He glanced over to see the prince fingering the ring. “Yeah, I know I signed a contract, but I can’t make it.”

“I haven’t forgotten that you’re my first responsibility...” She sounded worried. “I knew this could be risky. If you need me to get you out of there, I’ll come up right away.”

“Hell, no!” That’s the last thing he wanted: Piper Dove rushing in with her magic bracelets and golden lasso. “You didn’t tell me there was going to be that much press.”

“You’re the best.”

“All right. I’ll be there.” He disconnected and shoved his cell back into his pocket. “Damn it all to hell. I can’t skip out. I gotta leave.” He dipped his head regretfully, as if he’d lost the chance of a lifetime. “It’s not too often I meet somebody who understands how to live big the way you do.” More headshaking on his part. More regret. Now came the tricky part.

He went over to reclaim his ring. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about, but... Oh, well...” He held out his hand.

The ring stayed where it was. “Please. Tell me what it is.”

“This is kind of embarrassing.” Mortifying was more like it. “But you and me ...we’re men of the world, right? Discriminating about the finer things. The two of us... we know what we want.”

“Of course.” The prince caressed the ring with his thumb.

“One of the princess’s drivers is a friend of mine—knows I enjoy women. Younger ones. I mean, what man doesn’t, right? You’ve got this servant girl... Name’s Faiza. The driver pointed her out to me.”

“Ahh...” The prince beamed at him. “You fancy this servant girl?”

“She’s my type. Real, real young. Looks about thirteen.” He forced the rest out. “My favorite kind of woman.”

“Ah, yes.”

His skin was crawling. “I was wondering... Do you think you could talk the princess into letting the girl come... work for me? Permanently?” He’d hit the word work extra hard, and he gave the prince a few moments to fill in the degenerate parts for himself. “Heck. I shouldn’t have asked.” Again, he held out his hand for the ring. “Glad you appreciated my ring. I’ll get out of here now and let you enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“Wait.” The prince moved a few steps away. “It might be possible... But of course, I would have to compensate the princess.”

“Well, sure. You say the word, and I’ll write a check. What do you think the girl is worth? A couple of thousand?”

“Money between friends? No, no. But perhaps, a token of our friendship?”

Sherlock had assumed Coop could simply convince the prince to turn the girl over, but Coop had known better. “By a token, you mean...?”