Glitter (Glitter Duology #1)(96)
“Calm yourself,” Reginald says from behind the flowers when I gasp, scarcely looking at me as he takes the place of the now-unconscious woman he just left lying on the floor behind that closed door. “We’re walking calmly to the end of the wing, carrying flowers, that’s all.”
My heart jolts as despair is replaced by hope so quickly my brain struggles to adjust. My guards don’t so much as twitch, and remembering the restraining hand on my shoulder, I realize they’re not palace guards at all—or if they are, they take their pay from more than one employer. Saber told me Reginald had power.
We continue down the hallway at such a leisurely pace I want to scream. But when we approach a window at the end of the hall, I see Reginald’s hand thrust forward with some kind of remote in it, and a green light flashes from the window sash. Still not slowing our steps, we all stride toward the window, and Reginald sets the huge mass of flowers down and tosses back the drapes.
The window is open and, if I’m lucky, just wide enough for my gown to fit through. Reginald steps over the sash as though it were nothing more than a crack in the floor, and the two guards in front of me do the same. When my turn comes, I hardly know where to start. I duck my tall hair under the window frame and lift my silk skirts to thrust one high-heeled shoe out and over the window ledge, where Reginald grasps me just above the knee and pulls at the front of my gown. Not my most graceful moment.
I feel utterly ridiculous as I practically dive through and fall into the waiting arms of one of the guards, but I defy anyone in meter-wide skirts to do better. Two seconds later the guards behind me step through the window, Reginald raises his remote again, the window closes, and I’m outside the palace!
I have little enough time to enjoy my escape, as Reginald immediately—and none too gently—shoves me into a waiting SUV. But escaping maidens in distress can hardly be choosy. Ten more seconds and the door of the vehicle closes, and we’re gliding around the side of the palace and down a narrow lane. The cars and crowds of wedding traffic are all relegated to the other side, so there’s no one here to see us or impede our progress.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” I say, turning in my seat to see the Palace of Versailles receding from view as we traverse the small, barely paved service road.
“I want my five million euros,” Reginald replies in his typical gauche fashion. “Where is it?”
“At the dance studio where we usually meet.”
“As I suspected,” he grumbles, but he leans forward to whisper directions to his driver. When we arrive at Giovanni’s ten minutes later, the car pulls right up to the stoop, so it’s difficult for anyone to see me as I slide from the vehicle and through the front door.
“We’ll have to hurry,” Reginald warns as I stand next to Giovanni, grasping his hand and whispering. “I’ll take you somewhere to change clothes after this, but right now I need to get as much distance between us and Sonoman-Versailles as possible.”
“It’s upstairs,” Giovanni says, finding his voice after I’ve given him the barest of bare-bones explanations. “In duffels. Prepacked. Everything ready to go.”
Once Reginald has headed upstairs with his cronies, I spin and say to Giovanni, “Help me.” I lift my unwieldy skirts and gesture for him to hold them as I dig out the sack of euros from my panniers to make up what’s missing from the closet. I don’t want Reginald to see how much I have left over. Just in case. I also don’t want him to know I have the ten vials of pure Glitter he gave me two days ago. I just can’t bring myself to put them back into his hands.
In less than a minute the guards clomp down the stairs, each carrying a black duffel. “This is the rest,” I say when Reginald descends with a sour look on his face. I proffer a large stack of euros and the expression disappears.
“We don’t have a problem, then. Let’s be on our way.”
I spin to Giovanni, tears springing to my eyes. He looks pained—he wants to say something, to ask questions, to interfere. Loyal to the last, he refrains. “Thank you so much,” I say, squeezing him tight. “You made this possible.”
He smiles and wipes a tear from my cheek. “I hope you’re making the right choice, chouchou,” he says simply, and my heart seems to drop within my chest.
“It’s a little late for that,” I say, choking on a building sob.
“Be happy, then.”
I can hardly bear hearing Saber’s words in Giovanni’s mouth, so I hide my face and hug him instead, and then Reginald is pulling me away.
“Hurry,” he snaps. “We don’t have time for this.” I wave once more as he bodily sweeps me out the door.
I sit facing Reginald in the black SUV and finally breathe a sigh and let all of the muscles in my body relax. How long have they been clenched? Weeks?
“Did you know my father’s in the clinic?” I ask softly, my eyes closed as I lean my head back against the seat.
“Withdrawal?” Reginald asks.
“Saber was carrying the patches when we were searched.”
“My mistake,” Reginald says genially. “I should have handed them to you. You were always safer.”
“Perhaps.” I open my eyes and meet his gaze. “But will you…will you watch out for him?”
Reginald waves his hand. “He’ll be okay. Withdrawal is a bitch, but your father’s in better physical shape than he appears.”