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Cassandra never thought she’d actually be able to get a reaction out of him other than mild amusement or well-honed arrogance, but she’d managed to do it. Jack was staring at her in stunned silence. His eyebrows rose, surprise flickering in his sexy blue eyes.
Why sexy? She blinked and clarified the thought. His blue eyes. Just blue. Wait, just eyes. He looks shocked.
He cleared his throat, finally breaking the silence. “You’re going to have to repeat that. There’s no way in hell I heard that right.”
“You heard me correctly,” she said firmly. “I’m going through with the terms of the bet.”
“To be mine for a year.”
“Yes.” She swirled the glass of club soda in her hand and took a sip. If she showed him how nervous she was about this, she’d lose the tiny bit of control she had over her own life. Cassandra only hoped he couldn’t hear the loud thumping of her heart. “Those were the terms you agreed to, weren’t they?”
“As a joke,” he said. “I thought your father was nuts. When he threw in the penthouse I thought for sure he was kidding.”
“But I’ve just told you he was dead serious,” she pointed out. “He made that abundantly clear yesterday when I spoke to him.”
“He also made the loophole pretty damn clear, too,” Jack argued, running his hand roughly through his hair. “Which means you’re not obligated to the terms of this crazy deal. Look, like I said before, I’m not going to hold this bet over your head. I’m not that kind of guy. Not like your—” He stopped and took a slow breath. “You’re free to go.”
“I want to go ahead with the terms of the deal—in spite of all that.” She took another sip to steady her fraying nerves. The danger of him asking her to explain why she was going through with this was growing with each passing second. And she did not want to have to tell him more than necessary. “My father made a bet and lost. It may have been an incredibly stupid one, but I will hold his end of the bet.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
He raised a quizzical eyebrow, keeping his piercing gaze on her in an obvious attempt to figure out what was going on. Jack was studying her. Blatantly. Observing her in a way he had probably done countless times with other marks. Other prey. Other women.
She wondered in that moment how many women he’d been with. For all she knew he had a steady girlfriend. Maybe he played the field. He was handsome and rugged enough to get just about any woman he wanted. Or maybe he was single. Cassandra didn’t know which was worse: Jack being a lady’s man who had her in his sights or Jack being single enough to be totally available. Either option could lead to some very serious trouble if she didn’t keep her wits about her.
The curiosity in his eyes turned heated. As if he was trying to do more than figure out what was going on inside her head. His gaze swept over her body—from her mouth, down her throat, to the slightly plunging neckline of her silk blouse.
Cassandra trembled. He hadn’t said a word, yet she was on the verge of cracking underneath the weight of his gaze. Heat spiraled through her, turning her body flushed and feverish. Maybe this was a bad idea.
For a lingering moment it looked like he might lower his gaze further still and take in the swell of her breasts, but he didn’t. Instead of looking down he brought his eyes back up to meet hers, the final maneuver in an appraisal that felt as intimate as a caress.
She shivered and dropped her arms to her sides, feeling an overwhelming but invisible pressure to tell him all her secrets. Mentally kicking herself, she realized he must have used the silence in the room to his advantage. There was something in the hungry way he had looked at her, sending alarm bells ringing in her head.
You can’t let him get the upper hand, she scolded herself. Say something already.
“You and my father have had your say in this matter, and now it’s my turn,” she went on, fighting to keep her tone level.
“Why?” he asked, a note of challenge in his words. “Why go along with this, when just yesterday you were so determined to put a stop to the bet?”
If she revealed why she was going along with the terms of the bet, Cassandra feared that she would be giving away far too much. Knowledge was power, and the more he knew the more he had to use against her. She was learning from her father that her hopes, dreams, and desires were a gateway to her weaknesses. If Jack figured out her motives, he’d have more than enough ammo to bring her down if he wanted to. And right now, she suspected he was the kind of man who wouldn’t hesitate to try to bring her down if it benefitted him in some way.
Hadn’t Jack admitted he had wanted to get invited to that card game just to get close to her father? That showed he was willing to break the law for a chance at a security contract with Monahan Shipping. An illegal card game had been a risk to his company, but that hadn’t stopped him. If getting a contract with her father meant that much to him, stepping over her to get into her father’s good graces would be nothing to him. He was just like the rest of them. Just like her father. Even if he’d tried to deny it moments ago.
She swallowed hard, searching her mind for a good enough excuse. A good enough lie. “Does it really matter?” she asked, desperate to stall while she figured out a way to deflect his question. The man didn’t give up.
“You know it does,” he said flatly. “You didn’t just change your mind for no reason, Cassandra. Yesterday I left the penthouse knowing you were bravely going to confront your father about what he had done. Now you’re telling me that you’re going along with this insane scheme. What’s changed? Did he force you to stay?”
Everything had changed. What little independence she had managed to get had been taken away from her. With one card game her father had left her utterly powerless. The penthouse had been her refuge from his total control. But with that gone and the expectation that she’d have to move back into the family villa, Cassandra felt like she was left with very few options. She could try to challenge her father outright like she had yesterday, but the results would be disastrous. Her father controlled the family wealth, plus he was vengeful enough to prevent her from securing a real job for herself if she walked away. He wasn’t the kind of man you said no to. It wasn’t just about money. She didn’t need loads of it. But what he could say with his mouth could be more damaging than anything. He could ruin her life if he wanted to. No, the only chance she had at making a life of her own was to outmaneuver her father. Fight him without letting him know there was even a fight going on.
That was going to take secrecy, skill, and lot of cunning. And a strength Cassandra worried she simply didn’t possess. Still, a year with Jack would give her the chance to make a plan and then execute it. She’d have the perfect excuse to stay away from her father’s shady business dealings, and there might be even more to gain if she played her cards right with Jack.
Yesterday’s confrontation with her father had showed her that what she really wanted was to get out from under her father’s thumb. She didn’t want to be an heiress anymore. Money meant nothing when she hadn’t actually earned it herself. It meant less than nothing when her life wasn’t even her own. Cassandra was an adult, yet she had to ask her father for every dime she spent. Had to negotiate with him about where to go and who to be seen with. She couldn’t remember the last time she had made a decision for herself without having to deal with her father’s input. Maybe she never had.
“Nothing’s changed,” she answered quickly.
“Except for your mind.” Beneath his curiosity was an accusation. A subtle rebuke.
“I told you already, my father lost the bet. I’m making sure the deal goes through.”
He raised a single brow. “For him? Really?”
She’d have to give him way more than evasive responses. The only thing that would satisfy him was the truth. “It’s the penthouse.”
She couldn’t very well tell Jack she was plotting to get out of her father’s clutches. Couldn’t tell anyone that she was going to keep up appearances and make it look like she was going along with her father’s awful scheme. She’d make a show of being the obedient, dutiful daughter that her father expected her to be. Meanwhile, she would bide her time and get away from him and the entire empire. Cassandra didn’t want Monahan Shipping. Didn’t want the weight of her father’s empire on her shoulders. She just wanted to be free.
“You want to be mine for a year because of the penthouse?” he asked skeptically.
Cassandra casually ran a hand through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear—a conceited little gesture she hoped he interpreted as disinterest. Play the rich, spoiled kid. She couldn’t let on how badly she wanted him to stop prying. How badly she wanted him to agree without asking any more difficult questions. “I’ve worked hard to decorate the place and it would be a shame to let it go,” she said, giving her best pout. “If I stuck with you for a year, couldn’t you just let me stay here? This is my space—I mean my place. Even if on paper it has my father’s name on it.”
There. As close to the truth as she dared. She just hoped Jack accepted her terms with no more prying questions. Turning to him was already a big risk, and she didn’t know if she was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire with a man like him. Because right now, she was entrusting her fate to a man she had only known for twenty-four hours.
~*~
SHE WAS UP TO SOMETHING. Jack didn’t know what just yet, but there was more to this sudden turnaround. There had to be. She was either a great actress, or knew how to play the game with men.
Setting his scotch glass aside he turned to watch her closely, noting the downward curve of her pout. The haughty, dismissive wave of her manicured hand once she smoothed her artfully-styled hair. There was a control to the way she carried herself. Each movement a precise show of how spoiled and utterly aloof she was.
The ice queen had returned. Whatever he had managed to stir within her when he complimented her art restoration skills was long gone.
Or was it?
After all, she had said that the décor of the place was important to her.
No. That had to have been a ploy.
She couldn’t possibly have changed her mind that quickly because of penthouse décor. As lavish as the place was, Jack knew that Cassandra was rich enough to buy a hundred penthouses without breaking a sweat. Plus, she could just take the décor with her and redecorate a new residence. Why was this particular penthouse so important to her?
“So, the penthouse is what you’re really after?” he asked.
“That, and the mentorship I’d be getting by shadowing you like my father suggested,” she replied.
That was a new tidbit of information. “But you could get mentored by anyone,” he said. “What’s so important about learning from me?” Was her father after something and forcing her to be the watchdog? A man had to sink pretty low to use his own daughter for something like that.
She didn’t reply immediately. In the silence that followed his question, her pink lips thinned. Irritation flashed in her green eyes for a moment. The change in her face was so subtle that he wasn’t sure he’d actually seen it before her expression quickly settled back to its placid indifference.
Though the annoyance had quickly vanished from her face, Jack could sense that she was irritated as all hell. Having to come crawling to him to accept the terms of the bet was probably killing her.
“I don’t want to be mentored by just anyone,” she said, finally breaking the silence. “My father and I agree that I should be mentored by the best. And you’re the best there is, based on his research.”
“I didn’t know your father thought so highly of me.”
“He doesn’t,” she replied frostily. “I’ll bet he thinks you’re too cocky for his taste, but he never lets business get personal. If he thinks you have qualities I’ll need to get ahead, then so be it.”
Doesn’t let business get personal? So he bets his daughter? “What qualities does your father think I have?”
She paused. “He believes you’re tough. A good businessman.”
“It’s got to be driving you crazy to have to say something nice to me.” He tightened his jaw to stop the cocky smile trying to press through.
“What makes you say that?” she demanded, suddenly looking startled.
“Come on, Cassandra. It’s pretty clear you think of me as barely a step up from that bodyguard of yours,” he said. “Hell, even I’ve got to admit that even though my business is successful, we both know it’s not on the same level as your father’s empire. There are corporate types more in your league that you can learn from. I’ve got nothing to teach you that you can’t learn from one of your father’s golf buddies.”
“They’re not tough like you,” she said. “They’re soft. You’re... My father said you were shrewd. Not afraid of a fight. I need that if I’m going to take over his company one day. He’d trust me more and be more open with how things are run if he sees me learning from you. Sees that I’ve got what it takes.”
So that was it. Cassandra was supposed to take over her father’s company. That kind of pressure had to be immense. Especially for a young woman in a male-dominated field.
He frowned. “I thought art was your passion.”
“It is. I mean it was,” she said, quickly correcting herself. “But I have to set passions aside for the good of the company.”
Those were clearly her father’s words, not hers. “I’m sorry to hear that. You’ve clearly got talent, and it’s a shame to know you won’t get to share it with the world.” Jack meant every word. From what he’d seen, Cassandra had a gift. A real talent that her father seemed to have no interest in. It angered Jack to know that Leo Monahan treated his daughter so shabbily. Cassandra deserved a better father.
As noble as it was for her to do her duty and take over the family business, Jack hadn’t seen her smile the way she had when he’d complimented her work. It clearly brought her joy, and to see that passion go to waste unnerved him. Surprising to have that kind of sympathy for an heiress who hadn’t lifted a finger to earn her fortune.
Maybe after all these years, he was going soft.
“As long as I’m in my father’s orbit, Monahan Shipping has to be my main focus,” she said. “Which is why I changed my mind about the bet. I don’t like my father’s methods, but he was right about me needing you. An internship like this could work, as unusual as it is. I bet there’s a lot I could learn from you.”
That last sentence sent his temperature soaring. What the hell? He was way too turned on, and an attraction this strong was dangerous. Though he was certain she hadn’t meant anything by it, Jack could swear he sensed an undercurrent of electricity in her words. A double meaning that she was signaling with that glint in her eyes.
There were a ton of things he’d love to teach a beautiful woman like her. As he let his gaze drop to her glossy pink lips, he knew that the things he truly wanted to teach her were far more useful in a bedroom than in a boardroom. And completely unprofessional. He closed his eyes and quickly opened them, not wanting to see the visions he was thinking. Unprofessional, jack-ass.
“Besides,” she rushed on, “you’re tough, like my father said. That’s what I’m going to need to be when I take over the company. I have to figure out how to be tough and strong if I want to survive.”
“Cassandra, you’re plenty tough,” he said.
“Really?” She looked genuinely surprised. In fact, there was amazement in her eyes. Something akin to surprised gratitude. Or maybe it was hope. It was hard to decipher what he was seeing because he hadn’t expected to see an in-control heiress exude anything other than complete confidence at all times. No woman had ever looked at him the way she was looking at him now—as if she wanted to believe his words but didn’t dare.
“Are you kidding? You were ready to end me the minute you realized I was in your bedroom. I didn’t know if it was safer to deal with you or your bodyguard.” He chuckled. “Then you confronted your father. From what I’ve seen of him, people don’t confront the man. You did. So from where I’m sitting, I’d say you’re tougher than you realize. Tough as nails, in fact. Give yourself some credit.”
“Oh.” The faintest hue of pink stained her cheeks. Then she ran a hand down her blouse to smooth over the silk and she was all business again. “Does that mean you’re ready to take me on?”
“No. I’m not.”
Panic flickered in her eyes. Another show of genuine emotion he hadn’t expected.
Cassandra’s body tensed. “But—”
“Look, I appreciate your father’s confidence in me, but I’m not going to accept the terms of the deal,” he said. It was way too dangerous. He wasn’t sure he could keep himself from becoming emotionally involved with this woman. And he didn’t play with matters of the heart.
“You’ve already accepted. You shook on it at the club. There are witnesses,” she said desperately.
“I’m undoing the deal,” he said.
“You can’t. My father mentioned that there was no going back. Bad things could happen,” she said. “The club owners won’t take no for an answer.”
“They’ll take no for an answer when I make a show of accepting the five million dollars you’re offering.” Jack got to his feet, signaling that this was the end of the conversation. No matter how much she pleaded he couldn’t take her on, for a number of reasons. For one thing, the fact that her father had bet his own daughter in a card game was beyond immoral. For another, he was on a dangerous mission. While her father might turn out to be a useful lead, a pair of pretty green eyes wasn’t going to help. Keeping her around was only going to be a tempting distraction he couldn’t afford. The one thing that could thwart his plans was a desirable woman like her. And his plans could not be thwarted. Too many lives were at stake.
“I’m not offering five million dollars,” she said sharply.
“Sure you are,” he said, tugging at his cuffs before he moved by her to make his exit. “I’ll write a check to myself in your name and make the club owners think you were the one who backed out of the deal. Pretending that we’re relying on the loophole you told me about will be enough to satisfy them.”
“You can’t do that,” she hissed.
“Yes, I can. And I will. Don’t worry, Cassandra. You can stay in the penthouse for the next few days while you make other arrangements. So I’m not kicking you out,” he said smoothly when he reached the penthouse door. “Yet.”
