Page 32 of Prince

Jules settled back in his chair and steepled his fingers on his round little belly. “The mature generation will not vote for him. And if she refuses to come back, the votes will fall to me.”

Maxence nodded, keeping his eyes steadily on Jules and refusing to give away even a flicker of emotion. “That is the traditional line of succession.”

“And then I’ll be sitting behind that desk, Prince Maxence.”

Max nodded. “At that time, you would be sitting behind this desk.”

Jules giggled, either at the thought of being the sovereign prince or sheer glee at the idea he would be. “And yet we are not scheduling a Council meeting.”

“As I am the next in the line of succession and I am now back in Monaco, the Council meeting is at my discretion. Pierre delayed it for a month. I will wait to discuss the line of succession with Duke Alexandre and Lady Christine.”

“I see,stalling.That’s an excellent tactic. I’ve used it often myself.”

Maxence allowed one shoulder to flinch in a shrug and one side of his mouth to lift, acknowledging it without admitting it.

“Are you going to take months to do this?”

“As long as it takes to come to a satisfactory resolution.”

“The Sea Change Gala is coming up soon.”

Maxence brushed the air. “It’s weeks away.”

“Who will be the host, Prince Maxence?”

“I thought we were doing away with the formality, Prince Jules.”

“Hosting the Sea Change Gala will signal to the rest of the world who we believe will be the next sovereign, if someone hasn’t been elected by then. Do you plan to host?”

“I hope to be on my way back to Kinshasa by then.”

Jules nodded, seeming to ruminate on this information. “If there is no election and coronation by then, I would be pleased to host with my daughter, Marie-Therese.”

And thus, he would place his finger on the scales of public and private perception. “Does Marie-Therese know you’ve made this offer on her behalf?”

He scrunched up his knobby little nose. “She believes herself to be an ‘influencer’ on whatever social media platform is currentlyen vogue.She would surely be pleased to publicly host the Sea Change Gala or any formal event that requires an official royal patron.”

“I’ll be sure to let her know you volunteered her services.”

Jules laughed uproariously, slapping his knees with mirth. “I would hope so, because I’m not sure she’s speaking to me these days.”

Interesting.

After further verbal dueling, Maxence was able to get his uncle Jules out of his office and carry on with his day.

Later that afternoon, Maxence sent Dree Clark on her way, watching her hourglass figure sway as she walked down the hallway. Her black high heels teetered on the carpet, making her hips swing.

Oh, the things he was going to do to that woman.

Some of them might end their relationship.

He turned back to his office.

Several of the other nobles had requested meetings that afternoon, all of whom were wheedling for positions and contracts. Max needed to state, firmly andrepeatedly,that he had no interest in the crown and would take Holy Orders as soon as possible.

The soonerthatwas widely accepted, the better.

As Maxence turned on his heel, he caught sight of a man walking down the corridor.