Royal Secrets (19 page)

Remembering that Alora had an accounting background, he stared down at the reports again and considered. Perhaps he could borrow her from Janessa for a day or two. Then if she wasn’t able to find any evidence of foul play either, he would recommend that his father bring in another auditing team.

Pushing back from his desk, he ignored the little tug of anticipation as he walked across the hall, rapping on the closed door twice before pushing it open.

Alora looked up at him apprehensively and immediately stood up. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she curtsied. “Your Highness.”

Stefano stopped midstep and studied her demure expression. “Is something wrong?”

“That depends.” Her lips pressed together as though she were fighting to keep her emotions in check. Then she took a deep breath and asked, “Did you come in here to fire me?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Where would you get an idea like that?”

“Your uncle.”

“Elam?” Stefano let out an exasperated sigh. “He was here?”

She nodded, her eyes dark and wary. “He was angry that I wouldn’t let him into Janessa’s office.”

“Why did he want to go in there?”

“He said he came to get some of his things.”

“That’s odd. He went through his old office right before we started the renovations.”

“He didn’t mention that to me.”

“Well, rest assured, I am not here to fire you. My uncle has no authority here.” Stefano saw the relief on Alora’s face and fought to stem his disgust with his uncle. “I’m here to ask for your help if Janessa can spare you for a day or two. I have some financial records I would like you to help me analyze.”

Dutifully, Alora looked down at the calendar on her desk before nodding. “It looks like Janessa is working on the base for the rest of the week. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I helped you. When did you want to start?”

“There’s no time like the present.”

She looked down at the package on her desk and then stood. “Let me just lock up, and then I’ll come right over.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Stefano started to leave, and then something Alora had said echoed in his mind. “When my uncle came in, did he tell you what he was looking for?”

“No. He was quite upset that I wouldn’t let him into Janessa’s office,” she admitted. “I told him that everything had been cleared out of there, but he was insistent that he be able to see for himself.”

“I apologize for my uncle’s behavior. Quite frankly, I’m surprised he took no for an answer.”

“I don’t think he was going to, but Levi came in before he could push past me.”

“I’ll talk to Martino to make sure he doesn’t show up unannounced again.”

Alora’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll go get the financial reports organized.” Stefano crossed back into his office and picked up his phone. A moment later his father’s voice came on the line. “Father, I think we may have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

Stefano related what Alora had told him and mentioned his uncle’s previous visit. “Do you have any idea what he might be looking for?”

King Eduard’s tone was serious. “I don’t. Did you find anything in those financial reports?”

“Not so far. Everything is well documented, but we both know the fees are more than they should have been, at least for security. It’s possible that the private security company simply overbilled us, and it wasn’t caught,” Stefano suggested. “I’ve asked Alora to help me go through the records again in case I missed something.”

Eduard’s tone became cautionary. “I trust you will keep in mind how sensitive this information is.”

Stefano’s shoulders stiffened, but his voice remained calm. “Of course I will.”

Chapter 24

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Janessa said from the doorway of Stefano’s inner office.

“Not at all.” Stefano stood up and motioned to Alora, who was sitting beside him at the worktable in the corner of the room. “We’ve been staring at these ledgers all day, and I think we’re both ready for a break.”

“I’m sure if there are any problems in the books, Alora will find them. She’s a whiz when it comes to finances.”

Alora shook her head. “I don’t know about that.”

“She’s always been modest too.” Janessa motioned to the hall. “Stefano, Garrett and I need to speak to you for a minute.”

“I’ll be right back,” Stefano told Alora and then followed Janessa to his brother’s office. As soon as they were inside, he asked, “What’s going on?”

“You’re going to want to sit down for this.” Garrett settled back into his chair as soon as Janessa sat beside him. “First of all, Ambrose has disappeared.”

“What do you mean
disappeared
?” Stefano looked at Janessa. “I thought the CIA was tailing him.”

“They were.” Janessa looked at him apologetically. “Ambrose rented a boat earlier today. When the boat returned, he wasn’t on it.”

“What?”

“We think he spotted one of his tails,” she told him. “The agents did a thorough search of Medina and weren’t able to reacquire him. Our best guess is that he has left town, but there’s no way to be sure if he is getting ready to strike or if he has left the country.”

“Great,” Stefano muttered.

“There’s one more thing.” Janessa passed a copy of a simple floor plan of the chateau to him.

Stefano noticed the various marks on the page and shook his head in confusion. “What am I looking at?”

“All of these red dots indicate where listening devices were found here in the chateau,” Janessa told him. “According to the report that arrived in this morning’s pouch from the CIA, this technology requires some kind of transmitter to send the signals.”

“We already knew that.”

“Yes, but now we also know the range of how close the transmitter needs to be to the listening devices,” Garrett interjected. He tapped a finger on the floor plan where several rooms and sections of the hallway were shaded. “This is the only area in the chateau where the transmitter could have been hidden based on the range compared to the location of the bugs.”

Stefano studied the four rooms that were shaded and looked up at his brother. “Am I reading this right? These two are Janessa’s and Alora’s offices, and the other two are the security offices?”

“That’s right.” Garrett nodded. “Our best guess is that it was concealed somewhere in one of the hallway walls, probably during the renovations we did before the gala a few years ago.”

Stefano’s eyes narrowed. “Who was in charge of those renovations?”

“I’m not sure. Mother would probably know. Why?”

“Uncle Elam came by right before we started the renovations on his old office. Then when I came back to check on the workmen, there was a hole in the wall that I didn’t remember seeing before.”

Janessa looked from Stefano to Garrett and then back again. “Surely you don’t think your uncle could have been involved in spying on your family.”

“I wouldn’t think so, but something’s going on with him. He showed up and tried to barge into your office again this morning.” The muscle in Stefano’s jaw twitched when he thought of the look on Alora’s face earlier. “He even threatened to have Alora fired when she wouldn’t let him in.”

“What?”

“She was pretty shaken up, but apparently Levi showed up before anything came of it,” Stefano told them. “Uncle Elam has always been arrogant, but it never ceases to amaze me how rude he can be.”

Janessa tapped a finger on the file in front of her. “The CIA report I read on him didn’t show anything unexpected. I can ask the Agency to help me do some more digging, but I would need your father’s permission first.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Garrett offered. “I should be able to get an answer from him before our guests start arriving for dinner tonight.”

Stefano’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on tonight?”

“The dinner party for the Italian ambassador. Don’t you remember?”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t originally supposed to be here this week.”

“Well, I suggest you dig out your tux because there’s no way you’re getting out of it.”

“Great,” Stefano muttered, oddly disappointed.

“What’s the problem? You always like these things. Dinner, conversation, and the chance to sweep some girl off her feet,” Garrett teased.

An image of Alora flashed in his mind. He ignored his brother and spoke to Janessa instead. “Do you think you might have something suitable that Alora could borrow for tonight?”

“She wasn’t planning on going. She said she was just going to have dinner in her room with the boys.”

Stefano considered the idea of Alora up in her rooms while he was stuck downstairs entertaining a bunch of strangers. “I’ll see if I can change her mind.” Stefano stood up and asked Janessa, “Would you mind making sure she has a gown for tonight? If you want, have something sent in from town. Also, could you let Brenna know we’ll need her to babysit this evening?”

Janessa nodded, but Stefano didn’t miss the speculation in her eyes.

“I just think it’s good for her to spend some time socializing with adults. She’s obviously made her children her whole world over the past few years.”

Janessa nodded slowly. “Of course.”

* * *

Alora shifted another receipt to the pile beside her and looked up at Stefano. “We’re going to need the detailed bank records if we want to see where all of this money really went.”

“The statements are around here somewhere.” Stefano searched through a stack of papers and then lifted the bank printouts. “Here they are.”

“Those are just summary sheets. I want to see the actual codes used to transfer the money so we can see how it was drawn and where it ended up,” Alora explained. “If you can authorize me to see everything on the accounts, I can go into the bank and start researching it first thing tomorrow.”

“Is there any way you can look at it from here?”

“Sure, with a computer and the right kind of encryption keys, but we would need the proper equipment and the access codes.”

“I’ll ask Martino and Levi if they can get those for you.” Stefano glanced at his watch, adding casually, “I almost forgot to tell you that I made arrangements for you to join us tonight for dinner with the Italian ambassador. I thought you should meet some of the leaders from your country.”

She looked up at him, not certain why the arrogance of his tone set her on edge. When Janessa had mentioned the dinner earlier, hadn’t she secretly wanted Stefano to ask her to join them? Hadn’t she been disappointed that he hadn’t asked her to accompany him? Of course, he wasn’t asking now. He was ordering.

Logically she knew she shouldn’t let such a minor distinction feed into the fact that she didn’t like being told what to do, but annoyance overshadowed logic. That annoyance quickly turned to indignation when he turned his attention back to the work in front of him, clearly not willing to consider that she might not wish to go with him. Her voice was even when she spoke, her eyes dark. “You made arrangements?”

He shifted the paperwork in front of him back into their appropriate folders. His eyes were carefully guarded when he nodded and said, “Brenna will make sure the children’s needs are met. I’ll come by at seven to escort you downstairs.”

Rarely did she let her temper loose. She knew too well how quickly she could lose control, and she wasn’t going to let that happen now. Clamping down on her emotions, she managed to keep her voice calm. “Thank you for the offer, but I think I’ll pass.”

“Are you sure?” He looked up at her now. “I thought you would be more comfortable going with me so you wouldn’t have to arrive by yourself.”

Her stomach knotted as she realized she was letting pride get in the way of what she really wanted. Her voice was cool when she said, “You misunderstand, Your Highness. I’m not going at all.”

His eyebrows lifted, and he apparently recognized the temper in her eyes. “I think it’s time you call me by my name, especially if you’re about to argue with me.”

“I’m not arguing. I’m simply pointing out that a gentleman doesn’t order a woman to dinner. He asks.” She pushed back from the table and stood. “I appreciate that Brenna has tended to my children while I’ve been working, but I prefer when possible to take care of them myself. I didn’t have them just so I could pass them off to someone else any time it was convenient for me or for you.”

Stefano stood as well. “What’s the difference between tonight and when I took you to the exhibit?”

“Besides the fact that you didn’t even ask me about tonight?”

He moved closer until they were standing only a breath apart. His eyes were dark and avid, but his voice remained calm. “Yes, besides that.”

Something streaked through her, an awakening of feelings she had long since buried. Had she really thought she was ready to date again, that she might be ready to love again? She knew now that she was wrong. She wasn’t ready to have these feelings, especially not for this man who was staring down at her, a man whose world she barely understood.

She took a deep breath and let it out in a frustrated sigh. Suddenly uncertain, she fell back on her standard response. “My children are still adjusting to our new schedule. They need time to spend with me, time to tell me about their day, time that they know they can turn to me for anything they need.”

“Alora, our guests aren’t expected to arrive until seven thirty. It’s only four now. You would have plenty of time to spend with them this evening before the dinner. You could even put them to bed before Brenna takes over. I doubt we’ll dine before eight.”

“It’s not that easy.” She knew what he said was logical, but still she dug her heels in and refused to budge. “I don’t expect you to understand. You’re not a parent.”

Stefano’s jaw tightened, and he took a sudden step back. “No, you’re right. I’m not a parent.”

Alora blinked at the sudden transformation as Stefano’s eyes went flat and emotionless. He crossed to the door and opened it, his voice taking on a formal tone. “It seems we are done here for the day. I will make arrangements with the bank to get you the information you need.”

She stared at him as her anger faded and was replaced by confusion and a strange sense of loss. Without a word, she left the room and refused to look back.