Sin "My father?" She pales further. The pink strands of her hair seem too bright against her gaunt features. She's too damn skinny. "When was the last time you ate?" She blinks, presses her knuckles to her eyes, "Answer me first, why do you want revenge against a dead man?" "Because—" I take a st ep forward, stop. I’d meant to tell her all of this, of course, just hadn’t thought it would come so early in the game. Too bad. She’d thrown me a bouncer and I’d flung the ball right back at her. I hadn’t meant for it to lay her so low that she’d faint. Bloody fucking hell. When she’d collapsed... my heart had stuttered. Everything inside of me had come to a halt. Only when I caught her before she hit the floor, did I realize that I had raced to her. Ha! The cold-hearted gazillionaire who’s swallowed companies for breakfast, laid low by the sight of a woman fainting. If the business media had seen me then, eh? Thank fuck I'd caught her before she’d hurt herself. If she had, I'd never have been able to forgive myself. I shake my head. The fuck am I thinking? I square my shoulders, thrust out my chin. "Because?" She lowers her hands. Her gaze is a little wild, her pupils dilated from the shock. "Because he destroyed my life and those of my friends, and because..." Why do I care that I’d wanted to break the next piece of news to her gently? Why does it matter that it would hurt her? This is what I wanted, right? To sway her to our side, no matter what it takes. To lure her father into my trap. I need to see the bastard pay, and this is the most foolproof way, so damn the collateral damage, right? I set my jaw. "Because he’s alive." She blinks. "No." "Yes." "No, you don't. My father was killed in a plane crash. They never found his body... he—" Her chin wobbles, "He didn’t die, did he?" I shake my head. "So... where... where is he?" "In the States." "How did you track him down?" She frowns, "Or for that matter, me and my sister?" I click my tongue. "Do you really have to ask me that question?" "How many people did you have to pay? How long did you search before you found us?" She squeezes her elbows into her sides. "Does it matter?"
She draws in a breath. "Guess not." She wraps her arms around her waist, and I notice the goosebumps on her forearms. "He never reached out to me in all these years." Her shoulders slump, "He let me and my sister think he was gone. He left us alone." Emotions spike her features. Her hands clench at her sides. My heart lurches. I shouldn't have sprung this on her without warning. Eh? What am I thinking? I ball my fists. I did exactly the right thing. The faster she realizes the real reason for this charade, the better it will work. She shuffles her feet, "So all this... this drama of meeting me in the pub, then calling me in to pitch for your company's account... It was all a farce?" "Not completely. 7 A and FOK Media need marketing help, though you wouldn't have been my first choice to take it on." "I'm bloody good at my job." She growls. "You lost your biggest client." "Through no fault of mine. Hell, the last out-of-the-box marketing campaign I delivered, had their brand retention increasing by 75% year on year... If that isn't a good result, tell me what—" Her gaze narrows. "You?" she breathes. Oh, this is getting interesting. "You did it?" "You have to be clearer than that." I tilt my head. She stabs a finger in my direction, "You made sure that they dropped me." "Maybe." I drum my fingers on my chest. "You ensured I’d be so desperate that I’d jumped at the opportunity to pitch." "I may have... ah, had a hand in them moving on, yes." I fold my fingers, glance at my fingernails. "But the events that followed?" I click my tongue. "It's entirely your fault." "Mine?" Her eyebrows knit. "If you had listened to me at the bar—" "You were a complete jerkface." She juts out her chin. "What did you expect? That I'd throw myself at your feet and agree to do your bidding because you commanded me to?" I tilt my head. "Oh, for heaven's sake!" She makes that noise de ep in her throat again, and fuck, if my dick doesn't twitch. I frown. Who is this woman who thinks she can hijack every single conversation we have? "Time's running out." I pull down the cuff of my shirt sleeve. "Fall in line with my plan... or... Well, you don't have a choice, do you?" Her lips tighten, "You are as callous as my parent who k ept away all these years. One who clearly wants nothing to do with us... So why would he care what you do to me?"
"Oh, I think he’d care very much if he found his daughter was marrying one of the richest men this side of the planet." She stares at me, then chuckles, then throws her head back and laughs. She leans into the settee, rocks from side to side. Tears run down her cheeks. I stalk to the other side of the room, pour out a generous finger of whiskey, then stalk toward her. When I pause in front of her, she flinches, and my gut lurches. Of course, she hates me as much as I had despised her— or rather the conc ept of her—all this time. She had been merely a pawn in a much larger game and now... Now I can’t give up. I am too close. So things haven’t proceeded exactly how they should have, thanks to her. She’s resourceful, I’ll give her that. Nevertheless, nothing will come in the way of this last mile. Not after a decade of planning and plotting every last move. So close, I am so close. I place the glass on the table, move away. "Drink it." "I don’t need it." "You look like you are about to pop it, and believe me, while I don’t care one way or the other, I need you to be alive for the time it takes to see this through." She shoots me a stare. Her green eyes burn into me, color flushes her cheeks, and her breasts heave. Damn, she is magnificent. My fingers tingle. My groin hardens. Oh, that fire, that fury inside of her. It had all been locked away, behind that scatterbrained façade. She is a little volcano, waiting to erupt, and guess who will be at the end, receiving all of that goodness? Not me. Nope. N-a-h. Don’t fall for her. Don’t try to rescue her. Just because she didn’t turn out to be exactly what you’d thought she would be. "Drink it... or not. Your call." I saunter away, toward my desk. Behind me, I sense her move. By the time I reach the desk and prop a hip against it, she’s drained the glass. She coughs, splutters, then stares at the glass, "I fucking hate you." She throws the glass against the wall. It bounces off, hits the ground, rolls to a standstill not half a foot away from her. She springs to her feet, picks it up, and pitches it at the wall again. It shatters, pieces raining down on the floor. She stays there, shoulders heaving. "Did that help?" "No." She pivots around, "You were joking, right, about what you said earlier?" I allow myself a half-smile, "Do I seem as if I am joking?" Her shoulders sag, "No." She raises a hand to her hair. "But marry you?" Her fingers tremble as she tugs on a strand. "It’s pr eposterous." "You woman. Me man." I shrug. "What’s wrong with it?" "Everything." "Who cares? It will be an event your remaining parent will not want to miss.” "One who’s been absent all of my life, who preferred not to tell us about his existence. Why would he care?" I twirl a finger in the air. "Ring a bell, Sweetheart?" "What? He wants to see the decor of this room?"
I motion with my palm. "He wants to sit behind your desk?" She squeezes her eyebrows together. "Go on." "He wants a liaison with your company?" "Not bad." I drum my fingers on my chest. "He’s in debt, I assume?" She grabs a strand of her pink hair and brings it to her mouth. Interesting habit, if a little weird for my tastes. The fuck do I care? I need her for as long as it takes to bring the old man to my doorst ep. "After the massive losses that his business suffered, he had to sell off his assets. He moved to the US." Her forehead crinkles, "If you are aware of his whereabouts, why don't you take revenge on him?" "What's the fun in that?" I widen my stance. "I want him to pay for his sins in the city where he instigated his crimes, in front of those who once knew him." "You want to destroy him completely?" She locks her fingers together in front of her. "Guilty as charged." Her lips firm, "Why would he return?" "A chance to redeem himself in front of his peers in his home country, courtesy of the contacts I'd introduce him to." I spread my arms wide, "It would be a wedding gift to my bride-to-be, to ensure her father is taken care of." She flinches. "So, you’ll bring him here with the lure of money?" "And a fresh start, not to mention the chance to be reunited with his daughters." "What if he refuses to come?" She brings her arms down and tucks her elbows into her sides "Oh, he’ll come all right." Her chest heaves, "Why is that?" "Because I'll be personally inviting him, to attend his daughter's wedding which takes place in..." I glance at my watch. "In?" "Three days." She throws up her hands, "What world are you living in where the paperwork can be completed in such little time?" I flick some imaginary lint off my lapel. "No." Her chest heaves and she clenches her fists. "You... You..." "It's amazing how money can buy you anything, anywhere... especially when you can call in favors to those in power." I bounce a little on my heels. This is fun. "You... You can get the registrations and such done by then?" She blinks rapidly. "With time to spare." I angle my head. "You don't have to do anything."
"I have to show up." She pinches her lips together, glances toward the exit. I hold up the phone. "Don't even think about it." She pales further. I stiffen. "If you're going to faint again, make sure that you're sitting down." Her shoulders draw back, spots of color burn her cheeks, sparks of gold flare in her eyes. There you are, my little Bird. She juts out her chin. "Name the place and time and I'll be there." "Not so fast." I lean forward, and the scent of her body intensifies. My dick twitches and sweat slicks my palm. Fuck her for the response she always elicits from me. I scowl, "Move in with me for the next 30 days." "What the—" She opens and shuts her mouth. "The original deal was for a week!" "I changed my mind." "I agreed to 7 days." She trembles. "It's not enough time to see this plan through." Why am I bothering to argue with her? It's not as if she has a choice. "Bu... but... 30 days?" She swallows. "That's too long." I raise my shoulders, "Gotta convince the world it's real, huh?" Fuck that. I don’t care how it seems on the outside. Truthfully, I hadn't thought about the time span as such, exc ept... Okay, I did need time... Just enough to figure out what the hell I am going to do about this little—okay, big—problem I have, for when it comes to her, I am not myself. Not in control... and that... I can't stand. I have to get to the bottom of what it is about this woman that constantly claws at me. An itch. An irritation. She is a rash that clings to me, refusing to fade from my skin, my blood and I... must find a way to resolve it. I allow my lips to smirk, "So?" She squeezes her fingers together, "So?" "That wasn't a request." "Will you ke ep me here against my will." I glance at the phone. "Yeah, yeah." She drags her fingers through her hair, "So you have incriminating evidence on me... but... 30 days?" I narrow my gaze. "It's a much longer period of time than I had anticipated." My heart begins to race. So, the Bird has claws after all, huh? My gut clenches. What had I thought? That she is different from the rest? That it isn't about the money? That she is actually attracted to me? I'd coerced her into this arrangement, after all, pushed her to the edge, hoping...
Hoping what? That she'd emerge from it like some bloody phoenix? Fuck. I straighten my spine. "How much?" She blinks. "Think of a figure." "Right." She bites her lower lip, and I squeeze my fingers at my sides. "Say it before I change my—" "Five." I lower my eyebrows. "Five million." Her chin wobbles. Not bad. She has the presence of mind to pull a larger figure than I expected. "Two." I wipe all expression from my face. She straightens, "Four." My pulse thuds at my temples. And she negotiates too, huh? At least, she is a survivor. I have to give her that. "Two point five." I ke ep my arms loose at my side. She opens her mouth. I hold up a hand. "Final offer and we both know it's more money than you'll ever see in your lifetime." "Asshole." I yawn, raise my phone. "Fine, guess I'll upload this to—" "I'll take it." "And sex." She pales; her breathing grows shallow. "Not part of the deal." "Hmm." I touch my finger to her cheek. She winces. "I'll never force you." I draw back, "But by the time we are done with this arrangement, you'll be begging me to own you, possess you, to have me balls de ep inside of you, as you come on my dick." She shudders, then straightens her shoulders, "Never." I slide the phone into my pants, "You will give in to me, little Bird, this I promise, and it will be of your own volition." I brush past her, toward the exit. "One day..." Her voice follows me. "One day I'll make you regret what you’re doing to me." I bare my teeth, and the blood pounds in my ears, at my temples, my wrists. Fuck, if that's not the hottest thing I've ever heard from anyone. I glare at her over my shoulder, "Oh, I'm counting on it."