Page 56 of Some Like It Royal

Cagey bastard.

“I see.” Daniel drummed his fingers. Every problem had a solution. The most difficult of bugs could be worked out if the programmer came at it from a different angle. “What was her state of mind when she left you?”

“Determined.”

Determined to see their deal through? Determined to call him an ass? Determined to be the one woman in the world who could drive him mad with just a tilt of her head? Daniel swallowed the bitter bile of self-doubt and focused. “And would you have any sage wisdom you’d like to impart about this evening’s events?”

“Possibly. But the question you should ask yourself is what are you willing to lose, Mr. Voldakov?”

Traffic opened up in front of him and he stared over the cars, barely moving his foot to the accelerator until a car honked noisily behind him. “What am I willing to lose?”

“Yes, sir. What are you willing to lose?”

“I’m not willing to lose her.” No hesitation. No doubt.

To hell with the European deal, to hell with the consortium and thrice be damned to the royal clutch that held the contract strings. Spherecast was a phenomenal success without the damn EU. He had the keys to a Japanese contract and he’d get his foothold in Europe the another way—with hard work and sweat.

Hell, the company could go belly up and he’d build another, but what was the point without her?

He’d been an idiot to think it was all about business. He’d told that lie to everyone who mattered. Most of all, he’d said it to her.

“Then tell the princess the truth.” It was as though he’d heard every word played out in Daniel’s mental argument.

“That’s your advice?”

“It is.” The cool and detached words reflected the man himself. “Tell her it’s not about the fantasy. Tell her about your reality and her place in it.”

Could he do that? Could he walk in there and put his heart all on the line? What if, by some ironic accident of fate, he’d pushed her to become the very type of woman he didn’t want? But the moment the thought tried to take root in his mind, he pictured her sitting cross-legged and naked in the middle of the bed, laughing at something the cat did on the British science fiction show.

That was the woman he’d fallen in love with—barren of any artifice, gem or cosmetic. The pure, open, cheerful woman with the easy smile and the quick wit.

The woman who shut down when her hopes were ripped away. The woman who fought to survive and pursued her dreams.

She was part of the woman he loved too.

“Mr. Voldakov?” Russell’s voice punched through his reverie and thankfully, traffic achieved thirty miles an hour.

“Russell. Did I break something in her?”

“Bent, perhaps, but not broken. Be honest. Tell her the truth. You have to be willing to take on the dragon with no certainty of success if you want to get your princess back.”

Take on the dragon.

“Thanks, Russell.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Voldakov.”

He hit the button on the steering wheel to end the call. He’d walk through fire for Alyx, so swallowing his pride shouldn’t be that much more difficult.

An hour later, he tossed his keys to the valet and circled his car to walk into the hotel. He didn’t slow his stride. It was after seven and while he’d hoped to find her in the lobby waiting for him, he strode toward the elevators and took them to the ballroom level. Security waited for him just outside the doors. He passed them his ID and waited impatiently for his name to be checked off the list.

Tell her the truth.Russell’s words rang in his ears. Martin would kill him. But he already wanted to shred that contract and more—he wanted to shed the whole charade. He wanted the former waitress and aspiring actress to go out with him for ice-cream sundaes, watch midnight movies and help him design that identify-a-shoe app.

He wantedher.

At the entrance to the ballroom, he paused and let his eyes adjust. Skimming the crowd, he had no trouble finding her. She stood off to the side, arms wrapped around a tall European.

Quiet fury seethed up.

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