Page 56 of Her Lawless Prince

“Not now Natan.” Payton held her hand up to block his face from her view.

Roderic chuckled and continued to pull her with him. “What did you do to that poor man?”

“I don’t remember,” she lied.

“Tell me, or I’ll stop this rescue and walk you right back into the inquisition.” Her cousin slowed his steps and began to turn around.

“No, wait!” Payton pulled his arm hard to turn him around and mumbled, “I…shamahim.

“You what?”

“I shaved him,” she answered in mock exasperation.

Her cousin began to shake as he suppressed his laughter. “I need more.”

“My father left him to watch my brothers and me. He was new and scared of angering the commander. He really wanted to do a good job, so we convinced him to shift to play hunter. We were supposed to hide in the palace gardens, but I set up a rope trap, and when he was hanging upside down, I shaved him.”

Roderic laughed.

“Then we ran off,” Payton continued.

“Oh, no.” Roderic’s laughter died. “You didn’t…?”

“My mother cut him down,” she said.

“Oh, Payton.”

“The fur eventually grew back,” Payton defended. “He’s the one still holding a grudge. It was sixty years ago.”

“So you were…?”

“Like ten or twelve when it happened,” Payton said. “He was a soldier. He shouldn’t have let me take advantage.”

“A new soldier. And you expected him to go up against the commander’s children?” Roderic kept an even pace as he led her toward his father’s office. “Have you apologized?”

“I tried a few times, but he keeps growling at me.” Payton avoided her cousin’s gaze.

“What else?”

“I might have escaped a few times on his watch over the years. I told you the man holds a grudge.” As they neared Quinn’s office, she stopped. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”

“You looked like you were drowning a little,” Roderic said. “Seriously, Payton, did you say yes to Yevgen? I know he’s your friend, and he has some kind of bizarre cyborg crush on you, but I never thought you’d—”

“It was a mistake.” She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I’ve made a mess out of everything. Yevgen made the declaration. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I let it happen. Then the mercenaries were coming, and I got irritated with Nyle and confirmed it, and now…”

“Nyle.” Roderic lifted her chin to make her look at him. “Ryland said he was a bad man. Who is he to you?”

Her expression must have answered for her because Roderic nodded.

“I see.” Roderic sighed heavily.

“My brother doesn’t listen. Yevgen must have given him only part of the story.” Payton glanced back and forth down the hallway before stepping closer and lowering her voice. “Nyle isn’t bad. He was a scientist on Cysgod. They used his cloned organs in the cyborg facility. Then they started doing experiments. The virus wasn’t his fault.”

“It came from his facility?” Roderic frowned. “You’re sure? You have proof of origin?”

“Nothisfacility,” she corrected. “The facility where he worked. He was in a different laboratory.”

“Even if it wasn’t his department, people are looking for someone to blame.” Roderic shook his head. “This isn’t good. They want someone held accountable. The Federation will not let that go.”

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