Page 28 of Once Upon a Royal Billionaire

“Of all the ridiculous questions. He is not beyond reproach, obviously. Or I’d still be married to him. We stay as far away from him as possible.”

“That’s interesting because this image was taken just yesterday at your daughter’s school.” He pulled up a grainy shot of Jackson talking to Lily right next to a line of school buses.

Emily sat up. “I’ve got to call my dad.”

“We’ve done that for you. He’s aware.”

“Oh, well, okay. I’ll call him after our meeting, then.”

“If you wish.”

Emily was starting to feel closed in. She didn’t like the power this man had or the continual efforts he made to encroach upon her private life.

She searched Rhett’s understanding eyes. In the past she’d felt he wasn’t worth it, and she’d run back home to America. She was beginning to think she might have been right.

9

Rhett let Kenworthy have his time. Let him stomp around and preen his feathers. He watched Emily’s face and knew she had about reached her limit.

Kenworthy then pulled out a clipboard. “Questions about the solvency of your company have come up on more than one news site. Would you share with us the financials?”

“I will not.”

Kenworthy’s eyebrows rose in a victorious surprise. “And why is that?”

“They are not the business of your staff.”

“And another question has arisen from your search for investors and pitching of new programs for Mountain Blue. There are members of the press that wonder at the timing of your new, suddenly friendly, overture.”

Rhett shook his head and waved his hand. “You don’t need to answer that.”

“But she should tell us more about her company. If you yourself invest, the press will go crazy. They’ll accuse you of neglecting our poor and unemployed.”

“If I support her, and I already pledged I would, I will use my private funds.”

“Even if you do, people will know.”

Emily glared at him. “Without having seen our financials, I’m surprised at the doubt in a company that has a long track record of success.”

The silence in the room felt thick, but Rhett ignored it. “If that is all?”

“Not quite. We still need to settle the question of what your relationship is with Emily and how would you like it portrayed to the press.”

“I thought we answered that sufficiently. The answer is ‘we have no comment at this time.’ ”

“But that will just feed the speculation.”

“The speculation will die unless you are feeding it.” Emily stood, and Rhett knew they’d pushed her too far.

Kenworthy held up his hand. “We aren’t quite finished yet.”

But Emily shook her head. “I’m quite finished.”

“We need to verse you on some of the matters of state and how your answers should be worded.”

“I don’t need someone to tell me how I feel about matters of state.”

Kenworthy ignored her last statement, which Rhett knew was not a good move. “And we’ve pulled up a list of statements you’ve made in the past that might be considered inflammatory here in our country. I need to write a retraction of your thoughts. You can study them yourself so that if ever called upon, you will be ready to---”

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