Page 58 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

The air was cooler in here, but not as cold as the dungeon Lily had been picturing in her mind was. Still, she hugged her arms around her chest.

Damon sat like a stain in the farthest cell on the left. His dark clothes contrasted with the white, built-in bed. He rose when they neared.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me in here,” Damon began, but Lily cut him off.

“I’m not here to help you.”

His rude tone returned. “Then what are you here for?”

Lily gripped the white bars separating them. She’d never been happier to see Damon in any other place before. “Delete them all,” she demanded. “If you had from the start, neither of us would be here.”

Unperturbed, Damon lifted his gaze to the bars and followed their line from the ceiling to the floor. “I can’t exactly contact anyone from in here, now can I?”

“Then tell us how to do it,” Henrik said.

Lily startled. She’d almost forgotten Henrik was standing beside her. Damon glanced from her to the prince and back again. “I demand to see my lawyer.”

“Things work a little differently when you threaten the royals of Einvar,” Henrik said smoothly and with confidence. “You’re not in the United States now. Einvarian law prevails here, and you have no such protections under it. You have broken into my home and made demands as well as threatening us with a weapon. Our family is the law, and you are nothing. You will call him and have the emails—the originals and those you tampered with—deleted now.”

Damon’s lip curled. “Or what?”

“Or I have every right to do with you whatever I wish. And you may never see the sun again for a very long time.”

Lily didn’t know if his claim of law gave him the right to hold Damon prisoner or not, but Henrik made it sound convincing enough even for her. Apparently, Damon thought so too. The color drained from his face. His eyes widened.

“All right. Just as soon as you let me out of here.”

“You are in no position to negotiate,” Henrik said. “You will have your co-conspirator delete them now. Every last image.”

Defeated, Damon nodded. He glanced at Lily. “You remember Doug? Call him. He knows where the images all are.”

Lily didn’t know the number off the top of her head, and she didn’t have her phone. Damon shared the number, and Henrik dialed using video messaging so they could all hear.

A gruff voice answered, and Doug’s face appeared on Henrik’s screen. Wide pores, beady eyes, thin mouth. Lily cringed at the sound of his voice. She’d never liked Damon’s best friend. She always felt like she was dipped in grease anytime he was around. “Did you get the money? Wait, dude—where are you? Are you behind bars?”

Damon’s eyes flicked to Henrik’s. “Yeah. The plan backfired. I’m being held in Einvar. Listen, we’ve had a change of plans. I need you to delete all of Lily’s pictures. Emails, originals, everything.”

“All of them? Are you out of your mind?”

“He’s in his right mind for the first time in memory,” Henrik cut in.

“Who’s this?” Doug asked.

Henrik turned the screen to himself. His stately picture appeared in the screen’s top corner. “Prince Henrik of Einvar. I second the man’s request. You will delete every improper picture involving Miss Hope or you will witness just how far my royal immunity reaches.”

“He’s serious, man,” Damon said with a tremor in his voice, and Henrik held the phone for him once more. “I’m in a freaking cage here. Just get rid of them. Clear out the trash files too. Just do it.”

“Uh, okay. Sir,” Doug said, groveling. Lily suspected he added the moniker on for Henrik’s benefit. He’d certainly never addressed Damon like that.

“Delete them now,” Henrik said.

“On every device,” Lily couldn’t help adding. “Every possible place Damon stored them.”

“They’re never to resurface again, is that quite understood?” Henrik said in his most dominating tone. He leveled his glare at Damon.

Damon’s eyes closed, but he leaned closer to the bars so he could speak into the phone. “You heard him, Doug. All the places. Even that one site I uploaded them to and hadn’t yet clicked submit on.”

“We need proof that they’re deleted,” Lily said, speaking through her panic. He’d almost uploaded them to a public site? “Remove the hard drives from every computer and device and smash them.”

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