And there was Max. She’d get to spend time with Max. Nature and money were cool, but the prospect of getting to hang out with Max for an extended period was too good to pass up. “Would you think I was a terrible person if I took you up on this offer?”

“Yes,” he said, totally deadpan. But then he added, “No. You walk to work every day, so that’s as good as buying a carbon offset.

“Maybe I can buy a carbon offset!” She wondered how much it would cost to offset a private flight to Eldovia.

“You can’t, but I will.”

She was flooded with affection for her friend. “Max, you’re all right.”

“I’ll try not to let it go to my head.”

“Thank you,” she said, turning serious.

“You’re welcome,” he said, doing the same. “Send me your preferred travel dates—but please come for a nice long stretch if you can; I promise you’ll have lots of time to work—and I’ll take care of it.”

Chapter Twelve

“Oh!” Max was startled as he exited his cottage and almost bumped into Sebastien, who was standing there in the November sunshine with his knuckles raised, poised to knock. “Hello.”

“I was hoping to speak to you.”

“I can’t right now. I’m off to meet Daniela Martinez’s plane. She’s coming for the wedding. She’s Leo’s friend,” he added, though he had no idea why, as characterizing Dani as “Leo’s friend” didn’t begin to cover it.

“I know who she is,” Seb said.

Of course. Everyone knew all the details about the royal wedding. The wedding that was supposed to be Max’s. And chief among those details were the salacious ones—the fact that not only was the groom a nobody from the Bronx, his only attendant was also going to be a nobody from the Bronx. A female nobody. Mother had been talking about it nonstop.

“Can’t you just send a car?” Seb asked.

Max studied his brother’s face. His forehead was deeply furrowed. “Is everything all right? Has something gone wrong in Innsbruck?”

“No, no. Everything’s fine. I was merely going to . . . Never mind. We can talk later.”

“You want to ride to the airfield with me?” The plane was landing on a private airfield an hour’s drive from the estate.

“May I?”

“Of course. I’ll appreciate the company.” Not really, because Max was a selfish bastard and he wanted Dani to himself. But he and Dani had three weeks to talk. Three glorious weeks. He had convinced her to make such a long visit by assuring her she could spend the first half of it working on the estate. Then they’d go to the palace for the wedding, then to Innsbruck to see the mine and have a holiday.