“How did you get his number?” Solie sat upright in the bed, her voice rising with each word. “Tell me.”
“And spoil the mystery? That would spoil the fun, nina.” His chuckle turned into an outright laugh. “Oh, it was so good to break into your little tête-à-tête. You looked so starry-eyed. What did he do? Ask you to marry him?”
Solie gasped and almost leaped out of the bed. “What do you know about that? Where were you? Were you watching us?”
Again, he tsked at her. “That’s for me to know and you to find out, sweetheart. Now listen.” Raul’s voice suddenly turned cold. “Like I told you earlier, I don’t want you seeing that guy anymore. If you don’t want him to get hurt you stay the hell away from him. You’re mine, do you hear me?”
Solie didn’t answer. Each time he said the words, threatening to hurt the man she loved, it was like her blood froze in her veins. She didn’t know what she’d do if Ransom came to any harm.
Raul’s voice broke into her thoughts. “There’s something very important I have to tell you. Something to do with that little friend of yours.”
“Ransom? What do you have to tell me about him?”
Raul laughed and it was a harsh and unforgiving sound. “If you want to find out there’s only one thing you can do. Tomorrow night you’re going out on a date with me.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Solie sat in front of the mirror, her face a study in worry. Within an hour she was supposed to be meeting with Raul at Timpano and she didn’t know what to do.
She hated the idea of coming anywhere near the man, and having to sit at a table across from him? The thought made her shudder.
But what else could she do? She had to know what was up his sleeve. He’d said he had important information, something to do with Ransom. No matter if she was putting herself at risk she had to find out what it was.
She’d contemplated taking another recording device but this time, she was sure, he would check her when she got to the restaurant. Still, if she could manage it without tipping him off, she would use her cell phone.
That plan turned out to be fruitless. As soon as she sat down at the table Raul reached over and picked up her purse then, to her annoyance, he emptied its contents right there on the table. Covering the cell phone with his hand he drew it to him. “I’ll hold on to this,” he said. “You can have it back after dinner.”
Solie glared at him but he smiled back, unfazed. With a hiss of annoyance she gathered up her lip-gloss, tissues, keys and pen and stuffed them back into the purse. “What did you have to say to me?” she snarled. “Get on with it so I can leave.”
“My darling, I’m hurt.” He gave her a mocking grin. “You’re not looking forward to spending the evening with me?” Then he shook his head. “We aren't going to talk about it until we have dinner. Just relax and enjoy your meal. We’ll talk business later.”
The next hour was sheer torture for Solie. In between bits of food Raul spent the time engaging in idle chit-chat, which nearly drove her up the wall. She felt like wrapping her fingers around his neck and squeezing till he begged for mercy. Instead, she gritted her teeth and gave angry mumbles in response to his attempts at conversation, her feet tapping impatiently on the floor as she waited for him to divulge the secret he’d used to lure her out on this date.
When the server finally cleared the dessert things Solie looked at Raul expectantly. When he ignored her she cleared her throat. “Well?”
He raised his eyebrows then, in no hurry at all, he took a sip of his coffee. “Well what?”
Solie could have slapped the smugness right off his face. “You told me we’d talk business after dinner. It’s now after dinner, so talk.”
He smiled. “So anxious. Worried about your little boyfriend?”
She didn’t answer. She just glared at him, willing him to speak.
It must have finally dawned on Raul that she was not amused because his self-satisfied grin faded and his lips tightened. He leaned forward and when he spoke his tone was cold and his eyes even colder. “I know who Ransom Kent is. He may be trying to hide, mingling with the common folk like he’s not loaded, but he can’t hide. He’s the low-profile type who’s good at keeping his identity secret but I did some checking around. He can’t hide from me.”
That made Solie’s frown deepen. “So what if you know who he is? He’s got nothing to hide.”
“Maybe not, but that could change…real fast.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Solie held her breath. Was this man planning to do something crazy?
“It means,” he said, his voice seductively soft, “it would be so easy to soil his good name. So easy.” His eyes took on the seductive charm of a snake. “Especially if his name is linked to a drug mule from Latin America.”
Solie sucked in her breath. “My God. Not even you would be so evil…”
“Oh, mi amor, it is so easy. It is tempting…very tempting. Lie or not, the media would pounce on that rumor and then ask questions much, much later. But you can prevent all that from happening. You can agree never to see him again.” He smiled. “And then we can pick up where we left off.”
That was it. Solie shot up from her chair and grabbed her purse off the table. “You know what? You’re crazy. Totally insane. I don’t have to sit here and listen to this. I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago. I’m going to the police.”
And with that she whirled around and marched right out of there, not caring who heard or who saw her dramatic exit.
She jumped into her car and sped out of the parking lot and when she pulled into her driveway she was still shaking with anger. The nerve of that beast. Did he think it was that easy to blackmail her?
Now she could see that his threat to Ransom was not physical. Thank God for that. But he wanted to hurt him in another way. He wanted to use her to make Ransom look bad. Damned if she would let that happen. First thing in the morning she was going to the police.