Corrupt Prince by Ivy Mason

Fourteen

I madeAster change because I was serious about someone else looking at her. She was being defiant from what happened in the garden but I ignored her as we made our way to Escape, one of the lower class stripper joints my father owned and where we’d talk to James.

I could still smell her pussy on my fingers: I wished the smell would never go away.

“Since I’m taking you with me, you need to swear to do what I say, when I say it."

She gave me a feral grin, her voice mocking. "Yes, Daddy.”

I liked the sound of that too much, but it was not the time for games. I frowned, snapping my fingers in her face. “Stop fucking around. Now is not the time to be smart. We have to focus or we could mess things up. Not only for us, but for Bourbon and Rose, too. You understand me?"

"Yes." All trace of sarcasm was gone, replaced by a seriousness that pleased me.

"We're going to meet up with the guard who was with my father when he met with the doctor. Now, I need—”

"Marie," she interrupted. "She has a name, you know. She's not just her profession."

"At least I didn't call her ‘the senator's wife’.”

She only exhaled, staring out the window, not answering me, and I continued, “We’re going to question one of the guards in my father’s inner circle. One whiff of what we're doing and we're in a shit ton of trouble. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Even though there was no snark to her tone, I reached out, clipping her chin with my fingers and forced her to look at me. “You will call me sir if and when I request it. Otherwise, Coulter is fine."

Her eyes simmered with repressed anger. "Yes, Coulter. " I let her go, focusing back on the road.

Not wanting to draw attention to ourselves, I parked in a public parking lot, instead of the club lot, then took the back entrance, using my key to get us through the door. Aster was quiet as she followed me past the manager’s office and the dressing room where the strippers got ready. I didn’t glance inside but I knew Dante was there now, in case we needed him.

Leading Aster down the row of private rooms, I stopped outside one of them to listen quietly. Inside I heard what I wanted to hear: James, fucking my spy, Brooke.

I entered, slamming the door back behind me and striding into the room. At the sight of me, James' eyes widened, and he scrambled to pull out and grab his weapon.

I moved quickly, grabbing his wrist and slammed it down on the chair, disarming him easily because he was so surprised. The gun clattered to the floor, and I went for his spare, grabbing it from his ankle, just as he went for it.

Tucking one into the back of my pants, I held the other loosely at my side. There was an awkward silence as we waited for Brooke to dress. She’d found her panties and was yanking them on over her stilettos. Then she grabbed her top, not bothering to put it on before she fled from the room where Dante was waiting to pay her.

"James,” I faced him, made a tsking noise with my tongue. "I'm surprised. You're not usually one to break the rules."

"I didn't." He stammered, his deep-set, blue eyes apprehensive. His cock was still hanging out of his underwear, and his pants were around his calves.

Aster's eyes roamed the room, staring anywhere but at him and his now limp dick.

“That’s not what it looked like to me.” I grabbed the hem of his underwear, yanking it up over him to cover his privates so Aster didn’t have to look at it.

"I swear," he stammered again, “I was only getting a taste. This is my first time, I swear it," he repeated himself.

My eyebrows furrowed. "You're not lying to me, are you?"

He shook his head, and sweat began to glimmer on his bald top. "N-no."

It was strange to see the beefy, tattooed man sweat. James was a well trained, faithful guard. Someone I would love to have at my back. But unfortunately, he was too loyal to my father, and his weaknesses too easy to exploit. Brooke was one of them.

"Because if you're lying to me, if you're not as loyal as I thought you were, then Nero wouldn’t—“

"I'm not!" He squeaked out. "I swear, Coulter. You know me. You know I'm loyal."

He sounded genuinely fearful now, which was exactly where I wanted him to be. I stared him down, drawing out the moment, then leaned down to look directly into his eyes. "Then prove it."

"Anything."

"Tell me what my father did with the good doctor's notebook, and I'll believe you."

His eyes widened and his head violently jerked backwards in disbelief, confirming that he knew where it was. "You're crazy if you think I’m going to tell you that."

A cold calmness washed over me. I raised the gun and put it to his head. "Test me. See how crazy I am."

There was now true alarm in his eyes, but, as I stared him down, he hesitated. He’d known me for a long time, believed that I was much more willing to give him leniency than my father.

That was changing, but he didn’t know that.

“Give me an out.” Licking his lips, his eyes went to Aster, who was leaning over us, giving him her best menacing look. It was impressive. "I know you want to save her, otherwise she wouldn’t be here."

I dug the gun in harsher. “Are you fucking threatening her? Because if you are, I will blow your brains out.”

“No!” He threw his hands up in surrender. “That’s not what I meant, I swear.”

“You have three seconds to tell me where it is before you die, and Raven becomes an offering on the negotiating table with Nicholi.”

I would never, ever, in my life, put his young sister in that position, but, by the panic in his eyes, he didn’t know that. He was more afraid that I would hurt her than for his own life.

“Three, two…” I quickly begin the countdown.

“Fine," he growled, "but get that gun out of my head, and let me pull my pants up, for fucks sake.”

I lowered the gun, keeping it by my side, and took a step backwards, giving him room to dress. While he was pulling up his pants, I tugged Aster into my side protectively, keeping her close. I was taking the chance that James would grab her and use her as leverage against me.

When he was done dressing, he faced me with more confidence. “You know Nero will kill me when he finds out. It's only a matter of time."

"You knew it was risky to work with him."

His face darkened. "That wasn't even my choice."

I crooked an arrogant smile at him. “Funny. It wasn’t mine, either.”

His scowl deepened as we stared each other down.

"Fine," he barked when he saw that I wasn’t backing down, "but, like I said, I at least need a chance. Give me time to get Raven and myself out of here."

“You have three hours.”

“That’s not enough time!”

“That's not my problem.”

Anger filled his voice. “Give me three days.”

"No," I shook my head, "no way in hell. That’s too much time. If we're caught, we're both dead."

“I’m not giving it up without time to leave. So I guess you have a choice to make, don't you?”

I snapped up the gun, pointing it to his face, ready to blow. I cocked it. “And I guess you've just made yours."

"We'll give you a day,” Aster blurted out, and my jaw ticked. Why the hell can't this woman just do as she's told?

"No." I shook my head, but Aster stepped in between me and James, a pleading look on her face.

“Coulter. It’s his sister.”

I was sure she was thinking about her own sister, and the things she was not only willing to do for Rose, but was currently doing for her.

Just like I was doing for my own brother.

I grabbed Aster’s arm, tugging her back towards me. She should be grateful James didn’t pull out a knife and use her to get to me.

“You have until tomorrow night to get out. Then I’m moving in, whether or not you’re gone. Now tell me where it is.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat, knowing he could be dealing out his own death sentence. “It’s at his secret office. I’ll give you the location and the code.”