Page 6 of Lily and the Billionaire Prince

Lily found herself snared in his endlessly gray eyes, in her confusion by his candor, in her emotional whiplash from Damon’s call.

She adjusted her clothes, wishing she wasn’t in her pencil skirt and green blouse but something that screamed power. Heavy armor, maybe. She shook her thoughts back into place. He’d offered to help her? Why would he do that? He didn’t even know her. “Thank you, but I’ll pass. If you’ll excuse me.”

She couldn’t do this. She would have to tell Mr. Elir she wasn’t the woman for the job, and he could send Aaliyah instead. Aaliyah had made it clear she hadn’t returned to the resort to work, however; she had come to be with her father during his cancer treatments. She would make an exception for this, though, surely.

Lily attempted to push past the prince, but he stopped her with nothing more than a question.

“How much do you need?”

Lily froze at the elevator door. Oh no. This was the last thing she needed. One man holding information over her head was bad enough, but two? Especially a cocky good-for-nothing who thought he was special because he was born a prince, who thought he could go around meddling in strangers’ personal business just because he overheard a conversation?

Then again, she was doing exactly the same thing, though in her defense this wasn’t her idea.

He’d said she sounded like she was in trouble. Painted into a corner didn’t even cut how stuck Lily felt inside. “How much did you hear?” she asked over her shoulder.

He dusted his hands and stepped toward her again. “Enough to know that you need money yesterday.”

She should leave. Quit. Relocate like before. She’d ordered fake IDs and was waiting for them to come, but even once they were ready, she wasn’t sure what to do about her fur babies. And she’d been trying to build up her escape fund for relocation expenses, but every time she got a spare cent, Damon inevitably called and demanded more.

Damon and his best friend had always been good with technology and computers; sickeningly, break-the-law good. He would hack into whatever he needed to. He would share those emails.

Lily had considered going to the police, but Damon hadn’t done anything to her as of yet—not recently, anyway—and she would have to share details about the emails’ nature, something she’d contracted not to do. She didn’t know what he needed the money for, only that he kept asking for it. The more she gave in, the more he would continue asking. But how could she stop?

She was well and truly trapped.

Prince Henrik sidled around, hands in his pockets. “I can help you, you know.”

Sure, he could. A man who offered money to perfect strangers. Something within her responded to his attractive build, broad shoulders, and confident manner. Lily would have been charmed by him if she wasn’t so sad and wise. She knew just what kind of person he was. Another Damon. Tears burning, she bolted down the hall toward the elevator.

Even if she accepted the prince’s help, how could she ever repay him? She couldn’t be beholden to any man ever again.

3

Henrik stared after the woman. She didn’t look like a chambermaid—or housekeeper, he wasn’t sure what title she held in America. In her professional attire, he wondered if she was here on a business trip and had gotten off on the wrong floor.

He’d been in plenty of rooms with household staff and overheard conversations he shouldn’t have, but back in Einvar, his staff were usually discreet and kept their personal problems to themselves. This woman, though. Not knowing he was there, she’d been far too open. He’d heard every painful part of whatever confrontation she was in the middle of.

What else could he do but offer to help her?

Moving too slowly, he darted after her just in time to see the elevator doors closing her in.

“Wait!” he called. He intended to apologize and introduce himself. He truly did want to help her. Amusing as the situation had seemed at the time, he couldn’t forget the wheezy, petrified tone of her voice as she’d denied giving whoever was on the other line money.

From the sound of things, she’d been speaking with a man. Henrik didn’t take well to men who threw their weight around with threats and the like. He made for the elevator, but the door across from Room 904, the room he’d intended on entering, opened and Louise stepped out wearing a pair of khaki pants, a black blouse, a scarf, and a scowl.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Louise’s sharp tone was pricklier than usual. He faced the older woman who had been all but a mother to him while his own mother, Queen Anika, had been busy running the country and their castle home.

“I’m off to catch a fair maiden and make a deal with her. She’s tossed in her golden ball and I’m to retrieve it.”

Louise’s eyes narrowed. “You are not a frog at the bottom of a well, Henrik, no matter what your last name means.” Frosk was the Norwegian term for ‘frog,’ a fact that had made Henrik snigger as a lad.

“Aren’t I here to find a bride?” He feigned innocence and placed a hand over his heart. Louise was always fun to tease.

She took him by the shoulders and turned him toward his room situated across from hers. “You won’t find one among the hotel staff. Now come along. Be a good boy. Keep a low profile without spilling your identity to the entire world, got it?”

“Low profile? Where’s the fun in that?”

“Your Majesty, you agreed.” She wagged a finger in warning.

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