Page 17 of Broken Empire
Leon abruptly rose to his feet. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he said flatly. “Good luck, Killian. You’re going to need it.”
With that, he strode out of the café and onto the bustling street outside. I watched him go, brows furrowing as I registered the expression on his face.
He didn’t look angry at all.
He looked scared.
7
Shay
“Wake up.”
A finger snapped under my chin, and my eyelids fluttered open. Robert was looming over the heart-shaped bed.
“What are you doing here?” I mumbled.
“I have a surprise for you. You’ll need to put on a coat and shoes.”
I sat up straighter and rubbed my eyes. “A surprise?” I said. “Why do I have a feeling it isn’t a good one?”
Robert gave me an indulgent smile. “Oh, come on, Shay. Don’t be like that. I told you the other night, I like you, and I’m sad to see you like this. So as a treat for you and a gesture of friendship from me, I’m letting you leave for a while.”
“Leave the Kingsford?” I said, brows shooting up.
Robert’s eyes widened slightly. “You know where we are?”
Fuck.
“I… I guessed,” I replied, hoping my voice wasn’t quavering too much.
“What a lucky guess,” he said, focusing his shrewd gaze right on my eyes. “May I askhowyou were so lucky?”
I gulped. “Like I told you at the art gallery, I followed all the Manhattan members to the Kingsford for their meeting last week, so I figured their secret headquarters were probably there somewhere. Now I know I’m right.”
“Ah, I see.” Robert nodded slowly. “We’re actually on a secret floor under the penthouse. Incredible, isn’t it?”
I feigned shock with wide eyes and an open mouth so he wouldn’t realize that I already knew about the secret floor. If he did that, he might figure out that Killian knew about it too, and then his life would be at risk as well as mine.
Robert snapped his fingers again. “Come on. Get dressed.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, rising to my feet.
“You’ll see.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “I really expected you to be more grateful about this.”
Jesus.Was he serious? He thought I should be grateful because he was taking me out on a little trip to god-knows-where even though he was responsible for locking me up in a live-streaming internet torture den?
Asshole.
In sullen silence, I went over to the walk-in closet and located the plainest-looking dress, coat, and shoes that existed in the sea of bows, sequins, and chiffon which lined the space. The outfit was still a bit gaudy compared to what I’d usually wear, but at least I didn’t look like Little Bo-Peep.
Once my shoes were on, Robert gave me a tight smile and turned toward the door. “Come on,” he said, clicking his fingers at me again in that condescending way that drove me mad. “It’s a long drive, so we need to get going as soon as possible.”
He led me down the hallway outside my room, toward another hall that Killian and I hadn’t explored when we sneaked in. A double-wide elevator lay at the end.
I stared at it as Robert pressed the button on the side. “Are we at the back of the building?”
“Yes. Do you really think we’d only have one elevator in the lobby?” he asked, raising a scornful brow.
