Page 13 of Some Like It Scandalous
She chose the chair farthest away from him, but he contented himself with watching her—for now. His phone buzzed asRichard opened with a quick sketch of the Dagmar Foundation. The message was from his head of security.
They already had a threat.
Dammit.
Chapter 4
Armand
“Ihope you know what the hell you’re doing.” Richard said quietly, though Anna was still engrossed with the other attorneys, going over some of the finer points in the initial grant papers. Armand had abandoned the meeting about halfway through to review the threat with Peterson. His security chief deemed it credible, and it followed the same pattern as the others they’d received in the last six months.
“That makes two of us.” He’d stopped drinking coffee two hours before—the jittery restlessness in his blood had nothing to do with caffeine. “How bad is it?”
“Bad.” Richard kept his back to the others, but he didn’t bother to disguise the censure in his tone “What were you thinking?”
“Why do you and she both assume I told the reporter?” It was a disgruntled complaint, but he gave his best friend a dour look anyway.
“Because we’re not idiots. There wasn’t even a sniff of this in the gossip columns before this morning—and you hadn’t set eyes on her—physically—in ten years. Then, the dayafteryou invite her to your office and have me jump through legal hoops to getthe scholarship fund reallocated, she is suddenly the scoop of the year? Yeah—it’s a fair question.”
Armand sighed, his gaze on Anna. She studiously avoided looking at him. In fact, she’d ignored him throughout the meeting—answering and asking questions of everyone save him. Fortunately, her tone also chilled when she addressed Richard.
At least he wasn’t alone in exile.
“You said use being a prince to my advantage. But I didn’t do this. I wouldn’t.” And when he got his hands on the person who gave her name to the press… His only regret lay in the fact he couldn’t order a head to roll.
“Well, this isnotan advantage,in case you were wondering.” Despite his dry humor, Richard didn’t bother to disguise his low opinion—one of the reasons their friendship withstood the test of time, distance and press coverage. They fell into a rhythm during their freshman year and they stayed there.
Still, the fracas had given him an opportunity. “Rick, I’m furious about the press, but it doesn’t change the fact I wanted to see her?—”
“Eh, you’ve seen her.” Richard’s brows climbed. “And seeing her dumped her ass right into the fire before she even made it to the frying pan. She’s been served her up like so much chum to the sharks. They’re going to trot out every single affair you’ve ever had. They are going to publicly compare her to every woman they think you’ve had in your bed. No, my friend, this is a cluster fuck and a half. If she doesn’t geld you before this is over, I’ll be surprised.”
“Whose side are you on?” Irritation scraped over his nerves.
“Yours. But this is a mess, Armand.” Richard sighed.
“I’m aware of that fact.” Violently aware. No one had to tell him how bad the situation could be. The press smelled scandal—and they had her name. The leak had already produced one threat. “But she reacted—she was angry and she wasn’t cold. Fora minute there…it was like we wereusagain.”She mentioned Nikole. Sheknewabout her—which means she paid attention.
Maybe it was petty to hope for a little jealousy. It meant she cared—on some level she still cared.Or maybe they already highlighted Nikole on the news this morning.
He ignored the snide mental voice taunting him.
“Pissing her off is not going to get you back into her bed.” Richard poured a couple of drinks and glanced over at the table. The others wrapped it up, rising and shaking Anna’s hand one at a time. “You have to tell her, you know.”
“I know.” Impatient at the advice, he blew out a breath. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her.
“All right, we’re going to get out of here. Call me if you need someone to punch you out of another bad idea.” He pressed the drinks into Armand’s hands. “Do both of you a favor, and give her this before you tell her. It might dull the shock.”
Richard strode across the room and ushered the others out. Anna didn’t spare him more than a polite nod. When the door closed, Armand walked over and held the drink out to her.
She shot him a doubtful look. “It’s barely lunchtime. A little early for that, don’t you think?”
“No. We need to talk.”
“I think we’ve said enough today,Your Highness.” She continued packing her papers back into the briefcase. “I also think I have enough to complete the grant application—so we won’t need the whole week.”
“Anna. I screwed up. I did something stupid and impulsive and now you’re coping with the backlash from that. I’m sorry.” Endangering her had never been his intention, he’d simply wanted to see her again.
She went still. He worried for a moment that she hadn’t heard him. “Thank you.” She swallowed. “And—it’s okay. It will blow over.”
