Читать книгу Miss Charlotte Surrenders - Cathy Thacker Gillen - Страница 5

Prologue

“I want that woman off my back,” Stephen Sterling grumbled to his New York City attorney.

Franklin Dunn, Jr., picked up a gold pen and turned it end over end. “Charlotte Langston has been a pest, hasn’t she?”

“And then some.” Stephen stroked his gray goatee and sighed, then turned back to Franklin with a relentless scowl. “I’m not going to let that nosy journalist unmask me,” he vowed.

“I don’t blame you,” Franklin said. Waving his pen in lecturing fashion, he continued, “And to that end, I have a suggestion for you.”

Stephen’s bushy gray brow lifted in speculative interest. “Name it.”

“You need a spy in the enemy camp.”

Stephen grinned as he casually tucked his silk ascot into the open collar of his shirt. “Someone to keep her from finding out everything she has always wanted to know?”

“Exactly. As long as the person you hire is one step ahead of the indefatigable Miss Langston, keeping her in the dark about you will be easy,” Franklin assured him.

Stephen sat back in his chair. He ran his hand thoughtfully over the ivory handle on his cane. “You’ve got a point,” he said slowly. A wicked gleam came into his eyes. “Furthermore, I know just the man for the job.”

“Who?” Franklin sat forward expectantly.

“Brett Forrest,” Stephen said with a contemplative grin. “He’ll keep her so busy and aggravated that poor Miss Langston will never guess an enemy has infiltrated her nest.”