Prince Billionaire: A Royal Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  I was so angry, I couldn’t think straight. I went into the bathroom and started the shower, stripping off my lovely dress and leaving it a crumpled mess in the corner.

  I couldn’t stop hearing that man’s voice calling me a mistress. If he said that to my face, I couldn’t imagine what they were saying behind my back.

  I was completely distracted and incredibly angry. I wished Trip would talk to me so that maybe he could explain or at least make me feel better.

  Instead, I was alone in the shower, fuming about my situation.

  I was so angry that I didn’t hear the door to the bathroom slowly creak open or the footsteps come across the tile toward the steamy stall.

  30

  Trip

  The dinner had been a success, or so my ministers told me early the next morning. The local barons and businessmen had been stirred by my speech, which was exactly what I needed. They pledge support and money at a critical junction.

  Except all I could think about was Bryce and the look on her face as I left the room. She thought I wasn’t paying attention to her, but she had my entire mind. All I could do was think about her, but she was clearly put off when I didn’t bother to return her glances or go over and say hello to her family.

  I couldn’t, at least not in front of everyone. I had to invite her, since she’d be expected, but if I ignored others in favor of speaking with Bryce, then I risked alienating the locals when I so badly needed their support. I knew I’d explain everything to her, and soon.

  But not just yet. This morning was an important one. I stood outside the estate as the security team finished their preparations to leave the estate.

  “How’s it going?” I asked Hardcourt.

  “Well, Your Highness,” he said, “we’ll be prepared to leave in the hour.”

  Long lines of trucks stretched down the road as people packed things into them. Ammunition, supplies, and weapons were all loaded up, along with the men who would be using them. These were highly skilled and trained men, and although they were outnumbered, they far outclassed the rebels. My men were better armed and skilled. They were going to win.

  They had to win.

  “What are our chances?” I asked Hardcourt. “Be honest with me. Your career depends on it.”

  He furrowed his brows. “I’d say we have a sixty-five percent chance.”

  I sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

  “It’s a good shot, Your Highness. A victory here could even turn the war in our favor.”

  “Or it could be a disaster and I’d have to run away again.”

  “Yes. That’s true.”

  “Are the men equipped with our latest weapons?”

  “Yes, your Highness,” Hardcourt said. “Power suits for every third man, plus the full array of advanced weaponry.”

  “Very good.” If there was one thing Starkland was good at, it was making electronics. We had some of the most advanced weaponry and technology in the world, but we were still just a small country. I was working on getting our manufacturing abilities ramped up in the coming years, but the war was really sapping our ability to scale.

  I watched the trucks get loaded, one after the other. These men were my men, and each of their lives was important to me. Many of them would die, and they would die for me. I needed their sacrifices to matter. I needed them to win.

  “Listen, Hardcourt,” I said. “Kill those fuckers, or don’t come back at all. Got me?”

  He looked surprised. “What, Your Highness?”

  I grinned at him. “I’m kidding. But seriously, kill those fuckers.”

  He laughed. “I will, Your Highness.” He strode off and began ordering his troops around. I shook my head, worry tying my guts into a knot.

  I wanted to go see Bryce, but I knew that would be bad for moral. I had to stand around and watch men do work that I wanted to be doing. If I was going to order them into battle, the least I could do was oversee their departure. They needed their king to believe in them so that they could fight hard.

  So I stood there and I watched. I wanted to be a part of this, but I knew I couldn’t ever do that again. I had to be apart from it all, a symbol of strength and unity. That shit wasn’t my strong suit, though. I was much more the type to get deep into it and fuck shit up.

  The preparations continued. The men were meant to leave soon, and I was avoiding the need to micromanage everything around me. I knew if I started that, I’d only make things worse, but it was hard. I wanted to help, although I knew I was helping by standing aside.

  Finally, the men were loaded. More ministers began to filter out of the estate house to watch the show. The men began to file into their trucks and then the engines roared to life.

  “Impressive, right?” someone said on my right.

  I looked over. Richter Johansson smiled at me. “I guess so,” I said.

  “Maybe not as impressive as the old days, true. But still, all this metal and technology, it’s amazing what we can do now.”

  “Do you ever wish you were a young man again riding off to war?” I asked him.

  He laughed. “Not in the slightest, Your Highness, and neither should you. War is for those who can’t get out of it.”

  I frowned at that but said nothing. The trucks began to roll out, and the people clapped politely.

  Richter patted my shoulder. “Don’t feel down, Your Highness. You’re doing very well, all things considered.”

  “Thank you, Richter.”

  He nodded and then left.

  I stood there alone, watching the trucks pull out into the distance. I felt a strange pang in my stomach, but I couldn’t identify it.

  As I stood there, Maximillian came walking quickly up to me from the house. “Your Highness,” he said.

  “What’s up, Max?”

  “Your Highness, it’s about Nicolai Corvin.”

  I sighed. “What now? I thought he had been cleared?”

  Max’s expression was stressed and tense. “He was, but . . . well, you’ll find this hard to believe.”

  “Spit it out, Max.”

  “When did Nicolai join the ministers?”

  “Three years ago,” I said. “He’s a young man, and apparently he came out of nowhere.”

  “Yes, three years ago. Well, we went back through the records, and we found something.”

  “Out with it.”

  “Nicolai Corvin died of lung cancer four years ago.” Max held up a photograph of an old, frail man. “This is him.”

  I stared at the photograph. “That can’t be right.”

  “We don’t know who the man who claims to be Nicolai Corvin is, but he is definitely an imposter. We cleared him because Corvin’s name is clean, but that man is anything but.”

  “Fuck,” I said. “Find him. Detain him.”

  “Already sent men looking.”

  I felt another twisting, stressful jolt in my core and began to walk slowly back toward the house. Bryce had been at the party last night, and my servants had told me that they saw her speaking with Corvin. Afterward, she left the dinner and never returned.

  I had a horrible feeling. I walked quickly toward the house but couldn’t hold myself back. I began running, bursting in through the door, and took the stairs two at a time.

  I careened down the hallway until I got to her room. The door was shut. I knocked and then turned the knob.

  It wasn’t locked. It swung open easily. I went in and checked through her place.

  It was completely empty.

  Max came behind me a few second later, huffing and puffing. “Your Highness?” he asked, confused. “What’s happening?”

  “Where is Bryce?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Find her. Now.”

  “Very well.” He bowed and then left.

  As I stood in the middle of Bryce’s room, I knew what had happened. I knew, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I didn’t want to admit that I could have missed this, that I cou
ld have fucked up so fucking badly.

  I was holding out hope, but I knew it was past time for hope and time for more action.

  31

  Bryce

  Jostling back and forth, I tried moving my hands, but they wouldn’t budge. Everything was thick and slow, a muddy mess.

  My eyes were closed. I tried to open them, but they weren’t working. For a moment I panicked, until I realized I was wearing a blindfold.

  Cold floor. Hum of an engine. Okay, I was in a vehicle of some kind.

  I had clothes on. I didn’t remember getting dressed.

  I tried to move and toppled over to the side. My feet were bound as well. I groaned, and at least I didn’t have a gag in my mouth.

  What the hell had happened?

  I remembered leaving the dinner. I remembered going into my room and taking off my dress. Why did I take off my dress?

  I got into the shower. That’s right, I was showering.

  Everything after that was a total blur.

  I stretched again, trying to get upright, and groaned. My head was dizzy and painful, like an awful hangover mixed with vertigo.

  “Don’t move,” a voice said in clear English. “Chloroform is a nasty drug. You’re probably feeling pretty awful right now.”

  I knew that voice but couldn’t place it. I wanted to reply, but my tongue felt heavy and my words came out like a jumbled groan.

  “Yes, that’s right,” the voice said. “You can’t really speak, either. It’ll come back though.”

  I rolled onto my side and was jolted suddenly as the vehicle went over a bump. I groaned at a pain in my elbow.

  “Not a comfortable trip, I’m sure. Sorry about that. We couldn’t take any chances with you, though. You’re our biggest prize since this whole stupid war started.”

  I felt someone grab me and slowly sit me up. I tried speaking again. “Who are you?” I managed to say very slowly.

  “You know who I am,” he responded. “Think carefully, dear.”

  It hit me. Nicolai Corvin.

  “Why?” I asked him.

  He laughed. “How could you possibly understand the answer to that question, you American whore?”

  “No,” I said. “Please.” I wanted to say more, but I just couldn’t form the words.

  “The thing is, I’m not really Nicolai Corvin. The real Corvin was some asshole lord from my home village. I worked as a footman in his estate. One day I found the bastard dead as a doornail, and so I robbed all of his papers and his jewels and his seals, and then I took off. I became Nicolai Corvin on that day, and nobody mourned the real one. Nobody gave a shit.”

  “Who?” I groaned.

  “My real name is Freddy,” he said. “A little anticlimactic, right? No special name, because I’m not a special man. I’m a vehicle of the revolution. We are going to destroy the monarchy and bring freedom to Starkland.”

  He was a rebel. This man, this imposter, had really been working for the rebel army the whole time.

  “Assassin,” I said. “You sent him.”

  “I did,” he agreed. “I really only wanted him to kill Trip, but when I got word that you were with him, well, I couldn’t pass up the chance. The king killed while fucking his American whore? Too perfect. Shame it didn’t work out.”

  “He’s better than you.”

  I felt a blinding pain as Corvin, or Freddy, or whoever he was, hit me in the side of the face.

  “Maybe,” he said calmly, “but I’d watch your mouth.”

  I groaned and fell over. Corvin helped me back up. “Where are we going?” I asked him.

  “You’ll find out in a moment. But for now, know this: Rescue isn’t coming. We have you and we aren’t letting you go. Your precious king might ransom you, but in the end you’ll be the reason he falls.” I felt his lips close against my ear. “Think about that.”

  I wanted to retch and vomit. I was terrified, disgusted, and in so much pain, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d let Trip down.

  This was my fault. I’d let Corvin grab me. I was stupid enough to get involved in a foreign king’s affairs, and that made him vulnerable. I was Trip’s weakness, and the rebels were only taking advantage of that weakness.

  The remainder of the drive went in silence. Finally, the vehicle stopped, and I heard a door roll open. Someone helped me out of it, pushing me roughly.

  I stumbled forward, dizzy but feeling better. My mind was slowly coming back to me, and with it came the overwhelming fear.

  I had been kidnapped by violent men, and they planned on using me against Trip. These men had done horrible things already, and I knew they wouldn’t hesitate to do those horrible things to some foreigner girl.

  There was nothing to protect me, save for Trip finding me important. But what if he had gotten over me already? Would he sacrifice his country and his kingship just to save me?

  I felt someone take my arm and I stumbled forward. “Not much farther,” Corvin said.

  A door opened. I walked forward. Another door. We were inside somewhere. Our footsteps echoed. Corvin’s hand was tight on my arm. More walking, more hallways, more doors. Finally, we stopped.

  “Sit,” he commanded.

  Slowly, I sat back. There was a chair behind me.

  I felt more ropes getting added to me. I was getting tied to the chair.

  Finally, Corvin, or whoever, finished. I couldn’t move an inch. Once I was bound, he pulled off my blindfold.

  Light flooded me. I blinked it back and slowly the room came into focus.

  It was relatively large and steel. It looked like it was in a warehouse or something like that, maybe an old factory. It was industrial either way.

  And Nicolai Corvin was grinning at me from a few feet away. He stepped forward. “Now, Bryce my darling, my beautiful foreign toy, it’s time to play.”

  Fear spiked. I opened my mouth to scream, but Corvin’s fist shut me up. I toppled backward, and the world went black again.

  32

  Trip

  “Your Highness,” Max said soberly, “Bryce is gone.”

  I leaned back in my chair and frowned. I had known he was going to say it, but it still didn’t feel good to fucking hear it.

  “And Corvin?”

  “Gone as well,” Max said.

  “Where?”

  “We’re tracking them now.”

  We were sitting in the situation room, a conference room with high definition televisions and advanced computer systems surrounding the central table. Max, Richter, and Al all sat around the table, looking dour.

  “How could this have happened?” I asked them.

  “We don’t know,” Max said. “I have people working on that.”

  I shook my head, glancing out the window.

  This was a fucking nightmare. Some psychopath who had been masquerading as a lord had taken Bryce, and I had no idea where they had gone. I didn’t even know what the guy wanted or if she was even safe.

  She had to be safe. She was worth more alive than she was dead. I had to keep telling myself that. There was still hope, and they would contact us soon.

  In the meantime, there were other considerations. The main bulk of my security force had just left, and the estate was at its weakest. On top of that, I had to wonder how Corvin had managed to sneak into Bryce’s room and somehow smuggle her out of the estate.

  We were distracted, that was how. We were distracted preparing to field the army against the rebel gathering. If we weren’t doing that, we would certainly have noticed. We would have had twice the number of men out around the grounds, watching every entrance and exit, and Corvin would have never gotten away.

  “Recall the army,” I said to Max.

  There was a pause as the three men looked at each other.

  “Is that wise, Your Highness?” Max asked me.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” Richter asked. “Shouldn’t we crush that army now more than ever?”

  “That army isn’t the r
eal target,” I said. “That army was a distraction.”

  “You think they used the army to draw our attention away while Corvin grabbed the girl,” Max said.

  “Exactly. I think that army is going to melt away into the night as soon as we get close, and we’ll look like we were chasing shadows. Recall the army. We’re going to need the manpower.”

  “Your Highness,” Max said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Even if they were just a distraction, the army is still out there. We’re getting reports that they’ve been on the move lately.”

  I glanced at Al. He nodded. “They’re getting worse and worse, Your Highness,” he said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s a distraction. There is no real threat.”

  “Sir, I think you’re letting your personal feelings blind you,” Max said.

  “Believe me, Max, I’m not. Look, there’s nothing of strategic value out in the east. All of the reports have been of the army roaming around, robbing peasants. Does that sound like a real attack?”

  “No,” Max admitted.

  “They’re baiting us. I’m the only real target out here, and they went after Bryce to go after me.”

  Max nodded slowly. “I can see that,” he said.

  “Recall the army,” I said again. “Don’t make me order you one more time.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” Max said, and he stood. He quickly left the room.

  I looked at Al. “How’s it going finding them?”

  “Sir, the grounds are patrolled by drones day and night. If someone came or went, it’s in the drone footage. It needs to be analyzed.”

  “Very well. Get people on that.”

  “Very good, sir.” He stood and left.

  I was alone with Richter. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I don’t envy you one bit, Trip.”

  I raised an eyebrow. Richter had only ever called me by that name once or twice before in my entire life.