Page 4 of Fallen Prince

“What do you expect to gain from all this?” Ilifted my shoulders to indicate my bound state. “Even if I tell you what you want to hear, what will that accomplish? You said you won’t hurt me, and I think I believe you. But I can’t betray my father with lies that will destroy his character and reputation. I love him, and I won’t do that.”

Purpose firmed my resolve, and the terror that’d left a metallic tang on my tongue mostly receded. Primal panic no longer clawed at my mind. I could reason my way out of this.

“You should be scared of me.” His voice went cold and flat again, just like it had before he’d surged into my personal space and told me he was a monster.

But he hadn’t touched me then, and I thought he was bluffing again now.

I hoped.

“Well, I’m not,” I said with far more bravado than I felt. “I think you’re hurting. I think you’ve been through something awful, and it’s pushed you to this point. I can help you, Max.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, his muscles bulging and flexing as though resisting some physical strain. “You can help me by confessing your father’s sins. You want to know what I want out of all this? Why I risked kidnapping the mayor’s daughter? Iwant leverage. I want your father to know that he can’t fuck with my family ever again.”

His voice shook with rage and something darker. He had suffered because of my father’s actions. His family had been sent to prison, and he’d been forced to grow up without them. That didn’t make my dad a bad person, but Max wouldn’t see it that way.

“Listen, Max.” I intentionally used his name, and he flinched as though I’d struck him. “I can’t give you what you want. I don’t know who told you those outrageous lies about my father, but they’re not true. Just let me go home, and I won’t tell anyone about this.” He scoffed, but I continued on. “I’m serious. You haven’t hurt me. You think you’re somehow defending your family by doing this, but I’ll defend my family, too. You have nothing to gain by keeping me here, and the longer you do, the greater the chance that my father will launch a manhunt to locate me.”

He was silent for several long seconds, his head cocked to the side as he considered me. “You really don’t know anything, do you?” he finally said, his voice heavy with some emotion I couldn’t quite identify. Regret? Despair?

“There’s nothing to know,” I replied evenly. “My father has nothing to do with the Bratva. I am sorryfor whatever you’ve been through.” I meant every word. Max had terrorized me, but he’d clearly suffered through some terrible things if he’d been pushed to this mad scheme.

“Don’t pity me,” he barked. “You’re the one tied to a chair in my basement.”

As though I needed reminding.

“I won’t tell anyone about this,” I promised again, my voice clear and calm.

“No, you won’t,” he agreed, his promise darker than my own. He stepped into the light, dropping to one knee as his powerful arms bracketed me once again. His big hands fisted around the metal chair at either side of me, knuckles white with strain. The overhead light cast craggy shadows beneath the scarred flesh around his eye. This time, I barely flinched when he snarled in my face. He couldn’t help that he’d been permanently scarred by some horrific injury. The mark of his pain wasn’t a threat to me.

“I won’t hurt you, but I have no problem hurting your father,” he seethed. “If you tell anyone about this, he will pay the price.” His eyes glinted with an almost fanatical light, and the fine lines around his mouth drew deep with strain. Max hatedmy father, and I fully believed that he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through on his malicious promise.

Manic energy pulsed from his huge frame, a dangerous vibration over my flesh. He’d risked everything to capture me, and he’d gotten nothing for his efforts. He was far too volatile at this moment for me to show any more softness or pity. He was on the verge of releasing me, and I didn’t dare breathe a word that might make him change his mind.

“I won’t say anything to anyone,” I swore, willing him to believe me. “I won’t put my family at risk.” Daddy was the only family I had left. Max seemed to understand loyalty—it was what had driven him to kidnap me.

He huffed out a breath, and the tension eased from his harsh features. For the first time, I got a good look at his face. If it weren’t for the horrific scar, Max would’ve been devastatingly handsome with those high cheekbones, sensual mouth, and a jawline sharp enough to cut.

His dark eyes dropped from mine, and long, thick lashes fanned his left cheek. Whatever had scarred him—fire?—didn’t seem to have injured the right eye itself, but it’d scored the flesh on his brow and cheekbone. The puckered skin wasobscured by the thick black curls he allowed to grow in an unruly mass to conceal the worst of the damage.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he murmured, a low warning. One hand slipped into his pocket, and my stomach dropped when he uncapped the syringe.

“What are you doing?” I jerked and twisted, but the silky restraints held firm. I barely felt the sting of the needle sliding into my arm, but horror mingled with the warmth of the drugs as they oozed into my system. My body began to relax, and my eyelids became lead weights.

My heart slammed into my ribcage in a renewed burst of terror. The loss of control was horrifying, and while my mind still whirred, I registered how completely vulnerable the drugs made me.

“Please…” I whispered, even though it was too late to stop him from doing whatever he wanted.

He shushed me gently. “Don’t be afraid. I’m taking you home.”

The basement dissolved around me, his reassurances following me down into darkness.

CHAPTER 2

Allie

My head pounded, and my eyelids itched like sandpaper. I groaned and rolled over. The mattress disappeared beneath me, and I jolted awake when my butt hit the floor. For a second, I flailed, my bedroom swimming around me.

No. Not my bedroom. I pressed a hand to my forehead, trying to alleviate the worst of the ache that throbbed against my skull with each of my rapid heartbeats.

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