Page 131 of His Prince

Casey and Gael were admitted to the hospital, and I’m left sitting in the waiting room with nothing to occupy my mind but the fluorescent lights and the utter doom. I called my dad to inform him of the situation, and he’s on his way out to help me, but he won’t be here for hours. So I’m left to wait with Dima and Steve.

Steve, who is currently sitting back in his chair, texting on his phone, looking cool as a cucumber. Whereas I feel like I’m caught between sobbing and a panic attack. I’m trying to hold it together, managing by a mere thread. Dima is talking quietly on his phone with the guards at the house, updating them and Nina about what happened.

I’m glad he’s here. I can’t cope with explaining this to anyone. I may never recover if I have to.

“Are you sure that lady knows what to do?”

Steve snorts and meets my desperate gaze. “Yeah, she does. Shehas a whole…hm, how do I say this…a whole slew of people who don’t like the chaos this causes in our nicely, unchaotic life.”

“Yeah?” I ask, and Steve shrugs.

“Yeah.”

I nod slowly, hoping I’m reading too much into it when the older woman from the restaurant storms through the door.

“I never introduced myself. I’m Vera. The cousin of Ethel who lives on the West Coast.” I have no idea who Ethel is, but I don’t say that. “And you are?”

“Angel,” I reply, and she nods.

“Well, little bug, we have everyone on the hunt. Daniil has been on our radar for a while now. He always gave me a bad feeling, and now I know there’s merit behind it.”

“But you let him into the restaurant in the first place.”

She scoffs and then pats my head. “Keep those enemies close, flower. Keep them close.”

I meet her gaze and she purses her lips.

“Now tell me everything you know about this man. I want to make sure I’m not missing anything…”

I spend far too long detailing every little piece of information to Vera, who is a very good listener and who encourages me to lay it all out. Dima also chimes in as well, giving as much information as he can when I fall short. Fuck, I hope that any of this can help find him because I’m at a loss. I literally have no idea where to start looking.

Steve, on the other hand, is still scrolling on his phone, almost seeming disinterested, but he’s obviously listening because there are times when he pipes up and adds in little helpful thoughts about motive and even where Daniil may have taken Mikhail.

I don’t understand how the two of them know so much, but then again, this is their territory, and they’ve apparently been keeping a close eye on Daniil and his movements.

By the time I’ve told them everything I know, Vera purses her lips, and Dima curses under his breath, something in Russian. I bet he’s blaming himself for not catching this earlier as well.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him. Daniil should know better than to mess with me,” Vera says, almost sweetly.

I don’t know how an old lady can take down someone as sinister as Daniil, but it seems like she’s some kind of mob boss herself. Very unsuspecting, though. No one would think she’s running some kind of underground operation.

“We have our fingers in all sorts of pies. Apple, blueberry, pumpkin,” she adds as she pulls out her phone again and speaks to Ethel.

All of this takes so much time, time I feel we don’t have, but I have no other option. I just need to wait and hope for the best.

It has to work out. It has to.

Just as I think that, my phone rings and I see Diablo’s name flash across the screen.

I suddenly realize I never updated him on what’s going on.

“Dad just told me,” he says as the clacking of the keys resonates in the background. “I’ll find him.”

“I’m with someone working on that too. Vera.”

“Who the fuck is Vera?”

I turn away slightly and whisper, “Some old mob lady, I think.”

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