Prince's Addiction (The Exiled Royals Series Book 2) (4 page)

Alex was hesitating.

This wasn’t what Kate had been expecting. Everything she’d observed with him casually at his hotel, the files she’d read, and especially his chess games had told her that the errant Godonov prince never backed down from a challenge. So why was he sitting there merely playing with his chips? He should be rushing to the Black Jack table right then to utterly smash and ruin his reputation. That was the damn plan.

She had a friend from high school who was the casino floor manager. She’d explained everything about her needs and the plan to help save Lily, and he’d been more than happy to arrange the happy horseshit about the “two hundredth customer special.” Kate had been sure that only a few feet from a dealer table and with tons of chips beckoning him that Alex would be sure to go.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing for the last chip still in his hand to match the stack she held. "We really should take them up on their offer. It’s just polite, you know?”

He grimaced but kept his grip on the chip. Spinning it between his fingers, Alex shook his head. “I can’t. Like I said, gambling’s not really my thing. It’s not for me.”

“You’re not some Bible thumper, right?”

“No, it’s just not an interest—even with someone else’s money,” he said. “Hey, I’ll show you a trick, if you want?”

“What kind?” He grinned then and it lit up the whole bar. Even if it was against her carefully orchestrated plan, Kate sat down and leaned across the table toward him. “Alright, so what’s the trick?”

“It’s magical,” he replied. “Now, look,” he said, holding up his arm. “There’s nothing up my sleeve.” He then did the same thing with the opposite arm. “There’s nothing anywhere. But that isn’t what magic is about.” He counted to three, all while holding the chip between his fingers, and then waved his right hand in front of it. When he removed his right hand, there was nothing there.

“That’s not bad,” she said, clapping.

“Au contraire, mademoiselle, I’m not done yet,” he corrected, reaching behind her ear and pulling out the small blue chip from that spot. “Was this your chip?”

She chuckled. “Now we know if Penn and Teller or David Copperfield retires where they can find a replacement.”

“Parlor tricks,” he said, still smiling that wide, bright smile. “But you should see the other tricks I can pull.”

“I’ll bet,” she said, feeling her face flush.

Waving desperately to the waiter, she ordered a second Chardonnay, making small talk with him until they brought it to her. She took three long draughts to drain the glass. This wasn’t right, not at all. She wasn’t supposed to like him; she wasn’t supposed to imagine those long fingers and skillful hands caressing her. Her whole body wasn’t supposed to be warmed and a bit floaty from even
thinking
about him.

The alcohol was probably a terrible idea, but she needed anything she could muster in order to keep her from panicking. She needed anything she could drink to keep her from just blurting out her whole ruse. Seeing this kinder side of him—this hesitant side—Kate wasn’t as sure of her plan as she wanted to be.

“Hey, Kate, are you okay?” he asked, eyes coloring with concern.

“I…sure,” she fumbled, not used to being the one out of control here. She’d been so careful to keep everything on plan and on target, and now she felt like her whole head was spinning. She was saved from having to say more when a song started to play through the sound system.

Alex brightened and, standing, offered her one large, warm hand to take. “
All of Me
, I love this song. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me, princess?”

She blushed again and looked to all the gamblers and drinkers. None of them even seemed to realize there was music let alone be in a hurry to dance. “I don’t know. I’m not sure that we’re supposed to.”

“Princess, I might not be feeling up to taking that other type of gamble,” he said, leading her to an open bit of casino floor by the bar. “But let’s actually have some fun, you know?”

She nodded and found herself too drawn to him to fight. Kate feigned a bit of a limp, even now, keen to keep up her ruse. Still, the alcohol was working through her system now and she felt both light-headed and as if time were standing still. Despite better judgment, Kate gave into how she felt, into the thrall that one Prince Alexander Godonov seemed to have her in. Leaning on his muscular chest, she let him hold her tight as they swayed in time to the swelling piano chorus.

He smelled even better up close, so rugged and male.

How could she even think to use him?

Was she wrong?

As the song drew to a finish, she put her hand on his chest. “I think it’s time to head home, don’t you?”

He frowned, looking genuinely hurt before he recovered and kissed her cheek again. “Whatever you want, princess”

Don’t I wish…

***

“So,” she said, as he pulled into park outside her modest one story stucco number in the suburbs. It had been her parents’ home and she’d had just enough after insurance to be able to pay its upkeep and taxes even now. It was the humble place she and Lily had called home together for five years all alone. “This is my place.”

“Can I come in?”

She shook her head and frowned. “My sister lives with me and she’s eight. She’s too little to understand, and it’s a first date. I just can’t.”

He nodded but stroked her shoulder. “Can I offer you anything else?”

She blushed and, yes, the wine she shouldn’t have drunk was definitely working overtime with her. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

He leaned in closer, and it would have been so easy to kiss him, to stretch the rest of the distance and feed that strange fire burning between them. She hesitated but he didn’t.

Suddenly soft lips were on hers and it was the best and worst thing she’d ever felt. The best because she’d like nothing more than to stay here forever and explore his body with her mouth, but the worst because he was just a means to an end, and she had to remember that, no matter how hard it was.

Pulling back, she made a hurried excuse and bolted from the car and quickly inside her home.

And away from temptation.

As she rushed into her kitchen, Kate pulled out a glass and poured herself a huge glass of water directly from the refrigerator. Taking large gulps, she let the cool liquid slide down her throat and hoped that it would help sober her up a bit. Okay,
a lot
. Because she obviously wasn’t thinking straight, not if she was letting him kiss her.

No, scratch that.

She didn’t let him kiss her. He leaned in and she was more than eager to be an active participant. Even thinking about those soft, pillowy lips of his had her shaking again and she reached out for a roll from the breadbasket as well. Kate had only had three glasses of wine, but it suddenly felt like her whole world was spinning.

Striding into the den, she tried to paste on the biggest smile she could. There, her friend—and free sitter—Joan was hunched over the carpet alongside her little sister, Lily. They were immersed in what they were doing, decorating the cardboard liberally with the green and deep purple of the
Rattler’s
team colors. They were the local baseball team, a 2A, and they had a free game night on Saturdays. Kids under ten got to attend for free and once a month there was a huge fireworks show after the game.

Lily adored it.

In turn, Kate adored anything that lit up her sister’s face with joy.

Both her best friend and her little sister were pretty wrapped up in what they were doing, and she almost hated to interrupt them. Then she noticed a rather large glop of violet paint on the tile and coughed. “Excuse me, Joan, are you kidding?”

“Hey,” her friend said, pushing a long strand of black hair behind her ears. “You were supposed to be home a little later. Did everything go okay?”

Lily’s blue eyes brightened and she stood up and rushed over to Kate, clinging to her legs like Velcro with her hug. “You’re back. Did you bring me anything?”

Kate hugged her close. “You know it was a bar, right?”

“Well did you get food and sneak me some?” she asked, blinking wide, guileless eyes back at her.

Kate shook her head. “You know that Dr. Thomkins doesn’t like when you eat anything not on your prescribed diet, honey. You know that’s not good for you.”

“But if you snuck me cake we won’t even have to tell the doctor!”

“No, Lily Anne, now why don’t you finish painting—
on
the cardboard—so that Auntie Joan and I can talk.”

Her sister pulled away and skipped back to her posters. Joan stood and gave Lily a quick kiss on the top of her head before heading back to the kitchen. She grabbed a soda from the fridge and started to guzzle it.

“So, spill.”

“Spill what?”

“Well, did the set up work? Did you get him to bend and gamble?”

Kate rolled her eyes even as she slipped off her flats and fake-out bandage. “No. I got Ben to arrange for the chip special and everything. I know he wanted to. He practically watched the table more than he watched me, you know?”

“Then what happened?”

“He was half way there and I could see him gripping one of the chips for dear life, but he just didn’t do it. It seems Prince Godonov has some marginal willpower, at least in public. I’d kill to have a look at his computer. If I could do that, then maybe he’s been doing things on the sly.”

“Then you’ll have to have another date—oh the sacrifices you make for Lily.” Joan said with mock sorrow.

“It’s not funny. He’s not just some beefcake from a calendar, Joan.”

“But he could be. Hell, he could be Mr. All the Months.”

“It’s more serious than that,” she said, starting to pace a little.

The smirk fell from Joan’s face as she noticed Kate’s distress. “What’s wrong? Why are you so worked up?”

“Because it got too serious. He asked me to dance, and I’d already had a few. I wasn’t supposed to, but it felt so good in his arms. Then I tried to make an excuse to go home and it was mostly normal on the ride and then there was this moment.”

Joan frowned, intense brown eyes regarding her. “Wait, define ‘moment.’ Did ya’ll kiss?”

Kate blushed.

Oh, caught
.

“He did, but I liked it and definitely kissed back.”

“That’s good then because he’ll want to see you again—invite you over. If you get a look at his place or access to his computer…you’re pretty smart, I mean, before you dropped out of stuff, you were a decent programmer in high school. You crack a password and bam! In like Flynn.”

“I just…maybe this isn’t the right idea anymore. I wasn’t supposed to fall for him.”

“Whoa, who said anything about falling for him? A kiss isn’t a marriage proposal, pull it together, Kate.”

“But he’s not as big a schmuck as I assumed. Actually, he’s charming and sweet, and… maybe this isn’t right.”

Joan pursed her lips and was about to answer before Lily ran up and grinned at her sister. She had things in each hand. First, she unveiled the slightly lopsided
Rattlers
poster, complete with lumpy snake mascot front and center. Kate oohed and ahh’ed over it appropriately. It was cute, but it wasn’t her sister’s best work. Instead, her whole face lit up when Kate spied the gorgeous beaded bracelet in her sister’s hand.

Lily reached over and looped it over Kate’s wrist. It was a mix of lavender and pink beads with a cute faux silver butterfly hanging from it. “We made this in art class, and I made one just for you!”

Kate grinned and hugged her sister tight, enjoying the feel of her in her arms. It was the only thing she wanted: her sister—her
only
living family—alive and healthy. “It’s adorable, Lilz, just like you,” she poked her sister lightly on the nose.

Lily rubbed the tip and rolled her eyes. “It’s Lily. I’m too old for kid’s names,” she said, but she bit her lip and looked at her hands. She wasn’t nearly as confident as she was pretending to be. “But you like it?”

“I couldn’t like anything more.”

There was screaming.

It was the blood-curdling shrieks that woke her from a fitful sleep. Goosebumps spreading all over her flesh, Kate bolted out of bed and rushed for her sister’s room, all the while her heart was pounding in her chest. She reached her sister’s bedroom threshold but had to wait there, feeling the agony pouring over her as a violent seizure rocked through her sister’s body.

Ever since the accident five years ago, Lily had developed severe epilepsy. She had seizures so severe that she had broken an arm once with her thrashing, and often wet herself or spent hours afterwards fuzzy and unable to concentrate.

However, no matter how badly Kate wanted to run to her, she had to wait until her sister stopped shaking. It was dangerous to try holding someone down when they were in the throes of a seizure—it could cause torn ligaments or broken bones as well. The minutes dragged on, and if she lived to be ninety, Kate would never forget the sight of her sister’s eyes rolling back in her head for so long.

Finally, God,
finally
, the tremors stopped and she ran across the room to cradle Lily. She touched her sister’s cheek and tried to ignore how cold it felt. “Lily, baby, are you okay? Can you tell me what day it is?”

Her sister’s eyes were still rolling back in her head, still mostly just the whites of her eyes. Her mouth was frothing with spittle and she was far from answering.

Horrified, Kate set her down on her lap and yanked out her cell phone. Dialing 911, she rocked her sister as she waited for a reply. They’d had great progress for the last six weeks, but it was time to go back to their home away from home, the emergency room.

“Hello, Emergency Response, how may I help?”

“It’s my sister, please send an ambulance. 2122 Sparrow Court. I…she’s not waking up.”

***

The doctor had been back with Lily for over an hour. They’d asked her to leave the immediate examination room in the ER and go to the plastic waiting chairs in an alcove. The doctor said they needed space to work, and Kate was terrified it was something they’d done to divert her, to keep her away because her sister was dying or was, perhaps, already brain dead. It was a fear that had been playing on her especially this last year. It was why they’d hooked up with
Ops for Kids
in the first place. Her concierge job at a second-rate casino and hotel didn’t come with medical benefits. There was no way for them to afford the hemispherectomy, the surgery that would stop these traumatic seizures as Lily’s different medications continued to fail.

However,
Ops for Kids
wasn’t limitless in its resources, and it was depending on the donation of the Godonov estate. That was why Alex had to be outed as the gambler he most likely continued to be and it was why he had to lose his inheritance by the 10
th
. Lily was getting sicker by the day; after all, the brain could only survive so much electrical trauma.

Kate sat in the overcrowded room and tried to ignore the spasms that lanced through her back due to the cheap plastic chairs. They were the same color as traffic cones. How much more depressing could a hospital get? There was coffee in her hands and she clung to it fiercely, the heat pouring from the cup was the only sensation tethering her to reality at all.

And in the middle of all of this, her thoughts still turned to Alex. He had surprised her so much. She assumed he was some brainless, spoiled aristocrat. Yes, he was haughty and had a big mouth sometimes, and sometimes he didn’t seem to get the actual cost of things in the real world. Still, he was a brilliant chess player with a smile that was so bright that it could power the Vegas strip all alone. He was sweet and chivalrous…and who carried a girl several blocks just to save her embarrassment and pain?

She sighed and thought back fondly to his magic trick. He’d been so sweet then. Sure, it had been in an effort to distract her, to obviously derail her from getting him to gamble, but it had still made her smile. Somehow, on the worst night of her life, Kate felt the truth in her bones that had Alex been there he would have comforted her, would have held her in those strong arms and made her feel safe. More than that, though, he would have smiled that wide, eager smile and made a corny but endearing joke and make her laugh as well.

She wished he were there and after two days that shouldn’t even be true.

He was the only way to ensure her sister got the surgery. All these doubts plaguing her mind shouldn’t be there, shouldn’t be part of the equation. And yet, here she was, depressed as hell and longing to hear his jokes and feel his presence. It was all she wanted.

“Ms. Morrison?” the doctor asked. He was an older African-American man with graying hair and a paunchy belly. “I’m Dr. Johnson, can we talk?”

She stood and trailed out with him to the corner of the waiting room near the vending machines. God, she hadn’t eaten in hours and suddenly all the Snickers looked heaven sent. Her stomach rumbled as hunger gnawed at her. “Is she okay? Did she?”

“She’s stabilized but this was her worst seizure. She really needs to have brain surgery as soon as possible. It’s the only thing left to stop the faulty signals from crossing her corpus callosum and causing further damage. We want to set the surgery for July, as we’d discussed. Another seizure this huge could leave her in a vegetative state at best or, at the most dire, might kill her.”

“I know but we have to wait until
Ops for Kids
can pay. There’s nothing I can do, and it’s not like your team is going to take an I.O.U.” Her breath hitched.

The doctor nodded, his eyes brimming with concern. “I know, Ms. Morrison, and it’s completely unfair, I agree. I’m just keeping you appraised; your sister’s condition is deteriorating. I’d call the foundation again and do anything I could. Lily just doesn’t have much time left.”

“Thank you, doctor,” she said, her voice coming out small and broken. 

After he left, she pulled out her cell. She’d go hug Lily in a minute and sit by her sister’s bedside. Right now? Right now she needed to put in motion everything that needed to be done.

“Joan, hey, it’s me. I need to still make it to the
Rattler’s
special fan night. We have to try plan B and I’ll see if I can get Alex to ask me out again. I…it’s him or Lily, and it’s
always
going to be Lily.”