Page 21 of The Prince and His Stolen Groom
“I wanted to learn more about you—and for you to learn about me.” Their brown eyes locked with mine. “I’m not trying to ruin your family, Rick. I’m trying to help.”
“I know,” I said, because I did. But I also knew that, no matter how much they wanted to, they couldn’t help me. “C’mon, it’s just up ahead.” I grabbed their arm and dragged them into the colorful, boisterous depths of the market.
Chapter Nine
The marketplace was a combination of temporary stalls and permanent storefronts. The latter usually sold things that were difficult to move—glassware, furniture, and restaurants especially—while the former could be anything from a blanket laid out on the ground to a cart fully loaded with a grill.
My favorite clothing shop had a permanent location on the first floor of a building in the fourth row of the east quarter. We passed several others on our way there that might have been cheaper, but I was friends with the owner.
Halfway there, a cheerful voice called out, “Ricky!Ricky!”
I froze in horror. Though a lot of people still called me Fred, onlyoneperson called me fuckingRicky. Too late, I realized freezing was the wrong response. I grabbed Kit’s arm, which was the only thing that stopped me from being bowled over as someone slammed into me from behind.
“I’ve missed you!” they exclaimed, nuzzling my back. “You never come to the shop anymore!”
“Kit,” I said, my voice strangled, “there is a very good bookstore just down that street. Why don’t you go get Franny a present?”
They cocked their head to the side, their eyes narrowed as they looked between me and the man clinging onto me. Between my frantic panic and the mask, I couldn’t even begin to read their expression. “Sure. Come get me once you’re done.”
I blindly reached around and grabbed Griffin by the collar of his shirt, yanking him between stalls in a desperate attempt to find something resembling privacy. We were halfway out of the market before I found an empty storefront and shoved him into the shadows of the awning. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He looked up at me with big, blue, innocent eyes. “I was saying hello!” His bottom lip jutted out in a practiced pout, and he demanded, “Who was that with you? Have you replaced me so soon?”
“Stop the act, would you? I’m not a paying customer anymore.”
The lip wobbled tremulously for five solid seconds. Then Griffin sighed and straightened, crossing his arms. “I like you a lot better when you play along.” His face changed with the new demeanor, maturing, and souring at the same time. He liked to play cute and innocent, claiming the gap in his personality and his profession earned him more money than if he acted like the typical sadist. I’d be lying if I claimed it hadn’t worked on me in the beginning.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I’d cut things off with Griffin a few months ago for an excellent reason that I had no intention of discussing out in the open. “I’ve asked you before not to draw attention to us in public, especially when I’mwith someone.”
Griffin smirked. “So, that really is your new lover? Does he treat you as well as I did?”
“You werepaidto treat me well,” I reminded him.
His expression clouded over. “You know it wasn’t only about the money.” He reached out and stroked my cheek, down to my chin, lifting it with just the tips of his fingers. “We worked well together, didn’t we?” he murmured, closing the distance between us. “Everything would have been even better if you had let me—”
I slapped his hand away. “Not in public. And no, he isn’t my lover, he’s my sister’s fiancé.” Technically, they were impersonating my sister’s fiancé, but Griffin was not a person to confide secrets in. They’d be sold before you had time to blink.
Griffin arched a brow and looked around my shoulder, even though Kit was far out of our view. “That’sthe Prince of Bane? The weirdo in a fox mask and clunky armor?”
“Don’t ask, it’s a custom.”
“I thought it was some new type of play, which is why I was surprisedyouweren’t the one being led around on a leash.”
“I did not have him on a leash,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Shame.”
“If that’s all you have to say,” I started, pulling away from him.
“Wait.” Griffin grabbed my hand. “Give me one more chance. I promise I won’t push you beyond your limits.”
The sincerity in his eyes made me waver for a moment. Ever since yesterday’s fiasco, my skin had itched under my clothes, like phantom ropes still wrapped around me “You’re just sad you lost a customer.”
“You’re more than a customer to me, Rick. I—”
A munching sound interrupted his impassioned plea. We stared at each other for a few moments, then both slowly turned our heads to the side.
A small purple creature sat cross-legged, suspended in midair, eating popcorn. Its tail floated below it, swaying lazily, the barbed tip drawing little circles in the dirt. “Don’t mind me,” it said, tossing a handful of popcorn into its mouth, “I’m just on a lunch break.”
