Page 122 of His Prince

My disbelief is loud, and I see Daniil narrowing his eyes at me over Mikhail’s shoulder. Oh, I knew it. He thinks that because he’s been friends with Mikhail for ages my opinion won’t count, that Mikhail will ignore me.

Well, we’ll see about that.

“Perhaps now that this is all settled, we can put this behind us and have dinner,” Daniil suggests.

I stare at the man, the impeccable suit and tie, the nicely combed hair. He looks a little too slick for my liking.

“I’d like to see those books, if you don’t mind,” I say, and Mikhail’s hand tightens on mywaist.

“You don’t need to,” Mikhail grinds out, and I stare up at him, my lips pursing in frustration.

“I need to speak to you. Outside.”

“We’ll do no such thing,” Mikhail says and nods to Daniil. “Dinner would be nice.”

Daniil grins. “How about Dovoda? I can get us a table. It is no worry.”

The way he smiles makes me shudder. He’s calculating and nothing good can come from this.

“That sounds very nice,” I interject, and Mikhail stiffens next to me. He expects me not to agree to this. Well, he has no idea what I’m doing or what my plan is. “I’d love dinner.”

Daniil seems surprised by my acceptance, and I cock my head at him, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s settled then. Dovoda. Let’s go. I always have a table ready for me.”

I manage to keep my eyes from rolling out of my head at his humblebrag.

Mikhail sets his hand on my lower back and moves me forward, lowering his voice an octave.

“What is your plan, little devil?”

“Oh, no plan. I’m just here as a supportive husband.”

Mikhail scoffs at that, but we continue to move to the SUV as Daniil makes his way to his own car. When we get inside and Dima starts driving, I turn toward Mikhail, and he sighs.

“I knew you had something to say.”

“I do. Daniil isn’t to be trusted. I know you think he showed you the books, but he’s cooking them. I promise you that.”

Mikhail runs a hand across his jaw and looks out the window.

“He’s been with me for decades, Angel.”

I bite my lip, wanting to blurt out that I have that box hidden in the greenhouse, that there are pictures of him with Katarina, but they’re not conclusive. He already said that they were friends. He’s going to need way more than that to believe me.

“I know, but he’s lying to you. He’s up to something, and I don’t like him at all.”

“His books were fine. Ours must have been off.”

I see Casey cock an eyebrow at me, but I just shake my head. “I promise you he’s the one with something to gain here. Ivan, Andrew, and I saw what’s going on and he’s definitely stealing from you.”

“He has no reason to! I’ve given him everything he could possibly want for being loyal!”

Anger pulses off him, and I set my hand on his thigh, feeling it clench beneath my palm. He reaches out and touches me gently, almost as if to apologize.

“I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m at a loss,” he says lowly, trying to keep those words of weakness from the guards.

“I know, but I’ll prove it to you,” I say and then grab my phonefrom my bag. If Mikhail wants proof, I’ll give it to him. I know I don’t need to, that I could just throw my hands up and let it go. But I refuse. I’ve come this far…we’vecome this far.

---