Double Dealing (8 page)

Gabriel watched her sprawl with casual ease, and then he
carefully sat down across from her, adjusting his wineglass so that it sat in
the exact center of the coaster on the end table. His hazel eyes were hooded as
he said slowly, “Emil Fortune’s father spent time in a federal prison on income
tax fraud charges. The government went to court over the discrepancies in his
taxes because the FBI couldn’t find enough evidence to pin the more serious
charges on him. Emil’s brother manages some of the most lucrative casinos in
Vegas and Atlantic City. From a discreet distance, of course. Emil’s cousin was
careless. He’s spending ten years in prison on smuggling charges. Emil’s lawyer
expects to have him out within two years, however. Another of Emil’s relatives
runs a trucking firm that somehow made a fortune during the recent recession
when most trucking firms were losing their collective shirts. Emil’s
grandfather founded the-family empire during prohibition, if that gives you a
due as to the solid financial status of the family.”

Samantha stared at him. “And Emil?” she asked very carefully.

“Emil is much more sophisticated than the rest of his family,”
Gabriel drawled, sipping his wine. “He’s into arbitrage. He moves money and
securities around on the international market so fast it makes your head spin.”

“And makes a nice profit on the price discrepancies between
the currencies of different countries,” Samantha concluded slowly. “I see.” She
took a long sip of the wine, trying to square the image of the little rumpled man
in the spa lobby with that of an international money broker who had ties to a
powerful crime family. “Do you, uh, mind if I ask the obvious question?” she hazarded.

He leaned back in his chair. “You want to know how I got
involved with Emil Fortune?”

“Well, it might be reassuring to know you’re not in danger
of being hauled off to prison in the middle of our deal!” she retorted
spiritedly.

That elicited a lazy grin, that rare smile which made her
think of sharks. “Emil would never allow that to happen. He likes me.”

“Don’t be modest,” she instructed tightly. “Tell me why he
likes you?”

“Nervous?”

“I’m involved in a business deal, not a criminal venture!”

“Sometimes there’s a rather fine line between the two,”
Gabriel noted dryly.

“The line may be fine but I can still see it, and I intend
to stay on my side of it.”

“Very commendable.” He took another sip of wine and eyed her
over the rim of the glass. “Okay, I’ll set your mind at rest. You’re not in any
danger of finding my photograph on a Wanted poster at the post office. I met
Emil when I got involved with his sister.”

“His sister! Oh, I see,” Samantha began hastily, aware of a
totally unexpected twinge of resentment against the unknown woman. What was the
matter with her? Why should she give a damn about Gabriel Sinclair’s love life?
But in spite of her dismissal of the topic, she once again had a mental image
of him making love to a woman in that slow, methodical way of his. What would it
be like?

“No, I don’t think you do see,” Gabriel corrected her mildly.
“You asked earlier if it was Emil’s money behind the spa. It isn’t. It’s mine.
I loaned the capital to Donna two years ago. It’s been a very profitable
venture for both of us.”

Samantha gave him a sharp look. “You’re her financial backer?”

“
Ummm
.” His mouth twisted wryly. “At
the time I didn’t know who her brother was. By the time I found out, it was too
late. I couldn’t back out of the deal and leave Donna stranded.”

“If
Donna’s
family has so much
money, why didn’t she borrow from them?”

“Believe me, that’s one of the first questions I asked Donna
when I found out just what I’d gotten involved with! The simple truth is Donna
has spent her whole life trying to break away from the family connections. She
wanted her business to be strictly legitimate, funded with strictly legitimate
money. When she came to me two years ago, she deliberately neglected to tell me
about Emil and the other relatives. The first I knew of it was the night
Fortune showed up on my doorstep.”

“A shock?”

“To put it mildly. But it turned out he only wanted to make
sure I didn’t have any designs on his sister.”

“Romantic designs or financial designs?” Samantha demanded
without stopping to think.

One mahogany brow lifted coolly. “Do you always say the
first thing that comes into your head?”

“Not everyone is as deliberate and premeditated as you are,
Gabriel,” she murmured, ruffled at the implied accusation of flightiness.

“I prefer to do business with people who think and act the
same way I do,” he warned very gently.

“Then you must find your life a bit dull at times,” she
snapped.

To her astonishment he considered that. “At times,” he
finally agreed. “Are you going to liven things up for me a bit?” he asked
whimsically.

“Your friend Mr. Fortune thought it might be good for you,”
she grinned wickedly. “Don’t worry, though. I assured him our association was
strictly business.”

“That was exactly the type of association I had with Donna
Fortune,” he said calmly.

Samantha narrowed her eyes briefly.

“Which was why Emil was so concerned. He had visions of some
enterprising capitalist getting his financial hooks into Donna and then taking
advantage of her. By the time I had assured him everything was straightforward and
honest between Donna and myself, Emil and I somehow discovered we had become
friends.”

“It sounds like a dangerous friendship.”

“Friendships, I’ve discovered, aren’t always logical.”

“Don’t look so chagrined.” Samantha laughed. “There are a
lot of things in life which aren’t logical.”

He looked at her. “So I’m learning.”

Samantha chewed reflectively on her lower lip and wondered
exactly what was going through her angel’s very logical, very organized brain.

Gabriel saw the speculation in her gaze and thought he knew
precisely what was going on in the lively brain of the sweet
witch
he had invited to dinner. She found him dull,
pedantic, slow, and God knew what else. But she was here, he told himself. She
was in his house, drinking his wine, and about to eat the food he had prepared.
He was amazed at how territorial and possessive his thoughts were. Even a
little predatory.

“It’s time to start dinner,” he announced, getting to his
feet with a decisive movement,
feeling
a need for some
physical release from the tension he’d been under. When seven o’clock had
arrived with no sign of Samantha, he’d experienced the most appalling surge of
anger. It was an anger which had died quickly after her belated arrival, but
some of the tension it had caused persisted. “You can stay here and finish
another glass of wine if you like.”

“No, I’d much rather watch you at work. Perhaps I’ll learn
something,” Samantha said lightly, rising quickly to follow him into the
kitchen.

Indeed, it was fascinating, she decided shortly. Everything
went together with a precision and patient skill that Samantha could only
admire. She watched as he set a pan of sliced apples in butter to sauté while
he put mushrooms into another shallow skillet. When the mushrooms were cooked,
he removed them and added more butter to the pan. In this, Gabriel browned
several small veal scallops to perfection.

Transferring the scallops to a platter, he added calvados to
the skillet, igniting it and shaking the pan until the flames went out. Then he
poured in cream and a bit of glace de
viande
and
reduced the rich sauce until it was slightly thickened. The result was served
over the veal together with the sautéed apples and a salad composed of
asparagus, potatoes, and beets.

“My God, this is good.” Samantha sighed as she savored each
bite. “When I think of all those poor people suffering through lettuce and
sprouts tonight back at the spa… “ She broke off, shaking her head with pity.
“Do you always feed your business partners this well?”

Gabriel lifted his eyes from the remainder of the veal on
his plate, riveting her attention with the sudden, utter seriousness of his
expression. “I haven’t agreed to any business arrangements yet, Samantha. But I
did want tonight to be a little special.”

“You’re trying to impress me?” she dared lightly. She refused
to be put off by the fact that he wouldn’t make a commitment regarding their
deal.

“I’m trying to do a little more than impress you. I’m trying
to seduce you,” he drawled evenly, his eyes never leaving her face.

Samantha dropped her fork halfway to her mouth. It clattered
rudely to the white octagonal plate, and she mumbled a hasty apology as she
recovered it.
Play this light, Samantha.
Give him an out and maybe he’ll retreat of his own accord. He’s not really the
pushy type.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly. Goodness, I
hope I didn’t spatter anything on this lovely place mat!” She searched the
woven fiber mat anxiously for signs of veal sauce. What was she going to do if
he didn’t back down? Honesty in a man was far more unnerving and far more
difficult to handle than the subtle maneuver!

“You heard me, Samantha,” Gabriel said quietly. “Why the
panic? Ssurely I’m not the first to pose the question.”

She took a grip on her resolve. “Of course not. Somehow I
just wasn’t expecting it from you.”

He smiled bleakly. “Still trying to dress me in a halo and
wings?”

“Mr. Sinclair, I came here tonight because I hoped we could
do business together. I never mix business with my personal life.” Not anymore,
she silently noted to herself. “And certainly not to the extent you’re suggesting.
Is that very clear?” No one knew better than she just how disastrous a
combination it could be.

“I’ve been thinking about you ever since I saw you lying on
that massage table this afternoon. I would like to take you to bed, Samantha,”
he said with devastating simplicity.

Samantha swallowed, her fingers drumming on the glass
tabletop as she mentally ran through a list of ways to handle this new
development. He wasn’t going to simply back off. Once started on a course of
action, it would probably take a nuclear explosion to deflect Gabriel Sinclair
from his chosen path. She had never before experienced such blunt directness
and such a deliberate way of doing things in a man, and it temporarily put her
off stride. Perhaps the best way to handle it was to be equally blunt.

“Are you saying that our partnership is contingent on my
sleeping with you?” Utter disdain permeated her words. “If that’s the case,
Gabriel, I might as well say good night and be on my way. I don’t make deals
like that.” She wasn’t bluffing and it showed. But she couldn’t read the
thoughts moving behind the guarded hazel gaze as Gabriel continued to search
her own fiercely controlled features. Then he lowered his eyes to his wineglass
and reached for it.

“Whether or not you’ll come to bed with me won’t affect my
decision on whether or not I’ll do business with you, Samantha.”

Her eyes widened in sudden perception. “You’re not planning
on doing business with me at all, are you?” she whispered tightly.

He hesitated and then shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet.

“Terrific!” she muttered scathingly. “Am I wasting an entire
evening then? Were you even going to ask to see the information I’ve collected?
Or were you just going to rush me into bed and then send me on my way in the
morning without any answer at all?”

Gabriel eyed her thoughtfully for a moment. “Would you like
a little career advice, Samantha?”

“Not particularly!”

“Don’t worry, its free. The advice is to watch that temper
of yours. Watch all your moods, in fact. You’re very volatile, you know. You
ought to keep yourself under control when you’re trying to conduct business. Don’t
let your opponent see how anxious or angry or reckless you really are. You
s-s-should strive for a little more business poise, Samantha.”

She raised beseeching eyes toward the ceiling. “For heaven’s
sake! I didn’t come here for a lecture on professional conduct! I’ve put a
simple, straightforward, potentially lucrative proposition in front of you.
Just tell me whether or not you’re seriously interested.”

“And if I’m not?”

“William Oakes,” she said succinctly.

“Oakes?” Gabriel frowned. “From New York?”

“You know him?” she inquired pleasantly enough. “You ought
to. He’s in your line of work. He was the other man on my list of potential
backers.”

“Why didn’t you select him as your first choice? How did I
get so lucky?”

She lifted one shoulder dismissingly. “You were on the West
Coast, which made you convenient and less likely to be known to Buchanan’s
people. You have a low profile in the venture capital world, which means you
can make a move without telegraphing it to
The
Wall Street Journal
or
Barron’s
.
You operate alone, which means I didn’t have to convince an entire committee of
the validity of my plan. And you’d had that previous encounter with the
Buchanan Group which I thought might predispose you to want to even the score.”

“An excellent line of reasoning. I see you can think logically
when you wish.” He smiled gently.

“I can work up an equally sound line of reasoning to present
to Mr. Oakes, I’m sure,” she threatened carefully.

“Stay away from William Oakes, Samantha.” Gabriel’s voice turned
suddenly hard.

“Why?” she challenged.

“Because he’ll chew you up into little pieces and spit out
what’s left. That’s why. You’ll find yourself coming out of the deal with
nothing. He’ll take everything.”

“Is this professional envy I’m hearing?” she mocked, pleased
at having regained some advantage. She couldn’t be sure why he didn’t like
Oakes, but there must be a way of working the information to her advantage.