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Have her doing exactly what I want.
I shift my smile into an approximation of softness. The hunter setting a trap and lying in wait.
“I tried to look you up,” she says. “But there’s nothing much about you.”
Try nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve peppered my name as sparingly as pure saffron threads. Tiny things that perfume her interest and nothing more than a hint of something she can’t untangle.
“There’s nothing overt about your father, either.”
Her frown’s laced with shock. “Because he runs a shipping company. It’s not even that big.”
“But… it’s pivotal.”
“What are you saying? He’s dirty?” Scarlett presses her lips together and she shakes her head. “I don’t think he knows what he ships. There’s… discretion, but…”
“And that isn’t suspicious?”
She’s silent for a beat and I can almost hear the snap, right before she stands. “I’ll find someone else.”
“Whatever you want, sweet thing.”
I down my drink, throw down a hundo, and walk out the door.
The night air is cool but refreshing, and this part of the avenue is quiet for Manhattan. I lean against the wall, under the broken streetlamp and in the shadow of the tree near the gutter. I grab a cigarette from the case in my pocket, and drag the sweet, clove-laden special blend into my lungs when the door opens and shuts to the bar.
I don’t need to look to know who it is.
The air shifts. Sings.
And that bewitching, complex scent of bright spice and fresh greens, so earthy and seductive, lights up around me.
On Scarlett, it morphs into something bordering erotic.
“If you want to know who I am, then you’ll have to ask point-blank.”
“Are you a criminal?”
“Wrong question. My businesses are varied, like my interests.” I take another drag. “If you’re asking whether I can protect your family, then yes, I can do that. I can also take out the threat. If I’m going to do that, it’s a different set of questions.”
She’s silent as a car zooms by and heels click on the pavement behind us. Then she says, “So you’re a pervert who runs a sex den?”
“I provide a service to people, Scarlett.”
“How—”
“I make it my business to know what’s going on everywhere. And I’m guessing you don’t know shit about me because your father panicked and sent you in to help before telling you who I actually am and why he needs me so badly.”
“You’re such a piece of shit.”
We stare at each other as I take another drag. “Maybe, but from what I’ve seen, someone’s out to get your family. Your father.”
“I have an uncle, too.”
I nod. “Let’s say both, then. You’re here looking for a way to save their asses.”
“If you can help, I… your details were on Uncle Grant’s desk, and I thought it might help if I came to speak to you first.”
“To tempt me?”
