Knight's Mistress (2 page)

He moved left and checked her progress. ‘Change it back.’

He was like a solid wall of machismo blocking her way. She tried to keep her voice from trembling. ‘I can’t … sorry.’

He recognized the small flutter in her voice, debated responding, decided against it. ‘Let’s keep this simple,’ he said brusquely. ‘I need you in Amsterdam. So don’t tell me no.’

Jesus, that was either intimidating or damn intimidating. ‘Please move,’ she croaked.

‘In a second,’ he said with a flicker of a smile, feeling that this difficult young lady may have finally got the message. ‘Tell me what it’s going to take to get you on board. Name your price, if that’s the stumbling block. Max says you’re beyond gifted even for a high flyer and I need you in Amsterdam. This is important.’

‘To you.’

‘Yes. That’s the point. You can’t say you don’t want to work for Knight Enterprises. Everyone does.’

‘Not everyone.’

That small startle reflex again. He really wasn’t used to dissent.

‘Look, I’m sorry if I said something to offend you.’ Although there wasn’t a hint of apology in his tone. In fact, his annoyance was plain. He ran a quick hand over his face, as though to wipe away the betraying emotion. ‘The ball’s in your court, Miss Hart.’

‘What if I said I want to leave?’

The pause was so lengthy, a small moment of panic washed over her until she reminded herself it was the twenty-first century.

A winter chill coloured the blue of his eyes. ‘Do I frighten you?’

‘No.’ She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

He tipped his head slightly and smiled in the most disarmingly ruthless way. ‘Good. Then if you’ll sit down’ – he indicated a chair – ‘we can discuss my problem, your skill set and how we might cooperate.’

Deciding the chances of her fighting her way out of this office were slight to nil, she sat. ‘You really don’t take no for an answer, do you?’

‘I’m afraid not.’ He dropped into a large black leather chair behind his desk. ‘It’s not unique to a man in my position.’

A salient argument, but not one she chose to value. ‘You’re putting me in an awkward position, forcing this issue.’

‘On the contrary, you’ve put me in an awkward position. I’m offering you an excellent job. Max mentioned some of our issues in his emails. The dark market is making inroads in some of our outlier firms. It has to be stopped. Obviously you were intrigued or you wouldn’t be here. Why not accept?’

‘Personality clash. I heard you in the hallway.’

‘Perhaps you don’t understand the company’s organizational
structure,’ he said with exquisite restraint. ‘I doubt we’ll meet again.’

‘I disagree. As I understand it, Knight Enterprises’ organizational structure is one of authoritarian leadership. You’re hands-on. You demand absolute compliance from subordinates.’

His mouth tightened. ‘You’ve done your homework.’

‘I always do. And I have several other job offers, Mr Knight. With the worldwide level of corruption, forensic accounting is in great demand.’ She smiled, sure of her prima donna status in her field at least. ‘Yours isn’t the only company losing money to the dark market.’

Her cheeky smile lit up her eyes and he looked at her for the first time as if she was more than just an obstacle in his path. She didn’t know how to dress, but then the clothes of the young IT set weren’t couture or colourful. Neutral tones went with their left brain functions. But her hair was a riot of red curls and her eyes were a potent green. Strange word. Bright green, he corrected himself. And beneath the drab army-green jacket and slacks, he could see hints of a lithe, supple body that went well with her wide-eyed innocent beauty.

His lashes drifted downwards an infinitesimal distance.

Hmmm. He hadn’t considered that before, too intent on talking her around to his point of view. Not an easy task with Miss Hart. She wasn’t docile. Or accommodating.

A provocative thought.

But he was a businessman first; there was time enough
for other things once Miss Hart had done her job. Since he’d lost Julia, he was indifferent to women for anything other than sex and that was available anywhere. Miss Hart’s sexual function was immaterial.

What
was
material lay in Bucharest, and according to Max, Miss Hart was the answer to their problem. ‘Perhaps we could come to a compromise,’ he said, determined as always to prevail. ‘You could join us as a contractor. After you finish this Amsterdam job, you can walk. You’re a December graduate. Most of the major firms won’t start recruiting for another few weeks. You’d still be in the game.’

‘I’d have to turn down my current offers.’

‘I’d be happy to make some calls and get some brief deferments for you. I know everyone in this business.’

Nobody says no to me
, indeed. How much did she want to piss off one of the most powerful men in the world? ‘You’re persistent.’ She gave him a polite smile.

‘So I’ve been told. Do you have family?’ He preferred employees with a casual attachment to family. They were more likely to work the long hours demanded of them.

‘You can’t ask that,’ she flatly said.

His smile was mocking. ‘Are you going to sue me?’

‘I won’t have to if I’m not working for you.’

His jaw clenched. ‘You can be a real bitch. Sue me for that too, if you want. Now, could we stop playing games? I won’t ask you any personal questions, other than will you accept my job offer?’ Leaning back in his chair, he
unbuttoned his jacket, shot his cuffs, waited for her reply.

She couldn’t help but notice his hard flat stomach under his white custom shirt. And the fact that he didn’t wear cufflinks. She liked that. She’d always viewed cufflinks as pretentious.
Only an observation
, the little voice inside her head pointed out innocently.
No one’s trying to persuade you of anything.

His gaze narrowed. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ Then Kate pointed. ‘You don’t wear cufflinks. Is that allowed when you’re a CEO?’

A shrug, a bland, blue stare. ‘Everything’s allowed when you’re me. My company is privately held.’

Her spine stiffened. As she opened her mouth to speak, he stopped her with a lifted finger, picked up his phone and hit a button. ‘I’m calling Max. He’s scheduled to fly out at seven. He’ll fill you in on all the details en route. As will Werner in our Amsterdam office. Now, in the nicest possible way, I’d like to invite you to work for us. Just the one assignment in Amsterdam. Yes or no, Miss Hart? I’m done fucking around. Just a minute, Max.’ He held her gaze.

‘You’re a control freak,’ she muttered.

‘Is that a yes?’

Silence.

‘Two weeks, a month, that’s it. Money’s no object. Come now, say yes.’ He smiled, a beautiful, charming, practised smile.

Why did it seem that his smile was offering her the entire world and its pleasures?
Clearly, a lunatic thought.

‘Very well,’ he softly said into the lengthening silence, his blue gaze grave. ‘Give me two weeks of your time. I won’t ask for more.’

A pause, a last small grimace, a barely discernible nod.

His instant smile could have melted the entire polar ice cap in under a minute. ‘Welcome aboard, Miss Hart. I look forward to working with you.’ He grinned. ‘At a distance, of course.’

He was way too smooth and way too beautiful and way too familiar with getting his way. But, deep down, irrationally, she wanted the job more than anything. And she knew better than to fall under his spell. Screwing the CEO was never wise.

As if, anyway.

Besides, the word
bondage
had come up on one of the murkier blogs in Europe. Whether it was true or not, a man that rich and powerful?

Anything was possible.

Dominic walked her out to the foyer where Max was waiting. He introduced them, made a few gracious remarks about Miss Hart joining the firm as a contractor, said, ‘Thank you, Max, thank you, Miss Hart, good journey,’ and walked away. The fact that Max was there waiting for her would have pissed her off if she’d been given the time to properly register her resentment before being whisked off in a limo by Dominic Knight’s vice president, ADC and all around chargé d’affaires.

That Max was ex-MI6 was immediately apparent from the top of his blond brush-cut to the tips of his desert-booted toes. His British upper class accent was both calming and intimidating. ‘May I say how pleased we are to have you with Knight Enterprises,’ he said as he settled into the seat beside her. ‘Nick was intent on hiring you.’

‘I got that impression,’ she said, drily.

He laughed. ‘You’ll get used to it. Everyone does or they’re gone.’

‘That was pretty clear too.’

Max merely shrugged. ‘I don’t think he even notices. He sees it as efficiency.’

She stared him down for a second. ‘Don’t say, “Get used to it”, or I’ll strangle you.’

He laughed. ‘I wouldn’t dare.’

She sniffed. ‘I don’t need this job, you know.’

‘I do know. We do have a serious issue in Amsterdam, Miss Hart, so take it from me personally, we’re grateful for your help. Your reputation precedes you. No one quite matches your skill set in cyber forensics.’ He gave her an avuncular smile. ‘We’ve taken the liberty of collecting your luggage from your hotel. It’s already at the airfield. I have some papers for you to sign on the plane. Nothing out of the ordinary,’ he said at the sudden scepticism in her gaze. ‘Just the usual forms for our contractors. Pam, my personal assistant, will run you through the process. Then I’ll give you an idea of what you’re up against. We’ve been trying to sort out this mess for a while, without luck. You’re the talent we need.

‘As for Dominic, rest easy, Miss Hart, you’ll find it simple enough to work for him. He’s interested in results and I’m sure you won’t have any problem delivering. You’ll have carte blanche on this project. We’re trying to avoid a PR disaster. This plant is supposed to be state-of-the-art in terms of employee health and safety. It’s a pilot project for green technology and community involvement in an area of the Balkans that has high unemployment. And
now morale is low, production is down, the parts aren’t up to standard, workers are beginning to complain. It’s only a matter of time until stories about the working conditions hit the news media. So’ – he flipped his hand in her direction – ‘you’re going to make Dominic happy and solve the mess.’

Making Dominic happy was probably every woman’s dream.
‘Someone’s skimming off the top, I presume,’ she said instead.

‘A considerable amount. At the expense of not just the employees’ working conditions, but the reputation of our firm.’

‘Hmmm.’

He smiled. ‘Sound like fun?’

She nodded. ‘I like to solve puzzles. Especially complicated ones like this.’

‘Good. You’ll have security. I don’t know if Dominic told you. There’s a level of criminal involvement whenever large sums of money are at stake.’

Wide-eyed, she whispered, ‘Security?’

‘It’s just a precaution. Amsterdam is a long way from Bucharest. Don’t worry.’

‘Oh crap.’

Max grinned. ‘Charge him more.’

She gave him a sideways look. ‘Will that bulletproof me?’

‘I’ll bulletproof you. Promise.’

His quiet certainty reassured her. And Amsterdam
was
a long way from Bucharest. ‘Thanks. I’m a small-town girl. Bodyguards aren’t in my repertoire.’

‘You won’t even notice.’

Late that night, actually in the wee hours of the morning, when everyone was sleeping in their bedrooms on the company 747, a knock on the door woke Max.

‘Phone call, sir, in the lounge,’ one of the stewards announced.

Slipping into his robe, Max entered the lounge, took a seat in a leather easy chair and picked up the call.

‘Sorry to wake you,’ Dominic said.

‘What the hell time is it back there?’

‘I’m not sure. I can’t see a clock. The reason I called is to tell you that I’ll be in Amsterdam Saturday.’

‘What for?’ The Amsterdam office was small, just a satellite, of little consequence to the company’s bottom line.

‘I’m on my way to Hong Kong. Thought I’d stop by.’

It was triple the distance going through Europe. ‘She’ll do fine,’ Max said. ‘She’ll do better if you don’t fuck with her head.’

‘I’ve been telling myself that.’

‘And you’re coming anyway. She won’t like it.’

‘You surprise me, Max. After all these years, I’d hoped you’d understand me better.’

‘She’s not the starry-eyed type.’

‘I noticed.’

‘You may not get what you want.’

‘Of course I will. I always do.’

‘She might quit. Then our problem here doesn’t get solved.’

‘I’ll see that she doesn’t quit. Now go back to sleep. I’ll see you in four days.’

Max swore as he set down the phone. Dominic could be a cold bastard. Or just reverting to type after his wife’s death. Dominic’s CFO, Roscoe Kern, had explained everything when Max had first come on board Knight Enterprises. While Dominic had become a friend in the five years they’d worked together, he was at base an emotionally detached person, largely indifferent to everything but his business. He might have tempered his obsessive need for control during his marriage, but it was back in full force now. In fact, it was even worse than before, according to Roscoe who’d been with Dominic from the beginning of his ascent to one of the wealthiest men in the world.

Heaving himself out of the chair, Max grimaced.

He’d be earning his bloody pay in Amsterdam.

It was cool with a light rain when the plane landed in Amsterdam, the wind off the ocean bracing. Not that January weather was an issue inside a luxurious Mercedes. Nor was it noticeable in the short walk between the car and the entrance to a palatial town house in the old city centre.

They were greeted by a discreetly dressed major domo: simple black suit, sleek hair, welcoming smile. Kate was
to be installed in an apartment in the eighteenth-century structure that had been restored to its original magnificence by Knight Enterprises seven years ago.

After Max had conducted her on a swift tour of the richly decorated main floor reception rooms used for company functions, he escorted her to an apartment on the fourth floor and left her with a breezy, ‘I’ll send someone for you tomorrow. Take the rest of the day off.’