“Truth? Aren’t you afraid the very word will burn on your lying tongue?”
I see the anger and pain glittering in the corners of her eyes, but she swallows the barb down.
“The truth is that I wanted to see you. I couldn’t reconcile this monster Claire was talking about with the man I met. You were powerful, and yes, a little scary . . . but no monster. You risked things to keep me safe, and I felt something in return. So I agreed to meet with you to prep and to have dinner. I know it’s all a tangled web, but I swear, the setup was fake, but the rest . . . it’s real. That night was real.”
I clear my throat and watch her look at me with so much hurt and hope that I can’t help but let her have it. “I want to believe you. God help me for being stupid and gullible, but I want to. But I can’t. Not yet, at least,” I say, hooking her with false hopes. At least I hope they’re false, but I’m honestly not sure.
“So I’m going to test you, and you’re going to go along with it, or I’ll have my answer.”
It’s a dark promise, one of death and destruction or salvation and hope. And for one of the few times in my life since I put down the combat boots and picked up the wingtips, I’ve given her total freedom. It’s completely in the palm of her hand to do with as she chooses.
Every cell in my body knows the answer already. She will falter. People always do.
There’s no reason for someone like her to be involved in a world as dark as mine. It’s not like I’m the sort of man who can give her the security and safety she obviously deserves and desires, even if she thinks differently.
And though she’s here, she will eventually leave, run screaming for the safety of her comfortable life where a dangerous night is closing the club down at two AM and a big deal is coupons on candles at her favorite store.
She lives in a world of silk ease, even if she is slightly rebelling. I live in a world of billion-dollar deals wrapped with deadly coercion and topped off by shiny gilded bows of luxury.
We couldn’t be more different.
“Test me how?” Nervousness makes her voice waver, but I can see that her body is rattled in a different way. Something inside her wants to be tested . . . maybe the same thing that made an eighteen-year-old me go into the military and then later into other pursuits.
“You’re going to ride this deal with Nikolai out with me. And keep telling your sister and the FBI exactly what I want them to know, nothing more and nothing less,” I order. “More importantly, you’re going to tell me everything they know about me and my family. I want it all.”
“Like a double agent?” she ventures as if this is some James Bond movie.
I nod, letting her have her little bit of wordplay as a shield. It’ll help, and I’ll make sure she’s fully aware before I truly test her strength. “Yes. I’ll admit to feeling a bit dirty about using you this way, but I suppose it’s only fair since you were using me first.”
The jab hits home just like I knew it would.
“If you’re going to use me, at least tell me why you really want access to the caves,” she replies, bitterness tinging her response. “I know it has nothing to do with your dad, and maybe I could help.”
“Help? I think you’re doing more than enough,” I tell her dismissively.
“The Carajas National Park in Brazil mainly falls in the state of Pará. There is a cave system there, where a civilization thrived more than 8000 years ago. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave much of a written record behind. What I know of that area, most of the land is being destroyed by mining before exploration can be done. It’s a potential archaeological loss and infrastructure disaster.”
She rattles off the facts like she’s reading from a textbook, and I clap sarcastically. “Is that supposed to impress me? You are a research assistant, correct? So a Wikipedia page summary is weak at best, useless at worst.”
She glowers, standing up and planting her palms on my desk as she looms over the desk. “I’m not stupid, and I can help if you’ll let me. Or is your plan to continue this