Page 42 of In Love with a Ruthless Man

“Because I’m already engaged. To someone else.”

Jason was visibly stunned. “I see.” He glanced at his friend. “Well.Damn.” Switching to Greek, he said incredulously, “And you dare give me advice about Lilac.”

“Because my situation is different from yours.”

“In what way?”

“You love Lilac.” The prince looked at Fawn and said grimly, “I don’t love her.”

Jason looked at him for a moment and then slowly shook his head. “Bullshit.”

“You can believe what you want to believe,” the prince answered evenly.

“Does she at least know youdon’tlove her?”

“She doesn’t care to know.” The prince’s lips twisted. “She’s in love with her fiancé.”

“Well, fuck.” After a moment, Jason said it again, but this time he was smirking. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“See what coming?”

“The Prince of Darkness has beenfriendzoned.”

When Jason left, she asked uneasily, “Did you two get into a fight?” There had been one tense moment when she was terrified that the prince would actually throw a punch at his own friend.What could Jason Christakos have possibly said, she thought worriedly,to make the prince so furious?

When the prince still didn’t answer, she looked up, thinking to ask if something was wrong but instead found herself the recipient of his glare.

Holy. Crap.

What had she done again?

“You actually told him you wereengaged.” The last word was uttered with complete contempt.

“B-but it’s true!” The way he was making it seem like she was at fault made Fawn glare at him, and more importantly, it reminded her that she, too, had something to be angry about. “Also, you lied! You promised you weren’t going to seduce me!”

“You were the one touching me,parthena mou,” he pointed out silkily. “So who was seducing whom, do you think?”

Realizing that he got her there, she said hotly, “Well, what about your promisenotto kiss me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Grow up. That was in no way a kiss—-” His lip curled. “Or does yourfiancénot know how to kiss?” Thewords had him thinking about the other man tasting Fawn’s lips – lips that he had not yet tasted – and the prince’s jaw hardened as jealousy like he had never known before simmered inside of him.

She said tightly, “You don’t have the right to insult someone like him.” It didn’t feel right at all to hear Grant’s name on his lips—-

Lips that she had touched, she thought sickly,and enjoyed.

The way she seemed so damn hurt for another man’s sake made his fists clench, and the prince gritted out, “I can insult him whenever I want—-”

“No.” Her voice was fierce.“You can’t.”

“It’s my fucking house,” he snapped, “so I want to say I think Grant Bennett’s a fucking asshole—-”

She slapped him.

And then she whitened, never realizing that she could do something like it.

The prince said quietly, “Get out.”

She suddenly wanted to cry and she wasn’t even sure why. She was the one who had slapped him, not the other way around.

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