introductions? I was just on the point of letting this young woman know who I am."
He waited, daring her to change her approach now. Talia could sense the challenge in him. She had started this and he was intent on making her finish.
"Of course," she agreed, refusing to let him intimidate her. Hadn't she just faced down an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? "Karen, this is Kane Sebastian, a… friend of mine."
"How do you do, Mr. Sebastian." Karen nodded eagerly, blue eyes clearly approving. "As you can see," she added with a light laugh, "Miss Haywood is free now. Go on in!"
"Thanks." Kane tossed her an engaging grin and turned expectantly toward Talia.
There really was no option, Talia thought sadly. Head high, the smile still firmly in place, she led the way into her office.
As soon as he had stepped past her, she closed the door with the tiniest of slams and leaned back against it, eyeing him vengefully as he swept the small, plain office with a curious gaze.
"All right, Kane. What do you want?"
He walked over to her window and peered out. There was no sweeping panorama ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
as he enjoyed from his high-rise building. A.M.D. occupied a second floor suite of offices and classrooms.
"I came to see you, naturally." He glanced back over his shoulder laconically.
"And I got the strange impression you were glad to see me."
Talia braced herself, both hands behind her on the doorknob, and met his gaze.
"You walked in at an inopportune moment," she told him flatly. "Not that any one moment would have been more opportune than the next."
"You're so good for my ego."
"I've fed your ego all I intend to give it," she shot back furiously.
"So why the little welcome scene out there in the lobby?"
"That man who was with me…"
"An ex-lover?" The question was as subtle as a stiletto, Talia thought.
"Not quite. He's an FBI agent. Or so he says."
"What?"
That got his full attention. He swung around and reached for the chair Pomeroy had recently occupied, throwing himself into it with a lithe grace that made Talia think of other things. The green eyes slitted. "Let's hear it. Everything."
"Nobody's contacted you?" she asked warily, releasing her death grip on the door handle to make her way across the room to her own chair.
"No. Certainly not the FBI!"
"He wants to know why I'm asking questions about Justin. He wants to know if I think he may still be alive and he warned me that Justin might have… have turned traitor," she told Kane evenly, not looking at him. She kept her gaze on the building across the street, the tension in her body almost unbearable. It was really too much.
Dealing with the FBI was bad enough, but to have to cope with Kane Sebastian on top of it seemed the height of unfairness. But, as her father had once said, nobody had promised any degree of fairness in the world.
"And what," Kane asked coolly, "did you tell Pomeroy?"
Talia bit her lip, her hands clasped together in her lap. "I lied to him, Kane." Her voice was barely audible. "I sat here in this chair and lied to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I told him I believed Justin West-brook is dead and then I fed him a few… a few choice lines about my relationship with you."
"You told him we were lovers?" he asked laconically.
Talia almost winced at the strangely neutral tone of his voice. She nodded once, her sleek head moving in a regal motion. "I told him you could give me absolutely no information on Justin Westbrook and that after our initial interview, our relationship had continued on a strictly personal basis. When you showed up out there in the lobby just as he was leaving, I couldn't think of anything else to do except make the story look real."
There was a pause that lasted so long, Talia finally had to look at him. Kane was watching her with an enigmatic gaze that was far more unnerving than Aaron Pomeroy's marble stare. This gaze
He waited, daring her to change her approach now. Talia could sense the challenge in him. She had started this and he was intent on making her finish.
"Of course," she agreed, refusing to let him intimidate her. Hadn't she just faced down an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? "Karen, this is Kane Sebastian, a… friend of mine."
"How do you do, Mr. Sebastian." Karen nodded eagerly, blue eyes clearly approving. "As you can see," she added with a light laugh, "Miss Haywood is free now. Go on in!"
"Thanks." Kane tossed her an engaging grin and turned expectantly toward Talia.
There really was no option, Talia thought sadly. Head high, the smile still firmly in place, she led the way into her office.
As soon as he had stepped past her, she closed the door with the tiniest of slams and leaned back against it, eyeing him vengefully as he swept the small, plain office with a curious gaze.
"All right, Kane. What do you want?"
He walked over to her window and peered out. There was no sweeping panorama ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
as he enjoyed from his high-rise building. A.M.D. occupied a second floor suite of offices and classrooms.
"I came to see you, naturally." He glanced back over his shoulder laconically.
"And I got the strange impression you were glad to see me."
Talia braced herself, both hands behind her on the doorknob, and met his gaze.
"You walked in at an inopportune moment," she told him flatly. "Not that any one moment would have been more opportune than the next."
"You're so good for my ego."
"I've fed your ego all I intend to give it," she shot back furiously.
"So why the little welcome scene out there in the lobby?"
"That man who was with me…"
"An ex-lover?" The question was as subtle as a stiletto, Talia thought.
"Not quite. He's an FBI agent. Or so he says."
"What?"
That got his full attention. He swung around and reached for the chair Pomeroy had recently occupied, throwing himself into it with a lithe grace that made Talia think of other things. The green eyes slitted. "Let's hear it. Everything."
"Nobody's contacted you?" she asked warily, releasing her death grip on the door handle to make her way across the room to her own chair.
"No. Certainly not the FBI!"
"He wants to know why I'm asking questions about Justin. He wants to know if I think he may still be alive and he warned me that Justin might have… have turned traitor," she told Kane evenly, not looking at him. She kept her gaze on the building across the street, the tension in her body almost unbearable. It was really too much.
Dealing with the FBI was bad enough, but to have to cope with Kane Sebastian on top of it seemed the height of unfairness. But, as her father had once said, nobody had promised any degree of fairness in the world.
"And what," Kane asked coolly, "did you tell Pomeroy?"
Talia bit her lip, her hands clasped together in her lap. "I lied to him, Kane." Her voice was barely audible. "I sat here in this chair and lied to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I told him I believed Justin West-brook is dead and then I fed him a few… a few choice lines about my relationship with you."
"You told him we were lovers?" he asked laconically.
Talia almost winced at the strangely neutral tone of his voice. She nodded once, her sleek head moving in a regal motion. "I told him you could give me absolutely no information on Justin Westbrook and that after our initial interview, our relationship had continued on a strictly personal basis. When you showed up out there in the lobby just as he was leaving, I couldn't think of anything else to do except make the story look real."
There was a pause that lasted so long, Talia finally had to look at him. Kane was watching her with an enigmatic gaze that was far more unnerving than Aaron Pomeroy's marble stare. This gaze
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