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“If not Nataliya, then my wife.”
And that would lead to major stress for Konstantin. Dimitri got it.
“I still do not think there is any way Jenna would leak privileged information to the media,” Dimitri informed his brother. “Or even talk about us to someone she trusts. She’s too savvy for that. She’s a journalist, after all.”
“The timing, Dima.”
Enough occurrences that it could not be a coincidence. That was concerning. As was the timing of the leak.
“I’m in the middle of an important but potentially fragile negotiation bringing several small countries together in a joint business venture,” Dimitri informed his brother.
“Why have I heard nothing about it?”
“Because I’m still going over the information packet before sending it on to you and Nikolai.”
Konstantin nodded. “There are a lot of reasons why another leak could be damaging, but I’ll number that among them.”
“Agreed. What exactly is it you want from me?” Dimitri asked.
“Find out if Jenna is the leak, and if she’s not, who is.”
“That sounds like a job for a security consultant.”
“Nikolai wants everything kept between us. If Jenna is the cause of the leak, he doesn’t want there to be even a chance that information could be made public.”
His brother, the king, wanted to protect his wife’s feelings, whatever the circumstance. Dimitri admired Nikolai’s concern for his wife but was glad he had no such relationship to navigate.
He preferred the freedom to pursue his interests with unfettered ruthlessness.
“You live in Seattle. Why am I being tasked with this?”
“I’ve done my best to discern the truth and cannot do so without making myself suspicious to my wife.”
“You don’t think Jenna would be suspicious if I just showed up on her doorstep asking questions?”
“I trust you are capable of a great deal more subtlety than that.”
“You want me to date her?” He wasn’t some undercover spy.
“Would that really be a hardship?”
Dimitri hid his knee-jerk reaction. Going to bed with the beautiful woman would be no hardship at all. Dating her? That implied the kind of relationship he did not do.
And it smacked of dishonesty.
So maybe his honor had some fetters on his ruthlessness, but that wasn’t something he needed to share with his older brother.
Konstantin sighed. “Look, Dima, I don’t care if you date her or invite her to participate in one of your triathlons. Just figure out a way to get close enough to determine where the leak is coming from.”
“She’s not a triathlete.”
“She runs. She swims. Teach her how to ride a bike competitively.”
Dimitri just shook his head at his brother’s ignorance.
“I’ll be in Seattle at the end of the week.” But he was handling this thing as he saw fit.
Jenna Beals put down her phone, equal parts excited and worried for her best friend.
