Chapter 12
We ate breakfast on the balcony. That annoying hotel employee was right—it was too bright—but that was what sunglasses were for. And the weather was so tepid for Las Vegas. The lovely thing about October in the desert is that you can actually go outside in daylight hours.
So that was exactly what we did.
I had arranged with the hotel for a French-speaking temporary assistant. As I’dtaken care of meetings I had to have yesterday, with my new assistant’s help, we’d sorted out all the details regarding the keynote speech I was to give. Hannah and I were on our way out the door to explore the Vegas Valley when my mobile phone rang.
I really should’ve programmed the Imperial March for my brother’s ringtone. It was what played in my head every time I saw his name on my phone’sdisplay.
I stayed Hannah with a hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry,mon chou, but I have to take this. It’s my brother.”
“Oh. The king?” She blinked her gorgeous eyes at me as she made the most ridiculously cute expression, somewhere between impressed and horrified.
I chuckled. “Technically he’s still a prince, like me. We don’t use ‘king’ in Monaco.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll be right back,mon chou.” I pattedher arm and took a few steps away. My phone was on its last ring before voicemail when I answered.“Allô.”
“Bonjour, Votre Altesse.”Bastien’s assistant, Zara, replied in French. “Please hold for the Sovereign Prince.”
I rolled my eyes at the formality of it all. Like Bastien couldn’t just call me himself. A sense of foreboding swept over me. Much like his request for me to join him for dinnera few weeks back, nothing about this phone call was bound to be good. I listened to Muzak for too long and was moments from hanging up on the asshole when he finally came on the line.
“Bonjour,Luc. Sorry about the wait. I had a few ministers in my office and I wasn’t sure when we’d be able to get you on the phone, since we’ve been trying for over an hour.”
“Bonjour,Bastien. How are you enjoyingyour vacation in Las Vegas? How’s the weather? Oh, wait—that’s what you would be asking me, if this was a polite phone call. Since you’re not going to play nice, maybe I’ll start. How’s the fiancée?”
“The what? Oh, Helene. She’s fine, I suppose. I haven’t seen her since the press junket. I didn’t call to exchange pleasantries, Luc. Your assistant, Aristide, called the office—”
“Ex-assistant.I fired him.”
“He said as much. Was that really necessary? He was Julien’s assistant. I thought we all agreed that consistency was the best path going forward. And Aristide has many contacts in court.”
I set my jaw and replied flippantly, “Great, maybe one of them can give him a job.”
“This isn’t the time for jokes, Lucien. You fired an employee for very little cause, as far as I can see. You’vepotentially opened us up for all kinds of lawsuits.”
“I assume he signed a binding NDA as well as a contract when he was hired on?”
“Of course.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is here, Your Highness.”
“The problem is you’ve thrown a perfectly good assistant away with no thought as to how that affects the rest of the palace workings.”
“I’m not some snot-nosed kid, Your Highness. I havefunctioned as an adult for some time now. I can even tie my own shoes and look both ways before crossing the street.”
“Stop being an ass, Lucien, and listen to what I’m saying. You’ve created an enemy with far-reaching connections, and for what? A piece of American tail? When are you going to start thinking for a change?”
I’d been having fun ruffling Bastien’s feathers, but when he said thatabout Hannah, my blood boiled. “What did you say?”
“Aristide told me all about your little scene this morning. That is not grounds for dismissing a member of the royal staff. He has been reinstated and should be en route to your hotel now.”
“Then reroute him. He will not work for me ever again.”
“You need to listen to reason, Luc. Arist—”
“No, you need to listen to me, Your Highness. Aristidespied on me, I suspect for you. Either way, he was determined to make things difficult for me here with a woman I am seeing. A woman I am developing deep feelings for. And nothing Aristide did was acceptable for a member of the royal staff. If you feel so strongly about Aristide’s qualifications, maybe you should hire him. He did spy so very well for you, after all.”
