Page 93 of Bitter Prince

In my entire life, I had never been in trouble with the law. Yet now, as I approached official adulthood, I was spending the night in jail. It wasn’t a good start.

Although, in my defense, I didn’t start it. I really didn’t. The day had been going so well. We spent hours lying on the beach, sipping pretty pink drinks. Then every so often, we’d dip in the water and repeat the process. When the music started later in the afternoon, we started dancing.

Raven cozied up to the DJ and convinced him to play a classic. Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood's “Somethin’ Bad” blasted through the speakers over the beach in Saint-Tropez. The song was our go-to. The French audience grumbled. We laughed, lip-synced, danced the two-step like cowgirls, and then upgraded to some line dancing, our rhythm completely off-beat.

Things started to go south when a guy grabbed Phoenix’s ass, pulling her against him to grind up on her. She kept pushing him away, but the dickhead refused to get the message.

So I punched him in the face.

When he turned his attention to me, our friends jumped in. Raven lost her shit, and all hell broke loose. It reminded me of a cowboy bar fight I saw onYellowstone, minus the cowboys.

And that was how we landed ourselves in a French jail.

“I’m sorry, Reina.” It was Raven’s twenty-first apology. I counted them. It wasn’t her fault. The guy started it. We just ended it.

“Don’t be,” I told her tiredly, pinching the bridge of my nose. I had nothing but my bathing suit on since the beach patrol refused to let us grab our clothes. Goosebumps broke over my skin and I shivered. Fucking French beach patrol. They probably wanted to ogle us and torture us since we acted like American bitches. “I hope you broke his nose.”

The girls murmured in agreement and I cuddled further into Phoenix, hoping to absorb some of her heat.

“We wanted you to have a good day,” Phoenix signed.

“It was good.” Relatively speaking. “We had tons of ice cream. And drinks.”

Although now, after hours of sitting in a detainment cell, I wished we’d had the good sense to at least eat some solids. Anxiety spread through me. I’d have to call Grandma, but for some reason, we hadn’t been granted a free call yet.

“Do you think we’ll get our phone call?” I asked.

We all shared a look, clueless, since we’d never gotten arrested before. “Maybe,” Athena muttered. “I’m not sure if they’ll let us call collect to another country though.”

The jail cell door slid open and a female cop appeared. Fuck, she looked so comfy and warm under all her clothes while we were freezing our butts off over here.

“Follow me,” she announced in a heavy French accent.

My heart drummed in my ears as I stepped out of the cell, my bare feet cold on the concrete. My sister and friends were right behind me and I wondered whether they were my backup or I was their sacrificial lamb. I couldn’t quite decide.

With heavy steps, we followed the cop down the corridor. Whistles and jeers bounced off the walls and echoed down the hallway. If there was ever a low in my life, this had to be it.

I flicked a glance over my shoulder, noting the same dread on my sister’s and friends’ faces. We were unsure where this would lead us, and I hated the fear creeping under my skin.

I wrapped my hands around my waist, just as the cop came to a fork at the end of the hallway.

“Can I make a birthday wish?” I rasped, pushing my curls out of my face. “I want to enter adulthood as a free woman.”

The female police officer shot me a cool look, clearly telling me I wouldn’t be getting any mercy from her. My cheeks went hot with frustration and humiliation. The worst part was that we had nobody to blame but ourselves.

I sighed heavily as she turned right.

The door opened and I stepped into the reception area. Amon and his brother waited in the exit area, their expressions grim and tension rolling off them.

Amon crossed the room in three long strides and cupped my cheeks. Worry blazed in his eyes as they roamed over me. “Are you okay?”

“Maybe he’s a keeper for our Reina,” Raven muttered. “He came to the rescue.”

“W-what are you doing here?” I rasped in confusion, ignoring my friend’s snark. I didn’t have energy for it right now. “How did you find me?”

Dark amusement passed his expression. “You didn’t think I’d leave you sitting in that cell for your birthday, did you?”

I released a shaky breath. “How did you know?”