We move through another door and into a dim corridor lined with storage rooms. The fluorescent buzz fades behind us, and the concrete turns into old stone. A door slams behind us.
“They’re down here!” A guard’s voice echoes off the walls. “I heard them!”
“Shit,” Louis whispers and drags me through the nearest door into a dark stairwell, pressing me against the wall in the shadows with his body covering mine.
Footsteps thunder past us. His body is warm against me as we wait. My heartbeat thuds hard in my chest as I see a flashlight on the wall. We both go still, and I almost stop breathing.
Eventually, the light moves, and the footsteps fade away. We stay frozen for another ten seconds, then another, making sure.
“Clear?” I whisper.
“Think so.”
His hand is braced beside my head, and I follow the line of his jaw to the curve of his mouth.
“Tonight was torture for me.”
“I know. I was there.”
His lips brush my ear, and I shiver. “You look incredible in this dress.”
“I’ll look even better with it off.”
He breathes out against my neck. “You drive me wild. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
We climb the stairs and slip into an older corridor with oil lamps in brass sconces. This part of the palace feels forgotten, like we’ve stepped back a century. The passages get narrower and older until the hallway dead-ends at a stone wall.
I look at him with my brows raised. “Are we lost?”
“No.”
He presses a sequence of stones, and one of the blocks clicks. A section swings inward on silent hinges, and he pulls me through. The hidden door closes behind us, sealing us into darkness.
“One second.”
A match flares. His face appears in a warm glow as he lights an oil lamp on the wall, and then the others follow in line. The room comes into view—with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stuffed with books, a fireplace with logs already stacked, a velvet sofa the color of wine that sags in the middle with age.
“Where are we?”
“A secret sitting room.” He crosses to the fireplace and crouches to arrange the kindling. “I was a nosy kid, but also extremely nerdy. In my free time, I learned everything about the grounds and uncovered every secret I could. That’s when I discovered this place.” The match catches, and flames lick up through the logs. “No one’s been here in decades except me.”
I drop my high heels next to the couch and move to the window. I pull back the heavy curtain just enough to peek out. The palace grounds are swarming with guards and guests.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
Louis comes up behind me, looks over my shoulder, and shakes with laughter.
“This isn’t funny,” I say.
“I find it fucking hilarious.”
He lets the curtain fall, and I turn to face him.
“I’m actually afraid of what will happen,” I confess.
His hands settle on my hips, and he pulls me closer. “Tomorrow, I’ll speak to my father.”
“And if he disagrees?” I ask.
