“I’ve got nothing but time,” I said, grabbing the hotel phone. “And I can order us room service. Have you eaten?”
She offered a sheepish grin. “Does coffee count?”
“No,” I laughed, dialing. I rattled off a ridiculously large breakfast order, and just for kicks, I charged it to Matteo’s room. Petty? Maybe. Satisfying? Absolutely.
Once I hung up, I turned back to her. “So. Family stuff?”
Anna exhaled, rubbing her temples. “My family…they’re sort of media mogul people.”
“Which means?”
“They created, own, and run the parent company that controls a good chunk of the marketing and media industry. Globally.”
My eyes widened. “Oh,damn.”
“Yeah,” she said flatly.
“So…someone blackmailing you or something?”
Anna gave me a look. “Does my grandfather count?”
I blinked. “Um…the one who…?”
“Died a few months ago? Yes,” she said, voice dry. “He’s blackmailing me from the grave.”
“That’s—” I blinked again. “A lot.”
She let out a short laugh. “Welcome to my life.”
“So what kind of blackmail are we talking about here?”
She inhaled deeply, bracing. “If I don’t get married by the end of the year, I forfeit my entire inheritance.”
I nearly choked. “I’m sorry—what kind ofbackwardsnonsense is that? Is that even legal?”
“It is,” she said grimly. “Had my lawyer comb through everything. No loopholes.”
I stared at her, heart dropping. “And the inheritance?”
“It was for my daughter,” Anna said softly. “All of it. Her future. School. College. Everything.”
“Oh, Anna…”
She shrugged, but her voice wavered. “So yeah. It’s just been…a lot.”
I reached over and grabbed her hand. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with all of this.”
Anna exhaled shakily and leaned into my shoulder.
“Don’t worry,” she muttered. “I’ll come up with something. I always do.”
By the time we made it to the tarmac, the sun was low on the horizon casting long golden shadows across the private runway. Alexander’s jet gleamed ahead of us, sleek and impossibly cool, like it knew it was out of everyone’s league. Anna strode ahead like she owned the damn plane, her heels clicking purposefully against the pavement. I lagged behind, Monty trotting beside me in his little travel vest, tail wagging like he didn’t have a care in the world. Lucky bastard.
“Hold up, Princess,” Matteo said behind me, drawing out the nickname just to see if he could get a rise out of me.
“Don’t call me that,” I muttered, not turning around.
“But it fits so well.” He grinned, catching up and walking backwards in front of me. “A little dramatic, high-maintenance, thinks she’s above everyone else…”
