Page 102 of My Dark Horse Prince

Both possibilities annoy me. “I want to leave,” I say. “Right now.”

“What’s this madness I hear?” Danils is staring right at me, wearing his usual—a perfectly tailored suit. His pristinely beautiful face and shining blond hair look exactly as they always do, but they’re contorted into some kind of fury, the likes of which I haven’t previously seen. “You’re not engaged. Right?”

I should tell him that Grigoriy was kidding. The last thing I need is for that delusional Russian prince to start harboring hope that we’re together. But the only thing worse than pretending to be engaged to him is giving Danils any reason at all to hope that we might date again. I’m sure that Martinš is just being insane, or that he misunderstood an offhand comment Danils made, but just in case. . .

I lie. “I know it’s a surprise, but it happened fast.” I lean against Grigoriy with a girly sigh, batting my eyes for good measure. Then I whisper, “Let’s get out of here before I ruin this farce by kicking you.”

Grigoriy laughs as if I’ve just said something hilarious, and slides his arm around me, dropping his face right next to mine. “Sadly, we have no plans to invite either of you to the wedding.”

He presses a kiss against my cheek, and I do my level best not to shudder.

But Danils? That idiot looks like he’s about to explode.

19

Once, one of Mom’s clients gave her an entire box of bananas. And not a tiny box. It was a huge box, the size of a muck tub. At first, we were giddy. Apparently, they had somehow procured way too many, and they were giving them to everyone. We felt so lucky to be included.

I hadn’t had many bananas. Fresh fruit was too expensive and we didn’t often even see it, much less have any. I still remember eating that very first one—firm, but sweet. So stinking sweet. It felt like nirvana, or as close to it as I would ever come.

But then Mom didn’t want us to waste any.

So we ate more bananas and more. More and more and more. And my stomach, unaccustomed to any bananas, much less dozens of them, was very unhappy. It protested. A lot. Frequently.

Now even the thought of bananas makes me want to hurl.

That’s how Danils is, too.

When he first showed interest in me, both Adriana and I were shocked. After all, she’s the prettier sister. I was always very thin, with a lot of hair, and very large brown eyes, and not much else. No other boy had even bothered to taunt me.

I found out later that Danils had laid claim on me at least a year before he even approached me. He was that kind of person.

But the day he smiled right at me? The day we first spoke?

It felt like I was eating that very first banana.

As time passed, my entire life felt like a bite of that first banana.

Until it didn’t.

What was great at first was ultimately very bad for my body, my heart, and my soul. In the end, when he dumped me, I felt nothing but relief.

The notion that he might still have harbored some feelings for me is ludicrous. He and his girlfriend worked together to inflict misery on me, and now she’s stolen my favorite horse.

“You can’t marry him,” Danils says.

A genius, he never has been. I shake Grigoriy off and take one step closer, holding up one finger to wag it at him. “Whether I do has nothing to do with you,” I say. “Go home so I can finally free my mother.” I glance back at where Martinš is hiding behind the front door, only his head visible.

“Bring your mom to my house,” Danils says, as if that’s not the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. “I’ll keep Martinš away from her, if that’s what you want.”

Martinš’s mouth dangles open.

“Thanks for the offer,” I say, “but I’ll pass.”

“Not a Russian,” Danils says. “Even if you’re still upset with me, you can’t date a Russian.”

“What’s wrong with Russians?” Grigoriy asks.

“We don’t have enough time to even get into that,” Adriana says.

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