Into Temptation

by Jeanie London

  Lindy made a gagging sound, loud enough to draw the server’s attention. Dragging the napkin over her mouth, she spat out her nasty mouthful.

  “Foie gras. Looked like some sort of hummus.” She pulled a face then pointed to the trash bag. “May I, please?”

  “Vegan, don’t you know?” Joshua added, and she could see he fought back a smile.

  The server eyed them grimly and held out the bag. Stuffing the napkins deep in the debris, she hoped the regurgitated goose liver would deter anyone from inspecting the mess.

  “Thanks ever so much.”

  The server took off, and once he was out of earshot, Joshua laughed, a deep lustrous sound that sent prickles through her.

  “I assume that device you took from the hall just made an exit.”

  She only smiled, which he clearly took to mean yes.

  “Nicely done, Lindy. Inventive, clever and clean. I believe the owner of that device is in your debt.”

  “I certainly hope so.”

  “Do you?”

  She retrieved her flute and fought the urge to gargle away the nasty taste. “I do.”

  “Why?”

  Lindy considered her answer while considering the man. Cool, yet curious. Displaying the exact right mix of persistent and pushy. She appreciated how fine a line that was.

  “I want something from you.”

  “What?”

  Deciding that nothing short of a toothbrush would clean away the aftertaste, Lindy relinquished her champagne flute. “Let’s find some place private.”

  He didn’t hesitate but led her away from the buffet. They made their way through the crowds, forced to stop several times as he greeted acquaintances. He was as charming as his profile suggested, and as he introduced her to people he’d obviously socialized with before, she observed how this man had become so successful at running his game.

  He was likable and knew exactly how to place people at ease. Some he let lead the conversation. With others he directed. He was a veritable social chameleon, and that was a skill Lindy knew came in handy.

  They ultimately wound up inside the bisected glass walls of a timeline display of classical Grecian antiquities, and she glanced around as Joshua led her forward.

  “Perfect.” They would be able to hear approaching guests before being happened upon.

  “So you’re finally going to end my suspense?” Folding his arms across his chest, Joshua eyed her expectantly.

  “From what I’ve heard, you like suspense.”

  “Heard from whom?”

  “My agency.”

  “MI6?”

  Lindy feigned a pout. “You guessed?”

  “Simple arithmetic.”

  A man with Joshua’s specialized skills would recognize hers. From there her accent would make an equation of two plus two equaling an answer that wouldn’t be difficult to guess.

  “What does your agency want with me, Lindy?”

  Rising up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, she pressed so close that her breasts brushed his arm.

  “We don’t actually want you.”

  He inhaled, a sound that was the second honest reaction she’d gotten from him tonight.

  Their kiss had been very honest.

  “What do you want then?”

  “We want Renouf. We want you to give us everything you have on him.”

  “If I had anything on him, why would I give it to you?”

  “Because…” She let her words trail off for dramatic effect. “My agency can provide you with a new identity and a well-heeled life outside the organized crime world.”

  3

  RIGHT UP FRONT Joshua saw problems with Lindy’s offer. All of them his. Staring into her eyes—into green and gold lights sparkling in the glow of the Classical Antiquities display—he tried to guess the thoughts behind her mysterious gaze.

  Lindy had to be playing him. MI6 couldn’t easily extricate him from his world. Men like Henri were not only meticulous at choosing their associates, but also at eliminating them when they no longer served a purpose. Joshua had made himself invaluable so elimination never became an issue.

  Lindy made her deal sound like a one-off, but a new identity meant paying for the privilege. MI6 might start with wanting everything Joshua had on Renouf, but there would always be someone else they wanted information on. And they would know he had the resources to get them what they wanted.

  Joshua had no illusions about how government agencies operated, and they weren’t squeamish about breaking the rules. Especially intelligence agencies. They conducted as many illegal operations as the bad guys, but frankly, Renouf and his associates paid better.

  Which was Joshua’s next problem with the deal.

  Until he discovered exactly what MI6 had on him, he wouldn’t know how to handle Lindy.

  The fact that she’d shown up at this function proved she knew more than she should. How much more remained the question.

  “What makes you think I know Renouf?” he asked.

  She gave a sultry smile. “I’m having déjà vu. Didn’t we have this conversation in the hall?”

  “Where you failed to prove complicity on my part.”

  “I wasn’t trying to prove complicity. I was proving a point. Several actually.”

  “I got the obvious. You’re following me, and you’re clearly not just a pretty lady in a fancy dress. What did I miss?”

  “The olive branch. I solved your little problem to prove I was acting in good faith.”

  “What does your agency want with Renouf?”

  “We believe he has been funding the thefts of various relics from British museums and Royal residences. We’ve found connections that go back decades. The man’s a menace. An extremely dangerous one.”

  “I’ll have to take your word.”

  Lindy only smiled.

  Great. This was a no-win situation if ever he’d seen one. Renouf was obsessed with expanding his private art collection, and Britain had every right to be pissed about its lost relics. Joshua was caught squarely between them—he even had the White Star burning a hole in his pocket to prove it. While not originally a British relic, the amulet had spent a good century in England.

  “Answer a question,” he said. “If you think I can connect you to Renouf, why did you choose tonight to make contact?”

  “I received a tip you were coming to town to conduct business here in Manhattan.”

  He’d have loved to know where that tip had come from. “Business at the museum? Were you thinking entrapment?”

  She shook her head, sending wisps of light-brown hair around her cheeks and neck. He could see the pulse beat low in her throat, the tempo steady. Whatever else might be happening, he wasn’t rattling Lindy, which meant she thought she had the upper hand.

  “Why tonight?”

  “All right.” She exhaled a tiny sigh that closed the distance between them. “I’ve been briefed on you, Joshua, and I have to admit I’m impressed. You’ve led me on a merry chase since I started following you.”

  He couldn’t tell if she thought he’d known he was being tailed. He hadn’t, unfortunately.

  “So what did I do to lead you on a merry chase?”

  “Well, tracking you to the Piazza Hotel wasn’t any trouble, of course. But you spent your first day in town inside the hotel. I couldn’t get close to you while you were inside your room, but there was that lunch in the bar. You took a call on your cell phone. A secured line.”

  She must have seen something in his expression because she waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t look so surprised. I happen to be very thorough.”

  Damn straight. “How did you know I’d be here tonight?”

  “You came out of your room today.”

  He swallowed back a relieved breath. His first day in town had been spent arranging to have the White Star stolen from a police precinct property room, so Lindy had missed all the good stuff. Today he’d only arranged social events with acquaintances in an effort to legit
imize his visit and provide cover for the White Star’s delivery.

  “You followed me today.” Not a question. Let her think he was playing the game so she couldn’t confirm whether or not he’d known about his tail.

  “Right to Lily Covington’s co-op. From there it was two plus two and all that. Since I know why you’re in town, I figured you were likeliest to take delivery during some busy social function. It seems to be your MO. I’m prepared to follow you wherever you go for however long it takes.”

  Two things struck Joshua in that instant—that she claimed to know his business and that she thought he had an MO—something he’d worked hard not to establish.

  “Take delivery? What do you think I’ve come to collect?”

  “The White Star.”

  He was too skilled to reveal his surprise, but with the amulet in discussion suddenly weighing heavily inside his pocket, Joshua felt the confines of this display—and this museum—as if the walls were closing in.

  No matter how attracted he was to this woman, Joshua had zero reason to trust her.

  Forcing a manner of calm he wasn’t close to feeling, he said, “Okay, Lindy. Obviously you think you have something, and you do—my attention. But I’m a businessman with connections to most of the people attending this event. Would you mind continuing this conversation elsewhere?”

  “Not at all.”

  He didn’t say another word while leading her from the gallery, without even bothering to pay his respects to Lily Covington. He’d send a gift tomorrow to make up for the slight, but right now he needed to clear his head and collect his thoughts to deal with the problem at hand.

  The lovely lady strolling along by his side.

  She was obviously very confident in her ability to defend herself because she left the museum and took to the streets with that pulse still keeping even time in her throat.

  Of course, if MI6 had a file on him then she had backup—if anything happened to her, he would be the likeliest suspect.

  Amazing how he could feel so hemmed in on all sides in such a huge city. Ironically, tonight was one of those classic New York nights from the movies. Lights from a million windows sparkled beneath a low-hung moon that cast the city in a star-drenched sheen.

  Joshua remembered his first visit to New York—the clichéd kid from the sticks who’d been overwhelmed and impressed by everything. He could still recollect that first trip down Fifth Avenue…and the definitive moment when he’d decided to turn his life around. Ironic that he’d be back in the same city where he’d made that life-altering decision.

  So how much of his career had MI6 documented?

  Joshua had worked with many powerful men, but he’d allied himself exclusively to Renouf over the past few years for one simple reason—Henri had proven himself the most disciplined.

  Joshua admired the man’s skill as a strategist and appreciated his caution. Those qualities had earned his respect, and in a career where risk was the name of the game, Henri’s qualities had lessened those risks dramatically.

  Until now, at least.

  Joshua had honestly never expected to hear Henri’s name pop out of Lindy Gardner’s pretty mouth. Not that he would let her see his surprise. She already had enough of an advantage without him helping her out.

  “Tell me about the White Star,” he asked as they passed under a street lamp.

  “I was hoping you’d tell me.”

  “To do that I’d have to know something about it.”

  “Back to complicity again?”

  “So it would seem.”

  “Do you deny knowing Henri Renouf?”

  “I’m a businessman, Lindy. So is Henri. We’ve done business from time to time. No mystery there. Don’t tell me you didn’t know that already.”

  She shrugged, keeping her secrets as close as he kept his. The light of a street lamp bathed her in a golden glow, another glimpse of this woman he suspected wore many guises, the woman who had changed his life.

  No matter how this situation played out, Lindy had changed everything with her investigation. An international tail, even a gorgeous one, was the kiss of death to a man in his position.

  Checking his pace, Joshua switched direction. The Starbucks on the corner was still serving coffee at this hour, but he found himself lured by the night quiet and the sight of the stars glimmering overhead.

  Leading Lindy to a nearby bus stop, he motioned to a bench and waited until she sat before settling beside her. He hooked his hands on his knees and stared into the street.

  “Why did they assign you this case?” he asked.

  “Because I’m good.”

  That much he knew already. Lindy sure as hell shouldn’t have known where to find him tonight. Not when he hadn’t even known where he’d take delivery until after visiting Lily Covington this afternoon.

  Lindy shouldn’t have known he’d be in New York.

  As frequently happened in his business with Henri, the situation with the White Star had arisen unexpectedly. A call on a secure line had signaled Joshua that an acquisition had gone bad in the States, which had come as a surprise.

  Henri had worked with Jean Allard before, and the thief had always proven efficient and reliable. Perhaps there was something to the White Star’s curse after all.

  Allard had been cursed—by old-fashioned greed.

  He’d held on to the amulet and upped his price. Henri had promptly sent in a hit man to deal with the thief. Then he’d sent Joshua to retrieve the amulet.

  “What exactly do you want to know about the White Star?” Lindy asked.

  “Anything you can tell me.”

  “It’s an interesting piece. I’d never heard of it before. Seemed a little tame for Renouf, so when we got word he was connected to its theft from a high-end auction house, I wasn’t convinced my intel was accurate.”

  “What convinced you?”

  “You did.”

  Joshua responded with a noncommittal nod. “You’re not accusing me of stealing, are you?”

  “Of course not. The local authorities found the thief floating in the East River. They’re calling his death a random murder. You and I know better, don’t we?”

  “Do we?”

  She nodded patiently. “We do. The White Star’s theft went pear-shaped, and you’re here to pretty things up so the trail doesn’t lead from the thief to the man who hired him—Renouf.”

  “Are you accusing me of murder?”

  “Your arrival doesn’t coincide with the time of death, so you’re out of the running for that crime.”

  “How convenient for me.”

  “Very.” Her sultry eyes narrowed and she grew tense around the edges. “What I don’t know is where the White Star is now. The local authorities obtained the amulet from the bank’s security guard, but it seems to have disappeared from the precinct property room, where it was being held as evidence. I’ve questioned the officer associated with the case. He doesn’t have a clue. But you’re here, Joshua, so I did the math. Your appearance summed up the situation nicely.”

  Unfortunately, it did, which meant this woman wasn’t bluffing. “Why do you think Henri Renouf wants the White Star if it’s not his typical fare?”

  “You tell me. You know the guy.”

  Joshua didn’t expect the question, didn’t expect her to admit she didn’t know. Lindy wasn’t playing this game the way he would expect an agent to play, and that kept throwing him. Her deal threw him—whether it was real or a double play. And then there was the disappointment he felt because she was turning his life upside down to get to Henri.

  Would he rather she had chased him down that hallway because she’d been interested in him?

  The thought almost made him laugh. He wasn’t normally sentimental. But this woman seated beside him provided a very beautiful reminder that tonight wasn’t normal by any stretch.

  “I don’t know why Henri Renouf would want the White Star,” he said. “I don’t really care. I’m more interested in
knowing why you think I’m involved in all this.”

  She turned to face him. The light spilled onto her features, detailing her mouth and reminding him of the way she’d felt against him when they’d kissed.

  “Took me days to brief on you,” she admitted wryly.

  “Is that a long time?”

  She nodded. “Had to wade through a boatload of circumstantial evidence from MI6, Interpol and a few other international agencies you’ve probably heard of.”

  “When did they start looking at me?”

  “About six months ago.”

  They’d been an active six months. Joshua had masterminded the heist of a classical manuscript in Vienna and fixed situations on three continents. In between, he’d helped design and approved the blueprints on one jewel of a boat.

  “What if you’ve got the wrong man, Lindy? I told you I’ve done occasional business with Renouf. What’s to stop me from picking up the telephone and making a courtesy call?”

  She didn’t flinch, and her confidence impressed him. “I don’t have the wrong man.”

  “What if I refuse to cooperate?”

  “I’m authorized to threaten you. I can bring you in and use our evidence to build a case against you.”

  “Think you have enough to prosecute?”

  “No. Just enough to trash your reputation and drive you underground. My agency is hoping you’d rather deal than live as an international fugitive.”

  A slave to MI6 or a life on the run.

  “Mmm. That’s a tough one. I thought you said the whole point was not letting Renouf know you’re interested in him.”

  She laughed. “Ideally. In my business, we don’t always achieve the ideal. You’re our best-case scenario. We’ve devoted a lot of man hours to tracking your movements over the past six months. If you won’t deal then we move on to plan B—eliminating you from the game. You’re valuable to Renouf. It’ll take him time to replace you. That will shake things up, slow down operations and make him more vulnerable. We’ll flush out someone else who’s willing to talk.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got all the angles covered.”