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“Warbucks is mine,” she told him softly, determined. “You took Orion from me, you won’t take this from me, John. I won’t allow it.”
“I don’t want to take it from you, Bailey. I want to share it with you.”
She almost laughed at the thought. “Share it with me? Like you shared with me in Atlanta?” she asked mockingly. “Really, John, what in the hell makes you think I believe you’d want to share anything with me? And even if you did, what about that snazzy little group you work with? I think I counted, what, four, five of you? How’s the Israeli doing, by the way?”
The Israeli. Her cousin. The bastard. David Abijah had been one of her best friends as well as her cousin. Until his death. Until he’d died and been reborn and hadn’t even had the courtesy to let the last of his family know he was still alive.
John’s expression never changed. He was good, damned good. His pupils didn’t even dilate.
“There’s only me,” he finally stated. “And John Vincent’s bodyguard. I’m a broker. I negotiate sales of sensitive information and unique acquisitions. There is no group, and there is no Israeli.”
“And there is no trust, and therefore, there is no sharing, period.” She smiled sweetly as she turned and walked back to the table to collect her weapon. “You can see yourself out. Please make certain you lock the door on your way.”
She moved to the doorway, intent on returning to her room and preparing for the day ahead. The life of an heiress wasn’t bonbons and soap operas or even a round of boring parties and expensive dresses. She had to actually shop and socialize with the very people she had grown up despising. That was more nerve racking than chasing spies or avoiding assassins.
“I could make it worth your while.”
She paused at the door at the suggestion. Turning her head, she stared at him, her eyes narrowing in consideration. “How so?”
“John Vincent was contacted several days ago to broker a sale, an acquisition Warbucks is eager to get rid of. I can let you in on this.”
“And why would you do that?” she drawled mockingly. John Vincent would just let her in on this. There had to be a catch.
“You’re bluffing.” Wasn’t he?
“Why else would I be here?” He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back against the counter, and stared back at her knowingly. “I’ve been contacted, but the contract isn’t assured. Several other brokers have been contacted as well and there are conditions.”
“Then why do you need me?”
That one bothered her. If he’d already been contacted, if he was that close, then why bother even letting her know?
“Because the contract isn’t assured,” he told her again. “Warbucks will be careful about this transaction and who brokers it. Levels of trust that he has never been known to approach before will be required. And he made you a requirement. According to his offer to broker the deal. You’ll choose the broker.” Surprising. It wasn’t shocking, but it was surprising. She had been working toward this, but she’d had no idea she was so close.
Warbucks was here in Aspen—she knew that, her father had known it. He was part of a select group of men, men powerful enough that they didn’t have to worry about being caught. Rich enough that they could avoid the laws that governed others.
“You need an in,” she finally said softly. “A level of trust that the others don’t have. If you’re my lover, then you’re assured of the “in” you need.”
He inclined his head in agreement. “I need a lover that he trusts. Someone he’s certain wouldn’t betray him. Someone he believes wants vengeance against a government that betrayed them one time too many. You’re my ace, Bailey. But my question here is, why does Warbucks trust you now?”
Bailey licked her lips as she inhaled slowly, evenly. This was more than she could have hoped for. It was definitely more than she’d expected.
She had worked for this for a year. Days and nights of acquiring just the right information and placing it in the ears that she knew would lead to Warbucks.
She had no idea who he was, not yet. But she was getting closer. This was proof of that fact.
“Warbucks trusts no one,” she finally answered him. “If he did, he would have been identified by now. He doesn’t trust me. He’s testing me.”
“Why?” John leaned forward, his gaze intent, probing. “Why test you and no one else? Why has he focused on you?”
Pursing her lips, she leaned back in her chair before breathing in deeply.
“Because I have something he needs as well as something he wants. When you’re going fishing, John, you have to have the right bait. Right now, I have the perfect bait.”
Fate. Bailey believed in it as she believed in few things. Some things were just fated. From birth she had been destined to come face to face with Warbucks.
For years the traitor had paid to keep her alive. She wasn’t always certain why, but she had suspicions. Her fortune was part of it. The Serborne fortune was lost forever if she died without an heir. A husband or a child. That meant that somehow Warbucks was tied to the six men who were a part of the Serborne holdings, the committee her father had set up to run the business holdings for her. One of those men was Ford Grace. But there had to be more to it as well. It wasn’t just the money. It was the information and the protection she had provided over the past years. It was the game she had been playing with a traitor. A killer.
John shook his head slowly. “This is what you’ve been working toward for a year, isn’t it, Bailey? You’ve planned this.”
