“You were named after Prince Pierre I, who married Princess Charlotte and became the first prince during the Restoration. You were supposed to be the father of a new nation. You were supposed to be the first modern prince, the first sovereign of the twenty-first century, and you were supposed to restore and lead Monaco into the future.
“I was named after Count Maxence of Polignac, our great-great-grandfather. Count Maxence was never a Prince of Monaco but was the father of the man you were named after. I was never supposed to be the prince. Evenmy namereflected that.
“But here we are again, Pierre, and I’m cleaning up the mess you made and acting as your emissary and making sure your narcissism and your evil aren’t the only things left in the world when we’re gone.
“The only thing I have to thank you for is that if I hadn’t been running away from your thugsyet once againin Paris, I might have never met Dree. She’s a brilliant light in the universe, Pierre, and she can help me save Monaco from you and your influence.”
Maxence sighed and squatted down to place one hand on the cold marble under which his brother’s body lay.
“I miss you, Rat Bastard.”
Chapter Thirteen
Further Developments in the Case
Maxence
At his desk in his office, with bright sunlight streaming in the windows behind him, Maxence read the brief and then laid the paper precisely in the center of his desk.
When he looked up, the ceiling seemed a little lower, the office bookcases crouched inward, and the world seemed a little smaller.
Maxence grumbled, wadded the paper into a tight ball, and slammed it at the wastepaper basket over on the side of the room, but he missed. “Dammit.”
From her little secretary chair over on the other side of the desk, Dree popped her head up, and her eyes widened. “What’s up?”
“Matryona Sokolov has given the police enough information to issue arrest warrants for five of my other relatives on lesser charges, and she will testify in the case against Marie-Therese and Jules,” Maxence said.
“I’m sorry, Max,” Dree said.
A wry smile creased his face at her understanding the problem. “Matryona has turned over texts and other electronic communication showing that Marie-Therese planned the coup and Matryona funded it. It’s ridiculous that I held out any hope that Matryona duped Marie-Therese somehow.”
Dree sat down her tablet and walked around the desk to sit on his lap. She looped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t have many relatives left. If I need a kidney, I’m in trouble.”
“There’s always Alexandre.”
“He’s always off touring around the world. He’d never make it back in time.”
Dree snuggled into his lap like the wee little fluffball she was. “I would give you a kidney.”
He tucked her head under his chin and hugged her more tightly. “And they still haven’t found Kir Sokolov, so I’m keeping Rogue Security around for the time being.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mairearad
Dree
Moving Maxence’s charity headquarters from Rome to Monaco took five days.
On the first day, Max held a conference video chat with everyone over at the charity in Rome, which was only about fifteen people.
Dree sat in her usual secretary chair in Maxence’s office and took notes about it. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to document his associates’ utter shock and then jubilation about Maxence’s election as the Prince of Monaco, so she just wrote downgeneral positive response.
After he told them about the move, everyone decided right then and there that they wanted to move to Monaco.
A move and reorganization like that would’ve taken months in any medical setting, especially if government contracts were involved.
