Free Marrying the Marquis by Patricia Grasso Page A

princes. She paused before speaking to acknowledge Prince Lykos with a smile.
    The duke cleared his throat.
    Blaze shifted her attention to him. Her gaze touched the glasses of whisky and vodka on his desk, reminding her of her mother.
    “What is the emergency?” the duke prompted her.
    “I need money,” Blaze blurted out.
    The Russian princes burst into laughter, which made her father smile. She hadn’t meant to speak so abruptly and definitely needed her stepmother’s instruction concerning feminine wiles.
    “Running out of pin money with more than three weeks remaining in the month is an emergency of epic proportions,” Prince Rudolf teased her.
    Blaze ignored him.
    “How much do you need?” her father asked her, his tone long-suffering.
    “You should ask her the reason before opening your pockets,” Prince Rudolf said. “My children receive a monthly allowance and no more.”
    “If I agree to her request,” her father said, “then she will leave us to our business.” He shifted his gaze to her, saying, “How much do you need and why do you need it?”
    “I need enough money to buy a horse,” Blaze told him.
    “I gave you Pegasus,” he reminded her. “Purchasing a horse does not qualify as a life-or-death emergency.”
    “You don’t understand,” Blaze said. “Ross MacArthur plans to sell Juno to the knackers unless we buy her.”
    “MacArthur is sending a horse to the slaughterhouse?” Prince Lykos echoed in surprise.
    Blaze nodded. “Papa. I must save Juno. The marquis is selling her because he believes her barren.”
    “I commend your tender heart,” her father said, his tone softening, “but horse racing is a business. A barren mare does not contribute to the owner’s profit.”
    “Her Grace and you do not have children,” Blaze argued. “Will you be sending Her Grace to the knackers?”
    At that, the Kazanov princes shouted with laughter. Her father did not look pleased, but the corners of his lips twitched as if he wanted to laugh.
    “Going to the knackers is no laughing matter,” Blaze scolded the princes.
    The Kazanovs laughed even harder. Even her father chuckled.
    This negotiation was not succeeding. She needed another path to her goal. Tears. Though she disliked weeping in public, Blaze knew Juno was depending on her.
    Bowing her head, Blaze raised a hand to her eyes and willed herself to weep. Her bottom lips trembled when she thought about the kitten she’d been unable to save all those long years ago. That poor broken kitten reminded her of her mother’s death, which did send warm tears rolling down her cheeks.
    The masculine merriment ceased. A good sign.
    “I will send Ross a note.”
    Blaze looked at her father, an expression of misery etched across her face. “Thank you, Papa.” Her voice was an emotion-choked whisper. “I knew you would understand.”
    When she moved to stand, her father gestured her to sit. “How will you repay my generosity?”
    “I will refrain from baiting Her Grace,” she promised.
    Smothered chuckles erupted from the princes.
    “Will you marry the man of my choice?” her father asked her.
    Blaze paused for several moments, considering his words, and then stared straight into his eyes. “Let me answer this way,” she said. “Were you planning to learn this year’s winners from me?”
    The princes’ chuckles were no longer smothered. Their amusement was not helping her.
    Father and daughter stared at each other, and then he grinned. “You remind me of Aunt Bedelia.”
    “I take that as a compliment.” Blaze gave her father her sweetest smile. “You will pay MacArthur’s asking price without haggling?”
    “I will do what is necessary.”
    “Thank you, Papa, but I need one more tiny favor.”
    Blaze heard coughing on either side of her and knew the princes were laughing again. Her father’s expression said she was pressing her luck.
    “I want Juno mated with Zeus,” Blaze told him, and then blushed at her own