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“Kind of,” she said, answering Matteo at the same time that she looked into his warm green eyes.
Damn. It was possible that some of this breathlessness was because of the wholeMatteo is suddenly a hottie, and I haven’t had sex in monthsthing.
It had also not escaped her how easily she had admitted to nerves. She rarely felt nervous, but if and when she did, sheneveradmitted it.
He nodded but said only, “Ready?” as he raised his hand to knock on the door. She appreciated that he didn’t spout platitudes or try to offer false comfort.
“Ah, Ms. Delaney.” The king rose from where he’d been sitting in an armchair by the fire and gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa opposite.
She did, and Matteo sat next to her—very next to her. His legwas about an inch from hers, and she swore she could feel the heat of him through his pants and hers.
“I’m told you have something pressing to tell me?”
Well, here they went. “I’m just going to come out and say it.” She paused, and Matteo cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “Do you want to tell him?”
“No, no,” Matteo said quickly. “Go ahead. I am in complete agreement that the best way is to just come out with it.”
“Willsomeonetell me what in the hell is going on?” the king, clearly irritated, demanded.
She steeled herself. “Noar Graf is in the process of buying Daniel Hauser’s Morneau shares, and he tried to buy Lucille Müller’s. I’m concerned about what that might mean, both in general and as it relates to Morneau’s recent performance, which is what I have been taking as the baseline for my work.”
There, it was out.
The king’s eyes widened, and he said something in German Cara was pretty sure was not a nice word.
“Indeed,” Matteo said.
Cara told the king what they had learned and how they’d learned it, and shared her theory about what might be going on. The king grew increasingly angry, but mostly at himself. “This is another thing I should have seen, another thing I let slide while I was buried in my grief. How could I not have known this was all happening under my nose?”
“Your Majesty,” Cara said, “if I may, we don’t yet know what is happening. The only verifiable facts we have at the moment are about the shares.”
“But you suspect there’s more going on, given the possibilities you raised.”
She glanced at Matteo, who gave her a minuscule nod. “I do. But once again, I feel dutybound to say that I’m going on a hunch here.”
The king stared at the ceiling.
“Your Majesty,” said Matteo, “may I gently suggest that you not assign yourself sole responsibility for whatever is occurring?”
“I appreciate that, Benz, but I’m the king. And the chair of the board. What do they say in America?” He turned to Cara. “The buck stops with me?”
“They do say that, and itcanstop with you. We will get to the bottom of this, and I know you’ll take the right course of action.” They talked it through, and decided that the king, the princess, and the Duke of Aquilla, who between the three of them made up a majority of the Morneau board and were the ones Noar hadnotapproached, would see what they could reconstruct about Noar’s hiring and his tenure at the company.
Cara explained that her colleagues in New York were also working on some information. She stopped short of telling him Tonya was spying on Brad. Fucking Brad. Even though she loathed him, she wasn’t going to tarnish his name until she had reason to.
The king nodded, seemingly calmed by having talked it all through. “Whatever else happens, I believe it is time to rethink Morneau’s board size and structure.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “and the wording of contracts as it relates to selling shares or to the passing of board seats upon death or retirement.”
“But the larger issue,” said the king, beginning to pace, and shecould see him thinking through things as he walked and spoke, “is that, as you say, this means your company’s assessment may be based on incorrect information.”
“It might be.”
“You might have to start over entirely.”
“I doubt it.” She tried to keep her tone calm. She didn’t think now was the time to tell him that she’d spent all day looking at the draft of the report she’d written, and that even if Noar had been sabotaging Morneau, the company was still in trouble. “But I will be able to absorb any changes that need absorbing and deliver you my report as promised.”
“Ms. Delaney is good at handling change,” Matteo said. “She’s very... nimble.”
