Page 3 of Depraved Royals

“Of course I do. How do you propose we get there? We can’t fly.”

“Not as far as New York, no. My arms get tired.”

I close my eyes.

“You know what I mean. You heard the guy. There are no flights out of Geneva.”

“There aren’t anycommercialflights, but I have my own plane, and if I want to take off, we take off. No one in this airport will try to stop me.”

I look at him, searching his face, but I can’t see anything other than his sharp jaw and supple lips as they curl into a smile once again. There’s no sign that he’s an actual psycho, but that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Monsters come in pretty packaging.

I decide asking too many questions is a shortcut to sleeping in an airport hotel tonight…

“Oh!” I cry. “My purse! Did you get it back for me?”

Kal frowns. “No, I didn’t. What Ididwas beat that fucker until he was gargling his last Will and Testament, and then my friends in security took him away. That good enough?”

I don’t know how to respond. “Why were you following me?”

“What the fuck?” Kal slaps his forehead with his palm. “Youhaveto be shitting me. Are you this naïve?”

Calling me that is like a red rag to a bull. No, I amnotnaïve. I come from a world where people live and die by their wits, and I know more than most about the danger of taking unnecessary risks. My father never shuts up about it.

Be careful, Dani. Remember who you are. You’re a Bratva princess. You can’t swan around like you’re just anybody…

“Don’t call me that,” I hiss. “What are you talking about?”

“Iwasn’t following you,” Kal says, “hewas. When I saw you run past, he was right behind you, ready to relieve you of that Birkin purse. How dumb can you get, walking through an airport with your wealth on display like that?” He looks me up and down. “I mean, you’re fucking smoking hot. Do you reallyneedto do anything to attract attention to yourself?”

I’m surprised by the compliment, and I flush. He notices that I’m scrambling for a response and rescues me.

“It’s alright. You can’t help that you’re the damsel type,” he says. “I knew you were about to get in trouble and decided to help, that’s all. Nothing more to it.”

“You nearly killed the guy,” I say. “That’s quite the reaction.”

Kal furrows his brow as though the thought hadn’t occurred to him before.

“I guess it is,” he says, “but I got rid of him either way. So you owe me.”

I glare at him. “Oh, really?Whatdo I owe you?”

He shows me the palms of his hands. “Nothing sinister. Just the pleasure of your company. You can rifle through the lost property for a thirty-thousand-dollar purse that will definitely not be there, followed by a long wait on a shit-awful metal bench. Or you can enjoy a comfortable seat on my plane.” He grins. “Champagne and suede leather, or back pain and shit weather. Your choice.”

I laugh. “You made a rhyme. That’s kind of impressive.”

Kal winks at me. “I have many things I can impress you with,milaya.”

Oh, no. Don’t be calling me ‘honey.’ I can’t deal with it. But that being said, I desperately want to hear him say it again.

He looks into my eyes steadily. “What’s it gonna be, Danica?”

“Okay,” I say. “But you can call me Dani.”

He offers me his arm, and I feel his taut bicep through his jacket as my hand slips over it.

He leans close to my ear.

---