Chapter 249

I quietly watch while Innocent tears into the food Tessa brought him. Kane is right outside the dining room, I can hear him pace up and down, feel the tension that rattles through him like bolts of electricity.

A lot hinges on this scheme of his, which I have to admit might work if we can pull it off. “So, Miss Jones,” The Pope says and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “You surely had me fooled, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I guess I did.”

Slowly, he nods. “I have to take some of the blame…I wanted to believe you turned over a new leaf.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh, on the contrary, you are quite the worthy adversary. It’s been a while since anyone challenged me as much as you have. It’s been…fun, for lack of a better word.”

Innocent still has the power to make me feel nervous and slightly hopeless. Now that he has washed, is dressed in clean clothes, and has eaten, he’s almost back to normal. Back to the man I met. He has that same, arrogant air of authority he had back at the stronghold. It’s as