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“What?” she asked fearfully.
“Does that mean the Merrill bitch will be present as well?”
She tried but failed to stop herself from grinning. “You really should stop calling her that.”
“Why should I when it’s the truth?” the prince dismissed with a shrug. “Will she be there?”
“Yes, but she won’t be a problem,” Fawn assured him. When the prince’s expression didn’t ease, a helpless smile curved on her lips, and she cajoled, “There’s really no need to worry, prince. Stop scowling, please.”
When it still didn’t work, she said, “Please,baby?”
The prince now looked like he was torn between strangling and fucking her, and she bit back a smile.He was so cute!But of course, after being with the prince for so many months now, she knew better than to say those words out loud.
When she stood up, the prince came to his feet as well, and Fawn hesitated before impulsively throwing her arms around him, whispering, “Thanks for always looking after me.”
“If you think that’s going to get you out of trouble, it won’t.”
She laughed against his chest, knowing by the way the prince’s arms tightened around her that he didn’t really mean it. “It’s really going to be okay, prince. Your evil plans worked perfectly. You and your friends sponsored a project for the council, you made it clear you’ll pull out support if someone messes with me, and voila.” Pulling away, she looked up at him, saying wryly, “I don’t even exist for her these days, and if she’s making a play on Grant, she isn’t doing it in front of me.”
Rising to her toes, she placed a kiss on the prince’s cheek—-
Ah.
“I’ll be okay.”
She pulled away, saying softly, “See you later.”
The prince watched her walk away.
Not once had she asked about why he wouldn’t kiss her.
And because she hadn’t, he knew they both knew that what they had wasn’t going to last forever.
And it did not.
Less than an hour had passed since Fawn left the compound when Davos made his move, sending a team of mercenaries in hopes of taking the prince by surprise and killing Beatrice Crichton before she was made to testify.
The attack was swift and well-coordinated, and it would have succeeded if not for the fact that every man working for the prince had never slacked on their training, and every one of them was also willing to die in the line of duty.
All of Davos’ men, including three former Marine snipers, were killed in action, and following it, the prince ordered Igor to double the security on Fawn and prevent her from coming back to the property.
The prince’s friends came to the compound half an hour later, converging in his study as the prince informed them of the attack and the impending change of plans resulting from it.
“Beatrice Crichton will be moved to my island as soon as my men confirm it’s safe to do so, and the rest of my staff will follow her there.” The prince looked at his friends. “You’re all in agreement with this?”
The Christakos twins nodded, and following that, so did Derek, Nathan, and Christien.
“Then that’s it. Everything else is as planned.”
Derek Christopoulos stared at him grimly. “Is it?”
The prince’s face became hard. “Everything essential, yes.”
“So enlighten us then,” Nathan Callis drawled. “What do you intend to do with Fawn Cornwall?”
“What do you fucking care?” the prince asked coldly.
Nathan’s teeth gnashed at the look on Reid’s face. “For fuck’s sake, Reid. You should know by now that there’s nothing between Fawn and me. We did that to get to you—-”