“Fuck.” I want to punch something, but I’m Sov Charmont, and I don’t engage in that behavior. Instead, I stomp back up to my floor and nearly blow off the doors to my suite.
Alex, my old boarding school friend, jumps a half mile in the air. “Shit, Sov, you scared me.”
I stalk over to the bar and pour myself a glass of whiskey. “You didn’t find her?” she asks.
“What do you think?” I down the contents and refill the glass. After my third drink, I feel mildly placated. I pour the remainder of the bottle into my tumbler, yank off my tie, and throw myself onto the sofa across from Alex. Over the rim of the glass, I eye her. “Tell me the story of how a woman with three brothers and a father is in the Vieth compound.”
Alex waves her champagne flute in the air. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that whole story about Karin Vieth bringing in all these abandoned waifs to mother.”
“They aren’t called the Vieth Orphans for nothing.”
“It’s a story, Sov, designed to play on your need to be the chivalrous knight.”
“Does your daddy know you’re here?”
She scowls. “No and you better not tell him either. He and my brothers think I’m taking an extended spa vacation at an all-female retreat in Montana.”
“You’re in a city. People are bound to talk.”
“I haven’t left the Vieth territory since I arrived two months ago.”
As I sip on the whiskey, Parker arrives to remove my shoes and socks. He has me stand up and slides the tightly fitted jacket off my frame.
“If you’ve been here two months, then you know who the girl in yellow is.” The two valets carry over a dressing screen and proceed to remove all traces of my evening attire, replacing the military finery with sleep pants, a T-shirt, and a robe. I tighten the sash and nod for them to take the screen away.
Alex arches an eyebrow. “You didn’t need the screen. There isn’t anything you have that I’ve not seen before.”
“The Prince is not an object to be ogled,” Parker sniffs. He doesn’t approve of Alex or having a woman who is not fit to be my wife in my vicinity.
“Good God, Parker. I can’t believe you’re still here. Shouldn’t you retire and be on an island somewhere with hot cabana boys waving banana leaves over your head?”
“I would never.” Parker nearly quivers with indignation.
“Anyway.” Alex rolls her eyes. “I don’t know your girl. The one in yellow, right?”
I nod.
“Never seen her before. Maybe she was a guest.”
“Parker—”
“I’ll get right on it, sir.” He gives a slight bow and whisks away the valets to his own quarters.
“You never even finished your sentence.” Alex is impressed.
“He’s getting me the guest list, and that’s precisely why he’s still here. He knows what I want without me having to ask for it. But you are not Parker, so I must ask. Why, Alex, have you left the comforts of your home to be here at the Vieth territory? Is it reconnaissance?”
“I wish. As if my father thinks I am capable of anything but to sit home and look pretty. No, I’m here for freedom, Sov. I want to make my own choices in life, and Vieth makes that happen.”
“What must you do for that freedom?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know yet. I’m still getting a feel here.”
“Find me the girl in yellow, and I will give you enough money to be free without owing anything to your father or to Karin Vieth.”
Alex freezes. “Do you mean that?”
“I’ll give you money and property.”
She leans forward. “What did this girl do to you? Did she insult your mother? Commit a crime in your territory? Steal something? I’ve never seen you this desperate.”
“Yes, she stole something, and I want it back.” Even though I only held her for a few moments, she has awoken a hunger inside me. I need it appeased. I won’t be able to function until I sink my cock into her sweet pussy, until I feel her coming undone in my arms. She’s stolen my peace of mind at the very least and I want it—and her—back.
“Find her, and you can have whatever it is you want.”
“What if I want something you can’t buy?”
“There’s nothing I can’t buy in this world, Alex. I’m Sov Charmont. If you won’t find her for me, someone else will.”
She raises her hands in surrender. “Okay. Okay. No need to get testy with me. If Your Highness wants a girl, I shall bring her to you like a good little subject.”
“Excellent. You may go now.”
“Shit, Sov, I haven’t even finished my glass of champagne.”
I arch an eyebrow. She sighs and sets down her glass. “You were an autocratic bastard back in school, but you’re even worse now.”
Zero opens the door. Alex gets the hint and leaves, but not before grumbling loudly about my lack of hospitality. The moment the door closes, I turn to my man. “Find the girl in yellow before Alex.”