LITMIR.BIZ

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further words she might have found became tangled in her throat because his fingertip continued that nascent caress into the hollow beneath her ear, then stroked the soft flesh beneath her jawbone, tilting up her chin before she had realized she was obeying his silent command.

      “Pleasant as that inducement promises to be...” His voice grated sensually across her nerve endings. “I won’t be persuaded to let you handle my grandmother’s money. Or me.”

      He dropped his touch, sending a chill through her whole body.

      * * *

      Dragging his gaze off the temptation of her plump, shiny, parted lips took every ounce of Gabriel’s well-honed discipline. He controlled all that he did because he controlled himself. Giving in to impulse, especially the sexual kind, was juvenile.

      But the flare of yearning and disappointment in his eyes was almost his undoing.

      “I wasn’t...um...trying to offer s-sex for—”

      “The stutter is a nice touch. Most men go crazy for the helpless damsel act. Good on you for trying it.” It was her first show of vulnerability amid a nerves-of-steel performance. He wasn’t buying it, though. “I’m impervious.”

      Mostly. His hands itched to drag her against his chest, not only because he wanted to do things to her—carnal, wicked things—but because the tremble in her lashes tugged at something in him. Against his better judgment, he felt an urge to shelter her. Reassure her.

      She didn’t argue or stammer out more protestations. There might have been a glimmer of injury behind her eyes, but it was gone so quickly, he knew it was only a strategy that was briefly considered before she discarded it. Within seconds, she returned to her true, iron-butterfly persona.

      “Sex is firmly off the table?” Her tone gave him the sense he was missing something.

      “I never force sex and I never pay for it. I am, however, open to enjoying it anywhere, including on tables.”

      “I’m willing to offer other acts that might be of value to you, then. Marriage, for instance.”

      “You want me to marry you? I honestly didn’t think you could astound me further. Not my first offer. Thank you, but no.” He rejected her firmly even as a voice in the back of his brain reminded that he would have to begin thinking of marriage. Was he going to leave his fortune to those idiot cousins of his father’s?

      He brushed that aside, needing all his concentration to deal with this surprisingly daring and skillful con woman. Especially when she seemed genuinely taken aback by his words.

      “I don’t want to marry you. You’re far too young,” she said, as if the idea was ridiculous.

      “I stand corrected,” he drawled. “I am further astounded.”

      “I would make an excellent trophy wife. I’m open to considering marriage to a man of advanced years at your direction, provided I’m granted residency in a major center like New York or London.”

      “You want to marry someone twice your age?”

      “Three at least.” She frowned. “I’m only twenty-two.”

      “Now you’re trying too hard.” He couldn’t help it. He laughed openly.

      “Marrying an older man worked out well for your grandmother. She was widowed at thirty.”

      “They say emulation is the sincerest form of flattery.” He folded his arms. “But I am not a pimp. Old men may find their trophy wives without my assistance.” The idea of lecherous, gnarled hands claiming those curves revolted him to the point of violent rage.

      She looked to the window. There might have been a sheen on her eyes and a pout in her lips as she ran out of gambits, but he felt no triumph. He was captivated by the sheer perfection in her exquisite profile, graceful as a cameo carved into ivory.

      She was so remote and untouchable in that moment, his abdomen clenched with craving for something he couldn’t articulate.

      “Very well.” She moved to the laptop and glanced at him. “I’ll undo everything I’ve done if I have your word it will square my debt with your grandmother and I’ll be free to go. No police.”

      He heard the defeat in her tone and experienced loss, even though he had won. He wasn’t ready for this game to end, but he made himself nod agreement.

      She touched the tip of her finger to the sensor.

      “Just to be clear...” She slanted a glance at him.

      Foreboding filled him—and thrill. He had thought she was giving up, but this delightfully tricky wench didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word quit.

      “Yes?” he asked with deliberate lack of concern that bordered on tedium.

      “When I say everything...”

      “That doesn’t exactly clean up your mess, does it?” He let fury lick at him because it was better than allowing her magnificence to blind him.

      “If Luli isn’t needed, everything under that profile must also be unnecessary,” she said with simple logic.

      “Come here.”

      She stayed where she was, but had the good sense to take her hands off the laptop and close the screen.

      “Do you realize how dangerous I am?”

      “Do you realize,” she asked in an even quieter voice, lips white, “how little I have to lose? How much I’ve already lost?”

      Eight years, if she was to be believed.

      Her hands were curled into angry fists, but stayed at her sides. “You’re welcome, by the way, for all the times I’ve asked your grandmother, Is this an opportunity you would like me to bring to your grandson’s attention? You could have stepped in at any time to help her manage her affairs. You didn’t. I did. For nothing but a roof over my head and three meals a day.”

      “And you think you can strike back at me for that? By deleting a few paper trails? Any database or personnel records you compromise can be rebuilt from backups. It won’t take long and the price tag won’t be that high.”

      “I estimate the cost at ten million US dollars, based on penalties for failing to finalize certain contracts on time. Or you could keep me on and not lose a penny.”

      “Is that what you think you’re worth?” he scoffed. “Ten million dollars?”

      His words pushed a pin in her back, forcing her to take a step toward him. Anger smoldered around her in a cloud, making her entirely too sexy and distracting when her voice was so sharp and profound.

      “I’ve spent years thinking my value is less than zero. I thought I had to stay here because Mae was the only person who wanted me, and only if I was useful to her. From the moment I emailed you that she had collapsed, my only thought has been that I have to prove my worth to you, but how do I do that when I’m a walking, unpaid debt?” Her hand moved to press into her middle, as though clutching at a knife stuck in her navel. “The debt is my mother’s. I am worth exactly what I decide I’m worth. If I’m to be exploited, I will choose the terms. And if you’re going to put me on the street like a stray dog, you will feel the bite of it.”

      A discreet knock on the door had him snapping out, “Busy!”

      An older brown-faced woman was already peeking in. “I’m sorry, Mr. Dean. I was told you left instructions I report to you the minute I returned.”

      “Mrs. Chen’s nurse,” Luli said, stepping back and letting her hair fall forward to shield how color had risen in her face during their confrontation.

      He swore under his breath and nodded at the woman. “Come in.”

      He swung back to Luli and

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