“He’s concerned after the assassination attempt in Sereno?”

“Yes, and understandably,” Levi said. “I’d like to know who is behind it and make sure we don’t have a threat heading our way.”

“I’ll start running some searches.”

“I appreciate it.” Levi leaned forward in his seat. “On to more important things. Have you found out what Patrice is making for dinner?”

“Not yet, but Brenna is supposed to text me when she finds out.”

“Turning the household help into spies?” Levi asked, amused.

“What can I say? You taught me well.”

* * *

Cassie reviewed her comparative analysis, not pleased with the results. Over the past few weeks, she had eliminated several of the companies who had vied for the rights to drill for oil and natural gas off the shore of Sereno, narrowing the contenders down to four. Of those four, one was a French company, one Greek, and the other two American.

If her father had his way, she would eliminate the American companies simply because of their country of origin. Though she didn’t disagree with her father that they needed to limit foreign influence in their domestic affairs, no matter which company they selected, they would be entrusting the health and safety of their citizens and the protection of their environment to foreigners. Cassie’s solution of maintaining strict government oversight wasn’t popular with the companies or with parliament, but she refused to have an oil spill off her shores.

An incident like America’s Deepwater Horizon could bankrupt her country overnight. She couldn’t risk any company working in Sereno taking the kind of shortcuts that had caused that spill. The citizens of Sereno would be wary enough of a foreign company being entrusted with so much of their livelihood.

She picked up the French proposal again and started reading. She was ten pages in when someone knocked on her door.

Cassie startled, the pages dropping from her hand as she pressed her hand to her heart. She took a moment to let her pulse steady before she stood, then she straightened the pages she had dropped and turned them facedown.

She opened the door to find Levi standing in the hall.

“Do you have a minute?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.” She stepped back and waved him inside. “I could use a break.”

Levi glanced at the paperwork spread over the coffee and side tables, her laptop in the center of the mess. “Wind farms or oil rigs?”

“Oil rigs.”

“You’ve got a huge task on your hands, deciding how to best balance energy needs and profit with environment.”

“I’ve been feeling the weight of that decision today.” She reclaimed her seat and motioned for him to sit. “What brings you by? It’s not dinnertime yet. Is it?”

“Not for another hour.” Levi sat across from her. “I wanted to know, what are the differences between you and King Alejandro on foreign policy?” Levi asked.

“You’re talking about my father. Our views are very much the same.”