Chapter Two

Sitting in his den with the lights turned low, with a pleasant crackling sound coming from the fireplace, and the perfect cognac warming his belly, Blake stared out his window, though he saw nothing but black. It was quite fitting — since blackness was all he’d felt for so long, seeing it was almost soothing.

But a smile turned his lips up, if only a few millimeters, for tonight some of that blackness would fade. It wouldn’t disappear — it never would. But tonight he would have Jewell back. Hell, he’d own her outright, at least if he wanted her.

His driver looked at him grimly. “Everything was set up for a happy ending, boss, and you screwed it up.”

“I didn’t screw it up, dammit. And how dare you speak to me that way?” Blake growled.

“You can save your bark for someone who might actually be intimidated by it.”

The only reason Max Kane was still standing in Blake’s den instead of being thrown out onto the street was that the man had worked for him for the past ten years and had always been loyal and discreet. Blake trusted him. And that wasn’t something that could be said of very many people.

“I’ll have her back and I’ll know just what she is,” Blake said when Max didn’t change his stand.

“Didn’t that become obvious three months ago?” Max asked him.

“Yes — she was a liar and a whore. Just as all women turn out to be.”

“And when did she lie to you? She told you the truth about her brother. But you thought that was a lie,” Max pointed out. “And you drank yourself into oblivion for days.”

“Do I need to repeat myself, Max? She was a prostitute, out for what she could get. Yes, she gave me a sob story …”

“A story that checked out, boss.”

“Give me a break, Max. When I found out about her little brother, I was taken in for about ten minutes. I’ll bet that that whole scene with Justin at the pizza parlor was a setup. She had to know that she was being watched.”

“But you weren’t watching her anymore.”

“Look,” Blake said. “She lied by omission. And she owes me.”

Max ignored the end of that small speech. “Owes you for what?”

“Do you enjoy pissing me off?” Blake said. “I’ll focus on the services that I paid for and didn’t receive.”

“Seriously, Blake? You were the one who dumped her back at the agency before her time was up, so don’t try to get away with this crap. I’ve known you a long time, and though the rest of the world thinks you’re a total asshole, I’ve been privileged enough to see another side of you. But in what you said just now, you’re proving the world right about you.” Max exhaled in an exasperated rush, and he began pacing.

“Good,” Blake said. “This is who I am. If you don’t like it, Max, you know where the door is.”

“It would do you good if I walked out — you really need a kick in the posterior — but you know I won’t,” Max said before helping himself to a beer. “It’s a wonder I don’t drink a lot more working for you,” he added with a laugh, and he took a long swallow.

“When did it become okay for you to put down your boss?” Blake asked him.

“Oh, I’m not putting you down, sir. I’m only speaking the truth,” Max retorted.

Tension hung heavy in the room, and Blake’s heart was pounding, his every sense on high alert. The part of the auction that interested him was over. Jewell was soon to be delivered to her new apartment, and then he would see her.

She had no idea who had bid on her, no idea what was coming next. Excellent. That’s what he wanted, to keep her off-kilter. After their last night together, he could still taste the mint in the air, could still hear her gasps of pleasure, could still feel her body tightening around him. He’d tried, but he hadn’t been able to keep her from his thoughts. And then he’d found a reason to be with her again.

Finding out that she hadn’t been cheating on him, that she really did have a brother, had changed things for him in ways that would surprise a lot of people if they knew the whole story.

“Okay, Max, I can admit that she tried to tell me the truth and I shut her down. But still, Jewell and I have unfinished business. When our business is done, we will change our relationship — after we’ve both got what we want,” Blake said. “Does that sound more reasonable?”

“I think you’re lying to yourself, and I think you’re being more than a little irrational. This woman is more than you are making her out to be. Give her a chance and tell her the truth. Don’t continue to make her into the prostitute you have decided she is.”

“I don’t want to know her except as far as I have to. She’s a woman, and you know how I feel about women. Here’s what I want. I want her lying beneath me — or on top. I’m an equal-opportunity kind of guy,” Blake said with a smirk.

“You could have any woman you want lying in your bed. But it’s Jewell you want — that means something.”

Blake knew he was being unreasonable, but he wouldn’t confess it to anyone else. He wanted Jewell with a passion that he couldn’t explain. It was much easier if he played the bad guy. That he could justify. Actually caring for a woman was something he couldn’t accept. Anyone who did was a complete sap.

“I’ll repeat myself,” Max continued. “I think there’s more between you and Jewell than you’re ready to admit, and I won’t push you, but I will tell you to be careful. If you’re too cruel, you won’t stand a chance with her and you won’t like the way things end.”

“If I wanted counseling, I would seek out a professional,” Blake replied, and he looked at his watch for the hundredth time.

“Don’t worry; I throw in counseling services free of charge,” Max said with a grin.

“How about I pay you extra to keep your mouth shut?”

Max laughed. “You could try.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll soon grow weary of this woman, and then I’ll send her on her way — in my own time, and without advice from you or anyone else.”

“Who are you trying to convince here, boss? Me? Or just yourself?”

“I don’t have to convince anyone,” Blake said, “and I don’t have to justify myself.”

“If that’s true, why are you getting so upset?”

“I’m not upset, Max,” Blake shouted. In any normal building, the walls would have been shaking visibly.

“Whatever you say, boss. But if you want some real advice, set her free, and then see if she still wants to be with you.”

“Set her free? Have you gone bonkers, Max? I just paid a quarter of a million dollars for this woman.”

“So what? You have more money than any one person could ever possibly spend, and that bid counts as chump change to you. If you want to control her, go ahead and play this out any which way you want, but if you’re really interested in this woman and your other relationships, you’re going to have to change your strategy here.”

“I’m lost. What are you saying?” Blake followed Max’s lead and also began pacing the room. He shouldn’t even be listening to this, but he did have a lot of respect for his employee.

“Instead of owning her, offer her a job,” Max said. “Help her do the one thing she has been trying so hard to do.”

“A job?” Blake didn’t know what to think of his crazy driver now.

“Yes, a job. You have a lot of places where she could work. Give her a job,” Max said slowly.

“But she’s already mine.”

“For a month,” Max pointed out. “Are you so sure you can keep her after that?”

“No. I don’t need another employee, and I wouldn’t trust her to work for me anyway.”

When there was a long silence, Blake found himself wanting to waver. What if Max had some valid points? No. He didn’t. Of course he didn’t.

Max spoke again. “I’m going to get some paperwork done, boss. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.” He stood up and walked out of the room.

Blake sat back down, closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He wouldn’t need Max tonight. He would get to Jewell’s place on his own. He certainly didn’t want to see the knowing look on his employee’s face again, or to hear those maddening lectures.

Yes, he knew that if he told Max enough times to stop doing it, the guy would probably stop. But Max was the voice of reason for Blake when nothing else seemed to make sense. He didn’t want to silence the man. Well, maybe he wanted to silence him right now, and at any time when the subject was this woman. But overall, he needed one person he could talk to who wouldn’t hold anything back. And Max was no yes-man.

Though he’d spent only one week with Jewell, it had been a week that had affected him far more than he cared to admit, even to himself. The woman intrigued him, made him feel things he hadn’t ever felt before. But there was no way these feelings could last. He and she just had to play their story out, had to come to a satisfying ending. Once that happened — his hypothetical shrink would call it closure, no doubt — Blake would be able to let her go and rarely think of her again. He needed to let her go in order to do what needed to be done. In order to clear his conscience of what he’d already done.

He hadn’t realized quite how great her impact on him had been until he’d started driving away from Relinquish Control three months ago and had seen the door she’d gone through, now closed and fading away in his taillights. The sick feeling in his gut should have made him steer clear of ever seeing her again.

But then Max had come, and then he’d found out what he had found out, and his world had been spinning ever since. Blake shouldn’t have been doing this, shouldn’t have been playing with fire. But he was a fool, as so many men were, and he had to figure this woman out.

His father sure as hell had been the biggest fool of them all, and his weakness for a woman had cost him his life. Blake would never be that weak. It was why he was so determined to purge Jewell from his system, and purge her he would.

Still, there was a piece of him that knew that if he were to throw her away, it would ruin all his chances of making other relationships work. But he didn’t believe the story she had told him. She was as cold as he was, and he would prove that.

Or maybe both of them were just fated for damnation. He would soon find out.