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“Get rid of it,” the prince said grimly before slowly turning to walk back to where his limousine was waiting, its engine still running. He pulled his phone out absently, sending a text message to Jason Christakos so his friend would know he had been delayed in leaving.
The prince heard footsteps behind him, and soon, Noah fell into step beside the prince.
“What time is it, Noah?”
The question was unexpected, but Noah was too well trained to show his surprise. He only checked his watch and answered, “A quarter past midnight, sir.”
Ah.Fifteen minutes,he thought. It had only taken him fifteen minutes to destroy the man who had hurt Fawn, but even so, he remained invulnerable to either guilt or remorse.
He really was the Prince of Darkness, after all.
“Do you believe I was too hard on Bennett?” the prince asked in a voice completely devoid of emotion.
“The boy had to be taught a lesson,” Noah answered grimly. “Being drunk doesn’t change a man. It only loosens the tongue, and what Bennett said was exactly what he was thinking—-”
The prince’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You do know you’re making me want to get Bennett back here again and beat the shit out of him, don’t you?”
“Do you want me to get him back, sir?” Noah asked dutifully.
“Thank you for the offer,” the prince said politely, “but let’s not risk that. I might end up killing him next time.”
A veiled look touched the prince’s eyes, and seeing it, Noah knew that the master could only be thinking of one person. And when the prince spoke again, he knew he was right.
“Fawn will probably be frightened,” the prince murmured without inflection, “once she finds out about what I did.”
“No, sir.” And Noah meant it.If anyone here was frightened—-
The prince’s lips twisted. “But if she is, it’s probably better that way. My life is not for her. The kind of person I am...is not for someone like her.”
It was Reid Chalkias himself,Noah thought, who seemed unable to accept that he had found someone to care for more than anything else – and the fact that the same person happened to care for the Prince of Darkness more than anything else as well.
“You were merely bluffing, sir,” Noah said finally. “There’s nothing wrong with that, you only wanted to make sure the message got across.”
The prince only nodded, even though Noah was wrong. He had not been bluffing the entire time. Therehadonly been one bullet inside his gun, and he had no idea when the gun would fire off with ammunition.
“IF YOU DON’T LEAVEsoon,” Igor said gently the next day, “you might be late for your meeting with the student council,signorina.”
Reluctantly turning away from the driveway, Fawn glanced back at Igor with a forced smile, saying, “I’m not even surprised you know my schedule as well as I do.”
“Security’s been instructed to shoot to kill if Mr. Bennett makes one wrong move.”
Since the words were spoken with a straight face, she said weakly, “You’re joking...right?”
But it was as if Igor hadn’t heard a thing and instead the older man opened the car door for her, saying with a respectful bow,“Have a good day in school,signorina.Please do not hesitate to call if you need any kind of assistance.”
As Igor gently but firmly ushered Fawn inside her car, she could no longer help herself and blurted out, “Have you heard from the prince?”
“No,signorina.”
“I see.” But the truth was, she didn’t, and his absence hurt. “He told me he’d be here.” And it wasn’t like the prince at all to break his word.
Seeing the fear lurking in Fawn’s gaze, Igor deliberately attempted to lighten the mood, saying, “The day has arrived then.”
Fawn blinked. “What day?”
“The day,” he intoned seriously, “that thesignorinahas become quiteclingy.”
Fawn’s jaw dropped.