Forgiving Paris: A Novel(22)

But that wasn’t going to happen. Not tonight. With clear understanding of the facts he made his way to the massive front doors of the Palace. One of Anders’s housemaids answered and pointed him to a room off the foyer. The same room where—earlier in the day—Jack had been introduced to Eliza.

He didn’t have to wait long. A massive man carrying an assault rifle entered, and without saying a word he escorted Jack two floors up a spiral staircase. Jack felt his heart rate quicken. Were the guards always like this? So intense? Jack stayed cool. He’s on to me. How could he be on to me?

Never mind, Jack was ready. He memorized every detail of the walk up. Windows and hallways and the number of rooms each floor seemed to have. Guards at the end of each hallway. When they raided this place in three days, he would need to know where the exits were, and how best to handle the guards.

The burly man led Jack down the hallway on the third floor to a door trimmed in gold. Much nicer than the other doors that lined the hall. Don’t think about what’s happening behind those doors, he told himself. Just get in the room and make the pitch.

Jack’s escort opened the door. “The walls are thick. You have an hour.”

And like that, Jack was inside Eliza’s soundproof room. Alone with her.





CHAPTER EIGHT


For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

—Ezekiel 34:11–12



No matter how indifferent or angry Eliza wanted to appear, she couldn’t get around the truth. She was scared to death.

When Henry Thomas entered the room, Eliza rose from her enormous satin-covered bed. She stood and pulled her robe around her shivering body. Her father’s voice echoed in her head. Be kind to him, Eliza. I’ve been planning this since you were nine years old.

The guard outside the door had given her a different kind of warning.

“Don’t disappoint your father, Eliza.” That’s all he had to say. Something like hatred dripped from every word.

Eliza’s hair was a mass of pale curls, and her makeup made her look like a model in a bridal magazine. She wore a floor-length pink silk robe and she moved to the other side of the room, where she sat on a high-backed swivel princess chair. Henry Thomas closed the door behind him.

Their eyes met, but only for a few seconds before Eliza looked away. In days she’d be married to this man. But she couldn’t stand the thought of being in the same room with him. Let alone… She felt sick to her stomach.

Earlier on the beach, he had tried to be cavalier. But Henry Thomas didn’t have the eyes of a demon. After eleven years at the Palace, watching men come and go to the other girls’ rooms, Eliza knew the difference.

It was time. She stood, and as she did, her robe opened just enough to show Henry Thomas a flash of leg and her four-inch high heels. Don’t disappoint your father … don’t disappoint— If there was any way out she would take it. Instead she blinked twice and said the only thing she could say. “This… is my first time.”

Henry Thomas didn’t take his eyes off hers. He slipped out of his shoes and shirt, then he slowly crossed the room and put his hands on her shoulders. His fingers were like velvet. “Eliza.” He searched her eyes. “I’m not Henry Thomas.”

“Okay.” She forced a laugh, her robe still tight around her. Underneath it she wore a backless silk gown. But no man had ever seen her in such skimpy clothing. She would put off the inevitable as long as she could. Be kind to him… Eliza dropped her robe and leaned away from him at the same time. What did he mean, he wasn’t Henry Thomas? “You want me to call you something else? Mr. Ellington, maybe?”

“Eliza, no.” His expression changed. “Don’t scream.” He still had his hands on her shoulders. “I’m a special agent with the FBI. We’re about to conduct a raid on the Palace and close it down. We need your help.”

“What?… No!” Eliza shook her head. “Never!” Her heart pounded so hard she thought it would break out of her chest. How could this happen?

She was days from being married, days from leaving the Palace and finding a way to escape. And now this… this man had chosen her to help him take down her father? They would all die. She tried to jerk away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go.

“Stop.” His grip on her tightened. “Let me explain.”

“Get away from me!” She knew how to take care of this stranger. She tilted her head back. “Asia! Hel—”

But before she could scream, the man spun her around and pressed her bare back tight against his chest. He covered her mouth with one hand and contained her with the other. “Eliza… I’m telling you the truth. My name is Luke and I work for the FBI. Your father is a very dangerous man. He killed your friend Alexa and he’ll kill you, too, if you go against him. You have to believe me.”

Fear grabbed at Eliza’s throat and she felt the fight leave her. So her father had arranged for Alexa’s murder. Of course. And this man knew all about it. Which meant… he must be telling the truth.

“You’ve assisted your father in trafficking the younger girls.” The man’s voice was clear, decisive. “You’ll spend years behind bars, Eliza. Or you’ll be killed by him. Once he doesn’t need you for his power play.”