“I don’t think we’re alone.”
“I know we’re not alone,” I whispered back, before raising my voice pointedly toward our intrudersomewhere behind me. “I was hoping that whoever it was would figure out we didn’t want to be interrupted before I was forced to fire them.”
“Uh, butmonsieur,it’s about Ms. Allen,” my temporary and soon-to-be unemployed assistant said weakly from the other side of the room.
Hannah looked over my shoulder at Morgan as she clutched at my back. “Is it my mom? Did she call again?”
“Er, no, ma’am.I’m afraid it’s something else.”
“Will you just spit it out, Morgan?” I asked, frustrated.
“She’s made the news,monsieur,” Morgan answered. “You both have.”
I closed my eyes with a muttered curse. I was afraid of that. Hannah whimpered, and I realized I was gripping her hair. I muttered an apology as I let her go and rolled to my side away from her. “How about you relax? Maybe take a shower?I’ll go see what we’re dealing with.”
Hannah looked up at me with fearful eyes but said determinedly, “No, I’m not gonna hide in the bathroom until you give me the all clear. I want to see what they’re saying about me.”
I sighed but couldn’t hold back my smile. That was the kind of thing that made it hard not to love her. “Fine. What channel, Morgan?”
“Er…all of them,monsieur.”
“Of course,”I murmured. “Thank you, Morgan. That will be all.”
“Um,monsieur? One more thing?”
“Oui?”I sighed.
“The palace is waiting on the line for you. His Highness’s assistant sounded impatient.”
“Of course she is. Tell them I’ll call back.”
“But—”
“Tell. Them.” I huffed impatiently. “That will be all, Morgan.”
“Oui, monsieur.”The door closed softly behind her as I rolled out of bed, then crossedover to the television in the suite.
“You know, you could’ve been nicer to her.” Hannah followed me out of the bed. Wrapping the sheet around her body, the end trailed after her like the train of an elaborate wedding dress.
“I don’t have time for lessons in manners right now,mon chou. In about five seconds I’m gonna be ripping some throats open, so you might want to stand back.”
“Still. Sheworks for you. What was it you said yesterday? Something about work-life balance and happy employees?”
“I knew that speech would come back to bite me on the ass,” I muttered as I flicked through commercial after commercial. Why did they all advertise at the same damn time?
“Does that mean you didn’t mean what you said during your speech?”
“What? No, of course I meant it.”
“Then—”
“Hannah,seriously? Can we please find out how bad this political fire is before you make me apologize to everyone I’ve ever met?”
“I was just…” Her voice faded away as her picture filled the television screen. “That’s from my social media. How did they…”
“…from the lighter side. Local resident Hannah Allen is purportedly dating Prince Lucien Greiner, the second in line to the crown of Monaco. Picturedhere last night at the Global Gaming Expo, she looks on adoringly as her beau, Prince Lucien, gives the keynote speech. Later they celebrated with a few kisses. Ms. Allen is a resident of Las Vegas and a recent graduate of Expert Cosmetology Institute and Cimarron High School. She is currently working at Camelot Beauty and Spa. So if you’ve been there or have an upcoming appointment with her, it’squite possible that a future princess has cut your hair. How about that, Ginger? Have you been to Camelot…”The newscaster’s banter cut off as I toggled through the channels.
“That wasn’t so bad, right? I mean, they didn’t say anything negative about me. So hopefully—”
