Broken Princess: Ruthless Rulers Book 3

by Hart, Stella

  My Willow.

  My princess.

  The one bright light on a horizon that had never looked darker.

  16

  Logan

  I could barely see a thing through the white mist swirling thickly around me. I knew Willow was out there, though, somewhere beyond the cold, choppy waves surrounding my boat. I just knew it.

  After wiping a spray of saltwater off my face, I squinted through the fog to see the dark outline of Jamie’s island up ahead. I slowed the boat to a crawl and steered it slightly south.

  The coastline on the side I was approaching was entirely barren. A rocky, snow-flecked beach led up to a vertical granite cliff face, too tall to see beyond from the water. No vegetation, no sign of life, and no way up the rock face. Anyone passing through the area by boat could be forgiven for thinking the isle was completely desolate and unused.

  I knew better. Around the other side, there was a proper coastline, pale brown sands creating a thick band between the waves and the towering pine trees beyond. There was a sizable landing spot for boats and planes on the south side, and a wide path stretched about a quarter-mile to the north before veering off to the center of the island where the house stood.

  I could’ve landed directly on the island with a small plane, but I’d chosen to fly to Fire Island instead before taking the motorboat thirty miles east. That way I’d have the element of surprise when I showed up on Jamie’s doorstep. He wouldn’t have time to spirit Willow away again, and he’d also be thrown off his game for the first time in days, giving me the upper hand.

  The ideal situation would’ve been to land here while Jamie was back in the city, so I could save Willow unimpeded, but unfortunately, he’d returned to the island a few hours ago, according to Rowan. It made the rescue mission ten times harder, but in the end, it was probably for the best. It would be a lot easier to dispose of him here than anywhere else where he might have protection from his family or Order associates.

  I just had to play a game with him first. Act like I wasn’t here to kill him. That way he wouldn’t try to pull some murder-suicide shit with Willow the second he saw me on the threshold. That would be my worst nightmare.

  After landing the boat, I tied it to a pole and trudged up the island path. The skies above were blanketed in thick clouds of gray, and little flakes of snow were drifting through the air, carried on a wild breeze blowing through from the east. It was freezing, but the thought of holding Willow warmed me from the inside out.

  I slowed down as I drew closer to the house, being careful to mask the sound of my footsteps on the crunchy dead leaves and pebbles. When I reached the front door, I patted my pocket to ensure my gun was still there, and then I knocked three times.

  Jamie opened the door a few minutes later, eyes wide and forehead creased in a harried expression. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, right arm snaking behind him toward a dark hardwood cabinet.

  I held up a palm. “Before you grab the gun sitting on that sideboard, you should know something,” I said. “I have a notebook with my story, current location, and a USB filled with evidence and recordings stashed in a safety deposit box back in D.C. If I’m not home in twelve hours, an associate of mine is going to release the contents of that box to everyone we know. That includes my mother.” I paused and cocked my head to one side. “Do you want her to know what you’ve done, Jamie? Do you want her to know you betrayed her and put her operation at risk just so you could steal Willow for yourself?”

  His eyes widened even more, and the arm behind his back began to tremble, hovering close to his pistol but never touching it. “You know what I did?” he asked in a hollow voice.

  “Of course I do,” I said, lips curving up in a small smile. “I know everything. You’re just fucking lucky I decided not to tell Mom about all of this shit. Yet.”

  He swallowed hard. “You actually know who she is?”

  I scoffed. “Yes. I’ve always known who she is.”

  “That’s not possible. She told me—”

  I held up my hand again, cutting him off. “I know what she told you. That I’m oblivious to everything, and that I know absolutely nothing about her being Q or what the Order really gets up to. It’s all part of her game, Jamie. I can’t believe you never figured that out.”

  “What game?”

  “Her game to get people like you to do whatever the fuck she wants,” I said with a smirk. “She’s been grooming me for years to take over from her as the leader when she retires, but I bet you thought it was you, didn’t you? You thought she’d hand the reins to you if you just licked her boots enough and did whatever she said.”

  The look of stark shock in his eyes told me I was right. My mother had led him to believe that he might be the Order’s next supreme leader one day. Now that I was making him think that I’d been the successor all along, his whole world was crashing down around him.

  “She told me she wanted it to be Chloe,” he muttered. “But when we had to get rid of her, she said…” He trailed off and scrubbed a hand over his face.

  “I know. She implied that it might be you instead. But it’s not.”

  “Fucking bitch,” he said under his breath, hand still covering half of his face.

  “Sorry to wreck your power-tripping fantasies,” I said, smirk growing wider. “Anyway, now that you know you’re just another meaningless pawn to her, what do you think will happen to you if I tell her that you stole Willow from the prince after the auction and covered it up with that missile attack? You risked exposing the Order to the world when you did that, because if the Keshari royals ever figure out the truth, they could tell everyone what Mom does up at Lilith Hall in retaliation.”

  “I know,” Jamie said, straightening his shoulders. “But I thought I played it well enough. No one has any idea.”

  “Except me,” I said, lifting a brow. “And that could change, depending on how you treat me today.”

  His eyes narrowed. “How did you find out?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “Right. So what exactly are you doing here?” he asked, folding his arms. “Trying to kill me as revenge for getting one past Q?”

  “If I wanted you dead, I’d just tell her what you did,” I said. “Now, are you going to let me in?”

  He stepped aside, shooting me a wary look as I shook the sand and snowflakes off my boots. “Why haven’t you told her?” he asked.

  “Because I have my own agenda,” I said with a nonchalant shrug. “An agenda involving Willow. I can’t say I’m happy with the way you took her, but I am happy that she didn’t end up with Prince Darius. Even though she can be a nightmare to deal with, I’ve actually been missing her lately. You know what I mean, right?”

  Jamie folded his arms. “You miss fucking her.”

  I stretched my lips into a grin, though it felt more like a grimace. “Yeah. I’m sure you know why,” I said. "I mean, I assume you’ve tried her out by now.”

  He shook his head. “I made her blow me yesterday, but I didn’t have time for anything else. I had to go back to the White House for a while.”

  I swallowed thickly. The knowledge that he’d forced Willow to suck his cock made a blazing inferno of rage spiral through my system, but I was comforted by the fact that it wasn’t as much of a violation as him forcing his way into her ass or pussy.

  “It sucks that you have to work so much,” I said, forcing a breezy tone. “But I guess it’s all part of the master plan, huh? Infiltrate the president’s office and so on. All for the greater good.”

  “Right. You know, you didn’t fully answer my question,” he replied. “What are you doing here? You didn’t just come to visit because you miss fucking Willow. So what do you want?”

  “I want to work out a deal,” I said.

  “A deal?” he said, arching his brows.

  “Yes. I want to come here and use her for whatever I want whenever I feel like it, and you’re going to let me do that. In return, I’l
l keep my mouth shut about what you did,” I said. “I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it, but you don’t really have a choice, because if you say no or try to screw me over in any way, I’ll release the contents of that safety deposit box. Then my mother will know the truth, and you’ll be dead within a day.”

  Jamie’s nostrils flared, and he clenched his jaw. He looked like he wanted to shove a spike through my eye, but then his shoulders slumped, and he waved a hand. “Fine,” he muttered.

  I smiled. “I’m glad we could work something out,” I said. “Now show me where you’re keeping her. I want to see her.”

  He nodded over my shoulder. “That way. Down the hall, third door on the left.”

  I turned and took five steps before hearing a loud click. I stopped dead as I felt the cold barrel of a gun pressing against the back of my head.

  “You’re smart, but not smart enough to never let anyone get behind you,” Jamie said, voice dripping with disdain. “Hasn’t your mother taught you anything?”

  I stayed calm, refusing to give him the reaction he was looking for. “Think about what you’re doing, man. If anything happens to me out here, my associate will release everything in that box. I thought I made that clear.”

  “I don’t care,” he replied. “Willow is mine now. I’m not sharing her with you or anyone else.”

  “You don’t care?” I said incredulously. “You know what happens when my friend releases all of that shit, right? You’ll be just as dead as me.”

  “That’s not necessarily true. You said he’ll release it if you aren’t back in twelve hours. Way I see it, that gives me eleven and a half hours to get the fuck outta Dodge after I kill you for coming here.”

  “You’ll never get away with that shit. My mother will find you. You know that.”

  He scoffed. “She’s not as smart as she thinks. Not anymore. She’s lost her edge, and we both know it,” he said. “I’ve got places to hide. She’ll never find me. Or Willow, either. All she’ll find is you floating in the water out here.”

  “You really don’t have to do that,” I said.

  “Yes, I do. I don’t want to share Willow.”

  “How about just once?” I asked, tilting my head slightly to the side.

  “I told you, I don’t fucking share.”

  I slowly raised a hand. “It wouldn’t exactly be sharing,” I said. “We’d do it together. I always wanted to see her take two cocks at a time. I just never got around to it.”

  I felt the gun slip slightly. “Are you serious? You want to fuck her together?”

  “Yeah. That’s her worst nightmare. Two men she fucking hates. One in her mouth, one in her ass. Or however we want it, really,” I said. “Do you have any idea how loud she’ll scream? How much it’ll hurt her? She’ll be all kinds of broken.”

  Jamie grunted. “I suppose so.”

  “Just let me have this, man. Like a parting gift. She was mine first, and I’m not exactly thrilled to give her up forever.”"

  The gun barrel pressed against my head again. “How do I know you won’t fuck me over afterwards?”

  “Because if we do this, we both win, so I won’t have any reason to screw you over. I’ll go home satisfied, and you’ll get to stay here with Willow. You won’t need to worry about escaping today, changing your identity, and spending the rest of your life on the run from my mom and everyone else.”

  “I don’t know,” he muttered.

  “There’s more,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “Mom won’t be the Order leader for much longer. She knows she’s getting older. Losing her touch. I’ll be taking over within the next five years.”

  “So?”

  “So if you do me a big favor now, I’ll remember it in the future.”

  “How?” Jamie asked. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell by his tone that I’d piqued his interest.

  “When I become the leader, I can keep you on as my right hand man instead of throwing you out and picking a new one. Unlike my mother, I’ll actually be honest with you about everything. I won’t play with you and promise you all sorts of shit that you’ll never get, but you’ll still get everything you want within reason.” I slowly turned around and looked into Jamie’s eyes. “None of that can happen if you put a bullet in my head today, can it?”

  “I suppose not,” he said, lips curving in a faint smile. “But you need to promise me that it’s just this once. Promise that you won’t come here later demanding to fuck her by yourself.”

  I shook my head. “After I leave, I promise I’ll never step foot on this island again.”

  I meant those words with every inch of my soul.

  Jamie’s eyes narrowed slightly. “How can you promise that when you claim to miss fucking her so much?”

  “You’ll just have to trust me,” I said, steeling my jaw. “And I’ll just have to get over it and find a new piece of pussy. Willow might be special, but there’s a lot of special girls out there. Won’t be hard for a guy like me to find a better one eventually.”

  Jamie went silent for a long moment. Then he finally nodded and put his gun down on the cabinet. “All right. We can do this,” he said. A lecherous gleam had appeared in his eyes now. “Just give me the gun that you’ve been trying to hide in your back pocket first.”

  “Of course.” I pulled it out and handed it to him, smiling thinly. I didn’t need to worry about him changing his tune and shooting me. He trusted me now. I’d earned it by promising him the world when I ascended to the uppermost echelons of the Order.

  He put my gun on the cabinet. Then he stepped past me and headed down the hall. “Well?” he said, glancing at me over his shoulder with one brow raised. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

  17

  Willow

  Leaning close to the bathroom mirror, I brushed dark gray eyeshadow in the creases above my eyes, extending it outward to the edge of my brows. Then I carefully drew thick black lines across my eyelids before applying several coats of mascara. I topped the look off with bright red liquid lipstick.

  When I stepped back to assess my appearance, I realized I’d made myself look like a completely different person with the makeup Jamie had given me. It wasn’t intentional, but something told me it was a subconscious survival instinct. Perhaps if I turned myself into a different girl whenever he was about to abuse me, I could disappear inside myself for a while. Let the other girl take the pain and suffering.

  With a sigh, I took a few steps over to the other side of the bathroom to get a look at myself in the full-length mirror. Jamie had commanded me to dress myself up in lingerie and ‘look sexy’, but when my gaze skated over the black and cream bustier and thong set he’d given me, along with a matching garter, high heels and sheer black stockings, I didn’t feel sexy at all. I just felt cheap and pathetic.

  Jamie hadn’t fucked me yet—he hadn’t had time over the last day to command anything other than a quick blowjob from me—but I knew it was coming.

  Today.

  He’d returned earlier this afternoon, handed me a bag of makeup and lingerie, and told me to prepare myself before heading upstairs to get a different room ready for us. That was half an hour ago, and I knew without a doubt that when he came back to fetch me, I would be expected to spread my legs for him.

  I wasn’t going to fight it. I no longer saw the point. If I tried, he would beat me and force me into sex afterwards anyway. I would rather avoid that pain and get it over and done with. It was still rape, because I wasn’t exactly consenting, but it was better than being raped after having the crap beaten out of me.

  I returned to the bathroom vanity and blotted my lipstick with a tissue. As I did so, I heard something out in the hall. I frowned and stood up straight, cocking my head to one side.

  I could’ve sworn I heard Logan’s voice, but that was ridiculous. He couldn’t be here. No way.

  Shoulders slumping, I returned my focus to my mouth, carefully wiping off a bit of lipstick that had transferr
ed to one of my front teeth.

  “Willow! Where are you?”

  My heart sank as I heard Jamie’s voice at my bedroom door. “I’m in here,” I said weakly. “Getting ready like you told me.”

  “Come out here. I have a surprise for you.”

  I swallowed hard and turned to exit the bathroom. When I saw the man standing in the doorway of my room, my jaw dropped, and my heart began to race like mad.

  It was Logan. He really was here.

  “Logan!” I squealed and hurried forward, only to be stopped in my tracks when Jamie stuck an arm out in front of me.

  “Don’t embarrass yourself, Willow,” he said coldly.

  I ignored him. “You’re… you’re here,” I said. My pulse was going at a million miles an hour, heart threatening to burst right out of my ribcage from the shock.

  Jamie spoke up again. “He’s not here to save you, sweetheart,” he said, smugly jutting his chin out. “Don’t you think I would’ve dealt with him by now if he was?”

  “What? What is he talking about?” I asked, staring back at Logan. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, gaze stabbing right through me.

  “I didn’t come here to take you home, Willow,” he finally said.

  I shuffled back a step, brows knitting as the stark shock morphed into pure confusion. “I don’t understand. What’s happening?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “Really? Are you actually that stupid?” Logan took one step forward, lips curving into a smirk. “Why the fuck would you think I came to get you out of here?”

  I shook my head as confusion roiled in my guts. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  “Because you’re a fucking nightmare and everything is easier without you around,” he went on, eyes stony and expression unruffled. “There’s just one thing I miss.”

  His gaze pointedly coasted over my body during that last sentence. Despite the lingerie covering at least a quarter of my skin, I felt completely naked and vulnerable. “Logan, I don’t….”