Page 8 of Ruthless Prince

They were built many years ago so that government officials could move from one place to another without being seen by members of the public, and they were like a rabbit warren, running all over the city with all sorts of secret passageways androoms.

I first learned of their existence when my family moved into the VP’s mansion at the Naval Observatory when I was eighteen. The Secret Service told my parents about them before giving both of them keycards which allowed access from secret entrances, and I overheard the whole thing. A few weeks later, I’d managed to pilfer one of my father’s keycards so I could explore the tunnels closest to themansion.

I hadn’t been down there in a while, though. Not since a terrifying incident that occurred five months ago. I’d gone down there to explore with some friends, and I ended up being chased and threatened by a man in a weird skull mask. After I escaped his clutches, I wound up finding my way to some sort of clandestineclubhouse.

The place was decked out with every luxury a person could imagine, along with strange symbols daubed all over the walls and naked men and women everywhere. I’d experienced a lot of odd things in my short time there. I couldn’t remember most of it, though. It was the same night I heard about President Rutherford’s death, and after that particular announcement, the evening turned into a calamitous blur. People left the place in a frenzy, and I slipped out with some of them and found my way home fromthere.

I had a vague recollection of a waitress giving me a drugged drink at some point that evening, and when my spinning head finally hit my pillow a couple of hours later, my memories of the subterranean clubhouse started to fade. When I awoke the next morning, they were so hazy that I wondered if it really happened or if it was all some sort of feverdream.

If there was actually a secret society operating in Washington, the place I’d stumbled upon was probably their headquarters. I’d never be able to find it again, though. I simply couldn’t rememberhow.

I shrugged and decided against telling Rowan what I knew. I didn’t want to give him more fuel for his nutty conspiracy theories. Besides, the secret clubhouse I found was probably just some sort of sex club for kinky rich people. There were a lot of places like that in thecity.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably just a myth,” I saidbreezily.

His brows dipped in a frown. “I just realized you don’t have a drink. Sorry, I should’ve offered to get youone.”

“It’s fine. I can grab myown.”

He held up a hand. “No, allow me.Champagne?”

“Sure.Thanks.”

While he was gone, I turned to check on my purse, which I’d slung over the back of a chair. “Huh,” I murmured to myself, immediately noticing somethingodd.

While Rowan and I were engrossed in our conversation, someone had quietly come over and slipped an envelope into the main pocket of thepurse.

Frowning, I pulled it out and turned it over in my hands. It was made of black paper, and it had been sealed at the back with a dark red wax skull and crossbonessymbol.

Weird.

I looked up and swept my gaze around the room. No one was looking at me in a way which might suggest they were the one who put the envelope in my purse. In fact, no one was looking at me atall.

Still, something told me I should open the strange letter in private. I stashed it back in my purse and caught Rowan’s attention from across the room. He raised an eyebrow, and I pointed to the door which led to the restrooms and held up three fingers to indicate that I’d be gone for a few minutes. He nodded and turned his attention back to the drinkstable.

After I’d locked myself in a private bathroom cubicle, I ran a fingernail through the red seal on the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper with three printedwords.

THE ORDERAWAITS.

“What the hell?” I whispered to myself. I turned the piece of paper over to see if there was anything else written onit.

It wasblank.

I stuffed it back in my purse, figuring it had to be some sort ofprank.

I left the restroom and started walking back to the ballroom. Halfway there, the hairs on my arms rose and goosebumps broke out across my chest. The notion that someone was watching me popped into my head, and I whirledaround.

There was no one in the hall apart from myself and the Secret Service agents on duty. None of them were looking atme.

I brushed off my concerns and strolled back into the party. I saw Logan again as I headed back over to Rowan, and our gazes connected for a second. His was stony andhostile.

I averted my eyes and kept moving, blood simmering with anger at the way he always treated me, even though I knew I shouldn’t let it affect me. Notanymore.

He might be hot, rich and powerful, but I’d be better off if I stayed far, far away from men likehim.

That much I was sureof.

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