Page 29 of Royal Shark
“Prince Adrian is your boyfriend?”
I nod. It’s all I can manage.
His eyes narrow. “You said you would never consider being with a player. Now you are telling me that Prince Adrian, a player, is someone you are with.”
“He’s a temporary guest, not a permanent player. We’ve known each other for a very long time.”
He looks up and down the street and spots the Mercedes sitting conspicuously a few doors down. “Is that him?”
Before I can deny it, Sergei strides outside and goes right to the car, knocking on the driver’s side window.
Adrian steps out of the backseat. “How’s it going?”
Sergei crosses his arms, his legs braced wide apart in battle stance. “It’s going shitty. I’ve lost two games in a row, and now there are three people here to witness it. I want you all gone.”
Adrian’s gaze turns steely. “Pay up and we’ll go.”
Sergei turns and storms back to his place. I rush after him, but he slams the door in my face. I hear the snick of the lock. Fuck.
I ring the bell again and again. He owes me too much to walk away. One hundred K. It’ll clean me out to cover him. I glare at Adrian, who’s standing on the sidewalk nearby. “You screwed it up!” I shout at him. “I’ve never had a problem before now.”
“This was always a possibility,” he says calmly.
I turn back to the door and pound on it. His housekeeper, Ms. Davies, answers. “I’m sorry, Miss Sara. Sergei isn’t taking callers right now.”
“Please. I just need to talk to him.” I open my purse and dig out a hundred-dollar bill from my last collection visit and press it in her hand. “Here, for your trouble.”
She gives me a look of disgust and hands it back. “I’ll lose my job for not following orders.”
I shove past her and rush down the hallway. He’s probably in his study. “Sergei!”
Footsteps pound behind me. Oh, shit. It’s like I have a parade. Jack, Adrian, and Ms. Davies are following me at a run. “Stay back!” I shout. “This is business!”
I find the study and there he is, sitting at his desk. I quickly shut the door behind me and lock it. “Sorry about the disturbance earlier. It’s just you and me now. Let’s get straight and then we’ll be good for Thursday.”
Someone knocks on the door. “Go away!” I shout.
“I told her not to come in,” Ms. Davies says through the door. “Very sorry, Sergei. She overpowered me and forced her way in.”
Sergei sends me a dark look. “That is my aunt’s friend.”
“I didn’t overpower her,” I whisper fiercely. “I just ran past her.”
“Please leave us,” Sergei commands loud enough to be heard by the crowd on the other side of the door.
Ms. Davies speaks softly through the door. “As you wish, sir.”
He stares at his desk morosely.
“It’s okay,” I say, approaching cautiously. “I’m sure you’ll do great next game. Odds are in your favor, right? Nowhere to go but up.”
He exhales sharply. “I don’t have the money.”
My stomach drops. “What do you mean you don’t have the money?”
He lifts his head. “I gave Yuri the last of my reserves for his sure-thing land deal. Everything else is gone. You must understand. His investment was worth more to me than paying a poker game debt.”
I hold onto my temper. “Sergei, if you don’t pay, then the winners don’t get their full winnings. They’ll quit. The game will fold.”
