Page 23 of Bargain with the Bachelor
The older woman ran her eyes up and down my body, making me shudder.
“And my, my… how you’ve grown up. You know I always told my stepdaughteryouwere the one to watch, but she’s such a silly—”
I interrupted Margot’s flirtation. “WhereisKristal tonight?”
Her Botox-ed eyebrows made a valiant attempt to draw together, and her over-filled lips pouted.
“How should I know? Anyway, as I was saying…”
I shrugged away from the long-taloned hand stroking the front of my jacket. “Don’t you live together?”
Apparently getting the message—finally—Margot straightened and lifted her lipo-suctioned chin.
“Not as of the past few weeks. I’ve decided to downsize. Who needs all that room anyway? Now I’m free to travel and not worry about running and maintaining a large household.Youmust be doing a lot of traveling.”
She smiled and stepped close again, renewing her transparent attempt to be seductive.
Ignoring her question, I pressed for information. “Where’s Kristal living then?”
“I don’t know,” Margot snapped, clearly annoyed now by my persistence and lack of response to her come-ons.
“I think she’s been staying with some friend or another… ‘couch-surfing,’ I believe the term is. All the kids are doing it these days. We grown-ups prefer more luxurious accommodations. I’ve got a yacht at the Eastport Bay Marina. It’s brand new andgorgeous. The master suite cabin is absolutely to die for.Enormousbed. You should stop by later and see it.”
I frowned in frustration. Margot had no idea where her stepdaughter was living. Kristal could be at a homeless shelter for all this woman cared.
“Sounds nice,” I said dismissively. “I see someone I need to speak to, if you’ll excuse me.”
It hadn’t been a lie. Ihadspotted someone I knew—and it might be exactly the person who could help me connect with Kristal.
Liam Paolini, the owner of the restaurant group that managed the Cliffhouse. The man had been a close friend of her father Richard, according to what Kristal had said.
I walked up and offered my hand. “Liam—Hunter Bestia. How are you, sir?”
Paolini smiled. “Ah, Hunter. Yes. Good to meet you. Congratulations on your company. You guys are making some big moves over at Billionaire Bachelor House.”
I laughed. “Billionaire Bachelor House? Sounds like some kind of reality show.”
“That’s what some of the locals are calling it now. I understand you’ve got kind of an early-days Facebook situation going on over there, and it might turn out to be just as big.”
“Not sure about that, but yes, it’s going well. We’re really happy the hard work seems to be paying off.”
My tone shifted to business. “Listen, I wonder if you could answer a question for me. I’m a friend of Kristal Bianco’s from school.”
That might have been overstating it—"admirer” was closer to the truth than “friend,” but I didn’t want to freak the guy out.
“I’m concerned about her. I saw the family home up for sale. I heard she’s working for you now?”
“Yeah, it’s a crying shame what’s become of Richard’s estate,” the guy said. “His wife drained the accounts dry after his stroke, and I talked to one of his law partners who said even his daughter’s trust was in trouble.”
My attention riveted to him, and my heart rate increased. “What do you mean?”
“Well, they’re looking into it, but apparently someone got ahold of the secure passwords and raided it. The entire account’s been liquidated, which means Kristal’s flat broke.”
Harry.He’d been Richard Bianco’s protégé and Kristal’s boyfriend. No doubt he knew all about the trust and probably had access to Richard’s computer at work.
“That’s awful. Do they know who did it?” I asked, seething inside.
Kristal’s boss shook his head. “Not sure. Last I heard the investigation was ongoing. Hopefully the poor kid will get what her father intended for her eventually—all he cared about was providing for his family. But cases like these can take years. In the meantime, she asked me for a job. She’s a hard-worker, that one, just like her dear old dad.”
