Going Royal 01 - Some Like It Royal (9 page)

“Good?” he asked after she took a bite of the salad.

“It’s very good.” She nodded, not really tasting any of the lettuce. Oddly enough, the bright sunshine of the evening seemed to dim before the sun had fully set. The cool breeze ruffling her back left chills in its wake. Even the wine went a little sour on her tongue. But she mustered her smile and focused on her “date.”

She’d forgotten the cardinal rule of make-believe.

None of this is real.

And she really didn’t have the right to be disappointed.

Chapter Eleven

“You’re on the front cover of the social section, stud. And your princess looks pretty hot. Nice job.” Martin’d apparently took Daniel’s advice to heart and got on board. His compliment buzzed through Daniel’s sleep-fogged brain.

“Why are we on the front cover of the social section?” Three nights in a row he’d taken her out for dinner—choosing private, secluded locations to let her relax and show off without having to work. Victor gave him some grief, since the point was to be seen, but he didn’t care. The acting coach arrived early every morning to begin a new round of lessons. Whether it was cosmetics, walking, talking or sitting, Alyx worked her sweet, curvy little ass off. Dinner was the only reward he could give her for the moment.

“Apparently you were seen dining together two nights in a row—and I’m quoting the article here— ‘...looks like self-made software magnate Daniel Voldakov is off the market, ladies. Too bad you didn’t grab the chance when you had it. Who is the mysterious beauty seen on Voldakov’s arm? Rumor has it that Voldakov’s royal taste is impeccable.’”

Sitting up, Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face and stared at the tousled blankets on the sofa. His back ached in a twinge of sympathy. She really needed to stop sleeping there. As hard as she worked during the day, it couldn’t be good for her.

“You still listening?” Martin verbally poked him over the phone.

“Yeah, sorry. I was on with Takahashi until four this morning, but it looks like this last round is doing exactly what they need.”

“Did he say yes to the contract?” Enthusiasm welled beneath the question.

“Not in so many words.” Shoving back the bedsheets, he swung out of bed and padded over to the sofa. He collected the pillow and blanket and added them to the disarray of the bed. Tonight, he had another long conference call and he would swap spots with her.

“Damn, I thought saving their bacon would give you that foothold.”

“I didn’t say he said no.” Daniel grinned, glad his best friend couldn’t see him. “I believe the phrase he used was that he would be honored to discuss the matter in person in Los Angeles in one week.”

“Hot damn.” The echo of Martin’s hand slapping against a desktop underscored the words. “The CEO wouldn’t meet you personally unless he was ready to sign the papers.”

“I’m aware.” Putting the phone on speaker, he set it to the side of the sink and turned on the water. Splashing his face, he then lathered shaving cream on his jaw. “I’ll talk to Lucy. Takahashi will be here in six days. I need to clear my schedule.”

“You know that might be a great time to introduce him to your princess.” Speculation ran rampant under the words. “Privately and then, of course, publicly.”

Daniel hesitated, razor poised. Teasing the press with sightings was one thing, but taking her out and actively putting her on display? Daniel wasn’t sure he was ready for that. The point was to lure the grand duke into conversation, into opening doors—but the Japanese contract could definitely bait the hook for the EU. “I don’t know,” he hedged and concentrated on gliding the razor over his cheeks, stripping off the overnight growth of stubble. Dark circles ringed his eyes. The lack of sleep was bound to catch up with him.

“You sleeping with her yet?”

He nicked himself and bit back a curse. “No.”

“You must be losing your touch. She cleans up real well, and talk about a sweet package.”

Rinsing the razor, Daniel glared at the phone. “Martin, stop looking at her package and get your mind back on business. Start a draft of the contract we want from Takahashi, but be ready to flex the details.”

“Already drafted.”

After dabbing the nick with a washcloth, he finished shaving. “Your confidence is showing.”

“Well, I knew you were a great bet when you wrote those algorithms in college and CalTech featured you at their software symposium.”

Washing the remnants of the lather off his face, Daniel shook his head. “I’ll see you later this afternoon.”

“Yup. See you.” Martin hung up and Daniel stared at himself in the mirror. If Takahashi signed the deal, Spherecast had its entry into the Japanese market. The loyalty and honor shown by their corporation required personal attention to detail, but the business software was just the first step.

Games would come next.

He ducked through a quick shower, toweled off and had just pulled on his pants when a knock preceded Alyx’s entry into the room. Dressed in jeans and a billowy shirt, with her hair hanging loosely, she looked like a bohemian escapee rather than a princess. But one sniff of the fresh coffee she held out to him and a thrill went through him. She’d brought
him
coffee.

“Good morning. You’re a little underdressed for Victor, aren’t you?” Not that Daniel minded, but the coach demanded a very specific look from the princess they were building. He cradled the cup and took the first welcome drink of the coffee. It was the first time she’d reciprocated his offers of coffee first thing in the morning, but with his late-night meeting schedule, she was often up long before he could deliver it.

“Victor can’t be here today. He called a little while ago to apologize.” Her nose wrinkled and she dropped her voice as though imitating the man. “We shall resume my education tomorrow.”

She had the day off.

He mentally reviewed his schedule. He could juggle a few items around and take it with her. “Want to do something fun?”

“I still have homework.”

He waved a hand. “What? Read more Russian history? It’s bloody and it’s tragic and best served with a lot of vodka. Trust me.” He’d heard it all from his immigrant grandfather. The stories didn’t get better with age—they just got sadder.

“Something like that. He wants me to memorize the family tree so I can quote who it is I’m supposed to be related to.”

Zeroing in on the “supposed to be,” Daniel frowned. “You
are
related to them, sweetheart.” He didn’t know where the endearment came from. It just slipped right off his tongue. Startling how natural that seemed.

“Okay, there’s related and then there’s
related.
” She shook her head and carried her coffee over to the sofa, curling up on one corner of it. The morning sunshine was a perfect complement to the red in her hair. She looked both delicate and delectable.

Have you slept with her yet?
Martin’s question rang through his mind and he pushed the lascivious thoughts that accompanied it away. She’d made the no-sex rule clear. He would respect it. Sitting on the corner of the bed, he studied her. “And the difference is?”

“If you met a man tomorrow whose father and your father were related, which would then make you two relatives—is he automatically family to you? Or just some guy on the street who happens to share some DNA strands?” She followed her question with a sip of coffee, her gaze somber and serious.

It was a fair question. He took a swallow of the hot brew. “That’s not an easy question to answer. Yes, we would be cousins of some sort. But he’s still a stranger.”

“Exactly, so all those people that I’m supposed to be related to. They’re names in a book—grainy pictures on a Web site. I don’t
know
them and they certainly don’t
know
me. It’s like studying for a history test. It should mean something, but it doesn’t.” Despite her easy manner, he heard the pensive note in her voice.

“Well, do any of them look like your father? Resemblance is a key to imprinting for some. My dad looked like his dad and I look like them. I see myself when I look at the family.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged and the sadness in her voice crept into her eyes. “I barely remember what my father looks like anymore. I try—but it’s like an out-of-focus image.”

His chest tightened. “You don’t have any pictures?”

Lips tight, she shook her head slowly. “No. I wasn’t allowed to take much with me when I went into the system. Only what was necessary and I could carry. There was a fire when I was twelve—or maybe it was thirteen? Mrs. Johnson. Sweet lady, but a terrible cook.” A bittersweet humor turned up the corners of her mouth. “She was trying to wrangle kids and get dinner ready. The stove top caught on fire and she tried to douse it with water, but it was a grease fire.”

Daniel winced. Pour water on a grease fire and it spreads faster. “Alyx, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Her little shrug belied the words. “My room was right over the top of the kitchen. When the fire went up the wall, I lost most of my stuff. I didn’t really care about the clothes, and I’ve never had very many things, but I’d left the photo album on the bed.”

She didn’t mention the beaten-up bear in her car, but he was glad that hadn’t been consumed in the fire. “They couldn’t salvage any?”

“Nope.” She lifted her coffee mug in rueful salute. “This is, of course, before the beauty of digital—the negatives were melted. I was upset, but in a month I was on to my next foster and there wasn’t much else I could do. My caseworker tried to track down some pictures for me, but then she was reassigned and my new caseworker was a harried, overworked guy with a lot of problems. Finding old pictures just didn’t seem to qualify. We were too busy finding me the right place to sleep.”

The foster system needed a lot of work. The staff was underpaid, the children numerous and real long-term homes an elusive myth for many of the kids. Knowing that intellectually and seeing the raw evidence in the pain she tried to hide were completely different. Sitting forward, elbows on his knees, he made a decision.

“Forget the homework for today. You were born in Woodland.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Yeah.”

“Your parents’ house was there. What happened to all the stuff in it? I mean they had to have furniture, knickknacks, possessions of some kind.”

“I don’t know. No one really said anything to me about the house or the stuff in it, just that I had to pack a bag.” She waved a hand, as though trying to clear a cobweb from the air in front of her. “And it doesn’t matter. It was years ago. What things they might have had were probably sold or dragged off.”

He didn’t miss the crease of tension knitting her brows together. “Well, we can find out. It’s a short flight to Sacramento. We rent a car and we go look.”

“We can’t just fly to Sacramento.” She lowered the coffee cup and gaped at him,

Decided, he stood and finished his own drink before setting the cup on the dresser. “Why not?”

“Because you have a job and I have homework to do.”

“No, I have a company, which means I make the rules, and I just decided to give myself the day off. You have homework to learn more about your family. I think finding out what happened to your house and your stuff qualifies.” He walked into the closet before she could respond then returned with a shirt. After tugging it on, he went looking for his phone.

“But what about your Japanese deal? I know you were up with him late last night.”

True, and he’d been exhausted when he first woke up. But this was a problem he could solve and if he couldn’t get her all the answers, she deserved to have someone looking for the pieces so she could put them back together. “My deal is fine. The software is debugged and working well within the parameters they require. They’re rebuilding their database. Let’s go rebuild yours—besides, I know this great Italian place. We can get Stromboli so good that your mouth will water and your eyes weep.”

He traded out the work slacks for a more comfortable pair of jeans and grabbed a well-worn pair of sneakers. Wallet in his back pocket, keys in the front. She was still sitting on the sofa when he sat down to pull on some socks.

“Move it, Alyx. Get some shoes. We can get breakfast on the way to the airport.” He speed-dialed Lucy and tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear. “Good morning and yes, I know it’s before office hours. I’ll put a fifty in the jar. Can you get me two tickets to Sacramento on the first available flight that leaves within—” he juggled to glance at his watch, “—the next ninety minutes? If there aren’t any, just charter me a plane for the day.”

“Of course, Daniel. Name of your passenger?”

“Alyx Dagmar.” Socks on, he pulled on a shoe and began lacing it up. He motioned with his eyes for Alyx to get moving and she finally scooted off the sofa. Her clothes and shoes were still in her own room.

He would have a word with Theresa about making some room in his closet. She shouldn’t have to dart back and forth between rooms.

“I’ve got you booked on a hopper that leaves in eighty-five minutes. I’ve done remote check-in and sent the boarding passes to your phone. Anything else?” Lucy’s dry voice dragged him back to the present.

“Yep, cancel my appointments for the day and let Martin know I’m going to be unreachable. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”

“Really?” The stutter in her voice was very un-Lucy.

“Is that so surprising?” He was the boss and he could take a day off if he wanted.

“Frankly, yes. Do you know when the last time was you took any time for yourself?” She sounded proud in her bemusement.

Second shoe tied, he stood and caught the phone before it fell. “Not off the top of my head, but we don’t have anything urgent enough to worry about a few hours off the clock.”

“No, Daniel. We don’t.” Lucy’s voice gentled. “But it’s been two years. Take the day, I’ll hold all calls. I think this new lady in your life is good for you.”

He paused at those words and cleared his throat. “Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No rush.” He swore he could hear the smile in her words. “Take the rest of the week.”

She hung up before he could say anything else and Daniel stared at the phone in his hand. Taking the rest of the week off didn’t sound like a bad idea. But first, Sacramento. He knew how to track down lost information in the software world. It was time to help Alyx put together the pieces of her history.