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He did not answer.
“There’s nothing to find. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Prince Armin has nothing to hide. He’s spotless.” She took a big breath in and let it out. “Artur, the middle brother, is the partier. Maybe the real dirt you should be digging into is about him.”
Papazyan turned over another one of her pages, then looked up at her, a gleam in his eye that made her stomach turn over. “I’ve heard more interesting rumors that came from Kamsbourg.”
Kamsbourg, where Armin had taken them for their holiday.
“What rumors?” Katie was a beat too late, and she knew it. But she kept her face neutral.
“About a prince.” Papazyan leaned back in his chair, and she gave an impatient huff. “And a nanny that he’s spending an inappropriate amount of time with.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Define an inappropriate amount of time.”
“Too much time.” He grinned at her, a sickening expression. “More time than a prince would need to spend, even to get closer to his own adoptive children.”
“I haven’t heard anything like that,” Katie said primly.
“You wouldn’t have, would you? Because people wouldn’t be repeating it to you.”
“Because I’m a nanny for the prince?”
“Because I think you’re the nanny for the prince. I’m almost certain.”
“You’re certainly wrong.” Her heartbeat fluttered in the side of her neck. He wasn’t wrong, and she hated to lie about it. But she had to protect Armin.
“I’ve seen this kind of thing before, Ms. Crestley.”
Katie’s stomach plummeted into her shoes. About Armin? She didn’t believe it. If Papazyan had anything, it would have been plastered all over the newspaper’s front page. But maybe there was more. Maybe he had a hidden card to play.
“Look,” he said, spreading his hands wide in front of him. “Either get me a story or become the story yourself. It’s that simple. I’d hate to burn a source, because it’s always better to have access to ten stories than to ruin someone for just one, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it.”
Katie stood up as straight as she could. “I don’t know why you’d go so far as to print blatant lies.”
Papazyan smirked at her as he reached for the papers on the table, folded them up, and put them into his pocket. “There are people in Prince Armin’s orbit who will be all too happy to confirm the rumors, for the right payout. Not to mention the anti-royalists who are hiding in his administration.” He leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. “So. What’ll it be?”
She couldn’t hurt Armin like this…especially now. But if the story of their affair came out, it would be disastrous for them both. The reputation of the royal family would take a major blow, and as for her…she’d never live it down. People would question her integrity for the rest of her life. Worse, she’d lose her job. And worst of all…she’d lose Armin and the girls.
“Just…hold on.” Katie bit her lip, looking away from the table. At the art on the walls. At the extra chairs stacked up in the back hallway. Anywhere but his horrible face. “Give me time to find something.” Time to maneuver. To figure a way out of this.
“You have one week to get the kind of story I want.”
“What kind of story is that?” Katie made a conscious effort to relax her knees so she didn’t faint.
“A scandal. Ask about the secret child. That’s the mother of all rumors, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
“Fine.” She clenched her teeth together. “I will. But what if it turns out to be a rumor and nothing more?”
“You’d better hope it’s not.”
He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and she turned on her heel and went.
At the door of the café, Katie swallowed hard and went out.
10
Alexei Mihailo sat up straight in his seat across from Armin, a confident smile on his face.
They were almost finished signing contracts for the orphanage project.
