Page 49 of Fallen Prince

I groaned and reached for my martini, taking a big gulp. The sudden rush of alcohol burned slightly, but I welcomed the small discomfort. Anything to make this awful moment disappear from my brain forever.

“It’s okay,” Charlie said. “He caught you by surprise. You can cancel the date.”

“But…” Isabel hesitated, eyeing me cautiously. “Are you sure you want to? He’s gorgeous, Allie. You deserve to have some fun. I know your dad basically scared off any guy who dared to approach you for your entire adult life. Why not go out with a handsome billionaire?”

I shook my head. “Because I like someone else.” The words left my mouth before I fully considered them.

“Okay, wait.” Davis held up a hand and glanced at Isabel and Charlie. “Who knew about this?”

My girlfriends shrugged, their full attention fixing on me.

“You like someone?” Isabel leaned toward me, intent on learning every detail. “Who? And why didn’t you tell us?”

My cheeks flamed, and I took another gulp of my martini. How the hell could I tell them about Max?

So, this guy kidnapped me and interrogated me in his basement. Then, he stalked me for a while. He wants to blackmail my dad. I’ve kissed him, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

Yeah, that would not go over well. I sounded crazy just thinking it to myself.

Charlie plucked the martini glass from my fingers and pulled it a few inches away from me. “Slow down there. You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

“Yes, she does!” Davis said indignantly. “Spill, Allie.”

Mentally, I pushed aside all the reasons I shouldn’t like Max and focused on why I’d developed such strong feelings for him. If I thought about it, I’d started softening toward him that night he saved me for the first time.

I blew out a sigh. “Okay, don’t freak out, but a few weeks ago I was walking home after our cantina night. I was a little buzzed and didn’t pay enough attention to traffic when I was crossing the street. My ankle turned, and I fell. This man, Max, jumped in front of an oncoming car to pull me out of the road.”

“You almost got hit by a car, and you didn’t tell us?” Isabel’s voice was several octaves higher than usual. “That was like three weeks ago.”

“Have you been dating this knight in shining armor for three weeks?” Davis demanded. “Why wouldn’t you share this with us? It sounds super romantic.”

Charlie’s brows rose. “You mean, other than the part where our best friend almost got flattened?”

Davis waved her off and focused on me. “So, have you been secretly dating him this whole time?”

“No.” I would have to gloss over the period of time when I’d spent sleepless nights researching his family’s crimes. I also couldn’t tell them about my awful encounter with his cruel sister, because that was too bound up in his vendetta. My friends couldn’t know anything about Max’s insane mission against my dad.

“I met up with him again after the fundraiser.” I skipped the part where he’d threatened Niko. That would be far too difficult to explain away. “We kissed.”

Charlie gasped, Isabel cheered, and Davis gave me a high-five. Sheepishly, I slapped my hand against his.

“But that was just a couple days ago,” Isabel pointed out. “It must have been some kiss if you like him enough to blow off Nikolai. It’s not like he’s your boyfriend, right?”

My stomach flipped at the word. No, Max wasn’t my boyfriend. He was… I didn’t really have a word for the wild, intense connection we shared.

“I saw him again last night.” I paused, debating telling them about Gavin. After a moment, I decided that it was safe to share that particular piece ofinformation. Max’s protectiveness had intensified my forbidden feelings for him. If I was going to tell my friends about him, they should know what he’d done for me.

“Max came to my place to pick me up after I got home from my networking event.” I fudged the truth just a little. “But Gavin followed me home and…” A chill raced through me at the memory of his groping hands on my body. “Well, it turns out you were right, Davis,” I mumbled, staring intently at the polished wooden tabletop. “Gavin does want to fuck me.”

“What did he do?” Davis seethed. “I swear to god, I will punch that motherfucker right in his smarmy face.”

I swallowed hard and shook my head. “There’s no need. Max already punched him in the face. And broke his arm when he pulled Gavin off me.”

“I like this guy,” Isabel declared. “Why didn’t you tell us about him before? He sounds great.”

“He’s…” I took a moment to search for the right word. “Shy.” Well, that wasn’t the right word at all, but it would have to do. “He has this burn scar on his face. I get the feeling he doesn’t talk to many people because he’s self-conscious about it.”

Because his cruel sister called him ugly and madehim feel like a monster.

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