Page 18 of The Prince's Secret Daughter
Raj couldn't help but steal a glance at her, captivated by the way she sat with such grace in the adjacent seat, her seatbelt snugly fastened across her chest. The safety strap accentuated every contour, delicately enhancing her curves, drawing the fabric closer to her body, which allowed him a mesmerizing view of her silhouette.
Raj cleared his throat and reluctantly turned his gaze so that he was looking straight ahead. “Nothing important,” he replied. “Nazih,” he gestured to the man in the front seat, omitting the part about how his friend and guard was going to be in a lot of pain later, “sent two of his men to the office this morning right after our conversation. He retrieved several versions of the proposal from Paul’s office, as well as a few other documents that might prove interesting.”
Helen gasped, sitting up a bit straighter in the leather seat. “How? How did he get in? We’d only just talked about this…maybe an hour ago?” she demanded. Then she paused, obviously considering his comment. “Does Paul know?”
Nazih chuckled as Raj answered her. “My team is able to get into just about any facility undetected.”
“Anyfacility?” Helen repeated.
Raj shrugged. “There are a few high security facilities, like the White House or the Central Intelligence Agency, that he hasn’t managed to defeat…yet.”
A grunt came from the front seat.
Raj continued, ignoring his friend. “Nazih is part of a team of international guards. Nazih and his team repeatedly attempt to break into various government buildings to test each ally country’s security. They return the favor by trying to break into our buildings.”
Chapter 12
Helen blinked at him. “You…purposely break into high security facilities…just for fun?” The big man shrugged and Helen shook her head. “That seems dangerous.”
He turned to grin at her. “It keeps everyone on their toes and shows weaknesses in defenses. Everyone’s security systems are improved through these break in attempts.” He shrugged. “No one gets too badly hurt.”
Helen wasn’t sure what “too badly” meant to a man like the guy sitting in the front seat. He was nearly as tall as Raj, but with even more muscles. And that was saying a lot since Raj was a huge man!
But she kept her thoughts to herself, not sure what value she could add. Instead, she focused on the day’s mission. “So, we’re just going to wander around the project site. I doubt that Paul would let us see anything that he doesn’t want us to see.”
Raj shrugged. “He has to know that I would require a walk through and an inspection before going through with the purchase. And I’m guessing that I’m not the only investor that he was trying to entice onto this project.”
“There were four other investors,” Helen confirmed. “You were the first since Paul and Nathan were hoping you’d be the largest investor. With your buy-in, they were anticipating building out the whole block with more stores and businesses.”
Raj made a sound of agreement, nodding his head. “That’s what the proposal showed yesterday, but as we weregoing through the details, the financial aspect of the proposal didn’t make sense.”
Helen stiffened. “I reviewed the numbers for the proposal. I couldn’t make the numbers add up either.”
Raj smiled slightly as he watched her. “It wasn’t just that the numbers didn’t make sense.” His features turned serious again, his dark eyebrows drawing together. “I haven’t gotten my finger on what was wrong with the financials that were discussed yesterday. But that’s why I bring Harry, my accountant, to these kinds of meetings. He’s brilliant at picking apart the numbers and finding any issues. Both he and Evelyn, my lawyer, are recovering today and said they’d go through the legal and financial aspects of the deal to find out what the Grishoms were trying to hide by drugging them.”
“Are you certain they were drugged?” Helen asked. “What did the lab discover?”
He shook his head. “They found elevated chemicals in their blood, but there’s no known name for the drug. The lab that I used yesterday is going to investigate further, but it was probably a designer drug. There are companies that can create a drug that will enhance specific parts of the brain or emotions for a person.”
“Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “You can find practically anything on the dark web, if you know where to look.”
That piece of information horrified Helen. “That’s crazy!”
They looked out the windows as the SUV turned sharply to the left. “It’s the world we live in now. And it’s not even all that expensive. The labs that create these drugs deal in volume. And they’re constantly expanding their offerings.”
“Good grief,” Helen huffed, slouching slightly in her seat and looking out the window. But she wasn’t admiring the view. She was vaguely aware of the buildings shift from steel and glass or concrete structures, to older buildings with more details on them. These were built in previous decades when architecture was square, but decorated with more imagination for glamor. Minutes later, they were driving into the worn-down areas. This section of Chicago might have been at the epicenter of city life at some point, but the businesses and residents had since moved on. Now there were just abandoned warehouses with shattered windows and weeds growing from cracks in the worn down pavement.
“We’re here,” Raj announced.
Helen turned to look at him, her eyes unfocused. She was thinking about drugs and unethical employers. “If I hadn’t been greedy, wanting that increase in my salary, I wouldn’t have put Angela in danger,” she whispered to him. “I’m so sorry.”
Raj took her hand, squeezing her fingers gently. “If you hadn’t tried to achieve a higher standard of living for Angela, I never would have known that I have a daughter.” He squeezed her hand again, then lifted it to his lips, kissing her fingertips. “Thank you for this,” he told her.
Helen tried to hide the gasp of awareness when he kissed her fingers. It was difficult, since all she wanted to dowas curl up in his lap. She wanted to bury her face against the warmth of his neck and inhale the masculine scent of him.
Instead, she curled her fingers into a ball, wanting to savor his touch and the tingling sensation as long as possible.
