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And therein lay the pitfalls. Allowing himself to be impressed, tempted, by her had nearly resulted in a gross error of judgement that could’ve cost his family untold misery.
It was why he stayed away from tall, statuesque women with silky, chestnut hair and eyes the colour of the turquoise-blue waters that sparkled beneath the Montegovan sun.
He slid into the car, watched her cross her legs in a curiously elegant way that effectively angled her body away from his. Poise, no doubt drilled into her in that expensive finishing school her family had ill-afforded, was evident in her ramrod-straight spine, the hands folded neatly over her clutch in her lap, and perfectly angled jaw.
The only thing giving all that decorum away was the pulse leaping at her throat. Her very silky, very smooth and supple throat. Creamy skin he wanted to stroke. To taste.
Basta!
He stirred in his seat, registered what he was doing and froze.
Dio mio, since when did he fidget?
He told himself it was his annoyance that made him glance over her body, over her shadowed cleavage that gave a tantalising peek of her breasts. It was annoyance causing the fever in his veins.
‘You’re meant to be taking notes, yet you don’t seem to have brought any note-taking equipment with you.’
Shrewd blue eyes met his and...mocked him? ‘Perhaps because it’s no longer necessary to bring a whole stationery cupboard to take notes. I have an app on my phone—approved by the trust, I believe—to take notes and transcribe digitally. Depending on how quickly you want it, I can have it ready in an hour.’
‘And if I want it sooner?’ he asked, simply because his mood was decidedly testy and she was the cause of it.
‘Then I’d have to wonder why you’re even bothering to attend the fundraiser if you have far more pressing matters to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, I know you’re a master at multi-tasking but it would help to know what I’m supposed to prioritise.’
Their arrival at his embassy put paid to his errant thoughts and, thankfully, the need to dissect thereal cause of his disgruntlement. ‘Let’s go and find out, shall we?’
He stepped out, ingrained courtesy dictating he hold out his hand to her.
She accepted his assistance, slid out gracefully but almost immediately attempted to regain her hand. Zak released her but not before he once again registered the smooth, supple warmth of her skin. The need to keep touching her.
General Pierre Alvardo, Montegova’s defence minister, approached the moment they were inside the vast hallway of the Montegovan embassy.
‘Your Highness, thank you for meeting me. This matter is urgent or I wouldn’t have interrupted your evening.’
‘I’ll be the judge of that.’ Zak had accepted the meeting because Alvardo tended to be a little trigger happy. His mother had her hands full with parliamentary duties and his brother, Crown Prince Remi, was on a diplomatic mission in the Middle East.
Alvardo slid a glance at Violet, then addressed his next request in Montegovan.
Zak stopped him with a halting hand. ‘You may address me in English, Alvardo. Lady Barringhall has signed a confidentiality contract and knows the consequences of breaking it.’
Beside him, Violet gave a sanguine smile that somehow tunnelled straight into his bloodstream, heating it up several more degrees. ‘Lady Barringhall hasn’t forgotten, Your Highness. She doesn’t need to be reminded.’
Alvardo’s eyes widened but he hadn’t risen to defence minister without learning a thing or two about diplomacy.
In the conference room, Zak waited for Violet to be seated before taking his place at the head of the table. The moment she set her phone to record, he got straight to the point.
‘Is this about the group of dissidents you alerted us to two months ago?’
Alvardo nodded. ‘Intelligence reports they’ve doubled in number and may be planning an insurgency in Playagova in the near future.’
Zak tensed. ‘May be? You’re not completely certain of their plans?’
Alvardo’s gaze grew cagey. ‘We haven’t been able to infiltrate the group as easily as we’d hoped.’
Zak’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re here to seek leave to openly pursue them?’ he surmised.
His minister nodded. ‘As the Queen’s appointed head of the Montegovan military, you will have to give express instructions for an active investigation into the group.’
‘Even though such an act could fuel anxiety, cause undue panic?’ he countered.
