Page 126 of Uncrowned

“What about Katia?”

I glanced up to Theodore. His expression was serious as he stared down at me. “She’s part of the Jane Doe Foundation. She’s American, and riskier. Technically, she should be off limits.”

“Technically,” The Reeve parroted. “Off limits to you, Sire. Perhaps what you don’t know… and all.”

My lips tugged back.

“Maybe she gets lost within the cells for a while like Marian. She’s a fighter. Trained with the best. She’d be dangerous. Fun for your men.”

A glint flashed in The Reeve’s eyes.

“They do like a good challenge.”

“I guess we’ll see if they get lucky. She robbed me of precious time away from Penelope. She turned her against me. She hurt her with her lies. As far as I’m concerned, Katia Marchase can rot down there like the rat she is.”

The Reeve bowed. “It is settled.”

I leaned back in my chair, studying the two men who were just as ready to begin as I was.

I’d have Penelope back in a matter of days.

By the time she realized I was there… it would be too late.

CHAPTER 43

Penelope

Six months of silence from Vaughn felt like a lifetime when every day was spent pretending to be someone you weren't. At first, I counted the days. The hours. The fucking agonizing minutes.

I told myself that if I could just survive or fight hard enough something would change. Someone would come. A mistake would be made. An opportunity would appear.

For weeks after sending Vaughn that final message, I barely slept. Every sound outside my door made my heart race. Every look from a stranger in the lobby made my pulse jump.

I waited for him. I waited for some sort of chaos. I expected men to run in. For alarms to scream out. For Vaughn to force his way back into my life the way he always did—violent, possessive, unstoppable. I waited for a miracle.

The chaos never came.

Silence did.

At first, I convinced myself it was part of the plan. He was waiting. He’d come when the moment was right.

Weeks stretched into months…

Silence.

I should have felt relieved. Instead, it left me hollow. The man who once threatened kings for me had vanished without a single gesture. Maybe Katia was right. Maybe I’d never been anything more than a pawn. A mistake. Weak. One… of many.

Even now, the thought made my chest ache.

To think about Vaughn was too much. It was dangerous. Not because I feared folding and running back to him, but because the truth had become harder to sort from the lies.

Katia made sure of that.

She told me stories about women. About manipulation. She’d go into examples of his obsessive ways. She’d feed me violent little lullabies about who Vaughn Masterson truly was.

Whether the stories were real or not, I didn’t know. But I was sure they had done their job. Each one had broken something inside of me. With brokenness at the foundation of my identity, it was easy to slip back into that role. I played the frightened girl. The damaged heiress. I was the scared mouse again. I had become exceptionally good at playing that part.

Every day inside Grove Square followed the same careful routine. I worked under Marian. I trained with Elliot or her every evening. I kept my head down, and I followed the rules just enough to earn small freedoms.