Page 55 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

If this man—Damon—meant to make threats and demands, he’d just made the worst mistake he could have. The motivating factor to get Henrik to give him anything would have been a threat to Lily. Damon should have kept her from Henrik to ensure he’d get what he wanted. Instead, the fool had brought her back here, back to Henrik, and lost whatever winning hand he may have had.

Henrik turned to Lily. He had every intention of comforting her and letting her know the situation was under control. Whatever happened, she was here, and they could handle it.

“He’s a piece of work, isn’t he?” Henrik said.

Lily’s shoulders remained hunched. She didn’t answer.

This time, Damon pulled a gun from his pocket. Lily screamed. He directed the gun at Henrik’s chest first and then pulled Lily close to him and pointed the gun at her head, turning the tables in an instant.

Henrik cursed himself for underestimating the situation.

“Give me half of her share,” he said. “Or I’ll kill her.”

Henrik held up his hands. Though in many instances he’d had bodyguards, he’d been trained to handle situations like this before. Threats to royalty weren’t uncommon. His aim now was to distract this man before he did anything drastic.

“Take it easy. We can talk this through, but you need to lower the gun.”

Damon curled his lip over his top teeth and gripped Lily tighter against him. She released a shriek. Henrik wanted to dash over and rip her from this lunatic’s side, but he caught sight of the guards stealing through the entry behind Damon.

“Tell him,” Damon ordered her, pressing the gun’s point against her temple. “You know the emails I have. Tell him I’ll release them all.”

“He’ll—he’ll do it,” she said, hardly able to talk.

“We can talk about the emails.” Somehow, Henrik kept his voice level. “Just let her go.”

With Damon distracted by negotiations, the guards rushed through the front door behind him. Damon staggered, his attention wavering as if he wasn’t sure of what to do. Henrik prayed he wouldn’t shoot. The tallest guard took advantage of the situation and reached for the gun, jerking the weapon from Damon’s hand in a swift, practiced motion.

Still, Damon didn’t release his hold on Lily. “I’ll take her!” he shouted. “I’ll kill her!”

Henrik dashed forward, clenched his fist, and brought it squarely against Damon’s jaw. Pain shot into his hand at the impact, but the blow was enough. Lily fell to the floor with a cry of alarm. Henrik dove to her side as his guards held Damon to the ground and secured his hands behind his back.

Blood trailed from a cut on her temple. He stroked her jagged hair from her forehead. “Are you all right?” he asked.

Lily lay on the stone floor, hands splayed, frozen as if afraid to move. Henrik stroked her back and pulled at her arm. “You’re safe now. All right? Come, come here.”

She didn’t move at once. Her motions were gradual, careful, uncertain. She pushed away from the ground. Henrik waited for her to meet his eye, but she kept her tear-stained face turned away from him.

“Guards, take this man away,” the King demanded. “And her. Get her out of here.”

Lily released another feeble cry, her head hanging. The sight panged Henrik. He hated seeing her so defeated. He stretched an arm across her back, trying to pull her to his chest, but she fought against him and so he released her. He would never force anything on her again, not a kiss, not an embrace. Not after what she’d just gone through.

“I will take her where she needs to go,” Henrik said, holding out a hand to ward off the approaching guards. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight.

“Let me go!” Damon shouted from the open door where cold blasted through in a rush, swearing every curse word he could think of. The guards hauled him away, through the entry and toward the east wing where the stairs leading down to the holding cells were located.

Once Damon and the guards were gone, silence reigned in their wake. No one dared to speak, not even the King and Queen, which Henrik was grateful for. He could see his father swooping in to have Lily removed as well, but Henrik wouldn’t have it. At least, in this instance, the King was respecting that much.

Tears gushed down Lily’s cheeks. She pushed herself to her feet. Henrik took her hand, but she shook the touch away and finally brought her green eyes to his. A world of sadness and warning was contained in that glance. “I will go with them,” she said.

“You don’t have to.”

She bent her head. “Yes, I do.”

Before Henrik could protest, she made her way toward the awaiting guards by the stairs.

20

The guards didn’t haul her down to the holding cells as Lily thought they would. At Henrik’s insistence, they returned her to the room she’d occupied during her short stay at the castle.

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