he woke up, it was morning, he had a splitting headache and she was gone.
Chapter Four
“What are you doing here?”
Nat jumped as Ming Kow’s voice echoed through her office. She hadn’t expected him back tonight because the private soirees he had at the hotel usually went all night. They were a foul collection of villains and gangsters with dark desires, but she was never expected to attend, thank God.
After her interaction with Cooper, she’d headed for the office because it was closer than her apartment, and she’d needed to recuperate, find her balance again.
Not that he’d thrown her for a loop…but he had.
She was still shaking.
It took a moment for her to pull herself together, re-don her unflappable persona and face her boss. Still, her smile was tight. “I had some things to finish up.”
He quirked a brow. Her gaze went unerringly to the scar bisecting his forehead. “It’s two in the morning.”
“I wasn’t tired.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You work too hard.”
“I appreciate my job.” God. The words made her want to gag. She hated this man, what he did. Every day, she discovered more reasons to hate him. But, as always, she stiffened her spine and reminded herself working with him was a necessary evil. At some point, he had to contact Nurelnikov and she would finally have a clue that would lead her to the man who killed her father, made her an orphan, and sold her into slavery. The man who had shown her a world no child should ever witness.
She’d been working toward that end for months, suffering Ming Kow’s presence, his filthy predilections and dealing with his revolting associates. Oh, how tempting it had been to sabotage his activities, to upend his plots…but she couldn’t do that. Not until she had the information she needed.
“Well, you should go home.”
Was it her imagination, or was he a tad bit nervous? Twitchy, perhaps? The thread of command in his voice was clear though, so she nodded and stood. “Of course.”
He followed her to the elevators, which was strange. His too-intent gaze was strange too. But then she heard it, a rumble of conversation from Ming Kow’s office and she realized why he wanted her gone. Why he’d ended his party so early. Why he was here.
It was another of his late night meetings, the ones she was not privy to. The ones no one was privy to.
She shot a glance at his office door and caught a quick glimpse of a bulky figure just as the elevator door opened. Ming Kow stepped between her and his office, blocking her view. She suspected this was intentional. His expression confirmed this.
Whoever he was meeting with, whatever they were discussing, her boss didn’t want any witnesses.
Though curiosity raked her, she knew better than to press. She forced her lips into a smile and stepped into the car. “Good night,” she said. He responded with a slight nod, but kept his gaze on her until the doors slid shut.
The moment they did, she pressed the button for the floor below and when the elevator opened, she slipped out and hurried to the stairwell. She took off her heels and made her way silently back up to the top floor. She cracked open the door and peered into the hall. There was no one there. Not even one of Ming Kow’s ever-present bodyguards.
Oh, yeah. Whatever this was, Ming Kow didn’t want anyone overhearing, which made Nat even more curious. Moving slowly, she crept closer to his office. The shades on the floor-to-ceiling windows were closed, but the door was open a crack. She could hear the murmur of men’s voices and the clink of glasses and she cursed herself for not bringing her listening equipment.
At one point, she’d been able to bug Ming Kow’s office and listen in to all his meetings, but he was paranoid and had the office swept on a regular basis and the devices had been removed. That they found more than the ones she’d planted had been interesting. It meant she wasn’t the only one following Ming Kow’s exploits.
Had the other bugs been Cooper’s?
What an interesting prospect.
But her thoughts of him were shattered when the men settled at the conference table near the window and she could make out the different voices.
The first was unfamiliar, gruff and definitely Texan. “You promised us delivery by the end of the month, son.”
Oh. She could just imagine Ming Kow bristling at that demeaning appellation. He hated any semblance