Page 35 of Devilish Prince

Dad strolls out of my office and across the foyer toward me. “Your little toy has done it again, Lorenzo, and you need to get her under control.”

“What are you talking about?” I put the phone in my pocket. I’ll have to look into that more later.

“I mean, Norman’s car is gone, taken right off the street. The keys are missing.” Dad shakes his head and grunts out a sigh. “She really is a match for you though. Just as stubborn and headstrong as you always were as a boy. Perhaps you’ll have strong sons to take over for you when it’s your turn to go.” He walks past me into the kitchen and I move straight toward my open office door.

When I walk in, I see Norm hovering over the computer on my desk. I take in the sight of my office. It’s trashed. Papers and pens litter the floor in front of every piece of furniture. The things on my desk are messed up, and it looks like someone came in here to steal from me.

“Sir,” Norm says, not even looking up. He stares intently and I round my desk to see at what. He’s reviewing the same footage I was just looking at.

“What happened?” My head still pounds with pain, but the coffee is helping a little. I was never stupid enough to believe Sofia would lie down like a well-trained dog to obey me, but I never thought she’d steal a car and flee in the middle of the night.

“I’m trying to see what time she left. She took my keys right off the stand in the living room and her brother too.”

“What?” I set the coffee down and barge out the door of my office and into the next room where Calvin is supposed to be. His bedis empty, just like on the monitor, and his closet stands open. The wheelchair is gone. “Fuck.”

I cram my hand through my hair and let out a growl of rage and frustration. Then I swipe my hand across the nightstand, pushing everything on it to the floor. The lamp shatters, and the box of tissues tumbles across the floor. She’s gone?

“Sir, she left around three a.m. it appears.”

Livid, I lunge at him, shoving him with both hands hard until he stumbles backward. His sheer size dwarfs me, but I don’t cower. “You let her just fucking waltz out of here with your keys, Norm.” He knows he shouldn’t fuck with me. He knows me well enough to know I will hurt him—badly.

“Sir, I?—”

“You fucking find her now. You get your fucking ass out there on that street and find her. You bring her back here and you do it now.” I shove him again and he bumps into the wall. His jaw tightens, nostrils flared, and he turns his head to the side. He’s angry with me, but this is his fault. “You left your fucking keys out in the open. What the hell have I taught you? You know nothing now?”

“I’ll make it right, sir.” His voice is tight and his shoulders square. Norm doesn’t make mistakes like this, and maybe I’ve been too soft on him, but so help me if he doesn’t bring her back, I will gut him as quickly as I would any other soldier.

“Now, Norm.” I walk out the door past him and head straight up the stairs to get dressed. The pain in my head fuels my anger even more. I have never been so furious in my life. No one has ever had the audacity to defy me like this. Not a single soul. And Sofia will pay.

I strip the shorts off and find boxers, then dress in a suit and head back downstairs. On my way, I make a call to one of my men, giving strict orders to find her and bring her back, and when I walk into the kitchen, Dad is seated at the table eating breakfast. He stabs his fork into a bite of eggs and brings it to his lips with a smug look.

I sit across from him and the cook sets a fresh cup of coffee and a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me. I pick up a fork and stare at the plate, still enraged. Though I blame myself partly. I had far too much to drink and if I’d have been more alert, I’d have noticed her leaving.

“The city is large and it’s easy to disappear, but we’ll find her.” Dad sips his coffee and sets his fork down. “Now, eat. We have a lot to get done today.”

I have a bite of eggs and pick up a strip of bacon and shove it in my mouth. The crispy meat crunches between my teeth as I chew and I look up to meet his gaze.

“Norman has to go, Lorenzo. He’s weak. He might be loyal, but if he is stupid, your kingdom will fall. Cut him loose.” Dad picks at his tooth with the tip of his tongue. I had a feeling something like this would happen eventually. He has never liked Norm. But I won’t just cut him off. His loyalty is worth too much.

“I’ll handle it,” I grumble as I shove another bite of eggs into my mouth. I won’t allow anyone to make decisions for me, not even him.

“You’re only as strong as your weakest?—”

“I said I’ll handle it!” I glare at him and his eyebrows bounce up and down one time before he uses his napkin to wipe his mouth.

“Mmm…” He stands and nods then turns to the cook. “Thank you for breakfast. It was delightful.”

Dad strolls out without another word, and I glower at my plate of food. If Sofia thinks this is getting her out of our arrangement she’s wrong. As soon as I find her I’m taking her straight to the altar. And if she refuses to wed me, things will get violent.

I will have my way.

23

SOFIA

The beauty and peace of this little cabin perched on the side of the mountain is breathtaking despite the rain that’s been falling all day. I carry my cup of tea and head toward the living room to check on Calvin, who is strapped into his wheelchair and watching game shows on TV. The wood floor creaks beneath my feet, but the place is sturdy, made of giant logs stacked upon one another and dovetailed at the corner the way old cabins always are.

The deck out back overlooks the Catskill Creek in the valley below. With all the foliage of the summer months, I can’t see the creek at all, but I bet it’s beautiful in late fall when the colors shift and the leaves fall. And I can only imagine how picturesque it is in winter when the creek freezes and snow blankets the mountain side. Jen is a saint for allowing Calvin and I to come up here. She even loaned me her car just in case Lorenzo’s car has a tracking unit in it.

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