Page 79 of Merciless Heir

“That someone ain’t Sadie.”

I cross my legs and fold my hands and give her a cool look. “I don’t know who you are, Athena.”

The niceness falls away and her gaze turns hard. “Listen, bub,” she says, heavy on the mocking tone, “You invited yourself here. You followed the person you hired.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t strike me as the kind of man who hires people he thinks might steal from him.”

“Desperate times.”

I look about the room. Everything is tasteful, but nothing worth more than it should for a place like this. Lived in, cared for, but not full of riches. The lamp on the table catches my eye, along with the photo propped up.

The tiara.

“What? You don’t think a lady in her forties can recreate that?” She says this quietly and I swing my gaze back to her. She hasn’t seen forty in decades, but I keep that to myself.

“I think you very probably can.” I consider her. “Although the real thing would be better.”

She snorts. “So you say. But we don’t know where it is.”

“Maybe Sadie’s taken after her father.”

The woman’s face turns hard. “She has his talents, all right, but taking after him? Not on your pathetic pampered life.”

I nod. “And how do I know that?”

“I don’t care.” She crosses her arms. “That girl had a hard life. But that’s her story to tell—if she chooses. I will tell you this. She’s smart and has honor and she managed to have the courage to walk away from a life she could have embraced and lived on easy street as they say.”

“Sadie’s a pain in my ass and probably the smartest, trickiest person I’ve met.”

“So it’s true love, then,” she says.

The words are framed in sarcasm, but they hit me in the solar plexus with their quiet undertone, like she means it.

“Sorry, Athena. I don’t believe in love. It’s not part of my DNA.”

She nods. “Break her heart and I’ll break you. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t and it definitely doesn’t mean I won’t.”

“Are you…are you threatening me?” I can’t control the grin because as she nods, I like this woman. A lot.

“I believe I am making you a promise, Mr. Sinclair.”

“Sadie gets her ballsiness from you, then.”

“Hers is very much her own,” Athena says. “And Sadie’s tough, but there’s softness if you look. She’s also closed off, because she’s vulnerable. She never had… She’s worth it, if you give her a chance.”

“It’s a business relationship.”

One of her brows rise. “So business put those hickeys on her neck, then?”

Heat rushes my face. How she just managed to embarrass me like a teenager is beyond me, but I let it slide, because she’s looking at me like she’s got my number.

“I thought so. Now, do you want to sit there making a damn fool of yourself, or do you want to learn how I create fakes, and maybe try and weasel some more information about Sadie from me?”

I smile. “Now, how can I resist such an offer? Lead the way. I’m all yours.”

Athena didn’t tell me anything about Sadie that I didn’t know. Not in words. But there was a world in all the things she didn’t say as well as the seemingly insignificant things.

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