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“Arty, it has taken me days just to get to this far. She’s wary of getting close to people in general, let alone men.”
“You are not just a man. You are her future husband. Make her understand that. I want you to want romance, but do not forget, we still need her money.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “Rushing her to marry me so we can get her money...it feels dirty, Arty.”
“Why? She knows that is the reason, too. When did you start to become so sentimental about using women?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “I am working on it.”
“Good. Now please be careful and listen to Iskandar. The last thing we need is the press scaring her off. They know you are not in the city, for sure.”
“How?”
“How?” he repeated. “Because of how often you go out when you are here. That is how.”
“I feel a lecture coming on, so I am going. Goodbye,” I said as our car came around.
“I will speak to you later. Keep me informed,” he replied before hanging up.
“Sorry about that,” I said, walking back over to her.
“Is everything—”
“Oh, my God!” two random women nearly screamed, one pointing directly at me.
“You are here!”
Oh no...Panic rose in me, and I could see Iskandar coming around to block them from us when they brought out their phones. I grabbed Odette’s hand, already rushing to the door.
“Wait, can we please get a picture, Odette!”
I froze. Odette?
I looked to them again to make sure, but they weren’t looking at me. Instead, they were looking at Odette like she was the only person here.
“We are huge fans! We wanted to come to your show in San Francisco, but it was sold out. Can we please get a picture?” the other asked, stepping forward.
Iskandar looked to me with a question on his face about what to do. But Odette ignored us both, letting go of my hand.
“Of course,” she said to them and turned back to me, tossing me her purse. “Hold that for me.”
They all tried to take selfies at first before she directed them to give the camera to Iskandar. I watched in shock and awe as he bent over and took their photos while I stood there doing the exact thing I was worried about doing a few minutes ago, standing on the sidelines, holding her bag. This was definitely a new experience.
“Thank you so much!”
“No problem. Thank you for loving my work,” Odette said to them, smiling back. She waved to them, then rushed to get into the car to escape the cold air. With us sitting back inside, Iskandar closed the door.
“Your bag,” I said, handing it to her.
“Thank you.” She didn’t take it. Instead, she put her hands up to the vents of the car.
“For someone who loves the winter, you are always looking to escape the cold,” I said.
“I’d rather be cold than hot. I can keep putting on clothes. In the summer, there is no way to beat the heat,” she replied and looked up to me. “Is everything okay back home?”
“Yes and no,” I whispered, reaching over and taking her hands into mine. They were freezing.
“Ah, I get it. It’s one of those if you tell me you’d have to kill me, royal family secrets?” she teased.
