Page 41 of The Stolen Princess
“Well, I do, and he’s way better looking than you are.”
Drake laughed at her attempt at an insult. “I doubt that.”
She glared at him. “Someone thinks highly of himself.”
“If you’re so close with your father, why don’t you ask permission to go to your lover’s house?”
“I prefer to sneak around. It’s more fun that way.”
“If you have a lover, why did you agree to meet me next month?” he asked.
She laughed, looking away. “I wasn’t actually going to show up.”
Drake’s jaw stiffened.
He was going to show up.
In fact, he’d been looking forward to it the moment they had made the plans…until he’d found out Mya was Princess Myka. Now he had to be all about business.
“What’s your relationship with Rommel and Joett?” he asked.
“I’m sure you already know,” she said. “What did you do to get them to turn on me? Did you pay them?” There was a fresh wave of emotion filling up her eyes, and her voice cracked as she spoke.
She already knew Rommel was tied to Drake somehow. It didn’t matter at this point if he told her the truth. “Rommel is helping us figure out what kind of weapons your father has and how we can destroy them.”
“Rommel?” Myka scoffed. “What does he know about weapons?”
Drake hesitated. “Sounds like there is a lot about Rommel you don’t know.”
“Like the fact that they’re friends with a kidnapper?” Bitterness took over her voice.
“I wouldn’t say we’re friends. More like acquaintances. And they didn’t know about the kidnapping.”
“What a relief,” she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Here, I thought they had really stabbed me in the back.”
“I’m sure it feels that way, but that’s not how it was.”
“Then tell me,” she said looking right at him. “What do I not know about Rommel that you do?”
“I told you. He’s helping us with the weapons. Anything else I know beyond that isn’t for me to share. You should ask him.”
Myka rolled her eyes. “Now you have moral boundaries? When it’s convenient for you?”
“I’ve always had moral boundaries. It’s my moral code that drives me. Why do you think I’m doing all of this?”
“I don’t know why you’re doing this. I don’t know why a group of men would kidnap a woman. Who are you people, and who do you work for?”
Drake looked around at the other four men. She didn’t need to know who they were or where they had come from. If she escaped, she would be the first to point them out to her father. Then he remembered he had already said his name earlier when he had introduced himself to Joett. Such a mistake. At the time, he hadn’t thought of Myka as a threat. He’d wanted Joett to know who he was. Not Myka. His slip-up had unwittingly put Albion in danger.
“I’m not from around here,” Drake said. “I work for myself.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not even from Tolsten?”
He shook his head. “No. I’m from the kingdom of Albion. I’m the commander of the Albion army.” There was no point in keeping it a secret. Her father would recognize his name instantly.
“The commander?” Her mouth dropped, and the look on her face said she didn’t believe him.
His face went smug. “That’s right.”
