Page 70 of Pursued By My Grumpy Fiancé
Landon gives my hand three small squeezes before going and opening the door.
“Hello, Landon. I’m excited to hear what— Oh, hello, Hailey. I wasn’t aware you were going to be here for this meeting.” He shoots Landon a look.
“She insisted on being here, since it has to do with her too,” Landon says, his tone clipped and short.
Ivan looks between the two of us. Where Landon is standing completely blocks the front door, and it seems to be putting Ivan on edge.
“Why don’t we all sit down, get a little more comfortable?” I suggest.
Ivan eyes us suspiciously, but complies when he sees that Landon moves away from the door. My gut was right: He doesn’t want to feel trapped in here.
“So, let’s cut to the chase. Why were you trying to blackmail me, Ivan?” Landon says as soon as his behind hits the seat.
There’s no tact in the question, and I’m thankful he’s not a police officer. Who knows how many sting operations would go wrong based on his tone alone.
“Blackmail? Whoa, my friend, let’s not be hasty. I was simply proposing what I felt might benefit us.”
“Us?”
“Perhaps it would benefit me a little bit more.” Ivan flashes Landon a smarmy grin, and it takes everything within me not to sock him from the seat next to him.
“I fail to see how it would benefit anyone but you. You’d get a majority share in my company, and I’d lose my fiancée? In exchange for what? You not telling some dirty secret about my fiancée to the world?” Landon leans back in his chair and raises an eyebrow.
“Calm down, Landon. That’s not exactly what happened. It wasn’t intended to be blackmail in the least. I was merely telling you what I was going to do as a consequence of you not doing something. I like to think of it as more of a ‘courteous warning’.” Ivan crosses his arms over his chest and leans back in the chair, a smug look on his face.
“Hailey,” a voice sounds in my ear.
I nearly turn my head in that direction, which would potentially blow our cover.
“We need more than this. So far he’s not admitting to anything.”
It’s true. As of now, it’s just two tense men having a conversation while I watch. I need to get more involved. But how? I need Ivan to admit that he did it.
“You know, Ivan, I actually admire what you did.” I’m hoping my tone is sultry and sexy, instead of nervous, like I feel.
“What do you mean you ‘admire’ what I did?” He eyes me suspiciously.
I need to amp up the charm, or he’s never going to buy this F-grade improv.
“Well, there’s something so attractive about a man who knows what he wants and goes for it. I mean, it’s one thing to find information on people.” I throw a contemptuous look at Landon.
His face is puzzled—he hasn’t caught on yet. Good, maybe I can use that to my advantage.
Ivan’s eyes have shifted to Landon’s confused expression. Bingo. Ivan licks his lips and turns his gaze back at me, a new look in his eyes.
“It’s a whole other thing though,” I force myself to caress his arm, giving him my best bedroom eyes, “To actually use that information to get what you want. So many men are cowards, just holding back everything they learn, filing it away to never see the light of day again. Not you, though. You found out information about me, and immediately put it to good use. That is what you did, right? Told Landon to give you a majority share in Gould Holdings in exchange for you keeping my secret?”
My eyebrows shoot up in a way that I hope is seductive. Landon’s face is covered with fury, which is perfect, because it makes the charade believable.
“Hailey.” Landon’s tone is low, imbedded with warning.
“Landon, don’t silence the woman because you’re jealous,” Ivan says, tapping his fingers along my thigh.
I nearly jerk it out from under his hand.
“It’s a woman’s prerogative to be attracted to a man that actually takes action, instead of resting on his golden laurels.”
I giggle and run a hand through Ivan’s hair. My fingers get stuck in the curls, and the moment is uncomfortable while I untangle them.
