11
The prince suddenly withdrew, but before she could start feeling empty, the prince grasped her by the waist and flipped her over. As soon as her breasts flattened against the desk, the prince thrust his cock back into her behind, and in this position he was able to go all the way in until his cock brushed the tip of her womb.
Her eyes rolling back at the sheer pleasure of it, Fawn managed to grasp the edge of the desk just as the prince furiously began pumping his hips against her, his cock pistoning into her—-
Lilac was still speaking, explaining about the changes of the event they were co-hosting with the student council.
Fawn bit her lip hard, desperate to keep silent even as the pace of the prince’s thrusts became rough and savage, brutal to the point that pain and pleasure merged.
The prince began slapping her ass as he thrust into her, and the sound rang loudly in the study, making Fawn frantically shake her head as she looked at him over her shoulder.
Over the phone, Lilac’s voice broke off all of a sudden, and a second after there was faint mumbling in the background, with Lilac seemingly covering the mouthpiece of her phone while she spoke with someone else.
Fawn tried shoving the prince away, desperate not to make more noise, but instead the prince’s hands tightened over her butt, squeezing both cheeks hard before plunging into her hard. Harder. Over and over—-
And finally, his fingers reached around her, pinching her clit—-
Her orgasm shuddered out of her, and Fawn screamed—-
Over the phone, she faintly heard Lilac let out a tiny squeak of shock, followed by the sound of a man’s deep, knowing chuckle.
Oh my God, Nick and Lilac knew – they had to know what she and the prince were doing!
But it was too late.
She could no longer get away from the prince, not when she was still trembling at the waves of pleasure assaulting her body, and certainly not when the prince had also started to come, growling his release as he shot cum into her body, filling her to the brim until cum started to streak down her legs.
When it was over, she whispered faintly, “Lilac?”
Over the phone, they heard Lilac stammer incoherently before her fiancé stepped in, his smirk evident in his Greek-accented voice when he said, “We are definitely still here.”
Holy sweet Jesus!
As her hands flew to cover her face, Fawn heard the prince drawl, “We’ll call you back tomorrow. We’re busy right now.”
Nick Christakos chuckled. “Yes, you probably are. Tomorrow then.” As the call clicked to an end, the prince reached behind him to pull his shirt over his head, and Fawn temporarily forgot her embarrassment as she was treated to the exquisite sight of the prince’s hard chest—-
The shirt came off, and the prince caught Fawn peeking.
Oops!
He grinned, and she looked away, turning red.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he purred. “You can stare for as long as you want, but first...” He put his shirt over her body, and it was just large enough to cover her all the way to her knees. Lifting her up, he said huskily, “We’ll continue this in the bedroom.”
“Umm.” How did one pretend not to be excited? Even after all this time, she just couldn’t figure it out!
The prince laughed. “Don’t bother.”
“I d-don’t know what you’re talking about,” Fawn stammered.
“Of course you don’t.” As the prince carried her out of the study and up the stairs, he whispered silkily into her ear, “Do you want another promise?”
Oh!
Without waiting for her reply, the prince said, “There won’t be a second you won’t be imagining me fucking you.”
And he was right.
The next two weeks were the happiest days of her life even though it also felt like her life had turned into an endless stretch of a tightrope that she had to constantly balance on.
More and more, she fell in love with him, and because she did—-
There was not one day that she didn’t meet with Grant, not one day that she didn’t have her ring on her necklace, not one day that she didn’t ignore the prince’s words about becoming his alone.
As if she were that stupid , Fawn thought painfully. Jealousy might make the prince half-mean his words, but the truth was in his calculating, grim gaze.
If she made one mistake of showing that she loved him-—
If she made one slip and revealed that everything was just a lie between Grant and her—-
He would leave.
IT WAS RARE FOR THE prince to display any semblance of naiveté, but it became quickly apparent to him that he had been na?ve where Fawn Cornwall was concerned. He had hoped, now that he had a taste of Fawn’s sweet body, once would be enough. With the novelty and challenge gone, he had hoped, naively as it turned out now, that his obsession with her would wane or even disappear.
The prince had said as much once to Derek Christopoulos, to which his friend had only laughed out loud, saying, “It will only get worse, Chalkias. Much, much worse than you can imagine.”
And as it turned out, Derek had been all too accurate.
Every day of his life was now heaven and hell, and it was no exaggeration. Waking up to Fawn was one of the things he always looked forward to, and the pleasure he drew from seeing her innocent, sleeping face next to him only seemed to grow each day. The usual things that followed it were his favorites as well, as the prince never wasted a chance to share a shower with Fawn and accompany her downstairs for breakfast.
In between bites of toasts and sips of coffee, the prince and his fawn would talk, and there would not be a moment that they wouldn’t be touching. She would brush the hair from his eyes, he would wipe off a crumb on the corner of her lip. Simple little things that the prince had long thought would have been impossible for him, but with his fawn, he had found himself doing them without even thinking about it.
The worst parts of the day were when she was away, and every day the prince had to force himself not to go after her. It was strange, but she met more often with Bennett now compared to when she hadn’t yet known that the other man had been cheating on her. He brooded on this more often than he was comfortable admitting, and in the instances that his possessiveness would get the better of him—-
A humorless smile touched the prince’s lips as memories flooded his mind. He remembered the first time he had expressly forbidden her to meet up with Grant, remembered how incensed he was that she had only shaken her head at him and stubbornly insisted that she wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“Why is it so important for you to meet with the man who’s cheating on you?” he charged violently.
“Because he needs me!” She answered with such feeling that the prince knew she was telling the truth, but it was also that very fact which grated on him and made his insides scorch with jealousy.
Stalking after Fawn into her adjoining suite, he watched her pick her dress with care, and every second of it fed his wrath. Why the fuck would she care what she was wearing with Bennett? When he saw her take a seat in front of the vanity, going as far as prettying herself for another man in front of him—-
His control snapped, and in one swift stride he reached her, snatching the lipstick out of her hold and throwing it out.
Fawn cried out as the lipstick broke into two upon impact, leaving a red streak against the creamy walls of her walk-in closet.
“What did you do that for?” she cried out, horrified.
“Why the fuck wouldn’t I do that,” the prince snapped, “when you’re going to so much effort to look good for an asshole—-” Taking her by the shoulders, he pulled her up, snarling roughly, “And that you would even have the fucking guts to do it in front of me!”
Even with rage clouding his judgment, a part of the prince knew that he was being unreasonable, and that part of him already expected Fawn to point the same thing out, to rub it in his face that he had been the one to tell her they could only be together behind Bennett’s back.
But rather than scream or struggle away, Fawn did what the prince least expected. Instead, her hands crept up, cupping his face, and with a smile that held on precariously to her lips, she whispered, “I’m doing this for us.”
The prince stilled.
Her hands fell, and when she turned away, he let her go, his own arms falling to his sides. “It’s too easy to be with you,” he heard her say unevenly, her back turned to him. “It’s too addictive, and I need to be with him to r-remember why I got into this in the f-first place.”
Spinning to face him, she raised pain-clouded eyes to his, and he sucked his breath in at the sight of it. “Fawn—-” And it was that moment he realized that he had nothing to say, nothing short of a lie that could comfort her.
Because she was right. She was doing the right thing, and in that aspect it turned out that she was the stronger one between them.
“I c-can’t let myself forget, prince. You understand, don’t you?” Her voice caught in the end.
“I do.” His fists clenched hard. “But it doesn’t mean you have to go this far, dammit. It’s almost like you’re—-” He managed to catch himself in time, but the strained smile on Fawn’s lips told him that she still knew what he had almost said.
“Prostituting myself for a man who cheated on me?” Her voice was painfully amused. “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?”
“If you know how it looks like,” the prince said tautly, “then why the fuck are you still doing it? Why fucking meet him every day?”
She answered tiredly, “I already told you why. If I don’t, I’ll end up being too clingy—-”
“Then fucking cling,” the prince heard himself roar.
And as soon as the words left him, they stared at each other, both of them stunned. But while Fawn’s shock was visible, the prince managed to keep his face inscrutable even as his mind reeled at what he had just said.
“Fuck this,” he muttered. “Go to him, leave, do whatever the fuck you want.”
And he had walked away, stalking into his study, and forced himself to watch Fawn drive away.
She had come home a few minutes past midnight and had screamed for dear life when he came out of the darkness in the living room.
“Oh my God, you frightened me—-mmph.” His fingers had slipped into her mouth as he brought her up against the wall, pushed the skirt of her dress up, and fucked her hard, his cock pounding into her nonstop until they came at the same time.
When they finally made it to bed, she had curled up against him, and he had only asked her one thing.
“Did you kiss him?”
Taking his hand, she placed it on her chest, and as he listened to her steady heartbeat, she whispered, “Never.”
That night had set a precedent, and although the prince and his fawn still got into heated arguments every time she would leave him for Bennett, both knew that when she returned, everything would be resolved in the best way possible—-
And sometimes, the prince mused, it was almost like she would go as far as provoking him over little things, just so they could have hot, furious make-up sex.
Just yesterday, she had neglected to keep her engagement ring out of sight and instead accompanied him in a double date in the guise of a business meeting with Derek and Jaike. Uncaring of the fact that their friends could easily hear him, he had told her to get rid of it and even though his cold tone had Fawn gulping, she had raised her chin, saying stubbornly that she had to maintain appearances since they were out in public.
“Fuck appearances,” he had gritted out, but instead of offending her, Fawn’s cheeks had turned a rosy shade and the way she suddenly squirmed in her seat told him that she was thinking of the kind of fucking that was usually preceded with fights.
And just like that, he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her up with him. “Excuse us for a moment,” he had muttered.
Jaike had been visibly worried at his abrupt decision to leave the table, but the way Derek smirked at him told the prince his friend knew exactly what was going to happen.
“W-where are we going?” Fawn had asked breathlessly.
“Anywhere I can fuck you without getting us arrested,” he had told her roughly, and she had not argued after that.
After bribing the restaurant manager to lend them their office and look the other way for a thousand dollars, the prince and his fawn had the most explosive ten minutes of their life, with the prince immediately fucking her against the wall and after, making each other come with their mouths as they did a 69.
Upon leaving the manager’s office, Fawn had mumbled, “You’re too jealous, prince.”
But he had only laughed, purring into her ear, “You wouldn’t have me any other way.” He had expected her to argue, but instead she was frowning worriedly at him.
“You do know there’s nothing to be jealous about...right?”
Ah.
She really was an idiot , the prince had thought, to worry about his feelings when between the two of them, she was the more vulnerable. Ever since that first night they had fought over her going out to meet Bennett, she had made a promise to him—-
Did you kiss him?
Never.
And it was a promise he knew she would never break.
Whatever she did—-
Whoever she was with—-
She would not betray him.
If only he could keep his promise not to make her cry as well.
If only.
But some things were not meant to be, and the time to leave her came sooner than he had hoped.
THE DAY OF THE EVENT that the prince’s friends were hosting on behalf of the student council dawned bright and clear. Fawn was excited to leave, telling him that she had never been a part of something so big. Although Grant and his family regularly organized such events, Fawn had never been invited to take part behind the scenes, and she had not expected to. For as long as she was not officially married to Grant Bennett, she was – as far as the whole world was concerned – the hired help.
“Which is why this is different,” Fawn told him giddily while practically slurping her cereal in her hurry to finish it. “I think it’s so cool that we’ve accomplished something this huge in a really short time and—-” She stopped speaking as the prince calmly used his napkin to wipe bits of cereal around her mouth.
When he pulled away, she grimaced, saying sheepishly, “Sorry for being a messy eater.”
“It’s alright,” the prince said silkily. “I’m already used to it and I even find it quite adorably grotesque—-”
In the middle of drinking her orange juice, she ended up spewing it, but again the prince was prepared for this, turning away just the right moment.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry—-”
He waved away her offer to help, murmuring, “I’m fine. Not even a single drop’s reached me.”
“Oh. That’s great. But...” She tried to stop herself from speaking but in the end she couldn’t help it, blurting out, “Do you really find me grotesque?”
“It was a joke,” the prince sighed.
“Oh.” She looked at him doubtfully. “It didn’t sound like one. I mean, look at Jason Christakos. That’s a guy who knows how to crack jokes—-”
“Yes, well, we can’t all be like the great Jason Christakos, can we?” the prince asked testily. Those fucking Christakos twins were getting on his damn nerves.
Fawn was staring at him in bemusement. “Did I do something to make you mad?”
“No.” You did something to make me want to keep you locked under key instead. But out loud, the prince said, “You should leave now if you don’t want to be late.”
Fawn checked her watch and groaned. “Oh my God, you’re right. And I even promised to have coffee with Grant and—-” Seeing the way the prince’s green eyes narrowed, she added quickly, “It’s not just Grant and me. I promise! I’m not lying! It’s the whole council.”
The prince’s face turned even grimmer.
“What?” she asked fearfully.
“Does that mean the Merrill bitch will be present as well?”
She tried but failed to stop herself from grinning. “You really should stop calling her that.”
“Why should I when it’s the truth?” the prince dismissed with a shrug. “Will she be there?”
“Yes, but she won’t be a problem,” Fawn assured him. When the prince’s expression didn’t ease, a helpless smile curved on her lips, and she cajoled, “There’s really no need to worry, prince. Stop scowling, please.”
When it still didn’t work, she said, “Please, baby ?”
The prince now looked like he was torn between strangling and fucking her, and she bit back a smile. He was so cute! But of course, after being with the prince for so many months now, she knew better than to say those words out loud.
When she stood up, the prince came to his feet as well, and Fawn hesitated before impulsively throwing her arms around him, whispering, “Thanks for always looking after me.”
“If you think that’s going to get you out of trouble, it won’t.”
She laughed against his chest, knowing by the way the prince’s arms tightened around her that he didn’t really mean it. “It’s really going to be okay, prince. Your evil plans worked perfectly. You and your friends sponsored a project for the council, you made it clear you’ll pull out support if someone messes with me, and voila.” Pulling away, she looked up at him, saying wryly, “I don’t even exist for her these days, and if she’s making a play on Grant, she isn’t doing it in front of me.”
Rising to her toes, she placed a kiss on the prince’s cheek—-
Ah.
“I’ll be okay.”
She pulled away, saying softly, “See you later.”
The prince watched her walk away.
Not once had she asked about why he wouldn’t kiss her.
And because she hadn’t, he knew they both knew that what they had wasn’t going to last forever.
And it did not.
Less than an hour had passed since Fawn left the compound when Davos made his move, sending a team of mercenaries in hopes of taking the prince by surprise and killing Beatrice Crichton before she was made to testify.
The attack was swift and well-coordinated, and it would have succeeded if not for the fact that every man working for the prince had never slacked on their training, and every one of them was also willing to die in the line of duty.
All of Davos’ men, including three former Marine snipers, were killed in action, and following it, the prince ordered Igor to double the security on Fawn and prevent her from coming back to the property.
The prince’s friends came to the compound half an hour later, converging in his study as the prince informed them of the attack and the impending change of plans resulting from it.
“Beatrice Crichton will be moved to my island as soon as my men confirm it’s safe to do so, and the rest of my staff will follow her there.” The prince looked at his friends. “You’re all in agreement with this?”
The Christakos twins nodded, and following that, so did Derek, Nathan, and Christien.
“Then that’s it. Everything else is as planned.”
Derek Christopoulos stared at him grimly. “Is it?”
The prince’s face became hard. “Everything essential, yes.”
“So enlighten us then,” Nathan Callis drawled. “What do you intend to do with Fawn Cornwall?”
“What do you fucking care?” the prince asked coldly.
Nathan’s teeth gnashed at the look on Reid’s face. “For fuck’s sake, Reid. You should know by now that there’s nothing between Fawn and me. We did that to get to you—-”
“Well, you fucking did,” the prince bit out.
“If it got to you as well as it should,” Nick countered tensely, “then we shouldn’t even be having this conversation.” Getting to his feet, he began to pace restlessly, muttering, “Don’t get me wrong, Chalkias. My brother and I owe you our lives. Our future. We’re damn grateful for what you’ve selflessly sacrificed to help us, but we don’t need your fucking help if it means sacrificing your own happiness.”
The prince looked Nick in the eye. “I’m not.”
Jason’s jaw tightened. “Bullshit.”
His shoulders moving in a dismissive shrug, the prince said easily, “You’re entitled to believe what you want to believe.”
“Just think about it,” Christien di Luca intruded calmly. “That is the only thing we are asking you to do. Think hard about what it means to have her go—- ”
The prince laughed humorlessly. “That’s all I’ve been fucking thinking about from the first day I met her. From the fucking first day, I knew I would have to let her go because the alternative—-”
“There’s no guarantee with life,” Derek said quietly.
“Maybe in your lives,” the prince said under his breath, “but mine’s different from the rest of the world. I’m the Prince of Darkness, and the life I have now is what was given to me by birth as well as what I made it to be.”
His hand slashing in the air, the prince bit out, “Bribery, trafficking, kidnapping, drugs, every fucking crime exists in my world. I make no apologies for it, but I also don’t allow myself to be blinded by the consequences of my decisions.”
His fists clenching, the prince said flatly, “It doesn’t matter if Davos or any other fucking criminal gets to me. But I can’t let them get to Fawn . ” The prince shot his friends a look of grim resolve. “ Ever .”
Tense silence filled the room.
“Then...” Jason expelled his breath resignedly. “We can’t do anything to change your mind?”
The prince shook his head.
“You’ll really let her go just like that?” Nick demanded.
“It’s what we’ve always known would happen,” the prince answered tonelessly.
MONTE CARLO was the theme of the event, with the university’s newly built trade hall transformed for the night into a glamorous casino. With the design team opting for a neoclassical interior, the trade hall’s cream walls were interspersed with lustrous shades of red and gold while temporary floral accents were applied to the fifty-foot ceilings.
Intricate DIY chandeliers made from recycled materials hung over every casino table, showcasing the talents of Christopoulos University’s art department. An ongoing auction would be held throughout the night of the event, with funds coming from winning bids to be donated to the council’s chosen charity.
Even though doors were to officially open at six in the evening, long queues had started to form mid-afternoon, with the event garnering interest not only from students of CU and nearby universities but also crowds of local residents, all of whom had heard that every one of the BBF would be in attendance.
Entering one of the second-floor offices of the trade hall, the prince spied Fawn standing next to the windows, her reflection revealing her gawking expression as she watched the swelling crowd below them.
She had already dressed for the event, in a little black dress that Keanne had insisted on buying for her. It was pretty enough, the prince acknowledged grudgingly, but as far as he was concerned, there was too much ‘little’ and not enough ‘dress’ in the outfit. While the long sleeves and scooped neckline were modest enough, the dress’ paneled skirt also fell several inches above her knee. It left most of her legs exposed, and her sky-high heels, yet another gift from Jason’s provocative French fiancée, were no help at all, making her legs look a lot longer and slimmer.
Fawn had finally noticed his arrival, and turning around, she beamed at him, exclaiming, “You’re here!”
Walking swiftly towards her, the prince smiled down at her, murmuring with a wicked smile, “The Prince of Darkness in the flesh, and—-” He raised her hand to his lips, surprising her. “ At your service .”
Turning red, she yanked her hand away, making him laugh.
“What’s gotten into you?” she half-mumbled, half-hissed.
“I’m merely practicing,” he said innocently, “for tonight’s opening waltz.”
“Yeah right.”
He offered his hand. “Shall we go down? Everyone’s waiting for us below.”
She shook her head, looking even more bewildered. “You know I can’t hold your hand. The place’s crawling with council members, have you forgotten?” When he didn’t answer, her brows furrowed, and she asked, “Is something wrong?”
Everything was wrong.
But he couldn’t make himself say it.
Looking at her, all the prince could think of was, I need more time with her.
A month, a week, a day—-
Even an eternity felt too short.
And yet, it was what life asked of him.
“Prince?” Concern underlined her soft tone.
Before the prince could answer, the door opened, Keanne poking her head inside and exclaiming, “There you are!” Pushing the door wide open, she gestured to them, saying, “We’ve been looking all over for you two. The waltz’s about to start, and we need you guys to be in position.” Winking at Fawn, she asked teasingly, “Are you excited about getting to dance with Reid?”
Fawn turned red. “Of c-course not.”
Keanne released a tinkling laugh. “ C’est mignon! ”
Her cheeks reddening even more at Keanne’s obvious amusement, Fawn moved away from the prince, mumbling, “I mean it. I’m not excited at all.” At the other girl’s knowing stare, Fawn couldn’t stop herself.
She started to babble.
“It’s true. I think it’s yucky—-”
The prince jerked, and Keanne gaped.
“He’s too, err, elegant, he’s probably going to be too stiff when we dance—-”
Fawn caught sight of the prince’s murderous glance.
Eep.
Shutting up, she started backing away from the prince, but when he took a threatening step towards her, she panicked and hurriedly hid herself behind a laughing Keanne. “Umm, I think I need to go look for Grant—-”
The prince growled, prompting her to babble mindlessly again.
“For work,” she stammered. “I need to talk to Grant because of work and not because, you know, he’s a real macho man—-”
The prince said coldly, “I’m going to kill you.”
“I, uh, really have to, uh, bye!”
Keanne doubled over in her laughter as she watched Fawn scurry away without looking back. As the prince stepped outside the room, Keanne remarked lightly, “ Elle t’aime, oui ?” She loves you, yes ?
When Reid didn’t answer, she continued in a softer tone, “I know how much you’re helping us. And Jason told me what you’re willing to sacrifice, but—-” She took a deep breath. “I don’t agree with it. I’d rather Jason and I face kidnap attempts every day than—-”
“I appreciate the sentiments—-” The prince turned to Keanne, a corner of his lip turning up in a faint smile, saying very, very gently, “But it’s not your decision to make.”
Hearing it, Keanne knew there was nothing she or anyone else could say or do to change Reid’s mind.
Or at least anyone else but Fawn , Keanne thought.
And for both their sakes, she hoped, she prayed that the other girl would be able to change Reid’s mind.
AS THE PRINCE JOINED the frantic rush behind the scenes, he caught a glimpse of Grant Bennett talking to Fawn, their heads bent, just before the two started to walk away.
Ah.
An ironic smile touched his lips. Why would you do something like this, Fawn? Didn’t she know that she was giving him an opportunity to dump her?
It would be so easy , the prince mused, to go there, make a scene, and tell her that he no longer wanted to be with her. Jealousy might have made him unreasonable, but it made him neither blind nor stupid. He had noticed the changes in Bennett, had known the moment the other man started seeing Fawn with eyes that loved.
He had known, but he had pretended, and he had let her and Bennett pretend, too.
Because it wasn’t love that made his world go round , the prince thought, but pretensions .
Slipping away from the organizers, the prince made a subtle motion to his security, commanding to keep everyone away as he made his way towards Bennett and Fawn. Derek Christopoulos caught sight of him, the grim look on his friend’s face telling the prince that he knew where he was going.
Are you really going to dump her here? The question blazed in Derek’s eyes.
The prince’s broad shoulders moved in a careless shrug. He would cross that bridge when he got there.
Turning around the corner, he caught sight of the two entering the room reserved for Bennett’s private use, and the prince’s steps slowed. Selfishness had won, and he gave the couple all the time in the world to air out their differences without him hearing a word.
Don’t give me a reason to make you leave, Fawn.
But as he came to stand outside the room, the thin walls weren’t enough to mask the sound of their voices. Their words reached him so easily—-
“What do you mean you’re leaving after this?” he heard Fawn whisper in a stricken tone.
“I t-tried for y-your sake,” the prince heard Grant stutter. “I k-knew I owed it to you, but I just can’t .” Grant’s voice broke. “I can’t forget what he did to me—-”
“Who?” Fawn demanded, fear over Grant evident in her tone.
“It d-doesn’t matter,” Grant muttered feverishly. “I j-just thought I should—-”
It was as if fate was mocking the prince, telling him that no matter how much he dragged his feet about this—-
He would never have an eternity with Fawn.
He would never have another month—-
Another week—-
Not even another night.
The prince leaned against the wall, his eyes closing.
I just wanted another day, God.
Just one more fucking day.
But the more he heard from Fawn and Bennett, the more he knew he wouldn’t be able to afford such selfishness.
He heard Fawn whisper, “It’s okay, Grant, it’s okay.” A soothing voice, and he could easily imagine Fawn taking the other guy in her arms, comforting the man who had once done his very best to hurt her.
Idiot.
You are the most lovable idiot in the world.
The prince heard Grant laugh bitterly. “You d-don’t even k-know what’s wrong.”
“But I know you’re hurting, and it’s enough—-”
“Even t-though I a-almost wished you were g-gang raped,” Grant snarled, “the n-night I found out about you and Reid Chalkias?”
The prince’s fists clenched as the silence stretched painfully after Grant’s revelation.
Fawn, Fawn, Fawn.
Knowing how those words would have devastated her, the prince wanted to kick the door open and snatch her away—-
But he couldn’t.
Fate had already decreed how this night would play out, and for better or for worse—-
His role was in the darkness.
And hers was in the light, with another man.
“That’s h-how s-selfish I was.” Listening to Bennett’s broken voice, it was easy for the prince to picture the other man’s crumpled expression, but even so, he didn’t feel an ounce of pity.
Desperation lined Bennett’s voice as he continued, “M-maybe I’m s-still selfish, b-but I’m trying to change. G-God knows I’m t-trying, but I can’t do it here .”
When Fawn still didn’t say anything, the prince heard Grant beg hoarsely, “C-come with me. P-please. That man w-won’t ever l-love you. You know that. Right ?”
The prince waited for Fawn to deny it.
But she didn’t.
“I l-love you, Fawn, I l-love you more than ever, and I c-can’t bear leaving you behind—-”
Yet another moment of silence, and then a muffled voice whispering, “I’m sorry, too.”
Ah.
The sound of a girl in a boy’s arms—-
Of Fawn in Bennett’s embrace—-
As it should be.
“I’m sorry, Grant. So sorry because I pretended I didn’t know how much you were suffering, but I knew.”
The prince’s lips twisted. Pretensions made the world go round.
“I knew that you were doing it for me, because I asked you to. But no more—-” Fawn’s voice became clearer and more audible, a girl leaving a boy’s arms. “If you leave me, and the prince l-leaves me because of it... it’s not your fault .”
The prince pushed himself off the wall.
“I w-wish I c-could do m-more for you,” the prince heard Grant choke out. “But I c-can’t. I’m too w-weak—-”
There were more words exchanged, but they no longer reached his ears, and they didn’t have to.
The prince had heard enough.
He started to walk away, ignoring the part of him that felt it was too damn soon, too damn quick. It was as if he had only a taste of what life could be, of how it was to be loved, and how it was to love-—
But the other part of him told him he was only fooling himself.
You knew.
You always knew it couldn’t last.
You always knew you would have to leave her one day.
Yet he had still allowed her to get under his skin anyway, and now they were both paying the price.
A shuddering breath racked his body as the coldness of the dark started to spread inside of him. The cold would keep him in line, the dark would make him strong, and he needed both to break her heart before he broke his.
Pretensions made the world go round.
By the time the prince made it out of the hallway, emotions no longer existed for him.
He motioned for a guard, asking him to deliver a message to the student council’s vice president, and when it was done—-
He couldn’t remember the darkness feeling this cold.
The prince walked past his friends, impervious to the grim gazes that went his way.
Wheels had already been set in motion.
And there was no turning back.