Page 90 of Ruthless Prince
“That’s not possible,” Iinsisted.
“Itis.”
“No!”
He let out a short, frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “After I saw it, this little part of me kept thinking it was impossible too. It couldn’t beyou.Not perfect Willow. But I knew it had to be real. Nothing else made sense. Even if it was possible to fake a video like that—which it isn’t—who would do it?Why?”
His nostrils flared, and he paused for a breath. I simply stared at him, waiting for him to go on. It felt too dangerous for me to speak rightnow.
“Two years after I got that video, I started working for Caldwell, which meant I could do a lot more digging,” he finally said. “That’s when I looked at your medical information to see if you really had mono five years ago, seeing as that seemed to be your excuse for going AWOL after Chloe was hurt. I also looked at your phone’s GPS data from that night. You were on that street at the exact righttime.”
“Iwasn’t.”
“Yes, you were. I can prove it. And that’s not all. The phone call you made onscreen… it wasn’t to 911 forChloe.”
My cheeks flushed with indignation. “If I was there, I definitely would’ve called forhelp.”
“Oh, you did call for help. But like I said, it wasn’t 911. The number on the log showed the call was made to the Governor’s Mansion in Annapolis, where you were living at thetime.”
“No.”
“Stop lying. You obviously didn’t want to get in trouble for what you’d done, but you were too hurt from the crash to get away with it on your own, so you called your dad to come and help you. You knew he would do anything for you. Plus, unbeknownst to you, he was already riddled with guilt for selling you. So of course he helped. He and his cronies arrived to cover everything up as soon as theycould.”
“No way. I don’t know how or why, but this has to be some sort of set-up,” I said. As I spoke, the tablet slipped out of my clammy hands and onto the floor with a loud clatter. “I wasn’t riding that night. I told you, I wassick.”
“Yes, the convenient case of mono you mentioned earlier,” he said. “But we already established you never hadit.”
“I did!” My face turned hot with anger, but it melted into confusion as something occurred to me. “Wait… what did you say before? That I called the Governor’sMansion?”
“That’s right. I can show you the call logs if you don’t believeme.”
“There’s no way I could’ve called my dad that night. Not on thatnumber.”
Logan arched a brow. “Why?”
“He was called away for a two week business trip to Los Angeles three days before the school dance. I remember because he was upset that he wouldn’t get to take pictures with me like he did before every other dance I went to. So if I called the landline that night, there’s no way I spoke to him. I would’ve had to call his cell to reachhim.”
Logan stared down at me, brows furrowed. “Interesting,” he said, cupping an elbow in one hand while tapping his chin with the other. “I always assumed it was him who sent those guys out to get you, but it must’ve been yourmother.”
I looked up, defiance flashing across my face. “Or you’re wrong abouteverything.”
“I’mnot.”
“You just admitted you were wrong about who I supposedly called. How do you know you didn’t get everything else wrongtoo?”
Logan narrowed his eyes. “How wouldyouexplain it, Willow? The video. The blood tests. The GPS data. The call log. The fact that you mysteriously stopped riding that Vespa right after theincident.”
“I don’t know. None of it makes sense. Maybe someone set meup?”
He clasped his hands in front of him. “No. Someone went out of their way to cover up your involvement that night. If Chloe hadn’t woken up for those few seconds and said your name, you would’ve gotten away with it. That means the person responsible for the cover-up washelpingyou. Not framingyou.”
“My mother wouldn’t do that. Not even for her kids. She’s a goodperson.”
“Is she?” Logan’s jaw tightened. “I know you’ve always been more of a daddy’s girl, but I think Quinn would get you out of trouble if she deemed it necessary. It wouldn’t help her political career if people found out she has a crazy daughter who enjoys mowing down her enemies in the street, wouldit?”
I bit my lip and looked down, suddenly aware of my nakedness again. “I guess not,” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around myself as I stared at thefloor.
I’d never been so utterly bewildered in my life. I was sure I didn’t do anything to Chloe, but all signs pointed in the opposite direction. Still, it didn’t make any sense. I would never purposefully run over another person. Even a person Ihated.
