Page 6 of Secret Revenge

“No,” I gritted out. I changed the subject. “I just think you might have a tendency to not think things through before charging ahead to speak… or act. Like your decision to go to Calypso. You’ve got to know the place’s reputation.”

“Well, I went there for a reason. I had something to do,” she retorted.

“And you got caught by Kurt. It could have been bad if I hadn’t intervened. What did you go there to do anyway?”

She ground her teeth. “I’m after a slippery bastard who acts like they are clean and nice and good to the public. Meanwhile, they go to Calypso and do who-knows-what-else behind the scenes.”

I thought about what she said and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. There are a lot of people like that, especially the politicians. They act squeaky clean out in public but hide all of their dirty secrets in Calypso,” I told her.

“I hate people like that,” she said vehemently.

“Me too,” I fixed my eyes on her as she looked away. “Still…don’t risk yourself like that again. So many things could have gone wrong. And I’d hate to lose you. The city needs your voice.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” she said icily.

I chuckled as I held my hands up in surrender. “Alright, fine. I told you my story. Now it’s your turn to tell me yours.”

3

EMILY

Ilooked at the man in front of me with renewed interest. So far, save for the fact that I knew exactly who he was despite his propaganda and pretense, he sure was smooth.

Travis was wonderful company. As long as the plan was going off without a hitch, I could indulge a little bit… allow myself to get lost in his beautiful eyes -- allow myself to believe his ‘troubled billionaire’ act. Maybe in another life, I could have let myself get lost in him forever…

But today was not that day. Girls like me didn’t get happy endings with billionaire husbands, and billionaires simply didn’t tell the truth. I was on a mission. Nothing more.

Now he’d asked me a question, and I couldn’t tell the truth either.

I couldn’t tell him that the only reason I had chosen journalism as my field was as part of a crusade to expose the way his father had destroyed my family. I couldn’t tell him I was at Calypso to exposehim. It occurred to me to wonder if he still had the ability to summon a car and some armed guards to make me disappear.

My blood ran cold. Of course, he could ‘disappear’ me if he wanted to. People with this much money could, and did, get away with murder.

I picked up my glass, pouring the contents down my throat.

Let’s get this over with. How are you going to lift his prints?

I eyed the wine glass he’d been toying with all evening, but the wait staff here were almost pathologically attentive—probably hoping for a massive tip—and I couldn’t figure out a way to snag any of the dishes he had touched before an over-eager waiter appeared to take them away.

Should I have tried to bribe a server to save one of his dishes for me?

No, that would leave a witness who might see my investigation as something he could sell to the tabloids. Then I’d ruin my own credibility and make Ross look like a victim of underhanded tactics.

I stared at him, struggling to pay attention as he spoke. The alcohol I’d had earlier was not making focusing on the plan easier. Instead, I was enraptured by the way his gorgeous mouth moved and the way his eyes bore into me. I could feel the booze buzzing in my system, could feel my brain fogging as I tried to come up with an answer to his question that did not involve a crusade of vengeance against his own family.

Kissing him would probably be a highly effective distraction.

Shut up, brain.

You might be able to get his fingerprints on your bag that way. If I stand close enough to him and just sort of grab his hand and put it on the bag when kissing him.…

That…might actually work.

But first, I’d better at least try to answer his question so that I didn’t look too suspicious.

“I’m…like you,” I tried, “I really can’t stand to see people get hurt. So when the powerful get away with harming people, it really drives me crazy.”

I realized belatedly that even that answer could be perceived as suspicious if he was, in fact, harming people.