Page 139 of My Five Daddies

“What do you want?” hesnaps.

“Are you Micah Hassel?” I askhim.

His eyes narrow. “Who wants toknow?”

“I’m Nolan Leitner,” I say, amazed that this guy doesn’t recognizeme.

He hesitates. “PrinceNolan?”

“Yes,” I say. “The one andonly.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” He throws the door open. “Come on in! Not every day I have royalty tovisit.”

We step into his cottage, and it’s as cluttered inside as it is outside. At least in here, there are boxes containing most of the junk overflow. There are old stereo parts, boxes of vacuum tubes, broken toys, and tons of other odds and ends. Some of the stuff looks like it was once pretty beautiful and worth something, but it’s all dusty and going to rustnow.

“Come on in here,” Micah says, leading us into a kitchen area. I can’t help but wonder how the hell this man knows Julian, much less has a secret abouthim.

We sit down at a tiny little kitchen table and Hazel smiles atme.

“Would you like some tea, your highness?” Micahsays.

“Please, just call me Nolan. And no, thankyou.”

“I’d like some tea,” Hazel says, smiling sweetly. “If you wouldn’tmind.”

“Anything, anything at all, for such a pretty lady.” He winks at her and busies himself making herdrink.

I sigh and glare at her. I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to be, but Hazel seems perfectly content towait.

“Tell me, Micah, how long have you lived on this lovely property?” she askshim.

“Oh, years and years,” he says, and launches into a story about hisfamily.

I’m pretty surprised that she gets him talking, but soon enough he’s sitting down across from us, sipping the tea he just made, and telling Hazel his whole lifestory.

As it turns out, Micah comes from the Hasselbeck family, which is a name I recognize. They were nobility until about ten years ago, around the time that I left court. They were disgraced and stripped of their title due to some shady foreign business deals or something like that. Micah is the third son of the family, which means he’s basically outcast by them. But that would explain how he knows Julian and how he ended up thisway.

Finally, he finishes his story, which was about as boring as you’dguess.

“That’s an interesting story,” Hazel says, smiling huge. “Thanks for telling me. I find you sofascinating.”

“Well, what a polite young lady,” he says, clearly proud ofhimself.

I sigh and cut in. “Micah, you know why we’re here,right?”

He hesitates a second. “Yes, I know,” he says. “I talked with your man. What’s his face.TomTom.”

“Thomas,” Hazel corrects gently. “He said you have some information forus.”

“Yes, I have it,” Micah says. “But I needassurances.”

“We’ll pay,” I saysimply.

Micah looks at me for a long moment. “Half a million,” hesays.

“Fine,” I answer. “Now what do youknow?”

“Lord Eder has been fucking my niece for two yearsnow.”

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