Page 29 of Legal Attraction

“This is Frederick. He’s someone who works with our family and helps manage some of our public relations here in the United States. As you can imagine there aren’t many times when we have PR crises over here but it’s been known to happen. And he wanted to make sure we both understand some of the rules going forward.”

“Rules?”

Coral widened her eyes for a brief moment and then nodded.

“Excellent.” Rand turned to Frederick. “Good to meet you. I’m Rand McCarthy.”

“Yes. Don’t worry about doing too much by way of introduction, we’ve done a thorough background check.”

“How thorough?”

“We know everything, even the name of your bear you slept with.”

“I…”

Frederick raised his eyebrow. And then Rand dipped his head. “Pookie Bear is free game I guess.”

Coral rested her forehead on her hand.

Rand picked up her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “So, what do you need to know?”

“It’s more a matter of what you need to know.” Frederick cleared his throat. “We’re going to need to monitor Coral’s activity carefully. We need to be aware of all public appearances and follow her private actions as well. She will have a detail with her all the time. But the king has agreed to make them invisible. The longer she can live here and no one knows she’s here, the better. That being said, we don’t want people discovering her. Is that clear?”

“Yes. I understand.”

When Frederick didn’t look convinced, Rand continued. “I don’t have anything to gain from her being seen or known and followed by a bunch of photographers.” He shifted. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t do that to her.”

Coral nodded. And Frederick lifted a stack of papers. “We’re going to need you to sign a non-disclosure.”

“Which I have to send through legal at work. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you.”

He waited. And Frederick kept his eyes glued to Rand.

“Is there anything else?”

“We can’t help but notice your presence at all of the dangerous events the princess has been a part of recently and we know about your case being stolen from the airport.”

He waited.

“If this association is shown to be a danger to her, we will curtail activities.”

Coral squeezed his hand. “Frederick, you can’t curtail my activities.”

He grimaced. “I know honey. I just can’t stand all this I’m hearing. My princess in danger? Did we not keep you perfectly safe all through law school? And invisible too? And now, it’s a mess.” Frederick eyed Rand like he was certain it was Rand’s fault.

“I’m sorry all this has happened to her. I’ve been doing my best to keep her safe. If that’s any consolation.”

Frederick eyed him a moment more.

“It’s true; if it wasn’t for Rand, I might not have been as safe as I’ve been. It’s not his fault. He could say the same about me. Everything has been more dangerous since I entered the picture for him too.”

Frederick frowned, but then he stood. “What you need to know is in this packet.” He handed Rand a thick stack. “Basically, you clear all activities with me. I don’t care if you think no one will see you. I need to know about it.”

Rand wasn’t sure he was serious, but Coral nodded like this was a normal request so he agreed.

As soon as Frederick left the room, Coral called out. “Close the door, please.”