked, studying her face as the car headed up the longdriveway.

She nodded, hands fidgeting in her lap. “Yes,sir.”

“This is a very important test. If you fail, you know what willhappen.”

She sniffled and nodded again. “I know,sir.”

“You can drop the ‘sir’ fornow.”

“Okay,” shewhispered.

At five past six, Mal and Adam escorted us into Bistro Guillaume. The restaurant oozed opulence with its high vaulted ceilings, tiered chandeliers, and fluted indoor columns decorated with gold leaf accents. Soft classical music played in thebackground.

Stephen, Quinn and Jared Rhoades were waiting for us at a large circular table. Their security details were positioned around the room, which was devoid of other guests. That was normal. In order for the president to dine at a public restaurant, the whole place had to be booked out and secured days inadvance.

“Willow!” Jared jumped up and ran over to hug his sister. As they embraced, Stephen watched us with a stony gaze, white-knuckled fingers gripping the stem of his wine glass so hard I was surprised it didn’tshatter.

“I’m sorry we’re a bit late,” I said with a good-natured grin as we stepped closer to the table. “A certain someone couldn’t decide what towear.”

Quinn smiled and rolled her eyes. “Ah. Typical Willow,” she said. She snapped her fingers. “Jared, show your sister what you got forher.”

“This is for your birthday,” the little boy said, crouching to pick up a large purple gift bag. “I wish you didn’t miss it. Dad and I made an awesome cake foryou.”

“I’m sorry,” Willow murmured. “I should’ve beenthere.”

“It’s okay. Mom told me you weren’t feeling well.” Jared held the bag out to her. “Openit!”

Willow did as he said, revealing an enormous jigsawpuzzle.

“It’s the Capitol building,” Jared said, eyes shining with excitement. “I know you love how it looks, and I thought you might even work there one day if you get good enough at lawstuff!”

Willow’s face crinkled as she smiled. “It’s perfect. Thank you,” she said, leaning down to give him another hug. Despite the happy expression, I could tell she was fighting back tears from the way her eyesshimmered.

“We have some gifts for you too, but you can open them later,” Quinn said, clasping her hands together. “Sorry, sweetheart, but I’mstarving.”

Stephen remained awkwardly silent, and his eyes never left Willow’s face. She pointedly avoided his gaze and flashed a brief smile at her mother. “That’s fine. I’m hungrytoo.”

We took our seats around the table, and several waiters appeared to take our orders. When they were gone, Jared stared over at me. “Are you one of the evil Thornes?” he asked, eyes glinting withmischief.

I lifted a brow. “Am Iwhat?”

Willow tried to cover her mouth, but I could see she was masking a smallsmile.

“One of the evil Thornes,” Jaredrepeated.

“I’m not sure what youmean.”

Quinn glared at him. “Jared, what on earth are you talkingabout?”

“I go to school with a boy named Lucas Thorne,” hesaid.

I nodded slowly. “That’s my little cousin. Is he mean toyou?”

Jared shook his head. “No, he’s really cool! But one of my friends said his family are evil. He said they own a building with lots of badtraffic.”