On the second day, rental paperwork arrived for furnished office space in the old town of Monaco-Ville just across the cobblestone courtyard from the palace. The office would be a five-minute walk from where they were sitting, if someone dawdled and looked at the harbor of the Mediterranean Sea that the Grimaldi fortress had held for over a millennium.
On the fourth day, people emailed Maxence and announced they had arrived, the boxes had gotten there, and the employees would unpack and set up the office space the next day.
Dree and Maxence were in their bedroom in the evening, and he showed her the text.
She blinked at his phone. “Wow, you guys don’t fool around.”
Maxence grinned at her. “It takes me a long time to find the perfect people for my charity. When I find them, I hire them right away and pay them excellently, even though it’s a nonprofit. It’s cheaper to hire and keep the best staff than to train new, substandard employees constantly. The continuity of knowledge makes each one of them worth more than three new interns.”
“Yeah, but there wasn’t any red tape.”
Maxence lifted an eyebrow and grinned at her. “It’s good to be the king.”
When they had a few minutes between appointments the next day, Maxence and Dree walked across the cobbled courtyard outside the palace and over to the new office, past that bronze statue of the malicious Grimaldi.
That statue always seemed to be staring at Dree whenever she walked out of the palace. The wayMaliziawas drawing a knife from under his monk’s robes was truly creepy.
However, they weren’t going for a little stroll alone. Their quick walk turned into twelve people crossing the courtyard in formation.
As always, a contingent of Rogue Security mercenaries trotted alongside them, always on alert.
Casimir and Arthur accompanied them, too, because they didn’t have anything better to do. Arthur was stillinsistingthey were going to New Mexico with Dree and Maxence.
That was just sheer pig-headedness on their part, and on Arthur’s part especially. Something was going on with that guy. He just enjoyed being evil a little too much, especially if he had designed the tattoo of those shattered, shredded, fallen angel wings on Maxence’s back.
It was uncool that Arthur had done that.Friendsshouldn’t tattoo someone’s innermost fears about themselves on their skin.
The tourists perked up like hyenas catching the scent of a gazelle who’d strayed, and then they all raised their cameras and phones and started clicking, a pattering flurry that was audible even above the traffic grinding on the street below, the people chattering all around, and the waves of the Mediterranean crashing to shore just over the side of the cliff.
The attention was—disconcerting.
The office was on the third floor of what appeared to be excruciatingly tiny offices, which made sense in a country where real estate was sold or rented by the square inch. Maxence had leased a decently sized office that took up most of the top floor of the building. When they walked in, a dozen people were unpacking boxes and assembling computers on the desks.
One of the men carrying a large box near the back windows looked familiar.
Mediterranean sunlight flowed over his light blond hair that was scraped back from his face and tied in a one-inch ponytail sticking out from the back of his head, which was new, but his pale blue eyes and carved cheekbones were instantly recognizable.
Dree shouted, “Isaak!”
Isaak Yahontov, the biological engineer who’d been such an integral part of their mission to Nepal, tossed a box onto a desk before striding up to the front of the room with his arms spread. “Maxence! Sister Andrea Catherine! I didn’t know you were coming over.”
She smiled to cover up the awkwardness. “Well, I,um,I seem to be hanging out with Maxence quite a bit lately.”
Isaak cracked up. “Yeah, okay. I saw the videos of this guy whosaidhe wanted to be a priest proposing to you,twice.Congratulations to both of you.” He shook their hands and then leaned to the side, staring at Casimir and Arthur. “What the heck are you two old dogs doing here?”
“Happened to be in the neighborhood,” Arthur said.
“Saving Max’s ass,” Casimir replied. “Haven’t seen you in ages, Isaak. Are you working with them?” He gestured to the plaster walls, sunlight streaming onto the dark wooden floors, and the small office space in general.
“I’m setting up a new foundation based on the preemie pods Dree designed. We’re liaising with Max’s foundation here for logistical support. I’m an engineer, not an HR manager. I don’t want to set up and staff another charity. It’s easier to commandeer his people.”
Dree sidled up to Isaak. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about how the baby is doing? Chirasmi, I think they named her?”
Isaak’s wide smile was a relief. “She was doing fantastically as of a week ago. I inquired after her when I was down in Chandannath because my preemie pod charity is also working with the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, the medical school that’s right outside of town. The mother and the older sister were staying in a convent there to be with her. They said there’s a good chance they’re going to discharge Chirasmi within the next week, so she may already be home.”
Dree’s thighs wobbled, and she almost sank into a puddle right there on the floor. “I can’t believe it worked. I’m so glad she’s okay.”
Isaak snapped his fingers. “I have something for you. Wait right here. It’s in my backpack.” He walked to the back part of the office space again and began rummaging through a large backpack with a metal frame, the kind you take on month-long hiking trips.
