Going Royal 02 - Some Like It Scandalous (10 page)

Nodding his assent, Armand followed all of them into the hall and to the elevator.

Peterson touched a finger to his ear. “Lock down the fourteenth.”

Anna folded her arms but made no attempt to remove his jacket. Sliding his hands into his pockets, Armand watched her silent, stiff frame for the duration of the elevator ride. The doors opened to the freshly refurbished floor. He had to touch her arm to keep her from exiting before Johnson and Peterson. Her lips thinned and he dropped the contact with a sweeping motion to allow her to precede him.

Carefully decorated in creams and earth tones, the floor resembled the one he maintained an office on. The space was vast and open. “It’s huge,” Anna murmured, turning in a slow circle as though to absorb it all.

“Yes, ma’am.” Peterson paced her with Johnson remaining at the elevator. “We can have temporary walls erected and modified to your specifications. It won’t take more than a day or so.”

“I have meetings this afternoon and tomorrow morning.”

Armand kept his own counsel until she spoke. “You can cancel those.”

“Actually—” she pivoted and faced him, “—I can’t. One is with Derrick Milton, he’s one of the prime candidates for the scholarship and flagged as a high risk to stay in school. He needs the meeting as much as I do.”

“What kind of a risk?” Peterson inserted his question before Armand could ask the same.

Anna scowled. “Not a physical threat. Academic risk. He’s in his fourth foster home of the year, he’s been acting out and he turns eighteen in three weeks. We classify that as a high risk to even stay in school. At eighteen, he’ll be legally free to walk away from his foster home, drop school and vanish and no one can do anything about it. He’s got great grades, though, and loads of potential. I will
not
risk him further by canceling a meeting I had to tie myself into a knot to get him to agree to.”

Flush with color, she lit up from the inside out with her passion and temper kindled in her eyes. “Give Peterson the address and details.”

She blinked rapidly. “Really?”

Did his agreement surprise her so much? Burying the fresh slice her lack of faith cut in him, he nodded. “Of course. You have your life and it’s for the foundation.”

Anna pulled out her phone and forwarded an email with the details to Peterson. His security chief glanced down at his phone. “If you’ll excuse me, Your Highness, Miss Novak. I’ll make arrangements. Johnson will remain.”

“I’ll need to pick up someone from my office, though. To take notes—”

“We have a woman on staff we can loan you for the time being—Kate Braddock. Her checks are already completed so she can fill in the gaps.” Peterson named one of her female security guards, a detail they’d discussed the night before. Anna might resist close-quarters monitoring, but they could put someone on her immediate staff and Miss Braddock’s credentials were impeccable.

“Oh, this is very sensitive work—” Anna hedged, her teeth pulling at her lower lip.

“Why don’t you meet Miss Braddock?” Armand tired of her looking to Peterson. He wanted her attention on him. She didn’t respond well to orders, but perhaps he could coax her. “It couldn’t hurt to meet her, yes? And if she’s suitable, it will help to keep your schedule from being disrupted any further than necessary.”

She wavered, pressing a hand to her mouth and glancing around the empty space again. Dwarfed by his jacket, she looked indescribably vulnerable. “You’re right.” Two words he never thought he’d hear her say. “It can’t hurt to meet her. Is it possible to do it now?”

“Of course.” Peterson paced away from them and pressed a button on his earpiece, his voice fading as he walked toward the elevator. “Please send Miss Braddock to the fourteenth floor...”

Alone, Armand prowled after Anna as she began to walk through the space to the window. “Thank you.”

“Shouldn’t that be my line?” The snap in her response didn’t diminish the fact that she spoke to him again.

“You’re accepting a lot of very abrupt changes with grace.” Would she allow him to pay her compliment or not? “I appreciate it.”

“Well, it’s not about me, is it?” She put two fingers on the glass and looked down at the street. “It’s about the people the scholarship can help.”

He disagreed but kept it to himself. “Why is it so important to you?”

Impatience creased her expression and she gave him a reproachful look. “I’m a scholarship kid, Cha—Your Highness.”

“Armand.” Reminding her would become a habit if she kept trying to put the barriers back up between them.

“I don’t know
Armand.
” She traced a pattern on the window with her fingernail. “And I’m a scholarship kid. Every penny of my education came from scholarships like this one, and from the jobs I took. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon.”

Irritated at the slam, he leaned against the glass and studied her profile. “I know. You should be proud of what you accomplished. I just wanted to know why these kids were so important to you.”

“Because they aren’t important to anyone else.” She chewed on her lower lip and all he wanted to do was lick along the soft skin to nurse the hurt. “They get forgotten, shuttled to the side, put off over and over again. No one makes them first on their list. I had to jump through hoops to get this kid to agree to the meeting. He doesn’t think there’s a point, so I have to prove to him there is.
Everyone
deserves a chance to fly.”

“I hate that Alyx grew up that way,” he admitted. It lacerated his soul to think of anyone in his family feeling unwanted.

“I really like her.” Anna met his gaze and smiled a little. “She’s funny. But her funny covers up pain.”

“I know, her husband is very good for her, though. He makes her truly smile.” Daniel Voldakov would not have been anyone’s first choice to marry into the family—his Bolshevik roots, his American mannerisms, even his fervent disregard for protocol. But none of it mattered. Not when he adored the princess.

And without him
,
we wouldn’t have found Alyx.

“He’s an interesting man.” Admiration crept into her voice and ignited his anger all over again.

“And he’s
married.
”

The softness in her expression turned tense. “I’m aware of that, I just said he’s interesting. I’ve only met him once when I was having lunch with Alyx. Don’t play the jealous lover, Your Highness. It doesn’t suit you.”

The elevator dinged and Anna jerked back a step. Her cheeks went rosy again. She’d forgotten about Kyle—a fact made clear by her faltering look at the security guard and her unsteady smile at the brunette making her way toward them.

Aggravated with his own lack of control, Armand bit back the urge to order the other woman to wait so he and Anna could finish their discussion. “I’ll leave you to meet with Miss Braddock.”

Striding away before he could change his mind, he refused to glance behind and see if she felt his absence as keenly as he experienced hers. In the elevator, he shook his head. He wasn’t a college student anymore—and had no business behaving like some overeager boy on his first date. Glancing up at the camera, he considered his next steps. “I want reports of her afternoon and alert Peterson I’m going out.”

Withdrawing his phone from his pocket, he dialed Richard’s number. A grueling game of racquetball might take the edge off and give him time to clear his head.

* * *

Kate Braddock turned out to be brilliant. “All right, I’ve contacted your office and downloaded the application materials and his latest grade reports as well as the essay his English teacher submitted.”

The first round of scholarships would go to teens identified and nominated from the local school districts. Thirty candidates had made the final cut and it was up to Anna to identify the first ten. She really wanted Derrick to be one of those ten. “Can you scan down the essay? I remember reading a quote from
Great Expectations
.” After spending five minutes with the other woman, she’d taken solace in the idea that Kate understood exactly what she’d need.

Armand had disappeared again, and when she’d asked Johnson, he’d only replied that the grand duke wasn’t available. Irritated, she focused on the meeting in front of her rather than the SUV she rode in or the two cars traveling one in front and one in back. As much as she resented the interference, the photograph of her sleeping in her bed popped into her mind and she had to fight away a fresh shiver of fear.

“I have it...” Kate glanced up.

“Go ahead.” Work. She needed to work, to think about Derrick, about how to persuade him to take charge of his own future.

“‘Whatever I acquired, I tried to impart to Joe. This statement sounds so well that I can’t in my conscience let it pass unexplained. I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he might be worthier of my society and less open to Estella’s reproach.’” Kate stroked her finger across the screen to turn the page of the young man’s essay. It had captured her attention from the first time she’d read through his work. The rest of the team had felt the same way.

Kate continued. “This resonates because Pip is so caught up in the appearances of things that he feels like gentlemanly behavior can be caught, like a cold. While a person cannot be more than who they are, it is true that exposure to culture can have an ameliorating effect on a person’s behavior, choices and goal setting. I appreciate Pip’s value of knowledge, particularly in the admiration he shows to Miss Havisham and Estella. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Pip values the academic pursuits of these two women over the real-world knowledge Joe possesses. It’s all well and good to admire what the ‘haves’ have, but it’s better to be aware of how the world really works.”

“Haves versus have nots. He admires the concept of a higher education, but doesn’t put any practical value in it.” Thinking out loud helped Anna organize.

“Or he’s simply afraid to believe in a dream.” Kate suggested. “Because he does admire it so much, he doesn’t put himself in the same class as Miss Havisham or Estella. Like Pip, he doesn’t think he’ll ever belong so what’s the point of dreaming about it?”

“Oh, I think I love you.” Anna grinned. “That’s it exactly. Okay, I know what to say to him.”

“You’re welcome.” Kate chuckled and checked her watch. “Do you want me in on the meeting with him?”

“I think so, but if I give you a signal do you think you can get everyone to back off a little? I don’t want to intimidate him.” The last she said with a glance at Kyle.

“Miss Braddock can step out as necessary.” Kyle twisted in his seat. “But I will have to insist on staying in the room, Miss Novak.”

“Kyle, it’s very important that Derrick doesn’t feel like we’re pressuring him.” She wouldn’t allow him to be intimidated, not even for her “safety.”

“I won’t say a word,” he promised, but the man wasn’t exactly subtle. Leaning back in the seat, she glanced out the window. They were in North Hollywood and the streets grew more and more residential. Anna had called ahead to let Mrs. Brown, Derrick’s foster mother, know they were on their way. She’d sounded so relieved, and Anna had to wonder why.

When they pulled up at the front of the house, she didn’t wonder anymore. The lawn boasted a dozen reporters, and nearly twice that many cameras.
Crap.

“Stay in the car, please, Miss Novak.” Kyle touched a hand to his earpiece. “David, head up and make sure Miss Novak’s appointment is present in the house.” A man exited the lead car and started across the lawn. Two more men stepped out of the car behind them and took up positions on the sidewalk, effectively blocking the press from coming anywhere near the car.

Kate touched her hand and Anna realized—belatedly—she’d clenched her fists. “We’ll take care of it. Worst-case scenario, we’ll make arrangements to bring Derrick with us and take the meeting somewhere else.”

On the porch, a young dark-skinned man answered the door and the cameras seemed to divide their attention between the cars and him. His eyes widened and he backed up, but David had already turned to intercept one of the reporters.

“All right, Miss Novak, what do you want to do?” Kyle glanced at her. Tension knotted in Anna’s belly, hard and fierce.

“I want to talk to Derrick.” And apologize.
Oh my God.
That poor kid.
Hot on the heels of her anxiety came anger. How dare the press subject a kid to this? He had nothing to do with Armand or the ridiculous gossip piece.

“Clear the lawn,” Kyle ordered into his earpiece and then picked up his cell phone and punched in a number. “This is Kyle Johnson,” he began and rattled off the address. “We have several members of the press trespassing and causing a hazard on the street...” He paused. “Thank you.”

“Miss Novak, you stay in the car until I open the door, we go in the same way we exited your house yesterday. I want you right at my back.”

“What about Kate?” The poor woman certainly didn’t need to be jammed into this.

“I’ll be right behind.” Kate gave her hand a squeeze. “And I’ll have your bag.”

Anna nodded, still not entirely certain of all of this. It took some hustling, but Kyle got her up the walk and onto the porch just as a police car arrived. Kate and Kyle followed Anna inside when Derrick admitted them, but the others stayed out.

“Derrick.” Anna extended her hand. “I’m Anna Novak, we’ve spoken on the phone.”

Uneasy, the kid still took her hand and shook it briefly. “Sorry about the zoo, Miss Novak.”

“It’s hardly your fault.” She followed Derrick to the kitchen. Though the house was definitely older and showing signs of wear, it was clean and neatly kept.

“It’s Mrs. Brown’s fault.” Derrick scowled. “She saw a news report about you this morning and when you called to confirm, she called them.”

“Oh. Well...I’m still sorry that they’re out there, but I didn’t come to talk about the press. I came to talk about your future. Do you think we can sit down and chat for a bit?”

He shifted, eyeing Kate and then Kyle, before bringing his attention back to her. “Ma’am, if you don’t mind my saying—people like you and I—we don’t generally mix.”