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I swung at her, narrowly missing her face. She wasn’t in any real danger, of course. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Sam. I was pulling my punches. A real swing could land a fully grown man in the hospital with an unfortunate concussion. Charlie could attest to that, having been on the receiving end during a sparring session a few years ago, which he never lets me forget about.
“Biggest threats to the principal?” Charlie continued.
Sam paused to catch her breath. I didn’t push her like I did with the guys. “Um… Shoot. I know this.” She stretched her arms above her head, her shirt riding up slightly to expose her belly.
I swallowed. Her skin looked so nice and soft and tantalizing.
Charlie smiled, always patient. “Need a hint?”
“No, no. I’ve got this.” Sam screwed her eyes shut, her cute little nose crinkling as well. “The duchess is trying to get into clean energy. She’s been a very vocal activist for environmental issues, so her biggest threats could be competitors in the energy sector. There may also be resistance from Coselian abolitionists who no longer want the monarchy. Paparazzi could be another obstacle for us.”
Charlie clicked the power button on his iPad and shut it off. “Excellent. You’re up to speed.”
Sam glanced up at me. “What do you think? Ten out of ten yet?”
I chuckled internally, almost allowing myself to grin. “Your performance is acceptable.”
She laughed, the sound bright and bubbly like champagne. “I was actually hoping for a gold star, but I guess I’ll take it.”
“Don’t mind him,” Charlie said. “He’s always been like this, even when we were in the SEALs together.”
“He mentioned you all served together.”
“That we did.” There was a hint of pride in his voice.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have been like,” she said softly, her admiration clear. “It must have been really hard.”
“Sometimes it was, but the five of us made a great team. There was nothing we couldn’t handle; we always had each other’s backs.”
“The five of us?” she echoed.
I cleared my throat, shooting Charlie a warning glance. This was one subject area where I was never willing to tread. The guys all knew that the topic of my brother was off limits. It was too hard to talk about him.
Too painful.
Thankfully, Adam burst in with that classic goofy grin of his and captured Sam’s attention. Her eyes sparkled when she saw him, her joy very much contagious.
“How’s the training going?” he asked, sidling up to her with ease. “Have you managed to kick his ass yet?”
“Believe me, I’m working on it.” She winked at him.
“Great. I’ve got excellent news for you. The Duchess has requested to meet you.”
“Oh? Well, I’m honored.”
“We’ll be going to dinner tonight. Kris is going to be escorting Duchess Ariana, so he’ll meet us atPer Se.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that place, like… really expensive?”
Adam laughed. “Yes, it is. We’ll be dining with royalty, so we can’t accept anything less.”
I observed her as she shifted slightly, her gaze cast to the floor as she wrung her fingers together. “It’ll be charged to the company card,” I told her. “A business expense. Right, Charlie?”
He nodded. “Yep. It’ll come right out of our discretionary budget. It comes with the territory when all our clients are celebrities. They expect a certain experience. That includes, on occasion, what we’d consider networking dinners.”
Sam’s shoulders relaxed, her easy smile returning to her sweet face. “I see. What time is dinner?”
“Our reservation is at 1900 hours,” Adam confirmed.
