Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Oh, fuck this.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” I shoved past Xavier and jabbed my finger into the guy’s face as the rage spiked in me. No one fucked with my friends like that.
“How about you go fuck the hell off, right now,” I hissed.
The man chuckled, holding his hands up as he grinned away like a fucking chump. “Oh, I’m not judging.” He turned and winked at Xavier.
“I mean the Princess is one hot little thing, now isn’t sh—”
Xavier roared, lunging past me for the guy. I spat out a string of swears, grabbing my buddy by the collar and hauling him back from the guy.
“Easy,” I hissed in Xavier’s ear. “Let’s not get kicked out quite yet.”
“C’mon, hit me!” Robert spat. It’d have been a tough-looking move if the guy didn’t look like he was this close to shitting his pants.
“You son of a bitch,” Xavier snarled at him, his hands clenched into fists, but his lunging ceasing.
When I watched the guy yanking out a stack of surveillance photos from his briefcase, my heart sank.
Fuck, these bastards were really laying into our friend. I knew there was a lot of bad blood with his ex, but this was getting insane. The guy shoved the photos at Xavier, but I think we both already knew what they were.
…Shots of him and Lola. Nothing vulgar, but ones of them kissing, of him holding her close. I felt the rage well up inside again. I knew now what it felt like to be fucked with when it came to the woman you loved. I’d felt it about Faith when I’d been told the best course of action would be to leave her alone. To annul our marriage and walk away from her. With Xavier, they were telling him the same thing.
But fuck that. So, he’d fallen for someone he shouldn’t have. Yeah, that was a familiar tune alright.
“That right there, Duke,” Robert hissed, “is all the proof me and my team need to sue the fuck out of you, have your testimony dropped, and see my client freed from the completely unjust way she’s been imprisoned!”
I swore, glaring at the guy as he laid into Xavier.
Any other circumstance, motherfucker, I muttered to myself. And I’d be throwing you through a fucking window.
“I’d tell Lola to get hidden for a while,” the asshole sneered out. “Because when these go public the way I plan on making them public, I think we both know there’s going to be a very big spotlight on her.”
He turned sharply, chuckling as he started to stroll away. I growled, taking a step after him, when suddenly it was Xavier’s turn to put a hand on my shoulder.
“Let him go,” he muttered.
“Dude,” I gritted my teeth as I turned back to my friend. “What can I do? These assholes are screwing with—”
“Like those other assholes are screwing with you?”
I froze.
“I know, Cole,” Xavier said quietly, holding a hand up as I started to open my mouth. “No, before you ask, I’m not spying on you or anything like that.” He sighed. “I just knew, man. You’re one of my best friends, and you’ve been noticeably on edge for a few weeks now, ever since that incident at King Rodney’s house.”
“I was set up.”
“I know,” he growled, shaking his head.
“Look, you want some wisdom of the ages?”
“You’re the old guy here.”
He glared at me, but when I grinned, he flashed one right back.
“Let it go.” He shrugged. “Let me tell you, life is going to be full of shit being flung at you, especially as you get older and especially for you when you take up the throne. Look, I’m no King, I’m a Duke. But listen to what I’m saying. Find what makes you feel alive, and you fucking hang on to that. Everything else is just noise.”
I was quiet, my brain processing what he’d said.
“Oh, and another thing.” He smirked at me. “Ask your fucking friends for help when you need it, asshole. Hayden, Sven and I could have been in on this with you weeks ago.”
“It’s my fight,” I muttered.
“And with that mindset, the whole fucking world is going to be your fight,” he spat back. His hand rested on my shoulder. “We all kind of like you, man. So how about you let us help you stay out false imprisonment, huh?”
Slowly, the smile crept over my face.
“We’ll talk later,” I finally muttered.
Xavier grinned. “Good. Now, there’s something I have to go do.”
“Find Lola?”
“Damn right,” he muttered. “And I’m guessing you need to go find a certain other Princess?”
“Damn right.”
He laughed. “Well let’s make it fast. Someone’s going to figure out Hayden’s stolen the bride of this thing any second now, and it’s going to be our asses if we don’t get the fuck out of here.”
Blood roared in my ears. My hands clenched to fists, and I could feel the spark of something fierce burning inside of me.