The Hidden Man by Anthony Flacco

Author:Anthony Flacco
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780345507211
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2008-06-24T04:00:00+00:00

Randall sat in the conspicuously opulent dining room and felt solid, visceral fear despite the surroundings. It was the kind of thing that he only expected in dark alleys with armed criminals. He knew that his relationship with Miss Freshell was at a crossroads and he was prepared to confront the crisis. But to do that required verbal skills and negotiating abilities he had never possessed. Years of self-imposed solitude had left him dangerously low on skills for dealing with any woman in a nonprofessional capacity, whether she was verbally skilled or not.

A sunken feeling came over him. He realized more with each passing moment that she was far superior to him in this arena. Janine Freshell was not going to be forced into confronting anything. Even her way of holding a silence without being mean about it—women could do too many of those things, he thought.

Most of the time, Miss Freshell made it easy to be with her. More than easy, it was effortless. Still he remained aware, deep down, that he was not the one who made each encounter so seamlessly smooth, even though she did so much to convince him that it was his humor, his character, and his strength that was making it delightful for her to be in his company.

The wave that carried them was primarily generated by her. For a while, he had been glad to be borne along by it, since in the rest of his life and career he was always the strength and the enforcer. The sheer novelty of having a female be attentive to him, concerned for him, interested in everything about him—he found it overwhelming. And he went for every bit of it.

Randall believed that a gentleman must formalize such an intimate state with an engagement ring. He did. She accepted with delight. With their engagement official, the sexual romps that she discreetly provided made it wonderful to be owned by her.

However, whenever he veered too far from whatever path she may have chosen for the moment, he felt that luscious wave flatten out and die. Motion resumed only when the course was corrected to her liking. Then the wave picked right up, her personality sparkled, and she danced through any social occasion with equal measures of charm and ease.

At the moment, the wave was flat, the air perfectly still. Her smile remained, though, while she silently demanded he tell her what it was that he wanted to see her about, and demanded it by simply refusing to speak first.

In the eye of a hurricane now, Blackburn could actually feel his hands shaking under the table. He started to pick up his water glass again, nearly knocked it over, and decided to refold his napkin instead. He felt driven to handle this delicate thing just right, and at the same time he thought of kicking down a door, doing it with words.

“Did you send the note telling the captain about Vignette?”

“…I beg your pardon?”

A self-conscious flush went through him over his clumsiness.

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