Page 11 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

“I can’t promise that,” she said, quickly rethinking her resolution. Okay, so she would have to wait until after Christmas, until his thirty days were up, to run away. Fair enough. “I work for Mr. Elir, and we often discuss his business affairs during mealtimes—”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out how to make it work,” Henrik said.

She gripped the bag in front of her with both hands. “All right. Meals. As far as meeting someone, there is a dance on the beach tonight, if you’d like to go. I’m sure many worthwhile future princesses will be in attendance.”

He snapped his fingers in unison, face beaming, though somehow, she sensed he was making fun of her. “That is the kind of gumption I was hoping for from you. What time shall I be ready?”

“I get off at five o’clock tonight. The dance starts at sundown, which is a little after that.”

“Marvelous.”

The longer she stood there, the more the bag in her hands felt as though it was filled with dynamite about to ignite instead of the bills he’d provided.

Lily hesitated a moment more. She felt as though there was something else they should discuss about this entire transaction, but at the moment, she couldn’t pinpoint what that might be.

“Need any help?” Henrik asked as if guessing at the reason for her hesitation.

“No, thank you.”

“Very well, then. Carry on.” He grinned like this was some adventure. For him it probably was.

The sensation that she’d been granted watch over a live bomb never left her. Not as she removed and safely stowed away the extra five thousand dollars in her apartment. Not as she made her way down to where Mr. Elir’s driver, Michael, stood waiting to take her across town. Not as she passed the luxurious beach and its deceitful promise of a day free from cares. Not as Michael turned into a less vibrant part of Clearwater Beach.

Lily choked down her regrets. Damon’s neighborhood, his apartment, his everything.

Damon was handsome in a devastating way. He was the kind of handsome made to sparkle and glint, to distract from his jagged edges and the snap of his snare. Lily recalled how easily his charm had swept over her the day they’d met. He’d worked at her parents’ company in the packaging department back in Westville, Vermont.

She’d bumped into him during a work party where a thank-you lunch was being served to all the employees. She should have known he was only interested in her for her family name and the trust she was poised to inherit. Mom and Dad had told her to break up with him or lose her place in her father’s company. Curse her foolish, romantic heart—she’d refused. She’d chosen Damon over her family, not realizing, until too late, how controlling and belittling he was. How manipulative.

When he’d heard she’d been cut off, that was when the insults started. When he found microscopic ways of patronizing her and yet somehow managed to make them sound compassionate. He’d monitored her schedule, telling her when she could go and when she couldn’t. He’d even stole her car keys once.

His knack for interfering with technology was how he’d found out about her negotiations with Patrick Billingsworth’s agent in the first place, something she’d been under contract not to divulge until the details were settled. Patrick Billingsworth was considering becoming the spokesman for King Toothpaste. Somehow, Damon had been added to the recipients of this correspondence without Lily realizing how. He’d begun chiming in with his opinions, attempting to convince the agent to cut him a portion of the payments Patrick would receive.

Needless to say, Patrick’s agent hadn’t been impressed by the interference and the entire situation had backfired. Her parents had already purchased large orders with plans to push the brand into Europe with such a competent spokesman. They hadn’t been able to figure out why Patrick had backed out, and they had ended up losing a lot of money because of it… and Lily hadn’t had the guts to tell them her part in the screwup.

Lily had waited in agony for weeks, knowing any day word about the truth of what had happened and her place in the fallout would come to light, but it never did. In the meantime, in her panic and shame for the expensive outcome, she deleted the emails between her and Patrick’s agent, emails that included agreements she’d signed. These agreements basically said she would share Patrick Billingsworth’s involvement with her parents’ company only on the risk of paying exorbitant fines.

But she’d forgotten Damon also had access to the entire email chain. When she’d broken up with Damon, he sent her the emails with a threat of his own, that he would manipulate the wording, to tamper with what had been said and shed Lily in a bad light.

Lily didn’t take him seriously, but when she’d left Vermont to get away from him (after trying to make amends with her family), Damon followed. He packed up and left Vermont too, just to torment her here in Florida.

He’d continued to text screenshots of the emails to her, filling her with anxiety and dread that he’d send them to others as well if she didn’t do what he wanted. And every time, the money he demanded increased. He knew she was ostracized from her family, that she didn’t have ways to keep accessing this appalling amount he asked for. But he didn’t care. She wasn’t sure how she would have handled the situation this time if it hadn’t been for the Prince’s help. What if Damon found out she was being helped by the Prince of Einvar? Damon would manipulate her even more for sure.

She couldn’t keep this up.

The weight of the ten thousand dollars in her grasp was so much more than pounds. It was dreadful, inescapable pressure as surely as the underside of a coffin lid.

The last amount she’d given Damon hadn’t done much good. He’d claimed an idea for a new social media site that would take off like nothing anyone had seen before.

“All I need is the capital to launch my idea,” he’d said. “It’ll pay off. This one will work.”

It hadn’t. He was still here, in this crumbling complex, the boarded windows and piles of garbage out front. People glowered at her as she passed. She covered her nose to block out the stench of rotted food and garbage that had been sitting out in the sun for who knew how long. A small strand of Christmas lights in one of the windows was the only cheerful thing about this place.

Steeling herself, Lily entered the building, walked up the creaking stairs. Holes in the industrial carpet revealed the wooden floorboards beneath it. Reaching her destination, she stopped at Damon’s paint-stripped door.

She gripped the bag’s handles. What would Ethan think of her doing this? Ever After Sweet Shoppe was a national candy company and Ethan headed security at the business’s corporate office. He was trained in takedowns, target shooting, and profiling. Really, he was one of the best men for the job. She could use some of that training right about now.

With a grimace, she knocked on the door.

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