Well played Meg.

Adrian thought bitterly. He hadn't told her of his small sexual escapades with Veronica. Adrian had promised that he wouldn't get distracted and Megan wanted to prove a point. Megan had persisted—she practically pushed the red head into his room. Adrian could only guess that Meg planned this little sabotage.

Why does this even matter to me that much?

He told himself that he only dismissed the red head because she wasn't good enough.

Besides, the woman had spent nearly ten minutes trying to suck him off but he wasn't close. He enjoyed it sure, but the whole time he was holding back. He wanted to see Veronica's lips sucking him—but these didn't feel the same.

Veronica stood silent near the door—looking desperate to escape.

He didn't know what to say—he felt the need to apologize.

But for what? I'm the crown prince—I didn't do anything wrong.

Her looked at Veronica, she had averted her eyes—her cheeks flushed.

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes lingering on her body as she looked away. He bit his lip. She was on his mind—but, she shouldn't be.

He coughed—and she looked to him.

"I think—I think we can send that one home, too." He shrugged like it was no big deal, but he was feeling speechless.

She looked back towards the door where the red head had left, "Are you sure—you probably didn't have enough time with her..." her voice trailed off as if she was just recalling what she had seen.

"Positive—I was just trying her out, but she's no good."

He froze. I sound like an asshole.

Her eyes widened at his callous words.

Adrian had meant it as a compliment—to tell Veronica, that she was the best so far. But, it definitely didn't come out that way. He sounded like a misogynistic jerk.

A cloud covered her eyes, she looked down, holding her hands together, "Of course, sir."

A pang of guilt hit him—if Megan hadn't interfered he wouldn't be in this predicament.

He tried to back track, "What I meant was that I knew she wasn't going to be a good fit—but, I just thought I could try—" he snapped his mouth shut again.

That sounded worse, idiot.

He gritted his teeth.

She turned to go.

He reached out for her, "Wait—I didn't say you could go."

She didn't turn back to face him, "Don't worry sir—I understand that you have a goal here—you're just trying to reach it efficiently—you don't need me right now, let me know if you do."

Her voice was cold. She didn't take a look at him as she walked out the door. The door closed shut with an echo.

He had never felt so deflated in his life—he had never really felt so embarrassed. This was new for him.

He sat down on the couch where moments ago he was getting a blow—now, all he wanted was to stare out into the ocean.

Hours had passed, and it was getting near his next date. The numbers had dwindled quickly. He had been paying so much attention to Veronica that he didn't realize that he had only a few options left. Adrian rolled around in his bed, trying to nap.

The heat of embarrassment still lingered on him.

He told himself that he was doing what was necessary.

Adrian had told himself that he needed to forget Veronica's virgin and hot body—he needed to push her out of his mind. So naturally, when the red head got onto her knees, he accepted.

He groaned, stuffing his face into a pillow. He wanted to hide.

He couldn't take it anymore—he threw himself off the bed. He grabbed a shirt and then found his way to the bar.

The bar was quiet—Adrian sighed with relief. It was a small place—around the corner was the quiet dining room. The windows were wide and open here, bringing in lots of light onto the small cocktail tables and the full bar glittering with tons of imported bottles.

The ladies had no interest here yet—and, he hoped they wouldn't follow him. He needed some chill time.

He spotted Dexter talking to the captain of the ship, Brian.

Adrian's face scrunched up—he didn't like the guy.

Brian sat at the bar, hunching over his phone with a drink in his hand.

Adrian took a seat—the bar was pretty small, so he was within arm's distance of Brian. The captain didn't look up—Adrian could see that he was playing some sort of poker, completely lost in his thought.

Dexter was wiping off glasses and he gave Adrian a wink, "What can I get for you?"

"Something hard," he gave Dexter a wink back. Dexter blushed on queue.

Adrian could tell Dexter was a nice guy.

Brian looked up, recognizing Adrian's voice. He shoved the phone into his pocket, stammering, "Your Majesty— I didn't see you there."

He smiled broadly—Adrian could tell that Brian was not always this friendly.

Adrian flashed him a tight grin.

Dexter placed an amber colored shot in front of him. Adrian downed it—the warmth radiating through him instantly.

Brian took the seat next to him.

Oh god—can't I just be left alone?

Brian beamed at him, giving him an elbow, "I hear you're quite the ladies man, sir." Brian raised his eyebrows suggestively. Adrian cocked an eyebrow with sarcasm, "It's great to be me."

But, it doesn't feel like it.

Brian nodded as if knew everything about that subject. His expression turned solemn for a moment as he twirled the glass in his hands, "Say, maybe you could give me some pointers, eh?"

Adrian felt annoyed—people like Brian also asked for things, like attention or information—they relied on people like Adrian to share their magical secrets. It was annoying and unrealistic.

Adrian raised his glass to his lips, but Brian continued.

"Say you have a woman—a pretty nice woman, but eh, say she doesn't want to go the extra mile."

Adrian perked up at that.

Is he talking about Veronica?

Brain went on, "How would you say, convince this woman to satisfy you, you know—go all the way?"

Bingo—Adrian felt both ticked off and smug—had Veronica done nothing for this poor bastard?

Adrian smiled— Good.

Adrian shrugged, basking in his silent glory— "I'd say let the woman be who she is—if she's attracted to you, she'll come."

His words played on suggestion.

Brian nodded, clearly not soaking it in, "Damn, wish I could—I wanna before the wedding—but, she's in a hurry to leave, I'm glad though, cuz she belongs—"

Adrian cut him off, "She's going home?"

Brian took a swig of his drink, "Yeah, she tried to leave this morning—but, couldn't find a boat."

Adrian felt a punch to his gut.

"Did she say why she was leaving?"

Brian was as clueless as they came. He shrugged, "Nah—she looked all upset though—I think it's for the wedding—she's got lots of shit to do."

Adrian stared at Brian—hoping he would give more information than that—anything to suggest that Adrian was the reason that Veronica wanted to leave so badly. Veronica had seemed the opposite, it didn't seem like she ever wanted to leave here—she looked happy here.

Brian's answer wasn't enough—she wasn't in a hurry to get off this boat earlier—not before their rendezvous, before she had caught him with the red head.

Was she really trying to leave me?

Had he offended her that much?

His chest felt heavy—he felt bad. He felt like he might have driven her to the edge—but, she didn't look like it. Her eyes had told her everything—that she wanted him.

Maybe he'd been so blinded by the hundreds of women who slobbered over him, that he couldn't tell when a woman didn't want him.

Fuck—he cursed himself. What if this was all in his imagination—the idea struck him with guilt and embarrassment.

Suddenly, the PA system chimed on, a voice echoed through the ship.

"Please prepare for the Montenegro harbor—we will be arriving soon."

A new thought popped into his mind.

Montenegro—didn't Veronica's file say something about the crime boss there—Mario, the one who held her debt?

He grabbed his drink and walked out of the bar room—Brian was still trying to talk to him, but Adrian didn't care.

He didn't know what to say to Veronica—he wanted to apologize. But, if she truly didn't want him like he wanted her, then it would be best to keep his distance.

However, Veronica was about to walk into shark territory—and he felt compelled, no obligated—to escort her. Even if she didn't want his company, he would find a way to make it up to her. He could that at least.