“And absolute power corrupts absolutely. And I am absolutely corruptible.” His voice had lowered.
“Is that what you’re afraid of? Becoming corrupted?”
Maxence straightened a few papers and pens on his desk so that they were parallel to the edges. “I’m already corrupted. That is painfully clear from our time in Paris and Nepal.”
“I don’t think so.” Dree was staring him straight in the eyes, her gaze level and serious.
Maxence looked away. “It’s kind of you to say that, but the problem is that there is going to be a fight for the throne like there has not been for a generation. The world is more brutal now. The usual rules of civility and tradition no longer apply. Politicking for votes will no longer be subtle promises of privilege. It’s going to become threats, blackmail, and violence.”
“They don’t scare me,” she said.
“I don’t want you here. I can’t have anyone around who might be used as leverage. My job now is to make sure that Monaco is in the hands of someone responsible and moral.”
“So,notlike your Uncle Jules.”
“Precisely.”
“I can’t believe that jolly little elf we saw is the racist, manipulative guy you described.”
“Psychopaths are good at hiding what they are. Their personalities are nothing but a singularity of rage, and Jules isn’t the only psychopath in line for the throne.”
“Do you think Prince Jules is evil?” she asked, still examining him like a specimen under a microscope that the nurse was identifying.
Max flipped his fingers at the ceiling, indicating the impossibility of an answer. “Ah, the problem of evil.”
“You have a Ph.D. in theology, in theodicy, the study of evil,” she said.“Youshould be able to figure out whether he’s evil or not.”
Maxence could have discoursed for hours about the definition of evil and sin and the problem of the existence of either of them. His doctoral thesis had run over four hundred pages.
Instead, Maxence said, “Jules Grimaldi is a selfish asshole and will always lust after more and more money and power. Being the Prince of Monaco and controlling forty thousand people and over a billion euros in wealth would satisfy him for a week. Then, it would not fill the gaping hole of fury in his heart, and he would wantmore.He would seek out and sign treaties with other countries that would give him more power and money with no regard for how it affected Monaco’s citizens. Indeed, he wouldenjoymaking them more miserable, more helpless, with less money and power, more like medieval serfs than citizens, because it would demonstrate his power over them. Stripping people of their citizenship, humiliating them, even allowing his own people to become sick and die wouldexcitehim. He literally gets high from it. It proves to him that he has the power of life and death over those people, that he can crush them, and no one can stop him. He would enjoy destroying Monacojust because he could do it.Yes, he’sevil.He’s evil to his very core.”
When he’d finished ranting, Dree was still watching him. “And that’s why you came back.”
He nodded. “I can’t leave the citizens of my country to that.”
Dree’s head tilted, and she crossed her arms.“Yourcountry?”
“I’m a citizen of Monaco. This is my country, not in the sense of ownership but as a stakeholder.”
Dree nodded. “I see.”
“I’m asking you to leave Monaco. I want you to go anyplace else.”
Her blue-eyed gaze didn’t waver. “No.”
“I could have you thrown out of the country. Quentin Sault will put you on a helicopter to Nice, and from there, on a plane for Paris.” He flicked one finger back to where Sault stood at parade rest at the rear of his office, his customary position. “I’ll dump money into your bank accounts to make sure that you can get somewhere else.” He smiled. “I still have your routing and account numbers.”
“Don’t. I want to stay here with you. You’ve convinced me this is important.”
Maxence let himself roll his eyes. “There are plenty of important things to do in the world. I can call Father Moses and have you assigned to another charitable tour, a less hectic one this time, at a Catholic hospital anywhere in the world. You’ll be safe from those drug dealers. You can live out your life doing good in the world.”
“And yet I could never go home.”
“Staying in Monaco won’t change that.”
“I’m not sure how to deal with the pickle my ex-boyfriend has gotten me into. At some point, I’ll figure it out. Maybe I should go to the FBI. Maybe I should call theNew York Times.But I need time and space to figure it out.”
Maxence could see where she was headed and knew he should stop her.
