“No,” she said. “I mean, yes. I mean, do whatever you like with Sean. I think he’s great. If you don’t employ him, I might.”
“And?” Finn prodded.
“And, you mentioning him moving east made me think.” She took another pause, but Finn had already made the mental leap as well, and didn’t push her to continue. His heart was suddenly rising into his throat, making conversation a bit difficult.
She looked at him fully then. “If we’re to…proceed, you and I, once this is over, what would you want? I mean, have you thought about that at all?”
“Not really,” he admitted. “There hasn’t been much time for that.” He smiled then. “I was too busy trying to get you to even contemplate the idea, to allow myself to stretch the fantasy out much beyond that.”
“Fantasy,” she repeated. “Of course, then you thought I dabbled on the wrong side of the law for kicks, so perhaps it was wise to hedge your bets on any future happening between us.”
“Clearly it didn’t slow me down any, but I will admit it was the one part I couldn’t make jibe with the rest of you.”
“It never occurred to you that I might be working in some way?”
“You danced all around it, and gave enough clues, but no, never once did I fathom you were really a secret—”
She covered his mouth and jerked a nod toward the cabbie.
“Right,” he said. “Sorry. I thought maybe you’d gotten in over your head in something that walked the line and had maybe stepped over. That’s why I offered to help.”
“But you weren’t certain of that. You honestly thought I was just in it for the sheer thrill.”
He tipped his head. “I didn’t know. Not for sure.”
“And yet—”
“Yeah,” he said. “And yet. My instincts are rarely wrong about a person. I just told myself to be patient until I had all the facts, and then I could decide. Other parts were already well on their way to making up their minds, however, and—”
“I’m well aware of what parts those would be,” she said dryly.
He took her hand and placed it on his chest. “Those weren’t the parts I was referring to,” he said quite seriously.
Her eyes raised to his, then widened as she looked from her hand, her palm spread over his heart, back up to his face. “Oh.”
“Oh,” he repeated.
“Well.”
He grinned. “Well, indeed.”
She smiled then, too, while still looking a bit stunned. “Your accent really does need a bit of work.”
“Perhaps when we’re in London, you can help me with a bit of private tutoring.”
“When we’re in London?”
“I thought maybe you’d want company escorting Reese back.” He lifted a hand. “Not that I don’t think you’re perfectly capable. But I was also thinking that if it’s okay with you, I’d like to be present to mount my own defense when you tell your chain of command about us.”
She just sat there and stared at him, as if unable to grasp everything he was saying.
“You don’t have to decide now, just—”
“We’re here,” the cabbie loudly interrupted. “Forsythe Gallery.”
Felicity darted a look at the cabbie, then back to Finn. She looked…poleaxed, for lack of a better word.
“So, maybe some things I did think about,” he said, by way of explanation. “We’ll talk later.”
“Yeah,” she said, the word coming out a little choked. “Later.”
Finn’s smile faded. “Don’t backpedal on me. I know I move in leaps, and you—”
“No,” she said quickly, having to clear her throat. “Leaping’s not all bad. I just…I’ll catch up. You…caught me off guard. No one has ever—”
“You all gonna pay me or what?” the cabbie said. “Time is money, you know.”
“We know,” Finn said, then paid the man and opened his door. He slid out and then reached in for Felicity’s hand, helping her out after him. “Maybe no one has ever,” he said to her after the cab had pulled away and he’d stepped into her personal space. “But I do. And I can’t imagine ever stopping. I’m…incorrigible that way.” He slid his hand under the hair on her neck and tipped her mouth up to his. “As long as that’s okay with you…”
“It is,” she said softly, then lifted up on her toes to close the gap, kissing him first.
Because that’s what great partners do, he thought. And returned her kiss.
There was a quiet clearing of a throat just behind them, and Finn turned to find Sean standing about five feet away, hat in his hands. “Sorry to interrupt, sir, but I thought you’d want to know. Ms. Forsythe is leaving.” He turned and pointed to a dark-haired young woman standing in the open doorway to the gallery, having a conversation with someone still inside. She was wearing large, dark sunglasses, brown slacks, and matching fitted jacket, with a long, brightly colored silk scarf around her neck.
“She knows how to dress,” Felicity murmured. “Vera’s Lavender label, and Hermes. The bag and briefcase are both Coach, if I’m not mistaken.”
“I’ll trust you on that,” Finn said. “Thank you, Sean.”
The driver nodded, then stepped back over to the limo, several yards away.
“Show time,” Felicity said, then took a deep breath and started off down the stone walkway leading to the front stairs.
“Wait,” Finn said, lifting a hand, but she was already beyond his reach. “We should discuss—what are you—”
But Felicity was already skipping up the steps, arms outstretched. “Why, Julia, darling!”
Finn just smiled at Sean, who nodded and lifted a brawny shoulder in return, as if to say, “What are you gonna do?” Finn turned back to Felicity and decided what he was going to do was follow her lead.
Julia had been speaking to a slender man in a very nicely tailored suit, standing just inside the door. She turned in obvious surprise at the sound of Felicity’s voice. Finn was several steps behind her, but didn’t interfere.
Felicity kept on going up the stairs and straight into Julia’s personal space, air-kissing both cheeks, then leaning back to take her in, as if thrilled to see her. “Finally, we meet!” she said, all sparkling eyes and cheery smiles. “And who might this be?”
“Francois Benetton,” the young man said, his accent quite heavily French. He was smiling uncertainly, clearly unsure how he should behave around the sudden intruder, but he swiftly took in Finn, and the limo at the curb, and erred on the side of caution. “I’m the manager here at Forsythe Gallery.” He extended his hand, and when Felicity went to take it, he took hers instead and kissed the back of it.
Felicity gave a delighted laugh and even managed a blush. “Quite the charmer,” she said in an aside to Julia.
At Julia’s frown, she quickly went on. “Oh, my, you don’t know who I am. It’s Felicity Jane, darling. Trent. From the Trent Foundation.” She glanced back at Francois. “We’ve been setting up a Foundation grant to help Julia with some of the underprivileged artists in the area.” She turned back to Julia. “Perhaps you didn’t get my message, about arriving today? Anyway,” she went on, as Julia watched her in stunned silence, so overwhelmed by The Felicity Show that she hadn’t even glanced past her to Finn, much less the limo waiting at the curb behind him. “We’re all set for dinner, and I’ve brought my own ride, as you can see.”
She waved at Sean, who gave a little wave back. Then she appeared to remember that Finn was right behind her. “Oh, silly me, jet lag.” She pulled Finn up a step. “This is Finn Dalton; he’ll be handling all the legal details.” She leaned in closer to Julia and whispered. “Former district attorney, but honestly, he’s so lovely, who cares about his credentials, right?” She laughed gaily and put her hand on Julia’s arm, then glanced briefly again between her and Francois. “Are you all set to go? I don’t want to intrude on gallery business.” She turned her attention back to Julia, sincere concern etched on her face now. “I heard about the fire.
Dreadful business, that.” She glanced between them again. “You’ve probably been tied up all day with the officials.”
Julia had frozen at the mention of the fire, and Francois was frowning now, too.
Felicity took advantage of the moment and began to steer Julia toward the steps. “Well, you’ll enjoy a nice dinner all the more, then. But we really must go.” She glanced back at Francois. “Sorry to dash off, darling. I’ll be sure to get the entire tour later on. It was a pleasure meeting you. I’ve heard such wonderful things.”
Francois was still frowning, but smiled briefly at the compliment.
She turned her attention back to Julia. “We’ve a bit of a dash to make. Our reservations were hard won, despite my best wheedling, and I’m afraid if we’re late they’ll give our table away.”
Julia started to say something, but Felicity slipped her arm through hers and steered her down the stairs. “I understand The Loft is the best place in town.”
Finn was still facing them, and he didn’t miss the sudden pause in Julia’s motion, or the way she almost tripped down the next step.
Finn moved forward and took Julia’s arm. “Watch your step there.” He smiled at her. “Everything okay? You do like The Loft, right? Felicity mentioned it was one of your favorites.”
He was close enough now to see her eyes through the dark sunglasses. She wasn’t at all happy with what was going on, that much was clear, but with her manager standing in the doorway, and her unexpected guests knowing a hell of lot more about her than she did about them, she let them shuffle her along.
Finn gave a brief wave to a nonplussed Francois, who waved back more automatically than anything.
Sean opened the door with a flourish and nodded at Julia as she approached. “Evening, ma’am.”
Julia just stared at him. Then Felicity slid in, and Finn gently pushed down Julia’s shoulders, more or less putting her into the car behind Felicity without appearing to manhandle her. “Mind your head,” he said. Then he climbed in behind them and nodded at Sean, who closed the door.
The instant it clicked, Julia exploded. “What in the bloody hell is going on? Who are the two of you, and what in God’s name do you think you’re doing?”
Felicity and Finn’s mouths both dropped open in shock. “You’re English,” Felicity said, unnecessarily, but echoing Finn’s thoughts exactly.
Julia just gaped at them, then lunged for the door.
“Don’t be hasty,” Finn said, regrouping quickly and blocking her exit with a well-placed arm.
“You can’t keep me against my will. And if you think I’m going to quietly accompany you anywhere, much less out to dinner—”
“We just want to ask you a few questions,” Felicity said quietly. “About the sapphire. And John Reese.”
Julia had been all set to argue, but that caught her up short. She sat perfectly still and looked between the two of them, clearly uncertain on how best to proceed. “Who are you?”
“We know you flew out here with John, from New York City. We know which hotel you were in there, even which room.”
Her defiant pose lasted another moment; then her shoulders dipped slightly as she leaned back in her seat. “How?” she asked, her tone still defensive, even if her posture said otherwise.
“We’re not the police, or from any American law enforcement agency,” Felicity assured her.
“Meaning you are associated with a different one?” She glanced between them. “You seemed rather surprised I was English.”
“How do you know John?” Felicity countered.
“Old friends.”
“And occasional business partners, as well?”
“Legitimately. Is there a problem with that?”
“What happened with the sapphire?” Finn asked.
She looked at him. “John sent you, didn’t he?” Then she looked back at Felicity, her eyebrows lifting. “You’re the ones who spooked the deal in New York, aren’t you?”
“Did you sell it?” Finn persisted.
“How about you answer a question for every one I answer?”
Finn had thought they’d be dealing with a novice, and that perhaps, their joint appearance would be enough to fluster her into telling them whatever they wanted to know. The woman sitting across from him was no novice. He really needed to confer with Felicity, but unfortunately, there was no way to make that happen. “What was the plan in coming out here?” he asked, wanting to ask her about Chesnokov directly, but not wanting to give away everything they knew. “Who was the new buyer?”
“Has it already changed hands?” Felicity asked. “Or did the fire last night slow that down?”
She studied them both, but didn’t answer.
Finn noted that she didn’t accuse them of setting the fire, which meant it either hadn’t occurred to her yet, or she already knew who was responsible.
They pulled up to the restaurant entrance.
“I’m not going in there,” Julia stated. “I don’t think you want a scene, and I can promise you a big one.”
Finn’s attention strayed beyond Julia, through the rear window. “Well, as it happens, that won’t be necessary.” He waited a beat, then lowered his window. “Reese.”
Julia startled, as did Felicity, both of them swiveling and jerking their gazes toward the side window. Finn glanced at his watch and noted that Reese had arrived ahead of his scheduled dinner reservation. Which meant he could have simply arrived early…or he could have been watching the gallery himself and followed them here.
“Care for a ride?” Finn asked. Then he lowered the window farther, allowing Reese to see who was in the car with them.
Reese stilled for a split second, then stared into the car. Finn wasn’t certain, but if looks could be lethal, there was a good chance Ms. Forsythe would no longer be with them.
“Don’t allow him in here,” Julia hissed. “You don’t know what you’re doing. I’ll talk, but tell your driver to pull away. Now!”
But it was too late. Finn had no idea what the full ramifications were going to be, having them all in such a confined space. But he did know that one way or the other, they weren’t exiting the limo until he had a hell of a lot more information than he did right now.
“Hello, Julia,” Reese said, quite coolly, as he opened the door. “Miss Trent.”
Finn slid over to make room, which left the men facing the women.
Julia tried to get out again, but this time it was Reese who blocked her way. “It’s time, don’t you think?”
Now it was her turn to stare daggers at him. “Time for what, exactly? Time to be falsely accused of betraying my own country? I hardly think it will ever be time for that, thank you very much.” She sat heavily back in her seat and folded her arms, looking quite defiant.
Finn and Felicity shared a look, which told Finn she was thinking exactly what he was thinking. Julia was MI-8’s target, not Reese. But then, why had they directed her to bring Reese home? Or Home, as the case may be? Unless they were all spies.
And since Felicity had unknowingly linked Reese to Julia in her requests for information, they’d decided to pull Reese in to get him to turn on Julia. It still didn’t explain the whereabouts of the sapphire, or why, specifically, they’d wanted it in the first place.
Finn smiled, and scanned the lot of them, focusing especially on Julia and Reese, then made a gut decision and went with it. “So, everyone here who doesn’t work for MI-8 raise your hand.” He raised his, and was met with a steely gaze, a shaded one, and Felicity, who simply looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. “I just thought we might as well get past all the posturing and prancing.” He lowered his hand. “The way I see it, we four are the only ones who control what happens next, to whom, and where. So, I suggest we all put everything we have on the table and see what’s what. That is, unless, one of us is guilty of treason, and then, well, I’m afraid it’s bad news for you. Three against one, your odds of not paying the piper aren’t looking too great.
” He leaned back and parroted Julia and Reese by folding his arms. “In which case, you might as well fess up anyway. So…who wants to go first?”
Chapter 22
Felicity stared at Finn as if she’d never seen him before. And maybe she hadn’t. Not clearly anyway. She couldn’t believe he’d just taken the information she’d held so dear, that she’d shared with him in absolute secrecy, and outed her right in front of the very people who were suspected of betraying their own country. Her country. She wanted to demand what in bloody hell he’d been thinking, but just then, he winked at her. As if to say, “Trust me, go along with it.”
Well, it was one thing to expect him to go along with her little charade in front of the gallery, but he’d just exposed her and jeopardized not only her future with MI-8, but possibly her future drawing breath. Treason wasn’t exactly a mild offense.
She glanced quickly to John and Julia, to see if they’d picked up on Finn’s signal, but they were still both quite wrapped up in glaring at each other.
She could only hope he had some grand scheme in mind that would make all this okay in the end. But, for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine what that could possibly be.
“No one? Okay, then I’ll go first.” Finn pressed the intercom button. “A nice sightseeing tour, if you don’t mind.” The limo pulled smoothly away from the front of the restaurant and back into the flow of traffic. Finn settled back and propped an ankle on the opposite knee. “So, the way I see it, there is a marionette operator pulling strings, maybe multiple operators, and you guys are the puppets.”
Reese shifted in his seat to stare at Finn, but his expression was unreadable now. There was no doubt, however, that he was paying attention. As, Felicity noted with a quick glance, was Julia. Felicity turned her attention back to Finn as well. What had he figured out that she hadn’t?
“Given the fact that you each have relatively high profile, alternate careers, I’m guessing you’re all part-time puppets, brought on stage when you have something of specific value to offer.” He looked at her and smiled a genuine smile. “Felicity was fortunate enough to be born a Trent, which gives her entrée into a realm of society barred to most people. Then there is her Foundation work, which opens doors on every level, on every continent. She moves comfortably through these worlds with grace and elegance, and no one would ever suspect that in addition to dedicating her life to helping those less fortunate, she also moonlights on occasion, lending a hand to her government on some rather…delicate missions.”
The Black Sheep and the English Rose Page 29