Джанис Мейнард – The Montoros Dynasty (страница 15)
She had never been more thankful for the presence of the lawyer, Jean Claude. Having a buffer meant that she and Alex were able to work side by side on the draft of the official proposition without acknowledging the events of the weekend. By noon, they were so deeply involved in the knotty questions of language and ceremony that personal situations were pushed aside.
The document was shaping up nicely. Alex and Maria were composing the actual words. Jean Claude was guiding them with the necessary legal language. The collaborative effort flowed well, though as Maria worked feverishly at her laptop, transcribing the conversations, she couldn’t help but wonder if all of this would be in vain.
That night she ordered room service for dinner and fell into bed soon after, too tired from the intensity of the day’s efforts to do more than dream of Alex. The same pattern repeated itself for the following three days. On Friday morning, the rough draft of the document was complete. Though satisfying, it was only the first step. It would have to be faxed to the prime minister back in Alma. In addition, the entire delegation was to meet the following week to pick it apart and look for weaknesses.
Unfortunately, Jean Claude received a phone call midday summoning him back to Alma for a family funeral. Harried and sad, he offered Alex a bulging folder. “You and Maria can handle editing and polishing over the weekend. Here are all my notes. I’ll check in with you before Monday to see if you have any questions.”
When he was gone, the silence in the room became oppressive. Maria swallowed hard. She and Alex had shared barely half a dozen personal words since the day of the airboat ride. She hated the rift between them. For years they had worked together in harmony.
Even when she was promoted to a new position and no longer reported directly to Alex, they still had frequent contact in the Department of Commerce. And of course, here in Miami, he
Since coming to Miami, she’d seen him in a new light—in all honesty, as a potential lover. And it had seemed to her as if Alex was experiencing the same shift in dynamics. There was awareness between them. An unspoken bond that had bloomed out in the open in Miami’s atmosphere of hedonism and fun.
Their first kiss had rocked her...had forced her to be honest with herself about the fact that her admiration for Alex had segued into something much deeper and more volatile. She wanted him.
When she was injured and he cared for her with such wildly intimate results, she’d been sure he was feeling the same desperate, crazy passion that she was. But almost in the next instant, he had shut her down. Which said that his emotions were unengaged.
He might have a physical response to her as a woman. But she needed and wanted far more. So much more.
“Shall we continue?” she asked. “With the editing, I mean.”
His face was hard to read. “I think not. We’ve worked incredibly hard this week. Why don’t we take the rest of the day for ourselves? Call a truce. Play tourist.”
Her heart sank. He was offering an olive branch at the worst possible time. “That’s very kind of you, Alex. And very tempting. But I’m meeting Bella and Gabriel and Rafe for an early dinner.”
His dark eyes flashed fire for a brief second before his expression shuttered. “I see.”
She shoved her hands through her hair. “No. I don’t think you do. They’re concerned about the future. And they know I’m not a native of Alma, so they think I can be objective.”
“And can you?”
The derision in his voice hurt. “I’ve given a hundred percent to the work of the delegation. And I’ll do everything in my power to convince them the monarchy is important for everyone.”
“Anything else?”
The sarcasm was overt, but she was angry enough now not to be affected by his scorn. “If you must know, I’m trying to get closer to Gabriel.”
“I’ll bet you are.”
“Oh, grow up,” she said. “Somebody has to ferret out his bad-boy secrets, not to mention defusing anything that might embarrass the Montoros once they return to Alma.”
“And that has to be you?”
“Do you have a better idea? He likes me. I think he trusts me. So I’m going to use that connection to do my job.”
Alex’s glare could have melted a Titanic-sized iceberg. He held up his hands, his cheekbones streaked with color. “Don’t let me stand in your way, Ms. Ferro. Good luck.”
Fury sent her across the room to go toe-to-toe with the irritating man. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were a nice guy. You’re overbearing, hostile, argumentative—”
He shut her up abruptly by the simple expedient of slamming his mouth down on hers. Neither suave nor sophisticated, the move reeked of desperation.
Shock held her immobile for two seconds before she put her hands on his shoulders in a token attempt to shove him away. “I won’t let you kiss me,” she muttered. But her arms curled around his neck and her lips parted to allow his tongue entrance.
She was so damned mad at him, but somehow all that feeling transmuted into hunger that consumed her from the inside out.
He wedged a leg between hers. “I don’t know what to do about you, Maria. God help me, I don’t.”
With some last vestige of self-respect, she jerked out of his embrace. Her knees trembled, and she could barely breathe. But she wouldn’t let him toy with her emotions. Not like this.
She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, trying to eradicate the taste of him. “You need to make up your mind, Alex,” she whispered raggedly. “Either I’m a valued employee or a prospective lover or a gold digger looking to marry into the royal family. When you figure out the answer, be sure to let me know.”
Walking toward the door, she stopped abruptly and gave him one last withering glance. “I’ll see you here Monday morning at nine o’clock sharp. If you need any edits on the document over the weekend, email them to me. I think it would be better for everyone concerned if you and I stay away from each other.”
By the time dinner rolled around Maria had run the gamut of emotions. She had burned with anger, cried with regret and at last found a certain measure of peace by reminding herself that she was only a small part of a much larger purpose. Her relationship with Alex, or lack thereof, was secondary to the job she had been engaged to do.
Alma, as a nation, faced a critical juncture. At such points in history, personal agendas often took a backseat to working for the greater good. This wasn’t wartime, but in a sense, she and Alex were living in the midst of a volatile shift in national identity.
Reminding herself of what was at stake helped put her own troubles in perspective. Broken hearts were a dime a dozen. She’d get over hers. Besides, it was probably only bruised. She’d had a crush. That was all...
Meeting Bella, Rafe and Gabriel in the hotel lobby was interesting to say the least. Paparazzi were not as ubiquitous in Miami as they were in some parts of the world. But the Montoros were both famous and flamboyant. The public enjoyed their antics...even more so now that gossip had begun to circulate about a possible tie to Alma.
Though Maria found it disconcerting when a camera flash went off in her face, the Montoro trio seemed to take it in stride. They had planned to walk the block and a half to their favorite seafood place. When it became clear to the guy carrying the camera that nothing too dramatic was afoot, he slunk away without further incident.
The restaurant overlooked the water and was crowded even at this early hour. Reservations required. When the Montoro party was granted a premium table near the window, Maria began to see that this branch of modern royalty was comfortable with the trappings of wealth and privilege. They might have to adapt to a new country and new titles, but theirs was no rags-to-riches story.
Over a meal that was exquisite in every way, her dinner companions grilled her about Alma and its current state.
She grimaced as she dabbed her lips with a linen napkin. “Where do I start? You’ll be happy to know that the government has made technology a priority, both for education and in the private sector. Certain books and movies were banned under the old regime, but now information and entertainment flow freely.”
Bella wanted to know about the palace. “Is it habitable?”
“Oh, yes. Tantaberra, and later his son and grandson, made themselves very comfortable over the years. Even during the revolt, little was damaged. Efforts are already underway to update the furnishings and to clean and remodel. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you see it.”
Rafe frowned. “
She felt her face heat. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to get ahead of myself.”
Gabriel appeared far more serious than she had seen him on other occasions. “Are the people really in favor of this move, or is it the brainchild of a favored few?”
“The press has done good job of advancing the idea. In a recent poll, seventy-two percent favored a return of the traditional monarchy.”