Page 16 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

“I didn’t write it, but I always feel I owe parents an apology for it.” She took a seat on the sofa opposite Vijay. “Do you live here in Paris? I hope I didn’t tear you away from vacation.”

“My wife’s family is here and we have an office here. It’s very normal that I have business when we visit. Shall we get to it? I have some concerns.”

“Oh?”

Vijay didn’t look at Magnus, but she felt the prince’s gaze on her. She had the very strong sense she was about to learn something Magnus already knew.

“The X-Calibur Entertainment Agency. Your father started it?”

“Yes, but why is that relevant?” Why was her body suddenly buzzing with adrenaline?

“I like a big picture view. It allows me to see patterns. You have a silent stake in the company. Is that correct?”

“I’m a client, so I don’t have anything to do with the day-to-day running. That could raise conflicts of interest.” Accusations that she was given opportunities based on nepotism, as opposed to merit.

“But you receive a share of profits.”

“I do.” She was starting to feel like Swiss cheese, given all the holes that Magnus was drilling into her with his gaze.

“X-Calibur manages all aspects of your career? Contracts, PR, legal.”

“All aspects of my life, really. Everything down to the guy who delivers my groceries. My father always had a ‘keep it in the family’ attitude.”

“Which means you trust the agency?”

“Completely.” She said it with confidence, but had the strangest sensation that the floor tilted beneath her couch. “Why? Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

Vijay briefly cocked his head, and she felt totally thrown off-balance.

“X-Calibur has a hundred clients,” she rushed to say, as though it proved something. “It exists because of me and my early career. They wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize my ability to make them money.” It was cold-blooded, but it was the way it had always been.

“I think it’s how they make that money that deserves a second look,” Vijay said in a neutral tone.

Her heart took a dip. “What do you mean?”

“You pay them to protect you, but I don’t see an incentive for them to actually do that. Not when bad publicity and court cases generate so much revenue for them.”

“The incentive is that I’m a creative asset. I make them money byacting.”

“Do you?” Magnus asked.

His simple question was a harsh one-two slap, both of them awful. No, she wasn’t getting acting jobs lately, and he didn’t have to rub her nose in it, thanks. But as she met his iced-over gaze, she heard the darker side of his question. The suspicion. Was she actingnow? Had she been acting last night?

“You’re accusing me of staging all of this?” She waved at her presence in his suite. “I didn’t even know who you were yesterday.Youaskedmeto dance. You brought me up here. I wish I could get men to do what I want just by thinking about it,” she added in a mutter. “I’d rule the damned world.”

Magnus only stroked his hand over his beard while he continued to watch her.

Whatever delicate threads of connection had formed between them overnight snapped, leaving her feeling adrift in the cold vacuum of space, but she was used to that. It was happening on more than one level, in real time, as she absorbed that her family was not looking after her best interest, content to line their pockets at her expense.

“Are you suggesting it’s no accident that my bodyguard was underqualified and my stalker knew where to find me?” she asked Vijay.

“If it’s not deliberate sabotage, it’s gross incompetence.”

She rose to take a few agitated steps, mind exploding under this new perspective on her relationship with her brother and sister.

There had always been petty jealousies from that quarter. Lexi had been a hot property as a child. The more involved her father was in her life and career, the more rights he had had to the money she generated. His legitimate children had resented her taking his attention and gaining his approval even as her work paid for their vacations and electronics and other frills.

Lexi had always believed that those frills were enough to keep them on her side. They wouldn’t shoot down the rocket that was taking them to the moon, would they?

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