And now I had a name from Gina “Gold Dust” Mulvado. Black Ben.
The hairs on the back of my neck rose like a dog sensing trouble. There was a whole hell of a lot more going on here than I thought.
I palmed my phone and found the contact I wanted.
It only rang once.
“Lord.”
“I got another lead.”
I’d replayed those moments on the rooftop over and over. And Con’s words.
Sitting at my desk, at work, was not the appropriate place to be remembering. The stack of bids in front of me needed my attention. But reading about interior finishes for the new building paled in comparison to remembering what it had felt like to kiss Constantine Leahy while we were both sober. The few sips of beer didn’t count in my book—except for how good it’d tasted on Con’s tongue.
“If the scenery in my office was this good, I’d probably never leave.”
Those words were more effective than a bucket of cold water. All thoughts of Con were dashed away as Lucas Titan smiled broadly and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.
“Surprised you ever leave your office at all to begin with, Mr. Titan.”
“Board meeting for my favorite foundation qualifies as a good reason.”
Crap. How could I forget the meeting—one I was scheduled to attend—this afternoon?
He crossed the room to one of my guest chairs, unbuttoned the jacket of his three-piece suit, and took a seat without being invited.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I mumbled.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
For a moment I was surprised he didn’t just kick his heels up on the edge of my desk. Instead, he rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.
“I expected a progress report.”
“And I expected to leave the banquet without being blackmailed. Guess we both have to live with disappointment.”
“I like your style, Frost.”
“Don’t bother trying to charm me, Titan. I’m not interested.”
“You know saying something like that is just going to make me want to try harder.”
I surveyed him. Pale gray suit, crisp white shirt, orange and navy plaid tie. “I think you’re smart enough to know when investing your time in something is going to give you a dismal return.”
His grin flashed white and boyish. There was no denying it; the man was attractive. And I should have been attracted to him. He was arguably my type, but he just didn’t… do it for me. My senses should have been revving, but all I could think was that I wanted him out of my office now.
I considered all the ways I could tell him to go to hell, but bit my tongue because I didn’t want to antagonize a man who could let one little thing slip and call my judgment and ability to lead into question.
“Can I help you, Mr. Titan?”
“I thought I told you to call me Lucas.”
“I’d prefer not to.”
He sat up and grabbed the house-shaped stress ball on my desk. He threw it in the air, not looking away from me as he caught it.
“Stressed, Vanessa?”
“What do you want?” I bit out.
He switched to tossing the house back and forth between his spread hands.
“So you got all the invites?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t feel the need to inform me?” he asked.
“Apparently not.”
Silence stretched between us as the stare down continued.
I broke first. I looked down at my desk, shuffled some papers, and lined up the pens in a neat row.
He didn’t speak—just kept flinging the house back and forth until I wanted to bat it out of the air like a pissed off cat.
He was baiting me, but I wasn’t sure why.
I smoothed on my most businesslike don’t screw with me frown. “Is there anything else, Mr. Titan? If not, I’d like to refresh my coffee and get to the board room.”
“You’ve still got at least fourteen minutes before the first board member, excluding me, will arrive.” He didn’t even look at his watch.
“How in the world do you know that?”
“I study things. People. Habits. Reactions.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” I mumbled.
His lips quirked to the left. “But I’ll admit: I don’t quite get you.” He leaned back in the chair, lifting the front legs off the ground and balancing, the way the nuns scolded us for at school. “I would’ve bet good money that a guy like Con Leahy was a no-go zone for the perfect Ms. Frost.”
I pushed down on my desk, bolting to my feet.
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
“Sit your ass down, Vanessa.”
My mouth dropped open. “What did you—?”
The green of his eyes seemed to freeze. “You heard me. This conversation isn’t over until I say it’s over.”
“Fuck you, Titan.”
This time his smile bared teeth. “If you talked like that more often, I’d have been a hell of a lot less surprised when he dragged you into that coat room.” He shifted forward and the chair landed on its front legs with a thud. I glared, hoping my eyes were just as frosty as his.
“I’d think you’d be happy about it, considering it played right into your plans.”
Titan pushed out of the chair and loomed over my desk—and me.
“Honestly, it really didn’t. Kind of fucked up my plans, if you want to know the truth, Vanessa.”
I didn’t understand, and my confusion must have shown in my drawn brows because Titan continued, “You see, he stole my play. Although I hadn’t planned on dragging you into a coat room, but if I’d known you liked that sort of thing… I could have worked it in.”