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“Why would her connection to me matter?”

“The Clark name is very well known. I’m very well acquainted with George and Amelia. I’ve also met the rest of your family. I had thought it odd to never have met you, but I kept my curiosity at bay.”

Being friends with her family didn’t lessen her wariness. In fact, it raised warning flags.

“So, you decided to satisfy your curiosity by going to the source?”

“More like intrigued. Care to satisfy my curiosity?”

Haley looked down at her cell phone. She had thought for sure that Nadia would have texted her by now. Glancing up, she saw that Desmond Beck was waiting for an answer.

“Probably because I had better things to do than kiss my rich relatives’ asses.” She might be a scaredy cat, but she could show her claws when cornered.

A corner of Desmond Beck’s mouth curled upward. “The rest of your family doesn’t have that problem.”

“No, they don’t,” she agreed.

Beck stood to move away from the conference table to stride toward a desk by the huge bank of windows. Removing a folder and a laptop, he walked back to the table to lay them down. Opening the laptop in the middle of the table, he started the computer and, with a series of strokes on the keyboard, Haley saw a YouTube video that had been made years ago.

She moved to the side to get a better view of what he was doing.

“I can see why. While your family was focused on gaining followers to their platforms, you were an expert at staying out of the camera lens. It must have been very frustrating for whomever was behind the camera.”

Numbly, Haley stared at the computer. “My father.”

“I’m getting vibes that you and your family don’t exactly get along.”

Haley couldn’t watch. Leaving her spot on the carpet, she went to the table to close the computer. “I’m not here to discuss my family. I’m here to discuss Moonbeam.”

He arched a brow at her. “Have you decided to stay?”

“You’re not the only one curious. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to fly here, as well as search for these old videos. Why?”

“Because I want you to work for me.”

A job offer from Desmond Beck was the last thing she had expected.

“You went to all this trouble to get me to work for you?” Confusion filled her. “You’re one of the wealthiest men in the world; you can hire anyone you want with a hell of a better degree than I have.”

“Whomever I hire wouldn’t have your family connections.”

“Which member of my family put you up to this?”

His eyes lightened in amusement. “You think a member of your family asked me to hire you?”

Haley stared down at the folder, wondering what was inside. As if reading her mind, Beck opened it.

“According to this dossier that my assistant put together on you, your family wouldn’t ask me to give you the time of day, much less a job.”

He was right.

“Then why do you want to hire me?”

“While you may not have an accounting degree from an Ivy league university, you have worked your butt off earning a double major in business and accounting from a university by the age of nineteen. At twenty-one, you garnered an extensive resume working for an impressive array of businesses, bringing them back from the edge of bankruptcy to ones that are profitable endeavors, all without leaving that cardboard room you call an office at Moonbeam. At twenty-eight, you accumulated enough money on your own, without any of your family’s wealth, to help Ms. Brooks in her endeavor with Moonbeam. Aren’t you bored using all your talents working exclusively with her, doing the same thing every day?”

Haley shifted her eyes away from his. “No.”

“You are.” Beck splayed his hand across the stat sheets she had put together for cost estimates that they needed to fund a new building for Moonbeam. “How long did it take for you to create this presentation? Half a day? Or more likely two hours?”

Haley remained mute.

“You’re wasting your talents.”

His critical assessment stung.

“It doesn’t matter how long it took; it’s where my heart is.”

“You can keep your heart exactly where it is. I’m not interested in your heart. I want your brain, and I’m willing to pay for what I want.”

“Exactly what are you offering?”

She didn’t miss the glitter of triumph in his eyes at her question. Desmond Beck was used to getting what he wanted, and he expected her to fall into place, exactly where he wanted her.

“I want to place you on retainer. You will be able to keep Kansas City as your home base until I have need of your expertise. Then I’ll send my private jet to fly you to the location of the business when I need you.”

“I won’t do anything illegal,” she warned.

“You’re considering my offer?”