The Alpha King Call Boy – Chapter 88

When I caught up with the little girl on the other side of a low hill, she was lowering her bucket down into a water well. A passing wind caught her twin braids and carried them forward over her shoulders. Wisps of rogue orange curls floated around her head, catching the yellow light in a kind of halo.

“The lady you are looking for,” she said as I approached. “Is she in trouble?” Her narrow eyes were fixed on the rope as she slacked it loose with tiny but skilled and careful hands.

Distantly, I heard the pail splash down and go underwater; she switched her grip, pressed one foot against the base of the stone wellhead for leverage, and started hauling the bucket surface-bound.

ook my head, saw her eyes flick up to watch my reactio

girl worthy of unguarded candor.

rouble with anyone else, I would do anything I could to try to keep her safe.”

e girl w

looked me over critically. Searching my face, apparently evalua

ust have ruled I was not a threat, because when she bent to pick up the buc

e water?” I repeated.

hmm. With her cousin.”

ich wanted to flash into an expression of surprise.

w her cousin’s

g to remember.

ound to look in that direction.

With the fishes.”

d clumsy on the uneven terrain, but her bucket remained steady in her tough little hands.

I walked behind at a slower pace and watched the girl disappear into the cottage by

combing out a few tangles.

nt to get her into trouble.

en from inquisitive interlopers, I was quite sure their intention was pure, borne of cauti

gers to have shown up at their door asking about her.

Fiona

or bringing me here.”

quite compare to the pampering you’ve been getting from your fiancé.”

efully did not react.

e favor of changing the subject.

is true artistry.”

t of her, admiring the glossy hot pink polish that exactly matched her current hair color. A piece of heart-shaped gold foil was pressed carefully into the center of each nail.

h smiled shyly.

of us and drove me back to the palace in her Benz.

were going to have some privacy. I’d been dying to consult with my best friend, the only person in the world I could confide in, about w

e?”

t then looked over at me and immediately caught on to my now serious

ng lot before she asked, “So, what’s up?”

ing where to start. “I need to tell you a long story.”

assassination.

said, “is a lot.”

I’m pretty

wo of them for sure have some sort of unfinished business. At least, in Alexander’s view. I don’t know if my father is even aware that Alexander has it out for him.”

occurred to her.

ike the safest thing for me to do,” I said, “is just try to keep myself out of it so that I don’t wind up i

When are you guys gonna get ma

aven’t really talked about it.”

ntive to get it done asap.”

following

lege,” she continu

d concerned. Then returned to the road.

nk he cares about you sincerely, Fi. But it couldn’t hurt to have him know that you not only wouldn’t, but also couldn’t, testify against him, if and when he does

sed as I started to understand what Nina was saying and why she was saying it.

n he realized I could be a witness against him in a murder trial.

idea made me very sad and unreasonably angry with my friend for even saying

it up again.

dark, just as expected. Just like the night before.

thing, the silk sheets on our bed kept too cool without him underneath, pumping out his body heat. And I also found myself a little

on’t appreciate what you’ve got until it’s gone.

lace doctor. I took one, saved the other for tomorrow.

night after that.

I hoped.

t done yet. They were still searching.