Читать книгу Heartbreaker - Joanne Rock - Страница 11

Gage wondered how she could possibly look him in the eye and claim otherwise.

She sat beside him in his study in her bloodred dress, glossy tendrils of hair winding around her shoulders like Medusa’s serpents. It was all an enticing distraction from the threat she posed. To his name, his reputation and everything he’d worked hard to build at Mesa Falls Ranch.

“Revenge for what, exactly?” she asked finally, recrossing her legs in the opposite direction, causing the long slit in her dress to part and expose her lean calves. Velvet ribbons from her high-heeled shoes wound around her lower legs, their soft bows drawing his gaze to her feet, where red-painted toenails peeped from supple leather.

She was a breathtaking woman, even when she didn’t dress to turn heads. Tonight, he couldn’t look away from her if he tried. And damn it, he needed to try harder.

“For your wounded pride. For the slight from my family when my father bribed you to leave me. You were livid with him.” And she hadn’t even blinked when he’d asked her if she’d accepted the payment. Her affirmation—the defiant lift of her chin—had iced all the feelings he’d had for her. “With me.”

He’d never understood how she could have transferred so much anger to him when she was the one who’d sold out what they had. Later, it occurred to him that his father might have filled her head with lies about Gage not wanting her in his life. But by then, she was long gone and none of it mattered.

She’d moved half a world away, returning to Southern California, where they’d first met, while he remained in New Zealand to help his father campaign for a parliament seat and a more prominent position in his party. For Gage’s father, politics had been a paramount concern his whole life, an important way to maintain Striker family interests. Sadly, now that Gage’s fortune outstripped his father’s several times over, his relationship with his dad seemed even more tenuous.

“It’s been six years since we ended things,” she reminded him, glancing down at her fingernails as if the discussion bored her. “I moved on. Married someone else.”

“And look how well that worked out for you.”

The beat of silence afterward told him the barb had hit the mark. It also made him realize how damned petty that had been. Her gaze flicked up to his, her expression tinged with a hint of pain before the walls went back up again.

“I agree that was a foolish move.” Her easy response surprised him as she leaned back deeper into the couch cushions, relaxing her rigid posture a fraction. “But my point is that I certainly wouldn’t hatch a revenge scheme after all this time.”

“I have no business commenting on your marriage.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose, the tension in his head a sign that she was getting under his skin. “My apologies.”

She inclined her head, gracious as a queen. “And I’m sorry for sneaking into the party under another woman’s name. But given our history, I didn’t feel comfortable requesting an invitation.”

He couldn’t help a wry laugh as he forced himself to gaze into the fireplace flames instead of at the woman on the couch beside him. “Probably because I would have never granted you one. You have to know that it’s my job to protect the privacy of my guests. Which means no tabloid reporters.”

“Nevertheless, I need to have my phone back.” She shifted beside him, running her palm over the expanse between them and drawing his focus to her left hand that bore no ring. Not even a lingering tan line. “My followers will think something happened to me after my video cut off in the middle.”

“Then they seriously underestimate your resourcefulness.” They’d met the year before he’d taken his first company public. Back then, the tech start-up offering network privacy tools had been the sole focus of his life. Elena had been working for a rival firm, and she’d quit her job because she believed in his product more.

She’d shown up in his office to tell him so, offering her services as an influencer to a younger demographic. At the time, she’d had a homegrown following for her beauty and fashion tips, and he hadn’t understood how that could help him. She’d single-handedly taught him the value of never underestimating a target market, making a clever video that brought him fifty thousand converts to his network security product overnight. He’d given her a percentage and a job. In the end, he’d lost more than a woman he loved when they parted. He’d lost a hell of a team member since she’d handed in her resignation the same day they broke up.

“Then what will it take to recover my device?” she pressed, a hint of agitation creeping into her tone. “Let’s open the negotiations so we don’t take up any more of each other’s time.”

She reached for the bourbon on the rocks he’d poured her, and then, as if thinking the better of it, she returned her hand to her lap.

“For starters, be honest with me about what you’re doing in Montana.” He rose from the couch and returned to the wet bar, pouring her a glass of ice water. Delivering it to her, he noticed how carefully she took it from him. Somehow, the absence of contact only ratcheted up the awareness between them as he reclaimed his seat.

“Thank you.” She took a long sip before setting the glass beside the first one. A hint of lipstick on the crystal distracted him for a moment. “And I was honest with you. I’m going to get answers about Alonzo Salazar’s ill-gotten gains and where the proceeds from his book went. I’m not leaving the ranch until I either find out or have a solid lead that points somewhere else.”

Gage already knew from his exchange with the investigator April Stephens that she’d found answers to that same question. But he wasn’t going to point Elena in her direction since he didn’t want to aid her in her quest.

Alonzo’s secrets were tied up with his own. His former mentor had been privy to the nuances of a boarding school tragedy that involved all six of the ranch’s owners, something they’d taken pains to put behind them for good. So his primary objective was to keep Alonzo’s past on lockdown. For starters, he sure as hell wasn’t letting the woman seated beside him anywhere near April Stephens tonight. Thankfully, the investigator would be leaving Mesa Falls Ranch in the morning.

“So you’re just here for a story,” he concluded, willing to capitalize on their past affair to maneuver her if it came down to that. He happened to know her very, very well. “Not out of any desire to see me again.”

He could tell he caught her off guard by the slightest hint of her shoulders straightening. Was it in awareness of him? Or was she just squaring up for the next round of battle?

“You’re safe with me, Gage. I promised your father you would be, after all.”

They settled back into sparring roles, and if he were being honest, he was more comfortable seeing her as the enemy than a woman out of options after a well-publicized divorce. It spoke volumes about her financial position—and, perhaps, her personal confidence—that she was selling stories to the tabloids. The Elena he’d known had been a fierce businesswoman.

“And you’re not seeking some sort of misguided revenge.” He stated it as fact, wanting clarification on that point.

Or perhaps he just needed to rile her.

A light trill of laughter bubbled up from her throat. Rising from the couch, she paced closer to the fireplace, peering back over one shoulder at him. “I’d have to feel something for you if I wanted revenge, Gage.”

She said it so coolly, he almost believed her. But at the last moment, a hint of something else flitted through her gaze. The look was fleeting, but it had been there before she quickly turned away. In that moment, he’d glimpsed something more than cool detachment.

Getting to his feet, he closed the distance between them to join her beside the sleek stone hearth. Eyes locked on her subtle curves as she stared down into the flames, he remembered a thousand other times he’d touched her. Tasted her. Made her moan with pleasure.

The past simmered around him, hotter than any blaze.

“I don’t believe you.”

Gage’s words, spoken while he stood far too close to her, stopped her short.

Her breath caught. Her pulse stuttered for a protracted moment.

Thankfully, her back was to him. So she closed her eyes and steeled herself against the tingling in her nerve endings that reminded her of how hot they’d burned together, once upon a time. That hint of bourbon she’d sipped danced in her veins, seeming to warm her everywhere.

But she wasn’t here to play games with him. And she couldn’t afford to let her guard down for a single second. She needed this story to shore up her finances. If she happened to inconvenience Gage Striker in the process, all the better. Revenge? She preferred to view it as a reminder to him that a Striker couldn’t pay his way out of all life’s inconveniences.

“It hardly matters whether you believe me or not.” She shrugged and traced a pattern in the dark gray stone of the fireplace surround with her finger—anything to delay facing him.

“You feel something for me.” That voice, pitched so low for her ears alone, was like a fingernail stroke down her spine. “It’s probably nothing good, but I am one hundred percent confident you aren’t indifferent.”

He’d dropped the gauntlet, and they both knew it.

The silence between them stretched. She’d tried acting once, when she’d first fled her father’s run-down desert shack for Los Angeles at seventeen. She hadn’t been any good at it then, either, but she’d never had as much motivation as she did right now. Taking a deep breath, she spun on her heel to look Gage in the eye.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” She flipped a few curls over her shoulder. “But I’m in Montana for work, not to rehash a long-dead past. So if we’re done here, I’ll see myself out.”

She sidled past him, but at the last moment, his palm landed lightly on her elbow.

“Wait.” His touch fell away, quickly breaking their connection.

Because he didn’t care to make contact with the woman who’d betrayed him? Or because he felt the same jolt of attraction she felt?

She stopped and turned back around to face him.

“You really plan to stay in town to chase this story?” His voice had lost some of its antagonistic edge.

“I’m not going anywhere until I have answers.” She would be in Mesa Falls for as long as she could afford it, anyway. Rooms at the main lodge weren’t cheap, but she didn’t think Gage would ban her from the ranch property altogether given how hard his PR team had worked to bring the place into the public eye. She didn’t think he’d risk the potential bad press.

He gave a decisive nod. “Then stay with me.”

She blinked, certain she’d misheard. “Excuse me?”

“If you are that indifferent to me, it should hardly be a problem to stay under the same roof while you research your piece,” he told her mildly, heading back to the couch to retrieve their drinks. He drained the rest of his bourbon and then returned with her water.

“So you can keep an eye on me while I’m here? Make sure I don’t find the answers I seek?” She clutched the glass, savoring its coolness against her palm while she struggled to keep her edge. She had no illusions he was opening his home to her out of the goodness of his heart. “I don’t think so.”

“Why waste your mental energy figuring out how to sneak into my home when you could have full access?” he asked, his tone deceptively reasonable.

“Why not just kick me out, the way you threatened to upstairs?” She didn’t trust the offer. Couldn’t trust him.

“While I don’t mind negative publicity for myself, I’d rather not stir it up for Mesa Falls.” He paced past her toward the huge table that seemed to function as a desk. Withdrawing her phone from the pocket of his tuxedo jacket, he laid it on the glass-topped surface. “So I’d rather not resort to removing you from the property altogether. But to answer your earlier question, I would find it convenient to have some awareness of your movements while you’re in town.”

Her gaze had dropped to her phone, but his words made her attention snap back to him. “So you admit you want to keep tabs on me?”

“You’re hardly making your movements secret when you’re posting them online,” he scoffed. “But yes. Having you under my roof will help me stay informed so I don’t have to check my social media accounts.”

He had a point. She’d be deceiving herself if she thought he was going to ignore her presence in town altogether now that she’d made it clear she wanted answers about Alonzo Salazar.

“For that matter,” he continued, perhaps sensing her indecision, “you’d have access to me twenty-four/seven.”

“For what purpose?” she asked coolly, not appreciating the implication that she might desire such access.

Gage shrugged. “You tell me. I assumed you might have questions about the ranch. Moving forward, I’ve committed to spending more time on-site to ensure the ranch’s mission is fulfilled.”

“Are you saying you’d be willing to answer my questions?” she pressed, draining her drink and trying not to think about what it would be like to move into Gage’s home for days.

Or weeks.

Her stomach knotted. His easy dismissal of what they’d shared six years ago had hurt her deeply. For the first time, she debated the wisdom of coming to Montana and reopening that old wound.

“I can’t promise that. I’m simply offering you the opportunity to ask.” He moved toward her again, plucking her empty glass from her fingers and setting it aside on the fireplace mantel. “Put your money where your mouth is, Elena. If you’re not out for revenge, and you don’t feel a damned thing about me, then work on your story from my home, where you won’t have to sneak around my security. And yes, I get to pretend I at least have a chance to influence your work.”

She longed to refuse. To walk away from him and the deal with the devil he was offering.

But he’d effectively called her bluff. And bottom line, she couldn’t afford to turn him down. Smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle from her velvet-and-satin gown, she told herself it was a welcome opportunity. A chance to learn insider details about Alonzo Salazar’s life and legacy.

“I’ve heard more gracious invitations,” she said finally. “But I’m hardly in a position to be choosy.”

He gave a satisfied nod.

“Excellent. Are you staying in the lodge? I’ll send someone over to retrieve your things.” Gage pulled his own phone from his pocket and began tapping out a message.

“Right now?” She thought about what her hotel room looked like, her meager possessions offering a far more realistic portrait of her desperate finances than the beautiful gown she’d finagled from a local vendor for the event at almost no cost to her.

“I’m sure you’re in a hurry to begin pursuing your story.” He pocketed the device again. “Didn’t you tell me your followers deserve answers?”

She began to see how neatly he’d maneuvered her into doing what he wanted. But what were his real motives? “I hope that doesn’t mean I’ve effectively become your prisoner in this remote home.”

“An intriguing idea, but no.” The curve of his lips didn’t seem quite like a smile. Wolfish anticipation, maybe. “You can, of course, come and go as you please. Although running from me at first opportunity hardly seems like the action of a woman who’s indifferent.” A note of challenge hung in his voice.

“I only meant that I’d like to retrieve my own things from the lodge.” She wasn’t sure how much of her life she could hide from Gage if he decided he wanted answers of his own. But she definitely didn’t want him to know the extent of her financial hardship.

“And miss the rest of the party you took pains to crash?” He shook his head and moved closer to her. “The evening has only just begun. Enjoy yourself here, and your bags will be in your suite by the time you’re ready to retire for the night.”

He extended his arm to her, as if he were courting her and not taunting her. Tempting her. Teasing her.

He’d said he didn’t believe that she was indifferent to him, and clearly, he still didn’t.

She suspected Gage would do everything in his power to prove her a liar on that count. But then, given how quickly he’d believed the worst of her, what was one more black mark against her name?

She’d wheedled her way into his home. Now it was up to her to make the most of the opportunity. So she slid her hand around his forearm, wordlessly accepting his invitation.

His dark eyes met hers and she felt that crackle of electricity between them again. She flicked her gaze away, her darting glance landing on her smartphone.

“My camera—” she began.

“—is off-limits for the rest of the party.” He laid a hand over hers where it rested on his arm. “It will be safe here when you return to your suite tonight.”

Confused, she peered around the office.

“My suite?”

“This will be your sitting area while you’re staying with me. Your bedroom is through there.” He pointed to double doors behind the massive desk.

“I see you have plenty of room for me,” she noted drily. She’d understood that Gage had achieved new heights of wealth in recent years, but seeing the way he lived firsthand was still eye-opening.

“I do, indeed.” He squeezed her hand lightly before letting go and leading her out of the suite and back toward the party. “You’ll hardly know we’re sharing the same roof again.”

Based on the way her pulse quickened when he was near, she seriously doubted it.