Page 26 of His Prince

“Fuck, that’s good,” one of them says, reaching out for arefill. I oblige, pouring him some more before turning to look at the men who are hauling broken pieces of the garden away in wheelbarrows, giving me room to plant to my heart’s content. I only need to find the time to do it.

“You need sunscreen, Casey and Felix…actually all of you.Sunscreen,” I shout out, but they just make a face at me, rolling their eyes at my motherly tone, and get back to work. I place my hands on my hips and sigh. It’s slightly overcast, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get sunburned. When no one comes to me to get sprayed, I stand up, grabbing both sunscreen bottles.

These grown men are like children most days, I swear.

“Alright, you’ve all been warned. I’m reapplying,” I tell them as I approach. They grumble and groan when I point to the space in front of me, and glumly make their way to me, allowing me to spray them down and then rub it into their skin.

As I do this, they tease me, making lascivious remarks, but I just ignore it and let them get on with it. They can make all the comments they want as long as no one follows through with it. And I know that it’s good-natured. None of them actually want to fuck me.

Either way, Casey doesn’t like them teasing me. He threatens them all with bodily harm if they continue, but they just throw their arms around him and jostle him slightly, forcing him to wrestle free.

I ignore the manly display of might and just point to the spot in front of me once more.

“Alright, Titus. Get over here. And honestly, put that cigarette out,” I say. “Stop hiding behind that tree. I can see you.”

He slinks out and grimaces when I spray the liquid on his already red skin, the cigarette hanging from his lips.

“I hate sunscreen,” he grumbles.

“Yes, I know, but you’ll hate skin cancer more. Trust me on this one.”

He pulls a drag from the cigarette and lets out a smoky exhale. I’ll work on their lungs next, but right now I’m happy they’re letting me spread this stuff on their skin.

As I’m rubbing the liquid onto his back, a sleek car pulls into the driveway and comes to a slow stop. As the engine shuts off, all heads turn toward it. In that moment, everything seems to come to a halt, even the men seem to be holding their breath.

“Oh shit, little husband,” Titus whispers and then takes a step away from me, nearly tripping over a shovel on the ground in his haste.

“I’m not done with you,” I murmur, but my heart is throbbing in my chest as I let him go.

My gaze narrows as I watch Mikhail step out.

My first thought is he looks impeccable with his dark gray suit and his light brown hair combed back. He has no right to look this good.

But then he turns to look at me, his blue eyes narrowing as he takes in my position amongst all his men, and I see the barest of twitches in his right eye.

Annoyance flitters across his face before he schools his gaze into something hard and unmoving.

I fold my arms across my chest and force myself to meet his stare.

I’m not apologizing for this. I’m not fucking going to.

It’s a tense few seconds, no one even moving, but then he turns and walks off, his strides sure and purposeful as he makes his way to the house. I watch him go, watch every step he takes until I can’t see him anymore.

As soon as the front door shuts behind him, I let out a long breath. And so does everyone else.

“Fuck, I’m going to be flogged for that,” Titus whines, and I turn to look at him.

“You won’t. I promise.”

They look unsure, but I’m confident about this. If Mikhail wants to punish anyone, it will be me. They were just following orders. I was the one who put this entire plan into motion.

“I think I’ll go start lunch,” I say, pressing my shaking hands into my sides and nodding. They stare at me for a moment more beforegetting back to work. But even as they do, anxiety hangs in the air. It’s palpable.

Casey moves up beside me, wanting to follow me into the house, but I stop him.

“I can handle it,” I say. “I promise. You forget sometimes who my dad is, who my brother is.”

“I know, but you’re not them,” he whispers.

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