Paper Princess

Chapter Three

My backpack!

It has my money and my watch in it! The backseat of the behemoth Callum Royal calls a car is more luxurious than anything my butt has ever touched in my entire life. Too bad I won't have time to appreciate it. I dive for the door handle and pull on it but the stupid thing won't open.

My eyes shift to the driver. It's reckless as hell but I don't have any choice—I lunge forward and grab the shoulder of the driver whose neck is as big as my thigh. "Turn around! I have to go back!"

He doesn't even flinch. It's like he's made out of brick. I tug a few more times, but I'm pretty sure that short of stabbing this guy in the neck—and maybe not even then—he's not doing anything unless Royal tells him to.

Callum hasn't moved an inch from his side of the rear passenger seat, and I resign myself to the fact that I won't be exiting the car until he okays it. I test the window just to be sure. It remains stubbornly closed.

"Child safety locks?" I mutter, even though I'm sure of the answer.

He nods slightly. "Among other things, but suffice it to say that you're in the car for the duration of our trip. Are you looking for this?"

My backpack lands in my lap. I resist the urge to rip it open and check if he's taken my cash and identification. Without either, I'm completely at his mercy, but I don't want to reveal a thing until I figure out his angle.

"Look, mister, I don't know what you want but it's obvious you have money. There are plenty of hookers out there who will do whatever you want and won't cause you the legal trouble that I could. Just drop me off at the next intersection and I promise you'll never hear from me again. I won't go to the cops. I'll tell George that you were an old client but that we hammered out our issues."

"I'm not looking for a hooker. I'm here for you." After that ominous statement, Royal shrugs out of his suit coat and offers it to me.

Part of me wishes I was just a little bolder, but sitting here in this super fancy car in front of the man I'd just used as a pole is making me feel awkward and exposed. I'd give anything for a pair of granny panties right now. Reluctantly, I slip the jacket on, ignoring the uncomfortable pain the corset is causing me, and clutch the lapels tight against my chest.

"I have nothing you want." Surely the small amount of cash shoved into the bottom of my bag is peanuts to this dude. We could trade this car for all of Daddy G's.

Royal raises one eyebrow in a wordless rebuttal. Now that he's in his shirtsleeves, I can see his watch and it looks...exactly like mine. His eyes follow my gaze.

"You've seen this before." It's not a question. He shoves his wrist toward me. The watch has a plain black leather band, silver knobs and an 18-carat gold housing around the domed glass of the watch face. The numbers and hands are glow-in-the-dark.

Dry-mouthed, I lie, "Never seen it before in my life."

"Really? It's an Oris watch. Swiss, made by hand. It was a gift when I graduated BUD/S. My best friend, Steve O'Halloran, received the same exact watch when he graduated from BUD/S, too. On the back it's engraved—"

Non sibi sed patriae.

I looked up the phrase when I was nine years old, after my mom told me the story of my birth. Sorry, kid, but I slept with a sailor. He left me with nothing more than his first name and this watch. And me, I'd reminded her. She'd playfully ruffled my hair and told me I was the best thing ever. My heart lurches again at her absence.