Page 96 of Stolen Princess

“You’re worse than all of them.” I rear back and punch him in the gut. I hope it hurts as much as the sucker punch he landed on me. With that, I take off, leaving Ferrin Morgan behind.

30

FERRIN

My heart drops into my feet as she runs from me. I hardly even felt the punch, though she hit me good. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. We were supposed to sit on a fucking rowboat and watch the lanterns together. I wanted that time with her. Even if it felt sappy and romantic, I wanted that fucking time. All of it. I wanted to hold her hand and kiss her and watch her face as she saw the night sky light up for her.

After that, I was going to tell her that I had spoken to the prince and that he was waiting to meet her.

Then the prince and his man had to fuck all that up, and she had to overhear the worst part. The reward. Something I hadn’t asked about, but he felt the need to mention. “If it’s her, you get the five-hundred-thousand-euro reward, but we have to confirm it’s her first.”

I knew there was a reward, but I never looked into it.

It doesn’t matter. It’s easier if she hates me and lets me go instead of holding onto something that can never be. It’s better to happen now instead of later. Except I can’t stand it. Just as I couldn’t drive away from her either. It’s making my fucking skin crawl.

Why can’t I let her go?

I also can’t have her running off like this. Goddammit, Desta, and fuck me for caring as much as I do.

I take off into a sprint, chasing after her, my hand in my pocket on my gun. If someone is going to act, seeing her run from me as the sun is setting and darkness is coming is the perfect time. Her blonde hair whips as she picks up speed, heading toward the lake that I was going to take her out on.

“Desta!” I call out only to mentally hit myself.

Shockingly, it has the desired effect, and she stops and spins around. “Don’t you dare call me that!”

I hold up my hands, stretching them out to her. “I’m sorry. That was dumb. I need you to listen to me⁠—”

“No!” she yells, walking backward toward the lake and the boats. There are people everywhere, and I’m positive many are watching us, but I don’t give a shit enough about them to look. “I’m done with this. With all of you manipulative assholes. You all want something from me, but no one cares about what I want. I watched people today. I saw families and smiles and happiness. It’s real. It’s not a lie.”

I take a step toward her, my hands still in front of me. “That’s what I’m trying to give you.”

She shakes her head. “By taking more choices away from me. By doing everything to serve yourself.”

She’s not wrong. I did take her choice away from her. It felt like the only way to make sure she was safe. With me, we’d always be looking over our shoulders. She’d be living on the other side of the law. What would she have? Lies and permanent unease. I teased her about her prince husband, but she could have that. She could have the family and the smiles and the happiness.

As much as it burns me up to think of her like that with someone else, the thought of her never having that feels worse.

I get closer to her, lowering my voice, but she turns and heads for the dock where the boats are secured. Most are already in the water, glowing with their lanterns, ready to launch. The boat I rented is sitting there, gently rocking in the small wake of the lake.

“It’s not safe out here,” I say in a low tone so my voice doesn’t carry.

She wipes her face as she glances up at the sky. The fucking lanterns. Any moment they’ll start, her dream of seeing them a reality, and it’s all gone to hell now, just like everything else does for her.

“That doesn’t concern you. It never really did.”

I grit my teeth. Nothing has concerned me more than keeping her safe.

“Please come with me.”

“Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere with you ever again. Stop following me. I don’t want to know you anymore. I want nothing to do with you.”

“Your brother wants to meet you. It’s not safe out here alone. Please.” I glance around, but there are shadows multiplying by the second, many of them coming from the forest on the other side of the lake.

She scoffs. “Right, because you won’t get your half a mil unless I’m alive and in one piece.”

She goes for the boat and climbs into it. Furiously, she works to untie it from the dock, and once that’s done, she shoves off, pushing herself out into the lake. I jog down, the wood planks loud against my feet as I pick up speed. I make a running jump, barely landing on the boat and not in the lake, causing it to rock violently.

“Oh my god! Just stop! I’ll make sure you get the reward you’re so hot for, but leave me alone! You’re a liar, an opportunist, and a con artist. I hate you. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”