Page 32 of Dangerous Temptation
He walked to the desk and picked up the book that lay open next to his laptop. ‘Is this what you were looking for?’
She tilted her head to read the title. ‘Yes,’ she said in surprise. It was an advanced book on macroeconomics. What was he doing with it? ‘But I can wait if you’re using it.’
His grey stare bored into her for a moment longer than was comfortable. At last, he closed the pages with a snap. ‘I was getting nowhere with it. Maybe you can explain it to me.’
Her jittery insides cooled. Explain market behaviour and trading philosophies to a white-collar criminal who’d secretly managed to rig the entire system?
‘I somehow doubt that,’ she said flatly.
This was the home office of a billionaire entrepreneur. A software magnate and a perpetrator of a Ponzi scheme whose spider webs were continuing to be found weaving throughout society. There wasn’t much that this man didn’t understand or couldn’t master.
Was this where he and his grandfather had come up with the plan?
She took the book and clutched it to her chest. Her jaw set as she looked about the room. The office furniture was made of glossy cherrywood, and the chairs were that same luxurious leather, only deep red. Wall clocks kept track of various time zones around the world. Two monitors sat on the desk in front of the laptop she’d seen in the garden the other day – along with that red spiral-bound notebook. It was opened next to where the book had been, and a pen had been dropped haphazardly on top of it. Whatever notes had been written were scratched out in a cloud of black ink.
‘You already taught me more about the subject than my professor.’ She tapped on the photograph on the back of the hardcover book. ‘And he wrote the book.’
Alex’s face changed subtly, going first to anger. She could see it in the spark in his grey eyes, but it was forcibly dampened. The easygoing charm hardened, but his face went blank. She saw a muscle pulsing in his jaw, an impromptu expression that he couldn’t control. She watched that tiny muscle clench, knowing that it connected with deep emotions. She knew because she’d encountered them, up close and personal.
She took a step back towards the door.
‘Wait.’ His voice was controlled but authoritative. ‘There’s something else you wanted to see.’
Elena watched suspiciously as he went to the side wall, the one that separated the office from his bedroom. ‘You were curious about the situation on the road,’ he said as he picked up a remote. ‘I have a live video feed from my security team.’
For the first time, she noticed the televisions that were arranged on the wall. Pushing a series of buttons, he brought them to life. The footage was black and white, but it clearly showed the main road. The wolf’s head on the front gate was displayed as one camera panned to the left.
Yet that wasn’t what made her stomach turn.
She’d been so focused on the danger inside that fence, she’d forgotten what was lurking outside. ‘So many?’ she gasped. ‘But it’s been over a week.’
Hugging the book tighter, she moved closer to see. The road was packed with news vans. Some call-signs she recognised; others she didn’t. They were parked back-to-back along the side of the remote two-lane road.
‘They’re curious if I’m going to make an appearance at the Wolfe Financial board meeting later this month.’
Elena couldn’t stop staring at the multiple screens. ‘Are you?’
She couldn’t imagine fighting her way through that horde.
He shrugged. ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I’d be more tempted to go to the Wolfe Pack company lunch on Friday.’
She mulled that over, along with the fact that he was sharing such information with her. Wolfe Financial was the blue-blood investment corporation the Wolfe family had run for generations. The Wolfe Pack was the financial software company he’d created on his own in his early twenties, the breakout SaaS startup that had become a worldwide phenomenon.
Why tell her such a thing? Was it a test? She had a phone. All those news vans would gobble up even that little piece of information, and it might lead them away long enough that she could make her escape.
She rejected the idea before it had even fully formed. He’d offered her protection, and it had been an honest olive branch. She knew that in her gut. She couldn’t offer him any less in return, not under these circumstances. He was right. They were unwitting allies in this. They’d both chosen the same spot in this grown-up game of hide-and-seek. They needed to make room for one another.
He flicked a switch and the monitors went black. The loss of the two-dimensional world brought her back to the office with the real, three-dimensional man beside her. He folded his arms over his chest. Even in his dress clothes, she could see the strength in the movement, the power of his body. ‘That’s why I stopped you from hiking up near the gate.’
She bit her lip. If that mob had caught even the slightest glimpse of her …
‘Is there enough security to keep them out?’ she asked.
‘I’ve hired the firm that normally does my security detail when I’m in the city. They’re the best, and they’ve been made aware there’s a beautiful brunette on the premises.’
Elena felt her cheeks heat. Just when she thought she’d gotten her head on straight about him, he had to remind her why being at such close quarters wasn’t a good idea.
‘They’ll give you your space, but they’ll protect you. If you stay close to the lake and the houses, you’ll never even see them.’
