Page 169

He inhaled deeply.
It was all he had left.
Faith.
When the Prince of Darkness descended from the jet with his family, he was as dark and as beautiful as everyone wanted him to be. All eyes were on him, and he played his role perfectly, charming the press, seducing the women that screamed his name because the trial had made him and his friends even more famous.
It was as if learning that they had suffered like any mortal being and yet managed to survive had turned them into gods overnight, and the prince’s bodyguards had to work doubly harder now, preventing women from literally throwing themselves at the prince.
After depositing his parents in their hotel room, the prince went straight to the party his staff had arranged ahead of time, and there the hysteria seemed even a hundred times worse. Women were actually undressing themselves in hopes of capturing his attention, and knowing that his every movement was being watched—-
The prince allowed his fingers to touch another woman’s breasts—-
His body to brush another woman’s body—-
His lips to touch another woman’s mouth—-
All the while feeling sick inside, knowing that while every fucking slut in the world was throwing herself at him, anything could be happening to Fawn—-
Anything—-
Anything—-
A girl suddenly flung herself at him, and for one moment his fingers tightened around her neck.
Temptation licked at him.
If he could fucking sell his soul to the devil now in exchange for her safety, if he fucking killed this girl in the devil’s honor—-
The prince pushed the girl away.
Have faith.
The music around him throbbed. The hours crawled past. The women moaned for him.
And the prince remained at the center of it all.
Pretensions made the world go fucking round.
His phone rang at four in the morning, and the sound made the prince accidentally snap the stem of the wine glass in his hands as he recognized the ringtone.
It was Noah.
His hand started to bleed, but he was immune to the pain.
He answered the call, saying hoarsely, “Just tell me if you got her back safe or not.”
Noah’s own voice was hoarse. “She’s safe, sir.”
He closed his eyes.
Thank You, God.
Tears fell.
“Do you want to speak to her, sir?”
“No.” He swallowed. “It’s all I needed to know.”