“You’ll have to ask him.”
“You haven’t talked to him?”
“Not about this.”
Interesting.“If your father were thinking about rolling the dice, wouldn’t he ask you for your vote?”
She paused. “He’s my father. He would assume he has it.”
“Does he?”
Her sigh this time had a hiss to it, like exasperation. “If I wantnotto be disinherited, I suppose he could assume that. But if there weresomeonewith a better claim,someonewho’d made sure he had the votes before the meeting, the new prince could make sure my father can’t cut me out of the royal income.”
He nodded. “Absolute monarchy has its privileges.”
“I like my lifestyle, Max.”
“Understood.”
“You know, there are a lot of whispers about this.”
“That’s not shocking.”
She said, “So, a lot of people are in hushed meetings with other nobles who have a vote, not just Alex.”
Ah, here came the good stuff. “Oh?”
“There are whispers, especially ifyououtright refuse to be nominated, that it could become a free-for-all, and the order of precedence will mean nothing. That’s crazy, Max. What if someone who’s number eightor eighteensteps forward for election, and they get it? Monaco could end up with crazy-communism tax brackets or the freaking Inquisition. You know Pope Celestine the Sixth had weird ideas about a new Holy Roman Empire.”
“He’s the pope emeritus now, for that and other reasons.”
“Yeah, but a fanatic from either end of the spectrum on the throne could be the end of Monaco.”
Maxence nodded. “And if it’s a battle royale for the throne, we could end up with an extreme candidate, just because moderates may fragment the vote.”
“I’m not sayingyouhave to be the prince, Max, but if it’s going to be a free-for-all, it has to beourfree-for-all. We need to make sure that the right person ends up on the throne.”
“Is your father meeting with people to drum up votes?”
“Max, he’s been negotiating votes since Uncle Rainier had his stroke.”
Shock smacked him like a glass shattering in his hand. “He was going to fightPierrefor it?”
“Pierre was an asshole to a lot of people, and the scandals with Flicka were gaining traction. It wouldn’t have been hard.”
“And then?”
“And then you ran away a decade ago to be a frickin’priest,Max, and Alexandre is a psycho serial killer. Everyone knew Christine wouldn’t want it, and she’s a girl, so,that.My dad would have beennext.”
Max’s cousin Alexandre wasn’t a serial killer nor psycho, but rumors can be impossible to fight. “We’ll have to consider that. Thank you for the information, Marie-Therese.”
They hung up.
If the meetings of the Council of Nobles turned into a rugby scrum, anything could happen. Jules had positioned himself as the conservative alternative months ago. He was leagues ahead in the race for the crown.
Max glanced down the aisle of the plane.
Toward the rear, near the galley, Dree was curled up in one of the oversized seats and covered by a plush blanket that matched the caramel leather upholstery. A mug stood on the small table beside her, and she stared out the porthole window.
