Page 161 of In Love with a Ruthless Man

“You b-believe the same thing, don’t you?”

Oh God.

Fawn pushed him away, her shiny, shattered eyes looking up at him with the need to hear a lie. “He’ll come back.Right?”

God, oh God.

Once, Grant had thought nothing could be worse than what he had gone through at the prince’s hands.

But now he knew he was wrong.

Seeing someone as kind and as innocent as Fawn drowning in a sea of pain the same way he had—-

This was worse.

A thousand times worse—-

“You b-believe me, d-don’t you?”

Grant swallowed hard. “I b-believe you.” He might be broken beyond repair, but he wouldn’t let the same thing happen to Fawn. “He’ll come back.”His voice tightened. “I promise.”

THE PRINCE DIDN’T ALLOWhimself to think but instead threw himself into work, both the real kind and the secret type, saving and destroying lives, knowing from experience that it was the only way to move on.

It was how he had survived the loss of his parents.

It was how he had coped with Georgie’s death.

And this one wouldn’t be any different.

One day, the devastating pain that kept him awake every damn night would pass.

One day, he would find it in himself to be glad that he had done the right thing.

One day, he would be able to breathe without thinking of her.

One fucking day.

But until then—-

He would continue to pretend.

Because pretensions made the world go round.

When Grant Bennett contacted him, a month had already passed without the prince remembering a single fucking day. The text message the younger man had sent him was irritatingly cryptic, and for one moment he was tempted to ignore it altogether.

Showing it to Noah and Igor, he asked flatly, “What do you think of it?”

I have an important thing to talk about, and you’ll regret it if you don’t come.

“I don’t believe the boy has the guts to threaten you,” Noah said finally. “But I also don’t see any harm in meeting with him.”

Igor nodded. “I don’t see any mention of you having to come alone either, so that makes it even less of a threat.”

The prince slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Neither of you see this as possibly affecting our timetable?”

Both men shook their heads.

“I’ll take your advice then. The two of you stay here and make sure Beatrice Crichton is never alone.”

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