Pawn by Kit Tunstall

Author:Kit Tunstall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Erotic, Romance
ISBN: 1-4199-0247-4
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2005-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Julie’s plan to continue the seduction had encountered an unexpected snag—Declan himself. He had closeted himself in his study all day, avoiding her whenever possible. Even for dinner, he had taken his plate back to the office, offering a feeble apology of being too busy to sit with her at the table.

Under the guise of speaking with her father—the actual intent of trapping Declan for a few minutes in a situation from which he couldn’t escape her—she walked down the hall. Julie paused at his study door, her hand on the knob. The beeping of the machine drowned out her light tap and she started to open the door anyway, assuming he wouldn’t care if she entered. However, she hesitated when her father’s voice reached her. The anger in his tone caused her to reel backward a step.

“It’s not going to work, Poe. Do you really think I’m going to give up billions for Julie?”

Declan sounded calm. “She’s your daughter, Lee. You have to know we’ll do whatever we need to in order to get back the prototype. We can’t let you sell it to the highest bidder. You know what it’s capable of—how quickly the viral load contained in the solution could wipe out an entire country.”

“Spare me.” Lee sounded as though he was speaking through gritted teeth. “Your moralistic lectures aren’t going to change my intent. You should have realized that by now, Poe. All I want is enough money to retire in luxury somewhere far away. Either the U.S. government pays to reacquire the device or someone else will.”

“Be reasonable. If that falls into the wrong hands—”

A harsh laugh from Lee cut off Declan. “As if the American government is the right hands. You’re the one being naïve now, friend. We aren’t even supposed to be developing viral weaponry, but it’s okay because it was intended to wipe out terrorist cells? It doesn’t work that way. Who says the CIA is any more worthy to possess this than someone like bin Laden?”

Julie stood frozen, listening to the exchange. A small crack in the door allowed her to see Declan rest his head on his hands, his posture one of defeat. If she hadn’t been so stunned by what she had heard she might have felt pity for him. Instead, numbness was all she felt, with the faint lick of fire lapping at the edges of her awareness. Anger was boiling up, threatening to explode, and she gripped the doorknob tight enough to turn her knuckles white to stay quiet. Revealing her presence would cause both men to cease talking and she wanted to hear what they had to say.

“Fine, let’s not debate the merits of who should and shouldn’t have it.” Declan sighed. “In all honesty, no one should have it—but the device now exists, Lee. I give you my word I will do my best to ensure it doesn’t get used.”

Lee sounded weary. “You don’t seem to realize I don’t care if it’s used. All I care about is the financial security it can bring me.

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