And it was funny as hell.
I think I’m about to laugh again, Jason’s smirking gaze told his older brother.
Nick subtly shook his head, his lips twitching. You have to remember we’re more honorable than that. He nodded towards the prince. We don’t beat someone who’s already down.
Jason’s gaze became thoughtful. So I suppose this means we should wait for Reid to recover just a bit, and then we can laugh—-
The twins suddenly sensed being subjected to a deadly stare, and when they turned to face Reid, the prince said coldly, “I liked you two better when you were at each other’s throats.”
Jason and Nick looked at each other.
He seems recovered.
Then I guess we can—-
The twins started laughing again.
The prince’s expression became even stonier as he wondered whether this was enough reason to put an end to their friendship. It would feel extremely good to beat their too-pretty faces up right now, the prince mused.
Nathan glanced at the way Reid was eyeing his knuckles and then the twins, who were still smirking. Realizing it was time to play mediator again, he said mildly, “Don’t mind them. You know they only want to get back at you for taking the role of knight in shining armor when they were having trouble with their own women.”
The twins stopped laughing and started scowling, neither of them wanting to be reminded of the past.
The office phone rang then, and Derek stood up to take the call. When it was over, Derek had a grim look on his face. “Security’s apprehended someone who suspiciously sounds like a hired lackey by Davos.”
Nathan’s lips tightened at the news. “He’s getting desperate, isn’t he?”
“Nick and I spoke about this, Reid,” Jason said slowly. “We’d like to take Beatrice from you, so you’ll no longer be in danger.”
The prince shook his head. “Neither of you have the necessary connections to look after her, and you both know this. Besides, I’ve had her all this time, and they weren’t able to take her from me. It’s best we continue with the present arrangement. It’s only for a few weeks, anyway, and all this will be over.”
Nick shook his head. “We all appreciate what you’re doing, Chalkias, but right now – it doesn’t seem right that you’re placing yourself and even the people working for you in unnecessary anger.”
“My staff’s more than aware of what it means to work for me.”
Derek asked quietly, “And what about Fawn?”
“She’s Bennett’s girlfriend,” the prince said flatly. “As long as she belongs to someone else...she’ll be safe.”
****
When Fawn arrived back at the mansion and found out that the prince hadn’t yet returned, she was torn between relief and anxiety. Even now, she still didn’t know how to face the prince, much less what to say.
“Do you know what time he’ll be back, Igor?”
The older man shook his head. “However, he’s left you a message.”
She tensed. This was it. Fawn squared her shoulders, telling herself that whatever the prince had decided, she would accept it. She would not make a fuss. She would be cool and adult-like—-
“You are to clean the pool for the master’s use.”
Oh.
“Right.” That was unexpected. “Okay.” But on the other hand, it would give her something to do, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was exactly what she needed. Flashing a bright smile at the prince’s right-hand man, she said, “Thanks, Igor. I’ll get on it right away. I just need to change into my uniform first.”
As Fawn turned around and headed up the stairs, Igor slowly shook his head. When the master had given his orders, he had a lot of misgivings about it, thinking that no girl would accept such a menial task after having her position in the household elevated.
But the master clearly knew Fawn far better than anyone else, Igor thought. He would never have imagined that such an order would place stars in the girl’s eyes, and yet it had.
In the months she had been working for the prince, she had only been tasked to clean the pool twice, and it used to be her least favorite backbreaking task. This time it was the opposite, and she threw herself into her work with full vigor, literally rolling up her sleeves as she worked on draining the pool and then scrubbing the tiles clean. She started with the walls first and after, she got down on her knees to scrub the tiled floor.
It was while she was meticulously checking grout lines for any signs of molding that memories slowly start trickling in—-
She rocked back on her heels and shook her head vehemently.
I don’t want to remember.
But still, faces she didn’t want to see began to crystallize in her mind.
No! Stop it! I don’t want to remember!
Desperate to stop herself from thinking, Fawn fumbled for her phone in her pocket and dialed the prince’s number.
The prince answered on the second ring. “Priscilla speaking.”
“Uh.” The unexpected greeting left her blinking, and all the words that had been about to roll past her lips diffused in a cloud of confusion.
A moment later, she heard the prince’s chuckle travel down the line, and recovering from her shock, she stammered accusingly, “You knew that would throw me off!”
“Of course I did.” The prince sighed. “There’s only one reason you’d call me first, after all.” Before she could ask what that was, the prince murmured pensively, “I thought having you clean the pool would be enough to keep your mind off things, but I guess not.”
Fawn was momentarily distracted by the prince’s revelation. That was the reason why he had her clean the pool? Was that his way of comforting her?
In spite of everything, the thought had a faint, rueful smile touching her lips. As expected, Fawn thought, from the Prince of Darkness. But even so, she was thankful—-
“Should I let you clean the dungeons next time?”
“Prince!” I take it back, Fawn thought with a grimace. She was not thankful at all.
“If it’s what it takes...”
