Prince Player(57)

“He’s sick,” Nolan agrees. “I had no clue how far it went.”

“But now you know. And you can do something about it.”

“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath. “Come on. Let’s get back to the castle.”

“What for?” I ask him. “We still need her to talk.”

“She will,” he says. “Did you notice the way she looked at you?”

I shake my head. “Not at all.”

“She looks up to you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Are you serious? I’m a foreign traitor.”

“You’re also young and come from nothing, and now you’re married to a prince. You give girls like her hope.”

“Huh,” I say, a little surprised. “I didn’t think about it that way.”

He grins and pulls me against him. “You’re a damn inspiration.”

“Obviously,” I say, kissing him softly. “And stop saying I come from nothing, jerk.”

He grins and kisses me again before we get back into the car. I feel hopeful that we’re going to get what we need. Renee will talk to us sooner or later, we just have to be patient and play this right. I’m glad Nolan didn’t press too hard and scare her away. And giving her money was a good idea.

We just might make this work. There are a lot of balls still up in the air, but we’re getting so close.





25





Nolan





I can’t stop thinking about Renee on the drive back to the castle. Nobody should have to go through what her family has been forced to deal with. She’s clearly a strong girl, especially if she’s been dealing with Julian for as long as she has been.

I can’t imagine what he life would be like if he won. Nobody would come to save her, and millions more girls like her would be forced into horrible situations. Julian wants to cut every single program that families like Renee’s depend on, and they’d end up even worse off. The frustrating part is, so many people believe in Julian’s shit and think that cutting programs and waving the flag more will save lives.

I’m not letting Julian gut this country. No fucking way. Maybe Renee hasn’t given me the direct proof that I need, but I have enough for now. I’ll need to get her on tape admitting everything, but for now, I can start moving forward.

I’m plotting my next moves as we pull into the underground parking structure and start up into the castle. Hazel walks next to me, idly scrolling through her phone as the elevator doors ding open.

We step inside and I’m thinking about which nobles I’m going to approach. I already know I’ll tell Jessie about this, and she’ll have some good ideas about what to do with the info. We might need to sit on it, just so that Julian doesn’t get tipped off, but I don’t know. My head is buzzing with strategies when the doors open and we step out into the castle.

And are met by two guards and two stewards.

“Prince Nolan and Wife Consort Hazel,” the steward standing closest to us says. “I am ordering you both attend Second Steward Andrew Schmid immediately.”

I stop in my tracks and glance at the guards. “What’s happening here?” I ask the steward that addressed us. I don’t recognize the man, which means he’s probably one of Julian’s.

“The Second Steward has ordered that you and the Wife Consort are to be brought before him as soon as you step foot in the castle,” the man says. “This is by decree of the king himself.”

I stare for a second, not understanding. “If Andrew wants to see us, why would he send you people? And what’s with the fucking guards?”

“Please, Prince Nolan, come with us.”

I have a bad feeling, but I don’t know what else I can do. I have no supporters nearby. The only choice I have is to follow for the time being.

I nod and gesture. “Lead the way,” I say.

One guard falls in front of us and the other walks behind us. Hazel looks worried as we walk down the halls toward Andrew’s office.

This makes no sense to me. Andrew is supposed to be on my side. Why would he send these goons here to pick us up, unless something is happening? I can’t imagine that he turned on me, but then again, I’ve been away from court for a long time, which everyone loves to remind me.

Andrew used to be my close friend. We grew up together, though we could never be seen as equals. I was always the prince, and he was always the son of a steward. We were in different social classes, and we were kept apart a lot of the time. Although we were close friends, Andrew never forgot that I was his superior.

Maybe Julian got to him. Maybe all those years of resentment came boiling to the surface when I returned, and now he’s stabbing me in the back. I don’t understand any of this, but maybe I’m a fool for trusting him.