Page 101 of Stolen Princess

“Yes, but you’re not. And why is that?”

I shrug at the king, not wanting to explain myself or all the things that have happened. “You’ll understand when you meet her, but we have to get her back.”

Rowan’s fiancée stands and comes over to me, stopping right in front of me. The prince tenses but doesn’t stop her.

“Hi. I’m Marcella. Have you seen the woman who was holding her hostage? The woman who hired you to steal the tiara?”

I nod.

Her hand reaches around, and she pulls an ancient phone—similar to Desta’s—from her back pocket and holds it in front of me. “Is this the woman?”

I study the image. “Yes. That’s her. Fuck, you know her?” I look up at the woman. “Do you know where she could be?”

“We’ve been trying to find her for a few months. She’s evaded us. She wants me dead too. I know the woman you stole the tiara from originally as well. Do you?”

“Marie. Her name is Marie. She wasn’t the easiest to find. It took me a few months.”

“But you did find her,” the king charges.

“Yes. I found her. It’s how I got the tiara the first time. This A woman was obsessed with it. She was all over me while I was searching for it.” My eyes close, and my chest shakes. “She seems to love Desta and wants her back, but I’m not so certain it will stay that way now that she knows the truth about what’s been happening.”

“You keep calling her that,” the prince snaps. “How the fuck can you be so certain?”

I glare at him. “Tell me I’m wrong. Look at my fucking pictures and tell me I’m wrong!” My voice climbs as my desperation grows. “This woman fucking admitted it to her. While you’re sitting here debating something you know to be true, she’s in serious fucking danger.”

“What’s your angle with this?” the king questions.

“I…” I blow out a breath. “I was going to let her go. I was going to take the necklace and disappear.”

“Why?” he presses.

“Because guys like me don’t get to keep girls like her, but more importantly, she deserves a hell of a lot better than a murderous thief. She wants a family. She wants a life. I want her to have that.”

“You love her,” the prince says, not even as a question but with a touch of incredulous amusement in his tone.

I balk, making a disparaging noise. “I met her six days ago.” Only as I say the words, something inside me twists at my dismissiveness. I don’t know what love is. I’ve never seen it or felt it. I haven’t even been looking for it because I doubted it existed. Or, perhaps, I didn’t give it any real thought. Why would I?

But I’d burn down the fucking world for this girl.

I’d kill anyone who tried to hurt her, and that includes the people in this room. I’d give up the necklace and my freedom and everything else if it meant she was safe and happy. I didn’t hesitate when it came to her life over mine.

Is that love? Can such a thing bloom after such a short amount of time?

I don’t know. I’m not sure the answer matters all that much.

She hates me now. I know she does, and she should. I betrayed her trust when I called the royal family, and I didn’t dissuade her from thinking I was after the reward. It’s as it should be, but I can’t fucking handle the thought that she could be in danger or hurt. I want to kill Sven. I want to watch him bleed the way his brother did.

Thankfully, they don’t expect me to follow that up. The older gentleman places my phone in my hand, and I unlock it with my face that’s seen better days. Fucking Sven. When I get my hands on him, I’ll kill him slower than what I gave his brother. I’ll make it hurt like fuck.

I go through my pictures, skipping over the ones of us naked at the beach, and go to when she was shopping in the store before she was attacked.

“Here. This is her.”

The prince snatches the phone from me and walks over to the king to show him. The two stare at my phone, eyes wide and mouths agape before Rowan kicks the chair he had been sitting in. It shoots across the room and smashes into the wall without breaking.

The king is white as a sheet, his eyes locked on mine. “She has the same smile as my girls and the same eyes as our father.” He covers his face with his hands, breathing heavily.

“Where the fuck is she?” the prince barks.