The Prince's Devious Proposal - Holly Rayner Page 0,38

known to do that. That was probably why he wasn’t being very forthcoming about the things that were keeping him distracted. She had hurt his feelings by not inquiring.

She felt awful. Poor Petr. He must think she didn’t care about whatever he had going on. And she had been on the verge of questioning him about a decline in luxuries!

When she got home from work that night, she sat down in front of her computer to do some research. When Petr called—she was sure it would be any minute now—she would be ready. She would have learned more about him and what he did. After all, he was a public figure. She was sure the information was out there.

She typed in his name and clicked the button for recent headlines, hoping she might see something about what had become of him after his departure from Sovra. Surely there would be a story about the deposed prince’s new business ventures, about the way he had lifted himself up after going through something so dire.

But there were no headlines praising Petr.

Instead, the top response was a headline that read “Deposed Royal Family’s Spiral Continues.”

What was this?

She clicked the link. There was a photo of Petr standing beside two people she didn’t know, but who looked like they might be his mother and father. In the photo, all three of them were smiling. It had clearly been taken during happier times—a palace was visible behind them, and they were dressed in what looked like formalwear.

Her eyes skipped down to the article.

“The once-beloved royal family of Sovra, now exiled and in disgrace, reviled by the Sovran people, has proven unable to account for their many debts. After the seizure of their assets last year, the family finds itself struggling to pay for the few properties they have refused to cede to the government.”

Naomi’s vision blurred. Her head was spinning.

Debts? Petr had never said anything about debts. He had spent money left and right on her. Why would he have paid for those expensive plane tickets if his family had no money?

And the house in Barcelona…she shivered. Was that even really his? The article said that his family’s assets had been seized, and that they were struggling to maintain control of a few properties. Was that house one of those properties?

Were they not supposed to be there?

Had Petr been lying to her?

She hadn’t minded that he wasn’t a prince. She wouldn’t have minded if he hadn’t had money. But the idea that he might have lied…it made her feel cold.

Why would he do that?

And why wasn’t he returning her calls?

Chapter 13

Naomi barely slept that night. She kept her phone beside her on her pillow, waiting for it to ring, acutely aware of the fact that while it was the middle of the night here in Los Angeles, it was early morning in Rome. Maybe Petr would call her.

It was strange, she brooded. A week ago, she would never have considered that he might call her in the middle of the night. He was too thoughtful. He would wait and make his call during the hours that she was sure to be awake.

But something was wrong. Naomi no longer believed that Petr was putting her well-being above everything. If he had been doing that, he would have been honest about his family’s debts before they had married.

What did it all mean? By marrying him, had she taken on those debts as well?

If she had, she wasn’t going to be of much help to him. She didn’t have any money.

But how could he have told her that she could quit her job if she wanted to?

A chill ran down her spine. What if she had quit? She would be sitting here with no source of income and no way to get in touch with her husband, and even if she had gotten in touch with him, it sounded like he didn’t have the resources to support her.

For all Petr knows, that’s exactly what happened, she thought. The last thing she had told him was that she had stood up for herself to Rick. For all he knew, she had been fired.

I can’t get fired!

Having Petr’s money as a safety net had given her the courage to speak up at work, but now that safety net was gone. It had never been there at all.

She would have to make amends for her behavior at work tomorrow. She would have to do what she could to get back into