Prince: Royal Romantic Suspense (Billionaires in Disguise: Maxence Book 5) Blair Babylon (ebook reader screen txt) 📖

“I, too, would surely be tagged with a harmless, embarrassing nickname if I were to turn to a life of crime. ‘Marie-Therese’ is the most ridiculous, froufrou name ever to be named. I’d probably get something like Marie-Therese ‘Vision Board’ Grimaldi. Or “Marie-Therese ‘The Pekingese.’ Oh, God, that rhymes. That’s definitely what it would be.”

Dree laughed. “Do you make vision boards?”

“I do a vision board for my Instagram account and a different one just for me. Can you imagine someone like myself, a wealthy person who has everything, on her hands and knees on the floor, cutting and pasting together a vision board? Isn’t that ridiculous?”

“No, I think it’s great! Money isn’t everything. I grew up believing that money isn’t anything, quite honestly. What’s on your vision boards?”

Marie-Therese glanced at her and blinked her long eyelash extensions at Dree as they walked. “Love.”

Dree squeezed her notepad to her chest, and her shoulders scrunched up around her ears like she was hugging Marie-Therese, except that they were still walking through the palace. “Oh, that’s so sweet! And of course, you do. And you will. I think everyone who’s open to love will find it. Sometimes it’s the most obvious person, the guy who’s always been there for you. And sometimes,” Dree inhaled and gazed ahead as she strolled, taking in the immaculate, silver-veined marble floor that, every few yards, was inset with the red and white diamond pattern herald that also marked Maxence’s arm, “sometimes the most unlikely person in the world swoops in, and you’re just blown away by who he is.”

Marie-Therese raised her eyebrows, a kind smile hovering below the dreamy look in her dark eyes. “Did Maxence blow you away?”

Dree shook her head, shaking off the silliness. “He plucked me out of an awful situation when I was scared about what would happen to me, and he’s giving me the time and money to get on my feet. I mean, he’s—you know. He wants to be a priest. He might be a priest this time next month, and I don’t sleep with priests.”

Except she did.

Except that they were in Monaco, and Max had said that his vows sort of didn’t count in Monaco.

It was complicated.

“So, you’re not—” Marie-Therese asked.

“No, no, not at all.” Oh hell yes, and in about ten minutes.

“I’m surprised you can resist our Maxsy. Most women can’t.”

Dree wrinkled her nose in disgust at herself. “I’m not going to throw myself at him. Right now, he’s a prince. And jeez, I’m just a little farm girl from New Mexico. And again, he wants to be a priest. Sometimes, even though you might care about someone, it doesn’t matter. He’s not the right man for me.”

“He rescued you.” Marie-Therese nodded, her lips pursed with private knowledge. “That can influence feelings.”

“You know, you’re right,” Dree said. “It’s probably just gratitude.”

Her dark eyes turned impish. “But you’re going to his apartment in the middle of the night.”

Dree clutched the blank pad of paper more tightly against her boobs, barely contained in the black dress. “He wanted to look over some notes. I’m employed here. When he says he wants notes, I bring him the notes.”

“All right, I’ll stop. I would love to see Maxsy happy, though. He’s had some rough times.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Oh?”

“When he was missing? And the boat?”

Marie-Therese looked at the floor, and she nodded. “He doesn’t tell many people about that.”

Dree shrugged. “There wasn’t any TV or internet in Nepal. We had nothing to do but talk for a month.”

Marie-Therese cracked up. “I suppose so. And speaking of the internet, I haven’t posted on Instagram for three hours.”

“Oh, yeesh. It takes over your life, huh?”

“They rule with an iron algorithm.” Marie-Therese had a tiny purse swinging from one wrist, and she pried a cell phone out and handed it to Dree, glancing around at the sconces illuminating the hallway. “Can you stand over there? Frame me from the knees up, taking up about two-thirds of the screen.”

Dree dropped her notepad on a hallway table they were passing, making sure it landed face-down, and stood on her toes to raise the lens well above Marie-Therese’s eye level.

Marie-Therese curled herself in a perfect laughing pose, half-crouched with one shoulder forward and her dark eyes, just like Max’s, snapping with wild spirit. When Dree tapped the screen, clicks ruffled out of the phone.

“Perfect!” Marie-Therese said. When Dree was handing her the camera, Marie-Therese grabbed Dree around her shoulders. “Selfie!”

Dree had been having a friendly conversation so she was already smiling, and she had the good sense to mug for the camera as Marie-Therese’s arm shot out to the side and held up the phone. It erupted in another flurry of clicks.

Marie-Therese released Dree and looked at the screen. “Oh, these are good! Do you want one?”

“Sure!” Dree took her phone out of her little satchel-bag and swiped to turn on the Bluetooth. They held their phones close together, and Marie-Therese swiped several images upward on her phone.

A funny flash of yellow light illuminated Dree’s screen, and the pictures appeared.

In the pictures, Marie-Therese was glamorously beautiful, and Dree’s skin looked alabaster-flawless. Her eyes were bright blue, and her smile was perfectly balanced. “Oh, these are cute. You take really good selfies.”

“My filter app does a few things automatically. Because Instagram, you know?”

“Oh, right. But thanks!”

“No problem.”

Dree grabbed her notepad, and they started walking again. They turned a corner and entered an even more magnificent corridor. Crystal chandeliers blazed sparkling light off the marble floors and mirrored walls.

Marie-Therese said, “Here’s Maxsy’s apartment. Don’t let him keep you up too late.”

Dree laughed at her. “I’m just an admin with a sad, hopeless crush on her boss, but thanks.”

Marie-Therese grinned and walked back the way they’d come, the haze of beads on her dress swaying on her slim figure.

Dree stood at the door, her arms crossed over the notebook pressed against her chest. The double door was black-stained wood, and the knobs and fixtures were silver. When she knocked softly, the solid wood