“Why are you upset? Who better to know what you are capable of than a lover?”
“I just…I don’t want people thinking that I’m not qualified.” Nikolett took a breath to calm down. “I’m more than qualified. Before I became admiral, I was a?—”
“You are, you are.” Victoire waved a hand negligently through the air. “You’ve shown that by how well Hungary recovered from decades of neglect and corruption.”
“Thank you.”
“And since it distresses you, I assure you it was only my own theory that perhaps you and Eric knew one another before you became admiral.” Victoire arched a brow. “I was only invited to join because my husband Matthias and I fell in love. He was a legacy and suggested me to the vice admiral.”
That shocked Nikolett. “But he knew he couldn’t marry you. Even if you did become a member, there was no guarantee you’d be placed in a trinity.”
“No, there wasn’t. But he hoped, and because he knew me, loved me, he knew I was exactly the person France needed.” Victoire raised one hand, palm up, fingers spread to say “and now I’m the admiral.”
“He knew you’d make a good admiral?”
“No, he knew he loved me.”
“You can’t recruit someone because you love them or want to marry them.” She hid the wince of guilt that she’d been thinking about doing exactly that with Gus. She’d poured over the file Zoran sent, trying to justify bringing him on as a member. She had to put the file away after only an hour, due to other priorities. Nothing about him either disqualified him as a membership candidate, or was so outstanding that he was undeniably an asset they needed.
Victoire bringing it up felt oddly like fate.
The other admiral laughed softly. “Darling, why not?”
Nikolett opened and closed her mouth. “That’s just… The society is designed to support and protect the people the world needs for peace and advancement.”
“Yes. And if that’s true, shouldn’t it mean that anyone our members fall in love with is likely also the kind of person we want?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Ah, but I said in love. Not in lust.”
“What makes it okay for one member to not only pick their own trinity but recruit people specifically to marry them?” She needed Victoire to be wrong, because if she was right, there was no reason for her not to recruit Gus and then marry him herself.
“What makes a cold, clinical analysis of a person’s academic or job accomplishments a more valid measure for recruiting than the opinion of an existing member?”
“There is a phrase in Hungarian.A szerelem a bölcset is vakká teszi.It means love makes even the wise blind.”
“A bit cynical, but not wrong.” Victoire cocked her head. “Are you in love with the fleet admiral?”
“No.” The word hurt to say, like pulling off a bandage too soon and ripping open part of the wound under neither.
Liar.
No, it was the truth.
“Not anymore,” she conceded. “I was. But not because I knew him before I was admiral.”
“And have you slept with him?”
That was too personal. Nikolett raised a brow and silently took a sip of wine, refusing to answer.
“It would be a shame to love him and not enjoy his touch before you marry someone else.”
“We’re back to my marriage?”
“We are. You need a trinity, darling, and not just because you must marry at some point.”
“I’m actively assessing possible spouses.”
