Page 168 of In Love with a Ruthless Man

“I’m not certain,” the prince said reluctantly.

When Igor was aboard, the prince only had to take one look at the older man’s face—-

“No.”

The prince staggered back.

“What’s wrong?” Payton swiftly caught hold of his son’s shoulders just as his wife rose out of her seat and rushed to the prince’s side.

Seeing the way her son’s face had whitened, Enid demanded anxiously of Igor, “What is it?”

“It’s a...friend of your son, milady.” Igor’s face was stoic, but his voice was heavy and strained. “She’s been abducted.”

The prince sucked in his breath.

Abducted.

He strove for calm, knowing that he would be of no use to Fawn if he went berserk.

“The GPS trackers?” he heard himself ask. The day Fawn had become his lover, the prince had several secretly installed on her belongings: one on her phone, another on her engagement ring, her favorite school bag, her favorite shoes – all the things that she frequently used.

“We’ve already started tracking.”

“Good.” He swallowed. “Everything should proceed as planned.”

A moment of silence, and then Igor asked tensely, “Even the parties, sir?”

“Even the parties.” The prince nodded jerkily. “Everything should proceed as planned.” The parties, the women, all of it had been planned to make Abraxas Davos think twice about his involvement in Beatrice Crichton’s disappearance—-

And now he had another reason to do them.

“Hire all the women you can for tonight. I want to make it seem like I’m partying so fucking hard they won’t be able to reach me—-” His lips twisted. “As long as they’re unable to tell me she’s under threat, they won’t have any choice but to keep her alive.”

Igor’s frown eased a little. “Understood, sir.”

“That should give you and your men enough time to track her down.”

When Igor left, the prince looked at his parents.

“It’s unlike you to not help in the search,” Payton said quietly.

The prince’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Thisis how I’m helping, Father. The moment they’re able to contact me—-”

If something happened to Fawn—-

“Oh, sweetheart.”

The prince broke down, and Enid’s own tears ran down her face.

Reid might be strong and powerful now, but he was and would always be her son, and it broke her heart to see him in so much pain.

“So many people have already died because of me, Mother,” the prince said dully. “If I lose her, too—-”

“You’ll get her back, sweetheart.” Tiptoeing, she kissed her son’s forehead, saying shakily, “Have faith, son. We’ll get her back.”

The prince’s eyes shuttered closed.

Have faith.

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