The Prince's Pet

Larz was silent before he grunted. “I hope not, but maybe. Hopefully I've got an email waiting at home with coordinates of your father's phone, that will tell us more.”

“And if it's not him?”

“Then I've got a few more calls to make to ensure your safety.”

I didn't know what that meant. I only knew I trusted Larz more than I'd ever been able to trust any man. I wrote a quick note out to my aunt, telling her I was safe and to call me at my cell phone number when she got this note. I didn't dare tell her where I was in case the thugs came back.

We left then, walking back down the lane to his cottage silently, his fingers entwined with mine every step of the way.

Tears of anger burned at my eyelids then. Life out here in the Danish countryside was so peaceful. It was everything my childhood wasn't, and even though I'd only been here a few weeks, it already felt like home more than anywhere else ever had.

And a lot of that had to do with Larz.

He made me feel alive for the first time, like a grown woman, not a helpless girl to be married off to the highest bidder. The thought of going back to Bulgaria, back to the war-torn childhood I'd escaped, made me heartsick.

By the time we were back at Larz's cottage, a new determination seemed to charge through him. He went to his laptop at the table, pulling up his email as I dropped my things on the couch and watched.

“You were right,” he finally said. “Your father is in Bulgaria.” His fingers sped across the keyboard as he replied to someone. “I'm sending a local guy to sniff around, see if he's up to anything. There's a chance this isn't about you.”

“What do you mean?”

Larz crossed the room, holding my gaze. “There's a chance this relates to my father. He gave me something his enemies want. Something that implicates them. Maybe they know I have it.”

“Is it here? Would they try to break into your place—”

Larz laughed. “Not while I'm here. They know not to fuck with me. I already sent them that message when I called in Ruthless.”

“Ruthless?”

“I've got a buddy in America that took care of my father's foreign problem. He's Danish, we went to boarding school together. He works for the best agency in the world, if a problem needs sorting, he's the guy I call. I've already got security cameras installed around the property, if it's alright with you I'd like to set one up at your aunt's house in case they come back.”

“Larz...what could they possibly want that's worth all this?”

“My father's life, or anyone in his family for starters. I've got a USB drive that could set my father free, but it would upset an entire system of international relations if I did it. I made copies the day I got it and sent one off to my buddy in America, but one is here. My father made me promise to hide it unless something bad happened to him. He doesn't trust that even in jail they could reach him.”

“But you keeping it makes you a target.”

“My family is a target either way.” Just then Larz's phone vibrated to life. “It's my guy. That was fast, he must have something important.”

He picked up the phone without a greeting. “Who did it?”

He listened a moment, and then his face turned dark. He looked upset. Really upset. His brow was furrowed, and a deep frown marred his normally relaxed face.

I almost turned to leave the room, trying to avoid betraying his privacy.

Larz’s eyes rolled up my body as soon as I was close, his darkened irises landing on mine and swimming with something painful. His look swept the breath from my lungs, and I knew instantly I couldn’t leave him, because whatever that phone call was about, it wasn’t good.

Larz murmured something else before promising to do what he could, then hanging up the phone.

“Are you okay?” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He held me so tightly for long minutes, I thought he might crush the air from my lungs.

“It's them.” He growled.

“Them?”

“My father's enemies. A private jet was logged last night as arriving from Poland. No records of the names, just that fact alone tells me they have connections.”

“Should I be scared?” I squeaked.

“No, Pet, not while I'm here.” His dark eyes turned a shade darker, more intense with his promise to keep me safe.

Warmth rolled in waves from him to me, and before I knew what was happening, Larz’s hands were crawling up my skin, his lips tracing mine, and his tongue pressed at the seam of my mouth. I opened, and our tongues tangled, my brain blurring with the pleasure he elicited.