Page 28 of Possessing the Prince

Christian clears his throat. “Yes, sir, I know. But when I arrived to get him, things were not as we left them. The circumstances have changed.”

I nod. “Continue.”

“When I pulled up the gates of the McCarthy Hills house, the gates were flung wide open and our guards were missing.”

“Missing?” I keep my voice calm. “What the fuck do you mean, they were missing?”

“Prince, they were gone and there was no trace of them anywhere. I searched for bodies and all I found were their weapons, fully loaded.”

Shit. They were taken. “OK, then what happened?”

“Of course, I drew my weapon and approached the house. It looked quiet and calm. However, as I approached the front door, I saw that the royal gold lionhead door knocker was missing. I deduced someone was sending a message.”

He’s right. Kofi, Adom, and I are the only three in the kingdom with those particular knockers. It is the sign of the Asantes. As the three royals, the golden lion marks the entrance of our homes. Those bastards will pay for that transgression in particular, as that is the equivalent of spitting on my status. But I do not get outwardly upset. I look over at the squirming and wide-eyed man on my couch and I have an idea where this story is going. I doubt he will make it out of here alive, and he knows it. I let Christian continue.

“When I cleared the house, I noticed the entire house staff was missing and the home had been ransacked. Whatever they were looking for, they apparently were mad they could not find it because they spray painted the words, ‘We Will Be Back For Ours’ over the bed in the master suite.”

They came for Abena. But they will get her over my dead body.

“Finally, I looked in your office and found this fool grabbing any and everything he could stuff in his pockets. Someone cracked open your safe, and he was stuffing a bag with gold, money, and jewels. He was so casual; you could tell that he thought no one was returning to the home, like he would be beyond reproach because the master of the house would either be dead or indisposed before he noticed them missing. At that point, I knocked him out from behind and dragged him back here. Then I got out.”

Smart man. Christian knew there could have been explosives or any number of other traps in the home. Whoever we are dealing with is a professional. I do not know if it's the Apeagyeis or their hired strong men. But if they were able to break into my safe, we share a similar skill set.

I walk over to Christian and slap his back. “You did well. Now let's find out what this jackal has to say.” I walk over to NaNa and he shakes his head and starts to cry before I even get to him.Pussy.I snatch the headphones off his ears and the tape off his mouth and he winces at the pain. If that hurts him, he’s going to have a long and terrible night ahead of him if he does not give me the answers I want.

“NaNa, your prince is very disappointed in you. When I hired you, I told you that loyalty was everything to me. You have broken that trust, and now you must pay the price. But you do have some power in this situation. You get to decide how much pain you will have to endure tonight. I’m going to ask you a series of questions. If you tell me the truth, no pain. But if you lie to me, I will let Christian break your fingers one by one, and I will break a matching toe. And that’s just to start. There are many appendages on your body we can remove. Am I clear?”

He nods and I elbow him in the eye and roar. “Don’t fucking gesture at me, you antelope penis. I need your words. Now, am I clear?”

The bitch starts to cry but manages to squeak out a, “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Now that’s better. This is a little something I like to call the ‘lightning round.’ Christian here will hold your hand and I will quickly ask you questions. If you lie, he will quickly break your fingers, and there are no breaks. Lie, lose a finger. Understand?”

He starts to nod but remembers his eye and sparks, “Yes, Your Highness.”

I slap his cheek a few times. “Good man. Now, who are the men that came to the door and talked to you this evening?”

He swallows the lump in his throat before speaking. “Your Highness, no men came to see me. No one was at the house this evening. I settled in around 8 p.m. and watched the television in my quarters.”

“Fuck. He’s a liar,” Christian spits out.

Christian.” As quickly as I say his name, he breaks NaNa's finger until it is dangling from his hand. The scream from the man is blood-curdling. However, I know Abena will never hear through the reinforced steel.

“Please no, no, no.'' When he looks down at his broken index finger, he screams again. It does look terrible.

“Ahhh…now, NaNa. There is no need to beg for that finger. It is already broken. Now let’s start again, and maybe you can save the other nine. Remember, I have to break a matching toe when we are all done. I can't leave you without a matching set. Now, let’s try this again. Who were the men that I saw on my security cameras who came and talked to you yesterday?”

He lowers his head, knowing he's been caught. “I swear, Your Highness, I did not know the men before they came. They announced themselves as men representing the highest fetish priest. I knew that was a popular Ewe religion and figured you had invited them. I told them you weren't home and tried to close the door, as I was scared of them if they came from one of the fetish shrines. I have sisters and I did not want to inadvertently end up in their debt. But one of the men stopped me and flashed a gun, saying that they would call me in five minutes and that I must pick up the phone. Then they left.”

“I see. And did they call?”

He nods. “Yes, they did, and they asked me all these questions about you and your whereabouts. They asked if Ms. Abena was staying here, and they asked if I knew what time you were sure to return.”

“Did you tell them anything? NaNa, do not lie to me or I will take two fingers.”

He starts to sob. “Yes, I told them what I knew because they threatened my mother and sisters back in the village. I did not know what else to do.”

“You should have been loyal to your prince,” I shout as I stomp on his toe until I hear a small crack.Good it’s broken.

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