Page 104 of Royal Icing

He nodded, and she walked over to the couch where her mom was seated. Emma had asked her to put earbuds in so she couldn’t hear them recording. There was no need to make her live through it again.

Her mom pulled the earbuds out. “All finished?”

“Is your passport still valid?” Emma asked in a low voice.

Lisa’s eyes sparkled. “Why yes, it is.”

“How do you feel about a fiscally irresponsible trip?”

Lisa let out a whoop. “I’ll start packing now.”

Emma returned to the kitchen. What was she doing? Dipping into her savings for the new business to go to Europe was foolish. Disastrous. Especially when she didn’t have a steady income anymore.

When a floorboard creaked under her weight, Leo turned the full force of his gaze on her. Her heart staggered, and it nearly stole the breath from her lungs.

He had given her so much. The food in her fridge, hours of help in the kitchen at the castle. He had, in all likelihood, saved her life—again—only yesterday.

Leo needed her help. And she would give it to him, no matter the cost.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

LEO

“Fuck.”Leo tossed his phone into the passenger seat of his truck. So much for the spirit of giving. Cytotech Corp had rejected his proposal barely an hour after he’d left. The petty part of him wanted to use his connections to make sure the royal family never did business with them again. But it wasn’t their fault he’d waited until December to make a pitch.

Two meetings, two rejections. Greenfuture Industries sat across the parking lot from him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember the words from Emma’s pep talk earlier. Lola had sent an email with the top three donors in Lynoria, and he had blatantly used his royal connections to secure meetings with all three in a single day. This was the final one, and the business with the best track record for philanthropy.

He grabbed his laptop bag and started for the building. Emma and Lisa were arriving the following morning, and he was determined to have good news to share.

The receptionist led him into an intimidating room full of executives.

“Your Highness. We’re honored to have you here in our humble office,” a man in a suit said with a small bow. “I’m Robert.”

Humble was not the right word. Greenfuture Industries had made a name for itself in clean energy and had branches all over Europe and North America. Everything about their office was modern, sleek, and seemingly recyclable.

“There’s no need for formalities,” Leo said with a wave. “It’s just Leo. And thank you for seeing me. I know it’s not an ideal time.”

He handed over a box of pastries. They weren’t Emma’s, but they were better than showing up empty-handed.

“Thank you,” Robert said as he took the box.

The other people in the room introduced themselves. The conference room was decorated for Christmas. Garland and bright red bows were everywhere, and multicolored lights were strung on a tree in the corner. He could only assume the tree was fake.

“We’re interested to hear what you have to say. I have to be honest though, most of our funds earmarked for philanthropy have already been utilized this year.”

Leo’s stomach plummeted. “Well, I respect your time, so I’ll make this as quick as possible.”

He hooked his laptop up to the projector and went through the spiel as quickly as he could.

The last part of the presentation was Emma’s video. He had seen it multiple times now, and it hadn’t gotten any easier to watch.

When the video ended, there was silence in the conference room. This investor was his last hope. If they said no, they would be set back for another year while he applied for grants, and by then, the ski resort would already be built.

Was it enough?

They asked a few questions—when would the project start, was there an environmental impact assessment scheduled, would Leo be open to including a sponsored corner of the library where children could learn about clean energy.

“Honestly, if I had all the money in the world, I’d remodel the old library into a children’s museum and devote a whole floor to clean energy,” Leo said. “But I have to build the new one first.”