“How does this look?”
He hadn’t heard the door behind him open, an unusual occurrence that clued him into how deep his thoughts had been. But when he turned he found himself pausing, amending his earlier assessment. This woman not only had brains and guts, she had beauty, too.
A strapless, ruby-red sundress cupped and molded curves he’d never guessed lay hidden beneath the librarian’s plain garb. She’d let her hair fall loose, undone from the pins holding it back earlier, creating a waterfall of darkness against her pale shoulders. A waterfall a man could ache to run his fingers through.
Any other man except him. He had a job to do. End of story.
Yet this double-punch-to-the-solar-plexus kind of beauty wasn’t going to make his job one iota easier.
“Well?” She fanned the skirt away from her. Its color only served to highlight the combination of sultry beauty and innocence that looked nothing like Elena Rostov. Nothing at all.
“Do I look enough like her to pass?”
“You’ll do.” He heard the dryness of his response, hoped he alone understood its curtness before he saw the quick flash of emotion in her eyes as she lowered her gaze.
“There’s a blue dress that might work better—”
“I said you’ll do.”
He was acting like an idiot, a rude idiot, but he was finding it hard to recover his sense of equilibrium. Damn hard.
“Sit down.” He waited until she complied, her shoulders a little more slumped than even seconds ago, and called himself a fool. She needed his support, not the sharp edge of a temper.
“The dress looks very nice on you.”
As far as compliments went the words didn’t seem like a lot. But he noted that her hands stopped pleating the skirt between her fingers and stilled. Her eyebrows arched, as if he’d taken her by surprise. A clue that he’d come across like a real jerk before if it took so little to reassure her.
“Tell me about Elena.” She spoke first, saving him from wondering where to start. “Won’t my speaking English be a problem?”
“No, English is widely spoken throughout Vendari. That and the fact the king insists on bringing Vendari into the new century. He requires English to be the primary language spoken. Having been raised in a boarding school in Switzerland, Elena’s two most fluent languages are English and French.”
“But the general population? What if someone asks me something in their native language? Won’t they expect me to respond?”
“No. It’s widely known that Elena does not speak any of the three local dialects. She has, on numerous occasions, let it be known that she believes clinging to the old customs is barbaric. English is the only language she will respond to. She follows the king’s lead on this issue.”
“Well, good. At least the part about the language. But it sounds like she didn’t grow up in Vendari.”
“No, she didn’t. She left the country before her fifth birthday, coming back only for short visits.”
“How old is she?”
“She turned twenty-three two months ago.”
“So she’s a year younger than I am.”
“Yes.”
“And how does she feel about this marriage?” He thought he detected a note of compassion in her voice. “Surely she can’t know the king well if she has hardly been in Vendari?”
“If you’re asking if this is a love match, it isn’t.”
“Oh.” Did she have to sound wistful?
“Ms. Rostov knows exactly what she’s getting out of the deal, so don’t waste any pity there.”
Her eyebrows arched again, making him feel like someone who routinely stole candy from children.
“We don’t have much time and a lot to cover,” he said.
“Of course.” Damn, if she didn’t sound like a prissy librarian catching him chewing gum behind the stacks. He resisted the urge to squirm. Barely.
“We’ll be landing at Dubruchek’s only airport where one of the king’s limos will pick us up.”
“Will the king be there?”
“No. He’s involved in a series of high-level meetings that will occupy most of his time for the next couple of days.”
He could have sworn she looked relieved at the news.
“Will I have to…to interact with him much?”
“You are his fiancée.”
“I’m a hostage pretending that I’m a political pawn entering a loveless marriage,” she threw back, blowing a stream of air that made the midnight-black strands of hair dance around her face. “I just want to know how far I’m going to have to take this farce.”
“No, you will not be expected to sleep with the king if that is what you’re asking, Ms. Richards.” Now it was his turn to sound prissy and her look told him as much.
She released the breath she’d obviously been holding.
“We don’t know the principals behind the last attempt on Ms. Rostov’s life and, until we do, we have to assume any number of individuals close to the king may be involved.”
“But you do have some suspects?”
Too many to count, he silently acknowledged, including some bad customers he’d tangled with in the past. But that was his problem, not hers.
“There are suspects.” Instead of replying with specifics he nodded his head, scanning a sheaf of papers he had extracted from a file. “You’ll want to be on your guard. At all times. Trust no one. No one. Am I clear?”
When she didn’t answer immediately he raised his head, catching the speculative look in her dark eyes.
“Is there a problem?”
She shrugged and looked away. “I’m assuming that includes trusting you.”
“Especially me.”
He let his words hover between them, laser-sharp and lethal. There was no point in pretending otherwise. There was too much at risk for both of them.
He watched her swallow, hard, before she pasted a shaky smile on her lips and leaned forward. “I’ll keep your advice uppermost in mind.”
He could like her at that moment. Admit, if only to himself, he admired the flashes of fire she probably wasn’t even aware she possessed. But there was no room for such thoughts or feelings.
Instead he glanced at the papers and continued as if the last seconds hadn’t occurred. “Elena Rostov is the only daughter of Pavlov Rostov. Her mother died when she was still a baby and she’s been raised almost exclusively in Switzerland.”
“Will her family know I’m impersonating her?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Surely you can’t believe her family wants her killed?”
“We can’t take that chance. It’s a known fact that Pavlov Rostov would gain a lot of sympathy if his daughter is killed.”
“But—”
He rose to his feet. “Have no doubt about the matter, Ms. Richards. We have taken care to protect you from coming too close to the Rostov family. As for others, make no mistake, there are a lot of individuals who would benefit by Ms. Rostov’s death.”