by Lori Foster
When was the last time any man had caught her interest? Not counting Murray, since her interest in him was all toxic.
The Amazon drew her attention with a slow, contemptible smile.
“One of these days, Trace, definitely sooner than you think, I will settle up with you. Count on it.” And with that she spun on her very high stiletto heels and sashayed away.
“Friend of yours?” Priss asked.
He turned on her so fast, she jumped back a foot.
“You don’t look happy,” Priss noted. What an understatement. “It was just a question. Don’t implode or anything, okay?”
He fumed quietly, and even in his rage, he looked self-possessed. “Under no circumstances will you provoke that woman. Do you understand me?”
Intrigued by the warning, Priss tried to see around him to wherever the woman had gone. He didn’t allow it.
His big, hard hand clasped her face, none too gently. “She will slit your throat and smile while doing it. And no one here will stop her. Do you understand me?”
“Uh…” It wasn’t easy to speak with the way he smooshed her cheeks, but she felt compelled to point out, “You stopped her.”
“This time.” He leaned down, close enough to kiss her, but his eyes said he had far from affectionate gestures on his mind. “I won’t always be around.”
“Duly noted. Now you can stop abusing my face.” He released her and she worked her jaw. “Jerk. I bruise easy.”
His eye did that interesting twitching thing again before he grabbed her elbow and hustled her forward.
The surroundings were decadent. Authentic art on the walls. Twelve-foot ceilings. Polished-marble floors. And tinted windows everywhere.
When she balked, trying to take it all in, Trace all but dragged her. “This way.”
“So dear daddy is rich, huh?”
“You’d be better served to note his power, not his financial status.”
“Got some influence, does he?”
That she’d dropped her Little Ms. Innocent facade didn’t faze him at all. “More than you could realize, or you wouldn’t be here.”
They passed a desk where a cowed woman kept her head down and her shoulders hunched. Pathetic.
To her, Trace spoke gently, as if addressing a child. “He’s expecting us, hon. Tell him we’re here.”
“Yes, sir.” Using an intercom, she announced, “Mr. Coburn, Mr. Miller is here with a young lady.”
“Send her in. Trace, too. I want him in on this.”
Priss started forward, but Trace didn’t, so she got pulled up short. “Well?” She gave his shoulder a shove. “What’s the holdup now?”
He chewed his upper lip, and she could have sworn he looked agonized. After a long hesitation, he yanked her away from the desk and tightened his hold on her arm. “Listen to me, and listen good. Give him no personal information that might make it easier for him to have you tracked. Protect your privacy as much as you can. I’ll stall them as much as I can. When you leave, don’t go anywhere familiar.” His thumb rubbed her arm. “Do you have money on you?”
Agog, Priss stared up at him. “You’re actually trying to protect me?” Had she misunderstood his role in all this?
In a precise, angry tempo, he asked again, “Do. You. Have money? On you?”
“Inside my shoe.”
He straightened, his expression impressed. “Good girl.”
If he didn’t stop referring to her as a child, she just might brain him. And then it dawned on Priss. “That’s why you swiped my driver’s license?” A short laugh—caused by nerves and something else, something sort of like gratitude—escaped her. “You took it so that they couldn’t?”
“Let’s go.” He started her on her way again. “It’s never a good idea to keep Murray waiting.”
At the enormous double doors, Trace turned the knob, took a quick survey inside and gestured her in.
When she entered, Priss saw why he’d checked before letting her past him.
The Amazon waited.
A little more subdued now, she sat on the corner of Murray Coburn’s massive desk. Sunlight poured through the wall of windows behind her, bathing her in a glow, putting blue highlights in her inky-black hair.
Her gaze, narrowed and mean, tracked Priss’s every movement.
Despite herself, Priss stepped a little closer to her self-appointed protector.
“Priscilla Patterson,” Trace said, as if formal introductions were just the thing for the situation. He gestured toward her father. “Murray Coburn. And the lovely lady with him is Helene Schumer.”
Lovely lady? Priss bit back a gag.
Behind his desk, Murray surveyed her. “You made it this far, girl, so don’t start cowering now.”
Had she been cowering? Well, hell. That was the impression she wanted to give, but this time, it hadn’t been feigned.
She felt like she’d entered a viper’s nest.
“Where do you want her?” Trace asked, taking personal responsibility for seating her.
Murray’s gaze crawled all over her, lingering on her breasts. She wanted to clobber Trace for that.
“The chair there will do,” Murray said, indicating a padded seat in front of his desk, far too close to the Amazon’s pointy-toed shoes.
Priss eyed the woman. What was it Trace had called her? Hell—short for Helene. Yeah, that suited her.
Sinking back into her veneer of shy reserve, Priss gave a tremulous smile. “Thank you so much for agreeing to see me. I know this is a shock, that I’m a shock. And I wouldn’t blame you if you’d refused me.”
Air unchanging, Murray said, “Sit.”
That one blunt word, said as a succinct command, left her nettled. Priss wiped all hostility from her manner and moved forward. Gingerly, she perched at the edge of the chair, ready to bolt if the Amazon took aim at her head.
Trace stood behind her. To Murray, he probably looked positioned to restrain her if necessary. Priss hadn’t known him long, but she was a good judge of character, and despite whatever role Trace Miller played in her father’s evil enterprise, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
To get the ball rolling, Priss opened her mouth—and Murray forestalled her.
“I’ve never fucked a red-haired woman.”
“Oh.” His bluntness unsettled her. So he’d make no pretense of being a smooth businessman, of being anything other than a crude bully? He had enough money and power that he didn’t have to bother hiding his true nature in the sanctity of his office?
Or did he already know she’d never have the chance to share what she learned?
If only she could blush on cue, Priss thought, but that little trick eluded her. Instead, she touched her long ponytail. “My hair color is that of my grandmother. My mother had darker hair.” She nodded toward the woman perched on his desk. “Beautiful, much like hers.”
Hell leaned toward her, her body vibrating with menace.
With a casual lift of a hand, Murray warned the Amazon to stay back. She retreated, but she wasn’t happy about it. Slowly, her father came out of his seat.
Priss eyed him warily. Would he try to kill her outright, as Trace suspected?
When Murray propped a hip against the front of his desk, Priss nearly melted with relief. Until his big feet bumped against hers.
No way in hell was he unaware of the contact. Priss fought the need to shrivel away from his foul touch. Her gut told her that the understated move was in no way fatherly.
A test? Or a warning?
Whatever Murray’s real intent, she didn’t know. She just knew it made her stomach pitch. Given that she trusted her instincts, she also knew to be on guard.
Murray nodded toward her chest, his gaze heated, his mouth a little too slack. “Braless?”
Now her face flamed. “I—”
Trace shifted. “She had herself bound with some sort of tight sports bra. But since that could have concealed a weapon, I cut it off her.”
He hadn
’t been kidding about telling Murray! Priss waited to see how he’d react. It wasn’t what she’d expected.
“I see.” Murray’s gaze lifted to hers. “Your mother was busty?”
Good God, the cretin hadn’t yet asked her mother’s name, but he wanted to know her bra size? He was more disgusting than she’d ever imagined.
Inside, Priss churned with fury, but outside, she stammered like a virgin. “She was, yes.” Belatedly, parts of her rehearsed spiel shot to the forefront of her mind. “After you left her, she never wanted another man. So she did her best to…conceal her figure.”
“As you did with whatever undergarment Trace removed from your person?”
“Yes.” She tugged at the material of her blouse, trying to get the gaping front to close. “I’m not at all comfortable like this.”
“What you have is an asset. You should be proud.”
Oh, this was soooo not a father/daughter conversation. “Sir, I want you to know—”
“Give me your mother’s name.”
Well, ’bout damn time! A deep breath didn’t ease the tension in her chest. “Patricia Patterson.” Priss waited, but there was no recognition, and predictably, no real interest. She forged on. “I’m twenty-four, so it would have been close to twenty-five years ago that you knew her.”
“I’d have been thirty-two.” He rubbed at his goatee in fond remembrance of the past, then caught himself. “She’s dead?”
Priss ducked her head, as much from grief as to hide the incandescent rage she felt when she thought of the way her mother had suffered before finding the grace of death. “Yes. Three months ago.”
“How?” Murray asked.
“She had a stroke. It didn’t take her right away….”
As Priss replied, Murray turned to Hell and requested a drink. He even smiled at Hell’s disgruntlement and gave her an intimate kiss that left his mouth shiny with the red gloss of her lips.
His disinterest in her struggle couldn’t have been more plain.
As Hell slipped off the desk and went to the other side of the room to pour the drink, Murray pulled out a hanky and wiped his mouth.
All while Priss told the emotionally draining, all too horrific story of her mother’s ordeal.
When she’d contrived this plan, she’d expected an unfeeling monster. She’d been prepared for a sleazy villain. But this…this total lack of propriety…the man was a psychopath. He couldn’t possibly possess a single ounce of real emotion.
Somewhere along the way to building his empire of corruption, he’d become so comfortable with his power and influence that he didn’t bother hiding his innately vicious nature anymore. He had a network of conspirators who would lie for him, cover for him, and enable him.
Involuntarily, her hands curled into fists. While Hell handed Murray his drink, Trace gave a barely perceptible nudge to her shoulder. He didn’t look at her, and his stance remained alert, on duty as it were, but she caught his warning all the same.
It could be deadly for her to show her hand this early in the game.
With ice cubes clinking, Murray sipped his drink, and then asked, “So she suffered?”
Jaw tight, Priss nodded. “Immeasurably, yes.”
He took another drink. “I don’t remember her.”
Of course he didn’t. Theirs hadn’t been a true relationship by any stretch. He’d used her mother for financial gain, and only by the turn of fate had her mother escaped with her life intact.
Deliberately, Priss relaxed her muscles. “I understand. It was a long time ago.”
“I won’t give you a dime, you know.” He swirled the drink, clinking the ice cubes again while smiling at her. “If you’re here for money, you’re wasting your time.”
As if she’d take anything from him—other than his black heart. “Please, you misunderstand. I don’t want or expect anything from you. It’s just that, with my mother gone, I’m alone now.”
Murray’s eyes glinted, and they went over her again. “No other relatives? No husband or at least a boyfriend?”
“No, sir. That’s why I wanted to meet you. And…” She tried for shyness. “That is, if you were interested, I thought we could get to know each other.” She rushed to add, “No obligation at all, I swear. It’s just…you’re the only family I have left now.”
That request pushed Hell over the edge. “Don’t be pathetic.” Moving to stand in front of Priss, she put her hands on her hips and thrust her breasts forward. “Why should Murray believe you’re family? How could he possibly be related to a homely little bitch like you?”
Trace snorted, and Murray laughed.
“What?” After an evil glare at Trace, Hell whipped around to face Murray. Her arms went stiff at her sides, her hands knotted. “You see a family resemblance?”
“Not at all. But despite the absurd clothing, she’s far from homely.” He gave Trace a man-to-man look. “What do you say, Trace?”
“Sexy.”
Grinning, Murray lifted his drink as if in toast. “There. You see, Hell?”
She snatched up a paperweight from Murray’s desk. “She won’t be so sexy when I finish with her.”
Jesus, Priss thought, stunned by the violent intention. Was now the moment when she should run? But no, once again, Trace stepped in front of her. He even managed to catch the projectile when Hell let out a screech and threw it.
Not at all affronted by her outburst, Murray laughed aloud, then jerked Hell around to face him. “You are such a jealous bitch, Helene, and usually it amuses me.” His laughter died and his gaze hardened. “But not now.”
Taking that warning to heart, Hell retreated.
In a milder tone now, Murray said, “This is business.” He tweaked Hell’s chin. “And you should know better than to ever interfere with business.”
For whatever reason, that appeased Hell. She even gave a lazy smile. “I see.”
“Business?” Priss asked. Could it really be that easy to get in his inner circle?
Holding out a hand toward her, Murray snapped his fingers, but not understanding, Priss waffled.
Trace took her purse from her and handed it to the big man. He dumped the contents onto his thick mahogany desk, picked up her wallet and searched through it.
Frowning, he asked, “No ID?”
Trace had been right about the driver’s license. His boldness blew her away. “I, uh, only recently moved here. From North Carolina, I mean. That’s where my mother and I lived.”
“If you didn’t drive, then how’d you get here?”
“Bus?”
“You’re asking me?”
Priss realized how she’d said that, and rephrased her answer. “I didn’t know if you meant here, as in your office, or here, Ohio. Either way, I took the bus.”
Murray’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you staying?”
Her brain scrambled, but with Trace’s warning in mind she came up with a lie. “I’m in a hotel.” She named the location, which was a good five miles from where she’d actually rented an apartment.
Hell picked up a photo. “Your mother?”
“Yes.”
She smirked. “I see why Murray left her.”
Oh, soon, Priss thought. Very soon she would make Hell pay for that insult. “My mother never blamed him. She said she knew it was a brief affair and hadn’t expected anything more.” Transferring her attention back to Murray—in time to see him studying her calves—Priss said, “That’s why she never contacted you about me. She knew you hadn’t been involved enough to want responsibility for a child.”
He laughed. “Is that what she told you?”
“Yes. That you were a powerful, accomplished man, and that she couldn’t burden you, knowing your preferences.”
“She was protective of you.”
“Yes.”
“And she was right.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
Priss saw that they were twice the size of Trace’s arms, to match Murray’s thick neck and co
lossal back. But put to the test, Priss would place her bet on Trace every time. He had a quiet but lethal edge to him that instilled confidence in his ability. He might not be savage like Murray, but he would be effective.
Probably why Murray had hired him.
Behind his goatee, Murray’s lips curled in a smirk. “I never wanted a child, but you’re here now, aren’t you?”
Priss took that as a rhetorical question and kept her mouth shut.
Taking her arm, Murray pulled her, not gently but without overt hostility, from the chair. Not giving her much choice, he turned her in a circle, inspecting her from every angle. “I’ve made up my mind.”
“About?” she asked hopefully.
“We’ll get acquainted over lunch.”
Still recovering from that sudden spin, Priss said, “Oh! Yes. Lunch would be great.” I could kill you over lunch. There’d probably be plenty of time.
“But not just yet.”
Confused, Priss said, “What?”
Murray surveyed her with a critical eye—and disdain of her person. “You’re not exactly a fashion plate, now, are you? If I’m to be seen with you in public, we need to do some…adjustments.”
“Adjustments?”
“Surely you realize that more flattering clothes are required, along with a makeover of sorts.” Before she could protest, Murray said, “My treat of course.” And then with a smarmy smile, he continued, “It’s the least I can do.”
Sounding bored, Trace asked, “Want me to take care of it?”
Murray nodded. “Yes, that will work. Take her shopping for a new wardrobe, and then make an appointment at the salon. Total do-over, Trace. Hair, makeup, waxing…” He gave a salacious smile. “Whatever she needs.”
Priss tried not to look as appalled as she felt.
Trace continued to look bored. “No problem.”
By way of dismissal, Murray said, “On your way out, stop by Alice’s desk and set the lunch appointment on my calendar.”
“Do you have a specific date in mind?”
Still holding Priss’s arm and giving her that very non-paternal appraisal, Murray shrugged. “Whenever I’m free after she’s had the work done.”
“Got it.”
Priss gaped at the autocratic management of her life. No one had even bothered to consult her. “Shopping?” She tried to sound appreciative. “That’s so…generous of you, but really, I don’t need—”