Page 136 of Ruthless Prince

JS81:Yes.

FreeQuinn: Okay. It won’t be easy, so I’ll need a while to figure out a plan. Sorry. In the meantime, can you think of a place you’d feel comfortable meeting me? Has to be quiet and private. Somewhere no one will see us. I figure I should let you pick so you’re in control. I don’t want you to feel unsafe. Anyway, when you’ve thought of a place, let me know. I’ll send an Uber to pick you up at the arrangedtime.

I put the phone down for a moment, brows knitting as I tried to think of a decent meeting spot. The perfect place finally occurred tome.

JS81:Is Wembley Bay too far away? It’s a few miles out of Selby, and there’s an old port nearby. It’s all abandoned now, and there’s a ton of shipping containers there. That could be a good place to meet, right? I doubt anyone would see us talking between thosecontainers.

The abandoned port used to be one of my favorite places to ride to from Annapolis when I used to have my Vespa, before I settled on my regular route to the old industrial area near Odenton. It wasn’t too far away from my home at the Governor’s Mansion, and it was also quiet and secluded. I used to zoom up and down the lanes between the rusty sea containers, pretending I was in some sort of race, and no one ever saw me there or tried to stopme.

FreeQuinn: Just looked it up. It’ll be an expensive Uber ride from DC, haha. But yeah. I think it’ll be a good spot. You sure you feel safe to meet upthere?

JS81:Yes.

I knew the area like the back of my hand. If this new contact of mine turned out to be weird or shady and I started to feel unsafe at any point, I could run and hide before he or she even knew what was happening. I could also make sure to ask the Uber driver to sit and wait in the spot where they dropped me off, so I could make a quick escape in the car ifnecessary.

FreeQuinn: All right. Sit tight while I try to think of a way to get you past your securitydetail.

I didn’t receive another message for fourhours.

FreeQuinn: I think I finally have an idea. Are you and your fiancé always home around tenp.m.?

JS81:Yes.

FreeQuinn: Okay. Give me a few more minutes to sort thisout.

He sent another message an hourlater.

FreeQuinn: I’m going to create a distraction for the security guards and your fiancé at ten o’clock tomorrow night. When it happens, get dressed and sneak out. I’ll have an Uber waiting for you on the road outside the back gate at a quarter past. When you arrive at the old port, meet me between the blue sea containers on the northeast end. I’ll give you the file there, and then you need to forget you ever met me. When they ask how you got it, you play dumb. I can’t risk meeting you if there’s a chance you’ll give me up. Gotit?

JS81:Gotit.

FreeQuinn: Cool. See you tomorrow night,Willow.

My skin prickled with anticipation as I hid the phone on the shelf. I gulped down several deep breaths to calm my thunderingheart.

The wait was going to be agonizing, but in thirty-six hours, I’d finally have what I needed to fixeverything.

27

Willow

By half pastnine the following night, I was a nervous wreck. I’d chewed through my recent manicure, and I couldn’t stop rubbing the back of my head out of sheeranxiety.

Thankfully, Logan hadn’t noticed anything. He seemed to think I was behaving like this because of the scandal and all the shit that came withit.

He’d spent the last few nights in my room with me, presumably to ensure I didn’t do anything to hurt myself, and he was with me again this evening, sitting stiffly on one side of the bed as a movie played on theTV.

At exactly ten o’clock, he raised his head and sniffed. “Do you smell that?” heasked.

I shook my head. “No, sir,” Imurmured.

He shrugged and leaned back. “I thought I could smell smoke. It’s probably just the fireplacedownstairs.”

An ear-piercing alarm suddenly went off, and someone started banging on my door. “Logan! You need to get outhere!”

He leapt off the bed and strode across the room. I followed him, lingering a few feet behind. “What is it?” he asked, flinging the door open. Mal and Adam were standing there, eyes wide withpanic.

“There’s a fire. It started near your sister’s room, and it’s spreadingfast.”