Page 36 of Stolen Princess

We need to leave early tomorrow. We need to get a car and get out of here. The sea. I wonder if her mother knows that’s one of her dreams. I have to imagine she knows about the festival. That’s where she found her, isn’t it?

And is this woman her mother? Or did she steal her from her actual mother? Kidnap a child and lock her away in a tower, never to be seen again. Or, could she be⁠—

The door flies open, and there she is in a fucking bikini. My jaw locks, and my eyes grow hard. So does my dick, but that can’t be helped with all of that perfect skin.

She spins around as if I asked for a goddamn show. “What do you think? How do I look?”

“Like a fucking cock tease,” I mumble under my breath, though I suppose this is what I asked for.

“What?”

“I’ve seen worse, I guess.”

She frowns, and I feel like shit for lying to her, but whatever.

“I think I look great.”

“Good for you.”

“You don’t have to be so mean.”

Yes, I do.

“Honesty isn’t mean, princess. It’s reality that isn’t sugarcoated. You asked, I answered. Simple as that.”

She flips me off, and it makes me laugh. A real laugh. Fuck, she’s irritatingly adorable and wholly unpredictable.

In a huff she storms into the bathroom, and I sit on the edge of the bed with my phone in my hand. It’s a rechargeable burner phone I’ve had for years, and I have every shadow app that hides your identity and whereabouts on it. I don’t like this. I don’t like any of this.

If it weren’t for the necklace, I’d ditch the girl and be out of here. But I need that fucking necklace. Only now we can’t go back, and I have no clue how I’ll get it without having to handle the old woman one way or another.

Maybe I should just go. Cut my losses, find a new piece to steal, and move on with my life. Forget the necklace, forget the tiara that was probably bad luck to start with, and definitely forget the girl.

The idea grows within me the longer I stare at the woman’s texts.

Just as I’m about to put my phone away, pack up my shit, and walk out of here, a text comes in from her.

A: I don’t have the tiara.

Me: Bullshit. I know it was you who stole it from my safe.

A: That was my sister. The woman you took it from originally. If you track her down and kill her this time, I’ll let you keep the tiara. But the girl comes back to me untouched and unscathed.

My eyes round and I rub a hand across my mouth. Holy fuck. I glance at the bathroom door. Does Genevieve have any clue what’s happening in her life?

My phone vibrating in my hand pulls me back to it.

A: Do we have a deal?

Me: Yes. But if you try to double-cross me, I will kill your daughter and make you watch before I kill you, too.

I release a breath and pull up my text stream with Lars and Sven.

Me: I know who has the tiara. It’s yours if you take it and get rid of the woman who stole it.

Lars: Why should we believe you or do that?

Me: Because I just said it’d be yours. I’m out of this.