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“Whoever he is, he’s someone I’ve grown up with.” She finally shrugged. “Father didn’t completely fail in raising me, Raymond. I understand my duties to the men who have always watched my back. I looked after Warbucks’s interests, and he kept me alive. It was a beneficial arrangement.”
Raymond’s lips quirked in amusement. “How did you know he kept you alive?
“Orion had a big mouth,” she sniffed. “He warned me several times that he was being paid not to kill me and that one day there wouldn’t be enough to walk away from the temptation.” She grinned ruefully.
“You were rather a thorn in his side,” he sighed. “We paid quite a bit of money to ensure he didn’t harm you. Perhaps you could have done us a greater favor and let him be,” he suggested.
Bailey leaned forward. “He killed my family. My cousins suffered at his hands. There was no amount of money that could have made me turn back. And evidently it wasn’t too large a price to pay or Warbucks would have made the request that I back off.”
“And would you have?” Raymond asked.
“Probably not. It would have been according to how strenuously he had asked.” She lifted her glass to her lips and took a fortifying sip as he grinned back at her in amusement.
“That’s rather what we assumed.” He finally nodded. “Your past endeavors to protect him have always surprised him. Because of this, he’s decided that perhaps you would make a worthy partner.”
A worthy partner? Oh now, this was much more than she had ever hoped.
“He’s looking for partners, is he?” Bailey let her surprise show, to do otherwise wouldn’t have been in her best interests.
“Not just any partner,” he assured her. “You have contacts, Bailey, many that I can only guess at, you’ve proven that over the years. But even more, you’re his equal in ways that no one else could hope to be or to become.”
“Is he looking for a partner or a wife?” she sniffed.
Raymond laughed, a low dark chuckle that sent a chill racing up her spine. “He’s not in the market for a wife, my dear, though you’d make an excellent one. What he is in the market for are your invaluable services in several endeavors he’d like to undertake in the future. Your help with this one in particular is greatly appreciated.”
Bailey sipped at the whisky again before setting her glass on the table. “No broker that he’s contacted is going to take CROSSFIRE without a meeting first,” she finally assured him. “Warbucks has so far managed to keep his identity a closely guarded secret. The days of that are at an end if he’s not extremely careful this time.”
Raymond nodded. “We’ve discussed this at length, which is one of the reasons we’ve given the choice of brokers into your safekeeping. You know the risks he’ll be facing as well as the brokers most likely to secure the job and to secure it correctly. We ask that though it seems you have chosen a worthy lover, that you give due consideration to the other parties as well.”
Bailey stared back at him, knowing how she appeared to him. Her gaze was flat and cool, assessing.
“It would have helped if I had known that I would be choosing from the parties concerned before they arrived,” she stated.
Raymond tilted his head in agreement. “But in doing so we would have lost the element of surprise as well as our own strength in assessing your true intentions.”
“In other words, you had everything in place to see if I went screaming back to the agency.” She gave a light, amused little laugh. “Tell me, Raymond, did you ever regret your choice to work with Warbucks?”
“Never.” His response was instant.
“Then I suspect, neither will I.” She lifted her glass, finished her drink, then stared back at him questioningly. “Do we have any other business to conduct?”
Raymond arched his brows, his lips tugged into a reluctant smile.
“Very well, then, we’ll discuss fees,” she suggested. “The brokers you’ve chosen all charge a fifteen percent rate of the total sale. Though I’m certain a few will go a few points lower, Vincent won’t. I wouldn’t suggest using anyone willing to take a cut on their pay at this point.”
“And your fee?” he asked.
“Partners don’t charge a fee.” She rose to her feet and stared down at him with the assured self confidence and feminine arrogance she had learned before leaving this world. “I expect to see Warbucks at the point of sale. I don’t partner with men, or with women, that I don’t know or can’t put a face to.”
A gleam of amused respect seemed to lighten his gaze. “I’ll be certain to pass that along.”
“Do that.” She nodded. “Because it’s non-negotiable. And I’ll need his answer before the process goes much further. By the way, I’d drop Stanford if I were you.”
“And why would I do that?” he asked, his gaze narrowing.
“Because he’s an informant to several individuals within certain law enforcement agencies, namely the FBI, when the price is right. And I would assume they would pay quite a hefty price for information on this sale. Discretion is called for at this time, I believe. I’d mark him off your list and send him home.”
“We could kill him,” he suggested.
