Dropping The Crown

Chapter 26: Touch Of Class

Ricardo's POV

"You're late," Penelope greeted as I found my seat in my private aircraft.

"Nice to see you too," I responded and reached for the bottle of champagne. I was going to need this for the entire flight to New York, now that Penelope was accompanying me.

"You know, for someone who should be grateful, you're not acting like it one bit. Should I get my father on the phone to cancel this whole arrangement?" she asked with a warning expression.

"For what reason?" I asked her. I watched her retrieve her cellphone and started typing. Within seconds, it rang and she put it on speaker.

"Darling," I heard Marcus Vant's voice said.

"Dad. He's here now and we'll be leaving shortly," Penelope responded.

"Wonderful. I'll see you two soon."

She hung up with a smile and stared at me as I poured myself another drink.

"You need to be careful with how much you're consuming right now. As soon as we arrive, we'll be going to the hotel and we have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning. The last thing you want to have is a hangover."

"Thanks for the advice, but what do you mean by 'we have a meeting', you're not going to accompany me.."

Penelope handed me an envelope before I could have finish my sentence. I opened it and looked through the documents.

I chuckled and shook my head. This couldn't be happening. Marcus Vant wanted his daughter to be working along side me at my company.

I should have known Marcus wouldn't have stopped at an engagement. He had been slithering around what my father started for years, wanting to get his hands in it.

Without another word, I put the documents aside, took another drink and fastened my seatbelt as the pilot informed us we were ready for take-off.

~
New York City

Penelope and I checked into our hotel. We were escorted to the luxurious penthouse suite which made me feel right at home.

"It's perfect," Penelope said as she walked towards the pool.

"Yeah," I agreed and pictured my bedroom with an indoor pool similar to the one I was looking at.

The next thing I knew, I was falling into the pool, soaked wet and Penelope was laughing at me.

"You'll regret that," I said and crawled my way out.

We settled in. We also agreed to have separate bedrooms in the suite whilst we were there.

~

"There's something we ought to talk about," Penelope said. We sat down at a table, eating our room service meals.

"What's that?" I questioned.

"I know you and my father have some sort of agreement but I want you to know that I wouldn't be made a fool of."

I paused my eating. "What are you talking about?"

"What's going on with you and that... that maid?" she asked.

"What maid?"

"Adani.. or whatever her name is."

"There's nothing going on. She's my maid."

"I've been paying attention while I attended your party. You have a thing for her."

"Excuse me?"