AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That made him laugh. And it offended her. “No. My brother has no designs on your body. He thinks that you will be useful in improving the world’s view of Monte Blanco. It is in fact his sole focus. Which is what I came to tell you. He is not here.”
“He’s not here?”
“No. He has gone to the United Council summit. It is very important to him that Monte Blanco be granted inclusion into the Council. For too long, we have been without the benefit of allies. For too long, we have not had a say in how the world works. And it is something my brother feels is key to bringing us into the twenty-first century.”
“So he wants my... Influencer reach?”
That was ridiculous. But she could work with that. “He wants me to make the country look better.”
“Yes,” Javier said.
“Well. That’s easy. I can do that without marrying him.”
“I’m not sure that’s on his agenda.”
“Well, then I’ll just have to convince him that it’s a better agenda. I’m very convincing. I entered a very crowded market, and I managed to essentially dominate it. You know that I’m the youngest self-made billionaire in the world?”
“Yes,” Javier said. “We did in fact look at the basic headlines about you.”
“Then he should know that I’ll be of much more use to him as a business consultant.”
“You sell makeup,” he said.
She bristled. “Yes. And I sell it well. Enough that he seems to have taken notice of the impact that I’ve made on the world. So don’t belittle it.” She huffed a breath. “Anyway. All I need is a chance to get to know the country.”
“Excellent. I’m glad that you think so. Because I believe that my brother’s mouse is making an agenda for while they are away.”
“His what?”
“His assistant. We have assignments for while he is away. And I am to oversee.”
“Are you babysitting me?”
“In a sense.”
“You know,” she said, keeping her voice carefully deadpan. “I seem to recall a Saint Bernard that acted as Nana in a classic cartoon...”
“Don’t push it. I can always tell him you met with an unfortunate accident.”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, meeting his gaze, keeping her eyes as stern as possible.
He inclined his head. “So I did.”
“Are you a man of your word, Javier?”
“I am.”
The simple confidence in those words made her stomach tighten. “Somehow I knew that.”
His eyes narrowed. “How?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m a good judge of character, I think. I was born into wealth, and I will tell you that it’s an easier life than most. But I had access to... Anything. Any excess that I wanted. Any sort of mischief that I might want to get into. Drugs and older men and parties. People were always after me to do favors for them. And I had to learn very quickly who my real friends might be. Because let me tell you... What people say and what they do are two very different things. Words don’t mean anything if they’re not backed up by actions.”
“Well, I’ve kidnapped you. What does that action tell you?”
“I didn’t think we were going with kidnap?”
“That was your call, not mine.”
