Page 9 of Wicked Royals
“Oh, one more thing,” I said, whipping back around to face Mom. “Have you seenDad?”
She shrugged. “Not for an hour orso.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see youlater.”
I headed back toward the pergola and flashed my mother’s Secret Service agents a rueful smile. “I think I got you in trouble.Sorry.”
One of them almost cracked a smile. “Don’t worry, Miss. We’ll befine.”
“Would you like me to go inside and get you something to eat?” I asked, still feeling guilty. “Maybe some birthday cake beforeit…”
I trailed off as something caught my eye. A large dark shadow had appeared in the window of the mansion’s turreted room. It looked like a person was standing up there watchingus.
One of the agents moved closer to me. “Miss, are youokay?”
I blinked, and the shadowy figure was gone. “I’m fine. I think I’m just seeingthings.”
The other agent spoke up again. “We don’t need anything to eat. You should head backinside.”
I nodded and walked back through the pergola with my detail. For a second, I thought I caught a glimpse of someone in the window again, but when I looked, there was nothing there. It was just my imagination. Still, my arms were peppered with goosebumps and every hair on the back of my neck had risen. Despite the complete lack of evidence to prove it, an unshakable thought had set itself in mymind.
Someone was watchingme.
3
Willow
Istepped back insideand hurried upstairs, pretending I didn’t see Marissa waving to me from across the room. I needed to check on my little brother. The thought of someone creeping around the private upstairs rooms of our house and frightening him—or worse—made my stomach clench withfear.
When I reached the top floor, I raced into Jared’s room. He was awake, and the lamp beside his bed was switchedon.
“Why are you up?” I asked. “Are youokay?”
He nodded and rubbed his bleary eyes. “I heard someone walking down the hall. The footsteps woke meup.”
“I was in here about fifteen minutes ago to check on you. You might’ve just heard meleaving.”
He shook his head. “It was only a few minutes ago, and it didn’t sound like your shoes,” he said. “I think it was Dad. I turned my light on because I’ve been waiting for him to come in, but he hasn’tyet.”
I let out a short sigh of relief. It hadn’t even occurred to me that it might be our father, but it made sense. He’d mentioned earlier in the evening that he wanted to check in on Jared every so often to make sure the party wasn’t disturbing hissleep.
I stepped back over to the door and peered up and down the hall. There was no one to be seen. “You’re right, it was probably Dad,” I said, stepping back over to Jared’s bed. “He must’ve quickly poked his head in to make sure you wereasleep.”
“Maybe.” He sat up straighter. “How’s the party? Is itfun?”
I smiled and took a seat on the edge of his bed. “It’s prettycool.”
“Yesterday I heard the housekeeper saying there would be billionaires coming tonight. Is that true?” Jared’s eyes were wide as he spoke, and I smiledagain.
At nine years old, he was at the stage where a hundred dollars seemed like an absolute fortune. A billion dollars was almost incomprehensible to him. To be fair, though, the idea of having that much money was incomprehensible to most adults too. Myself included. My family was very well-off, but we weren’tthatrich. Not like the Thornes, Hales, and various other families on tonight’s guestlist.
“Yes, it’s true,” Isaid.
“If I was a billionaire, I’d buy ashark.”
I laughed. “Me too. Sharks are awesome.” I picked up the tablet that sat on the bedside table and switched it on. “Why don’t I read you some cool facts about them until you go back tosleep?”
Jared pouted. “Can I go down to the partyinstead?”
