He just looked at her for a long moment, waiting for the punch line. But it didn’t come. “You are the most aggressive, opinionated, in-your-face person I’ve ever known. You’re telling me you suffer from stage fright?”
She nodded.
“Even having the speech in front of you to read won’t help?”
“I tried that once. I lost my place and got so nervous I dropped the notes all over the floor. Everyone laughed.”
“And you didn’t beat them up for that?”
“As many as I could find during the following week, but it didn’t help right then.”
He hadn’t expected her to answer the question and almost laughed at the reply. But he could see she was really dreading this.
“And what will I do if they ask questions after?” she asked. “About things I don’t know?”
“All right, all right. Listen, I have an idea. Can you give me an hour? Just lie down, rest, relax, paint your toenails or something.”
She shot him a glare. He ran a hand over her hair and then wondered why he’d done it. “I’ll fix this. I promise.”
She swallowed hard, nodding. “An hour,” she said. “But make some of those bulldogs out there keep everyone away. If I have some VIP visitor and you’re not here with me, I’ll probably throw up on their three-hundred-dollar shoes.”
He smiled and closed his eyes. “Ahh, it’s nice to be needed.”
She chucked him in the shoulder.
Sighing, he got to his feet. “You ready to be the princess again?”
“Yeah, so long as you have a shot of insulin nearby.”
He cranked off the faucets, turned off the fans. The room went silent. Mel sighed and started to get up. Alex gripped her hands and gave a tug. She seemed tired. Not physically, though he imagined that running around in designer wear and heels was no picnic for her, either. But this was an emotional tiredness, and it was way too soon for her to be feeling it.
He opened the door, led her back into the bedroom, to the bed. She sat down on its edge, kicked off the shoes and flopped backward like a ragdoll.
“I’ll see you in an hour,” he said, in character.
“I can hardly wait.” She clapped a hand over her mouth, but Alex only smiled and shook his head. He doubted anyone but him picked up the sarcasm in her tone. Then he left.
She dreamed a version of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, with her as the lead. Wearing a gown, a tiara and a pair of delicate glass slippers, she kicked her step-sisters’ asses, tossed her stepmother into the moat, and told the prince to quit acting like such a gentleman and just kiss her already.
He obliged, of course. His mouth on hers was so warm and so real. His arms around her, familiar and protective. When he lifted his head, she was in rags, covered in soot, barefoot. He looked at her and said, “Oh, this will never do.”
“But all the rest was make-believe,” she argued. “This is who I really am. Not a princess. Just an ordinary girl.”
“Ordinary girls can’t marry princes,” he told her.
Anger suffused her entire body. She was so hot with it that she woke up, sat up in the bed and found herself glaring at the man who was standing just inside the door.
“What?” Alex asked, searching her face.
She blinked, realizing that the prince in the dream had been Alex. Or Thomas. Or some sick blend of the two. Sighing, she shook her head. “Nothing. Have you been able to solve the problem we discussed?”
“Of course I did. I promised you I would, didn’t I?” He was using his accent. It rubbed her nerve endings in a good way. A dangerous way.
He came to the bed, sat on its edge beside her and opened his hand. In his palm was a pair of earrings. Twin ice-blue sapphires the size of Florida cockroaches. “For you, my precious flower.” He leaned closer, close enough so that his breath fanned her neck, and clipped an earring on her ear. His lips touched her sensitive skin there as he whispered, “It’s a wireless communication device. I’ll be able to speak to you, and you’ll hear me. I can talk you through the speech, feed you lines, whatever you need me to do.”
She shivered, because his mouth so close to her ear was doing things to her. Nice things. Things she knew better than to indulge. When he pulled away, she wanted more, so she leaned up to his ear and gave like for like. She let her lips brush him as she whispered, “Can you hear me, as well as speak to me?”
He gripped her shoulders, set her back just slightly from him and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a matching pendant on a golden chain, hooked it around her neck and nodded at her.
So the pendant was a microphone and the earring an earpiece. And she was turned on by Mr. GQ. Gosh, so many revelations all at once.
“Thank you, my love. You’re so good to me.”
“Nothing is too good for you, darling,” he replied. “It’s nearly time for that luncheon. Shall I send your maids up?”
“Yes, I…I suppose.”
He frowned, probably at her seeming reluctance. “We’ll have plenty of time to be alone together tonight, Katerina. I know it’s difficult to wait, but we have promises to keep.”
She narrowed her eyes on him and mouthed, “In your dreams.”
He shrugged, and his eyes were grinning with mischief, even though his mouth remained firm. Then he turned and left her there.
She knew what he was doing. Whenever she felt panic coming on, he would say something to either piss her off or make her laugh, or both. He was good at it, which wasn’t surprising.
What was surprising was that he always seemed to know when she felt panic coming on. He read her face, or…or something.
It was odd. She didn’t think she liked it.
Chapter 4
T he banquet hall was huge, with every seat and table filled. At the front stood a podium with a microphone, and behind that, a wall. Behind the wall was another section, kind of a backstage area, where Mel paced nervously. She was supposed to have arrived in time to enjoy luncheon with the ladies of the Freedom Alliance. Instead, here she was with Alex, peering out at them and getting more nervous by the minute. She’d pleaded a queasy stomach to one of the organizers and asked if she could just wait backstage until it was time to go on. It hadn’t even been a lie.
“Have you even looked at the speech?” Alex asked.
“No. Every time I try, I feel like throwing up.” She shrugged. “I thought it would be best to just read it cold.”
Alex stepped closer, pressed the heel of his hand to her back, right in between her shoulder blades. She pushed back against it, and he rubbed small circles there, easing her somewhat.
“Feels good,” she muttered, closing her eyes. “So just what is this group about, anyway? Freedom Alliance? What do they do?”
“Politicians’ wives with time on their hands, for the most part. But they do some good work. Their last major fund-raiser generated about a hundred grand for Afghan women.”
Mel opened her eyes, lifted her brows. “Yeah, but how much of it got to the women?”
“I think they do pretty well in that regard. Very low overhead. All volunteers.”
She nodded. “So I’m guessing they didn’t just send a check.”
“Supplies. Food, fabric, sewing machines, clothes, staples like that.”
“I hope they included a nice big baseball bat for each woman, just in case the men over there get out of line again.”
His hand stilled, which made her look up over her shoulder at him. She caught him smiling at her from behind his beard. It warmed her insides in a way it shouldn’t have done. She shrugged and looked away, then went stiff when she realized the meal was over and the emcee was taking her place at the podium.
“I’m going to be in that small room, right back there,” Alex said, pointing until she followed his finger to the little door a few yards away. “You’ll be fine. I’ll never be out of touch. If you get stuck, just pause, take a sip of water to stall for time, and I’ll whisper in your ear. I have a copy of
the speech, so I can cue you if you lose your place. Nothing can go wrong.”
She nodded stiffly, scared to death. “Do I look all right?”
He looked her up and down. “Beyond all right. You look beautiful. Like a princess should look.”
“But not like a Brand girl from Oklahoma should look,” she whispered. She fingered the tailored dress. It was powder blue, with shoes to match. Her hair had been sprayed to within an inch of its life, her nails and makeup done to perfection. “I feel like a department-store mannequin.”
“But you might be saving your country.”
She rolled her eyes. “Has anyone had any luck finding the other two?”
“Not yet. It’s only been a day. Be patient.”
“Patient. They’re probably having sex in a hot tub in Aspen or something, while I sweat it out here playing princess games. If I ever see them, don’t think I’m not going to give them hell for this.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
He was still smiling. She was amusing him, she thought. “Bernie says there’s a ball tomorrow night in our honor. A ball.”
“Bernie?”
“Bernadette,” she finally clarified.
He searched her face for a long moment, then it split in a smile.
She smiled back. She couldn’t help it. When the man smiled, he was freaking devastating.
“That’s better,” he told her. “Try to keep smiling out there. Just pause every once in a while, look out at the crowd and flash that killer smile. You’ll have them in the palm of your hand.”
Beyond the wall, a woman’s voice was rattling off a long and honor-filled introduction. Someone came through the small open door through which Mel had been peeking now and then, and motioned for her to come forward.
Alex clasped her shoulder. “You’ll be wonderful out there. And I’ll be with you.” He patted his pocket, where she knew he had a small headset tucked away. Then he headed toward the room in the back.
Mel heard Katerina Belisle Barde’s name spoken into the microphone, heard a groundswell of applause, stiffened her spine and put a picture of bald eagles swooping over American flags in her mind, with fireworks going off in the background. She tried to think of some patriotic tune as she marched out onto the stage, but her mind would only repeat instructions on how to walk properly, stand properly, hold her head properly, interspersed with quips about smiling and making eye contact.
She wished she had at least glanced at the speech. And what if the equipment failed? What if she couldn’t hear Alex? She started breathing a little faster as she walked to the podium, forcing a fake smile. Cupping one hand over the microphone, she whispered from behind clenched teeth, “Are you there? Say something, dammit.”
He didn’t say anything. He gave a soft wolf whistle. Soft laughter bubbled up from her chest, and she lowered her head to hide it.
“That’s better,” the voice in her ear said. “Now hold up a hand to stop the applause and say thank you for that warm welcome and how glad you are to be here.”
She held up her hand, and the applause slowly died. “Thank you so much. I cannot tell you how happy I am to be here. You’ve all been so very kind to my husband and me. It’s truly an honor to be here.”
“Now just start reading,” Alex instructed.
She glanced down at her notes, using a forefinger to mark the line. “With help from its allies, my country has come a long, long way since the dictator Curnyn Shaw was ousted from power. My father and his cabinet are well aware that we still have a long way to go. But things are very promising. Our economy is finally showing signs of stability and even growth. Our schools are clean and safe, and our health-care systems have been vastly improved over the past year. I can report to you now, today, that all of Tantilla’s school-age children have been properly immunized and seen by a doctor or nurse practitioner for a routine physical examination. Those found to have health problems are being treated. As you know, the children are one of my main areas of concern in my nation, and I am so pleased to be able to report this progress to you.”
When she glanced down at the page, her finger was still way up, even though she knew she had read all the way down. She tapped her pendant, took a sip of water, and beamed a smile at the crowd.
“Third line from the bottom,” Alex whispered into her ear. “As for the women…”
She found the spot easily. “As for the women in my country,” Mel read, finding herself interested to read on, “change, I fear, comes a bit more slowly in this area. People are very set in their ways in regard to gender roles.” Frowning, she flipped the page, even as she heard Alex mutter something that sounded like, “Oh, hell.”
She pretended to sip water. “What was that?” she muttered.
“Nothing, just keep reading. You are Katerina. Don’t forget that. Now read.”
She lowered the glass, smiled, looked at the page. “Women cannot simply be granted, all at once, rights they’ve never before had. We must prepare them first to properly understand how to handle those rights, and, likewise, we must prepare the men for the repercussions of this change. Within five years we hope to grant all women the right to have a driver’s license and to own property. The vote will take a bit longer, as you know, because this…this is complete bull.”
A gasp went up from the crowd.
She looked up sharply.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alex demanded in her ear. “Mel, don’t—”
She yanked off the earring. “I am the daughter of the president of Tantilla. Apparently, in my country, that means that I can speak only my father’s thoughts, because women don’t seem to be perceived as capable of having thoughts and minds of their own. Yet, here I am, in a room surrounded by strong, powerful, independent American women. Can you imagine how your government would react to my nation if it were denying these same basic human rights to people based on their race or ethnicity? Or to the very old? Or to one religious group? But it’s only the women being denied their rights. Does that make it acceptable? No! I think not!”
“Mel, for the love of God!” Alex said from the doorway in the wall, but she could barely hear him for the rousing applause filling the room.
When it quieted, she spoke again. “Personally, I feel the United States government should refuse all aid to Tantilla until and unless it presents the U.S. with a workable, fair and fast plan to see to it that women stop being treated as property. No exceptions. No delays. No giving the men time to get used to the idea. Have you ever heard anything more farfetched than that pile of—”
Alex was beside her now, his hand closing on her shoulder in a firm grip. “Get back in character,” he whispered in her ear. “And for God’s sake, wrap it up.”
She nodded. “If the women of Tantilla had wanted to live under the yoke of discrimination, then my country might as well have left Curnyn in power. But we didn’t. Tantilla is free!” she said, pounding her fist on the podium. “Tantilla is a democracy!” She pounded it again. “Now the world must demand that it behave like one!”
The roomful of women burst into wild applause so loud the room vibrated with it. They rose to their feet as one, and suddenly cameras were flashing. Mel came out of the moment briefly to look at herself. That earring was clasped in her fist as she shook it in the air.
Alex had his arm around her shoulders in a way that must have looked protective to outsiders. The women were chanting her name now, “Ka-te-ri-NA, Ka-te-ri-NA!” She saw the sea of applauding, chanting women even as Alex drew her away from the podium and through the door into the back. He was talking to his wrist as he hurried her across the wide dim room. Before she even realized it, he had hustled her out the back door, just as the limo pulled to a jerky stop. He opened the door, eased her into the back seat, climbed in beside her and slammed the door. “Go!” They were speeding away when the mob of reporters came surging around the building toward them.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit, woman.”
“What?” she ask
ed, though she knew perfectly well what.
“Do you have any idea what you have done?”
“It was bull, Alex. You guys had me reading utter bull.”
“Maybe to you. But it was exactly what Katerina Barde planned to say at that luncheon.”
“Then Katerina Barde doesn’t have the ovaries to say what she really thinks. No intelligent woman could swallow that crap. Especially not one who practically grew up in the States.”
He shook his head. From the front seat, Wes asked, “What happened? What did she do?”
“She started a second revolution in the country she’s supposed to be protecting.”
“Oh,” Wes said. “Is that all?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“You’re overreacting, Alex. Wes, all I did was say it was high time the women in this Tantilla place were treated with some dignity. Do you know they aren’t allowed to drive or own property—or vote? Here I was reading this horsecrap that said we hoped that in five years we’d let them have licenses. Give ’em freaking tanks, instead. Then see who tells ’em they can’t vote.”
Wes slapped his knee and laughed out loud.
“Don’t encourage her,” Alex said. He turned to Mel. “You need to be clear on this. All those thoughts and convictions may be perfectly valid, but they are not Katerina’s thoughts and convictions. They’re yours. If you can’t keep the two separate, you’re going to blow this thing.”
“Hell, I probably did them a favor.”
He sighed. “If the wrong people pick up on the fact that you are not who you claim to be, you could get Katerina and Thomas killed. And that’s no favor.”
She was going to shoot back a scathing reply, but she couldn’t come up with one. Instead she sighed, lowering her head. “You really think I might have given us away?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“I’m sorry, Alex. I don’t want to get anyone hurt, much less killed. I…look, I’ll try harder, okay?”
Secrets and Lies Page 5