Page 78 of Maid for the Alien Prince

“One hundred thousand credits,” I said.

The chief staff member’s bushy eyebrows rose once more to the top of his head. “Dead or… alive, sir?”

“Alive. I want to know any information he might have before I… deal with him further.”

The chief staff member bowed low and moved toward the door, but paused at the last moment and turned back to face me. “I thought Your Highness might like to know… many others from the local town have come to help with the search. Many know Camila personally and worked at the palace in the past.”

Despite my dark mood, I couldn’t help but smile. Of course they would come to help. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? Every spare pair of eyes we could muster were valuable.

“Thank you for informing me,” I said.

The chief staff member bowed once more and swept out of the room, leaving me alone once more with my thoughts.

Tap, tap, tap.

I turned my head to one side and listened to the house’s creaks and groans. It was as if the house itself knew she was missing and was wailing in dismay at having lost her.

I knew exactly how it felt. Every bone, muscle and sinew in my body craved for her the same way. If I never saw her again, I didn’t know how I would cope—

I shook my head of the negative thoughts. Of course I would see her again. Everything would work out in the end.

Tap, tap, tap.

I found my foot tapping along with it. I shut my eyes and imagined what it would be like to see her again, to feel her and rub my hands over her body and savor her every breath.

To worship her every night of my life until my final breath was stolen from my body… and then I would make love to her again in the afterlife.

Tap, tap, tap.

I turned my head to one side, the noise now beginning to irritate me. Perhaps someone was in another room, a child perhaps, playing a game as we conducted our search.

When the tapping came once more, I immediately got up and marched toward the door that led to the secretary’s office.

I threw it open and the secretary immediately stopped typing on her holo-keyboard and looked at me over the rim of her half-moon glasses.

“Will you stop that infernal tapping noise?” I snapped.

The secretary frowned. “What tapping noise?”

I paused, listening, and when I was about to give up, I heard it again. “That!”

It sounded like it was coming from the next room. I moved to it and threw the door open.

It was my suite. The cleaners had come to remake the bed but I had denied them entry. I wanted this room to exist as a memory to her, the place I had lost her.

I followed the sound to its loudest point—somewhere behind the wardrobe. I shoved it out of the way with a single heave of my arm. I placed my hand to the pipe and felt the vibrations running through it.

“There must be children in one of the other rooms,” I said. “Have them stop immediately.”

“There are no other rooms where this pipe feeds onto,” the secretary said.

“What?” I growled. “Then where is the tapping coming from? My imagination? A room from nowhere?”

The secretary folded her arms and scowled at me disapprovingly. “I understand this is a difficult time for you but that gives you no reason to speak to me as if I—”

I turned away from her and ran my hands over the walls. I felt the reverberations on the palms of my hands.

“Now you’re being rude!” the secretary snapped. “I am talking to you and—”

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