“Was that too personal? I didn’t mean to be.”
“No,” he said on a slight laugh. “It was a trick question. Until an hour ago, I was employed by Vorstoben, but also as his assistant, so my answer stands.”
“Did they fire you because of this?” She used the tip of her knife to motion between herself and the closed door, appalled to have any part in his losing his job. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He waved off her concern. “They offered me a raise to stay and assist Herr Braun in Axel’s absence. I’m privy to the status of all the ongoing projects and have a good rapport with contacts inside and outside the company. I prefer to work for Axel, so I declined.”
“Oh.” She considered that level of loyalty as she chewed a bite of cheese-stuffed crepe. “I’m not asking what they offered you, but I’m curious how much a good salary for an EA at a company like Vorstoben is?”
“In US dollars?” He looked upward as he performed mental math. “They offered me around one hundred fifty?”
“Thousand?” She dropped her fork so it clattered against her plate, nearly choking on her bite of food. She forced herself to swallow, then gasped, “And you turned that down?”
He brought her a glass of water, biting back a grin of amusement.
“Axel and I have a standing agreement that he will better any offer I receive, including and especially from Vorstoben. It was in my best interest to hear them out, so I did. When they’d gone as high as they were likely to go, I texted him the amount. He asked me to pick up breakfast on my way over.”
“Oh my God. I mean, good for you, but oh my God.” She cleared her throat with another sip of water, boggled. All of the money Axel had thrown at her and her family now seemed like pocket change. Apparently, it was. For him.
She was starting to think she’d sold her own loyalty at far too low a rate.
“The truth is, I’d work for him for a tenth of that,” Heskel confided. “He helped my husband and me out of a very tight spot a few years ago.”
“You’re married? You seem young for that.”
“So do you,” he said with an ironic tilt of his mouth. “Klaus and I weren’t married yet, but we were living together when he was in a terrible car crash.”
“How awful. He survived, though?”
“Yes. And he’s mostly recovered, but he still has some pain if he sits or stands too long. That’s prevented him from taking full-time work again. He’s an industrial engineer. Axel had just recruited him to Vorstoben when it happened. It was a good job, so we thought it was the right time to buy a home together. Nothing extravagant, but when he couldn’t work, things became difficult.”
“Don’t you have social programs here?”
“We do. And they gave him a package that covered lost wages, but it was a reduced rate. Even so, I was only working part-time around finishing my degree. I had to quit both to care for Klaus. We were looking at having to sell our new home and move to something smaller. It was a lot to deal with, but Axel heard what had happened and checked in with me. He wound up covering the shortfall on our mortgage.” Heskel shook his head and looked away, dampness in his eyes. “I asked him how I could repay him. He said to work for him when I was ready. I’m resourceful and have good communication skills, but my background is marketing in the food industry.” He shrugged, seeming perplexed. “He said he wanted someone he could trust. He can. With your marriage, I extend my loyalty to you.” He turned a magnanimous palm toward her.
“Unless my needs conflict with his,” she surmised with a tense smile.
“How do you foresee that happening?” He canted his head in curiosity.
“Well, you haven’t given me back my passport. I take that to mean you won’t help me leave if I decide I want to go home.”
“I always hold the travel documents when I fly with him.” He moved to a leather messenger bag and brought her passport to her. “I’m sorry if you felt I was restricting you. That’s not the case at all.” He set the passport on the table.
She checked that it was hers, feeling churlish when she saw that it was.
“If you ask me to book your flight or make arrangements for you,” Heskel continued, “I will feel compelled to tell him what I’m doing. But you have your phone and credit cards. You can do that yourself if you want to. He expects confidentiality from me, not blind obedience or illegal confinement.”
“I sound paranoid, don’t I? My ex gaslit me constantly. And everything you just told me seems so…” She couldn’t call it out of character for Axel since she didn’t really know him. All he’d shown her was a ruthless will to get Otto’s company, no matter what it cost in dollars to him or heartache to her. “My impression is that he’s very practical and single-minded and only helps people if it serves his own agenda.”
He couldn’t have known whether he was buying Heskel’s loyalty, though. That suggested a decency she hadn’t credited him with.
“He’s an engineer,” Heskel said with amused affection. “I say that because I’m married to one. Their priorities are efficiency and finding a way to get the result they want in a consistent way. But I don’t want to gossip about him. I want to carry out the tasks he has assigned to me. He asked me to support you in looking for a dance academy. A friend of a friend owns a studio here. He studied at the Royal Ballet in London. May I set up a meeting for you? I’m sure he could give you some guidance on how best to pursue your goals.”
Her jaw almost unhinged and fell onto the floor. “When did Axel ask you to do that?”
“During one of our meetings in Chicago. It took me some time to get to it, what with the wedding and everything else.”
“I’m not complaining.” They’d only landed a few hours ago. Her suspicious mind had leaped to thinking Axel was trying to make up with her after their argument, but this wasn’t a bribe or an apology. He was only holding up his end of the deal they’d struck. That was a little deflating, but also reminded her that if she was going to stay in this marriage, she might as well get whatshehad been promised. “I would love to meet your friend. Thank you.”
