Net of Lies (10 page)

But w
hy hasn’t he called, then?
As they were parting, he’d told her he would check up on her later, but it had never happened. She imagined he should be worried by her silence by then.

‘I think you see my point, Kate
,’ Raoul stated, his eyes on her the entire time.

She was annoyed
to think that he must have been reading her as she’d thought and was satisfied with the conclusion. She would have loved to prove him wrong and make him take back all his accusations, but she couldn’t.

‘
What does it make me to you, Raoul?’ Her eyes hardened in response to his obvious smugness. ‘Aren’t you trying to use me, just as much as Marc, even though you’re all high and mighty in pointing out his mistakes?’

‘
I’m asking for your help, laying out all my cards on the table for you to see, nothing hidden or distorted,’ he answered, the darkening of his face telling her he didn’t like her comparison. ‘And I can assure you, Kate, that if you were my girlfriend, I would never let you disappear with another man, let alone hope it to be profitable for me.’

‘
Wow, I’m so impressed…’ Sarcasm dripped from her voice, and she shrugged in a disparaging gesture. ‘Makes me almost wish I was your girlfriend, Raoul.’ She laughed resentfully, then added, her head still spinning from her drink, ‘Oh, wait, I forgot—been there, done that. Only it didn’t work out so great, now did it? I hope for your own good that you have improved in that department. Otherwise, it’s no wonder it isn’t going too well for you.’

‘Your attempts to provoke me won’t work,
querida.
’ He was angry, she could tell by the muscle twitching in his jaw.

She watched him with a sick fascination, her skin electrified and alive in a way she
couldn’t remember happening since the day she’d found out what a deceiving liar he was.
That’s the thing about being with Raoul,
she thought dazedly, forcing herself not to step backward.
He has the annoying talent of capturing my attention more completely than anyone else, putting the world on hold with his voice.

‘
You know very well that I’m right about Marc, and it bothers you a lot. I can understand that. But if you want to throw me into the same pot, blaming me for whatever misfortune you need to face now, it’s wrong.’ He shook his head, something coming and going in his dark eyes as he added, ‘If you were ever interested in hearing my side of the story two years ago, you would not have run away like a thief or a madwoman, Kate. You would have waited for me and demanded answers, which I would have provided to you without hesitation. But you chose the other path, condemning me and destroying our relationship, never as much as stopping to look back and second-guess your decisions.’

She opened her
mouth in protest, but he shrugged again, the calm finality of his movements freezing her to the bone. This was a man who didn’t care anymore, she realized, a wave of pain she had forgotten could even exist hitting her full force.

‘I will not explain myself now to you, not after you have proved how little you trust
ed me and our love.’

She could have wept as she listened to his voice and watched his impassive face.

‘So don’t even bother to try, Kate. Instead, trust me this one last time when I tell you to do exactly what I say. Accept my parting gift, so to speak.’

‘
And if I don’t?’ she asked, her voice hoarse and tired, because she knew the answer even before his mouth opened in response.

‘
Then go down with your Marc Stevenson. I certainly won’t try to stop you, not anymore.’ He reached for his cell phone, his long fingers pausing as he looked into her face. ‘What is it going to be, Kate? I’m going to call Marc and tell him about my purchase now. Should I mention to him my other interest and your role in it, or not? It’s up to you, whichever you choose.’

She had no choice
, and she knew it. She hadn’t had a choice since the moment she’d heard his voice, asking her how she was. In that single moment, the earth had stopped spinning, pausing on its axis and leaving her breathless with the realization that she couldn’t escape her fate, no matter how hard she struggled. It had been sealed on the scalding white sand of the Costa Tropical beach two years ago. Everything before had faded away. Raoul de Santos y Lorrena had walked into her life, filling it with emotions that defied reason and sensibility. No amount of time that passed could ever change it, not now and not ever. And she had to face it.

She nodded. ‘All right, I
’ll do it.’ She said the words, surprised to find her lips physically hurting as she spoke. ‘You can tell Marc whatever you want. I’m in.’

I have her.
Raoul found himself thinking it over and over again, his usually brilliant brain numbed into those three words that had kept replaying in his head like a broken record ever since she’d agreed to his plan. He was barely able to concentrate on his conversation with Marc; only his steadfast self-control rescued him. Not that he had to try too hard. The other man’s delighted surprise at the extent of his interest in the gallery was evident in his every word. Eager to discuss the details, he was only too happy to meet him the day after his purchase.

And the meeting was certainly as accommodating as
Raoul could have wished for. He sat in Marc’s private office, sipping on a glass of wine and watching both Marc and Kate with hooded eyes—especially Kate. He was amazed by her resilience. With her long dark hair swept up in a sophisticated hairdo, the composed, cool woman who sat at the table was a far cry from the shaken, frightened girl he had seen in his hotel room the night before. In her red silk dress and black pumps, she listened to him and Marc discuss the details of the sale.

Marc reach
ed out to her and murmured in her ear, and his intimate smile made Raoul boil with fury that had to be restrained. Kate certainly didn’t mind, her lovely mouth curving up, nothing in her face betraying her knowledge that he had shared with her the previous night. She didn’t allow even one slip of her peaceful expression. Her large, dark eyes hung on Marc’s lips with devotion.

For a moment
, he doubted his memory, thinking that her previous evening’s agreement to help him was only a figment of his imagination. His wishful thinking had conjured so many alternate endings to their encounter in his hotel room as he lay in bed remembering her taste and scent. Or even worse, maybe she’d changed her mind and given up on the idea of being involved in his elaborate plan.

Suddenly, as
Raoul listened to Marc, Kate looked up, and their eyes locked over the space between them. It was a fleeting moment, barely a few seconds of eye contact. Still, it was enough for him to realize that she knew exactly what she was doing and that their plans from yesterday were still a go. Dark, calm, and wide open, her eyes gave him the uncanny impression that she was looking straight into his very soul—which was a very bad thing. Nobody should have access to his innermost thoughts, especially not Kate. Even he didn’t venture deep enough to uncover some of the spaces that he had tried so hard to suppress over the years. It was too painful and too scary. The combination of regret and defeat created an impenetrable zone that had to be protected at all costs. He sipped his wine, letting it travel down his throat, warming him.

T
he meeting concluded with him writing a check for a mind-dazzling amount. The combined value of the pictures he had purchased was more than a year’s worth of rent for a flat in London. It was well worth it, he thought as he watched the ink dry on the paper. Marc was in a full pleasing mode now, granting Raoul’s request for Kate to accompany his agent on the quest to obtain the Picassos without as much as a word of hesitation. If anything, he seemed absolutely thrilled to have his client so obviously smitten with his lovely assistant. Raoul could tell it bothered Kate even more than it did him. Her deceptive calm didn’t fool him for a minute. He had known her face better than any other human features, and he recognized her clenched jaw and tight lips.

Her anger
didn’t matter, of course. He had achieved exactly what he wanted: Marc’s blessing for Kate to go to Spain and pay a visit to his aunt. It was the first step of many on his walk toward truth and justice.

When Marc made a
flamboyant remark about his agent’s supernatural talent in getting what he wants, Raoul’s anger was ignited by a quick spark that threatened to overcome him and give away his true emotions. Surprisingly, Kate came to his rescue, calmly intercepting the too-obvious hints about manipulating the old lady in question, a warning in her eyes signaling to him that she understood exactly how he felt. Her little gesture of alliance sufficed to bring him back on track. The sensation of being a team with her was oddly reassuring.

Marc’s brilliant plan was simple and exactly
what Raoul had hoped for. Josh Lastman would visit Rosa. Marc’s decision to use his best conman was a clear sign of his frustration. He must have heard all about the difficulties his men had faced when confronted with the eighty-two-year-old lady who still had the brain of a twenty-year-old. He listened to Marc’s reassurances about Josh’s credentials and his impressive record of closing deals with the most difficult clients—which translated into dealing with people who actually knew what they owned and weren’t prepared to part with it for the ridiculous sum of money they had been offered.

Marc’s smooth manipulation
made it sound as if Kate’s participation were actually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. According to Marc, his goodwill and concern for her professional future were actually what made him send her with Josh. Not the tiniest slip in his sunny speech hinted at the true reason for her presence there. She would be able to learn a lot and put it to good use while working on other projects, he explained to her, his blue eyes warm and intimate.

Raoul
wondered what Kate was thinking after his previous explanations had shed plenty of light on her boyfriend’s true nature. Was she aware she was being sold together with the art, or did she still harbor any of her naïve notions that Marc cared for her? He didn’t want to go there, he realized, shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he thought of the implications of their relationship. True, Kate had admitted that she hadn’t slept with Marc, which was the final and most basic part of a relationship a man and woman could have. And he found himself oddly pleased.

He sat
, deep in his thoughts, unaware of the sudden silence that had fallen over the room, until Marc’s awkward cough brought him back to the conversation.

‘So,
uhm, I guess we know where we stand, right?’ Marc smiled at him with his most winsome smile, which failed to reach the depth of his glacial-blue eyes. ‘Josh will be available tomorrow, after he returns from another project he’s been working on in Paris. We can safely assume that both he and my lovely assistant’—his eyes went to Kate’s face, which was playful and cautious at the same time—‘will be on their way to Madrid sometime the day after tomorrow. As you see, I’m more than willing to accommodate you as soon as possible. We’ll put other projects on hold until we can offer you the pieces you want.’

‘
What if it doesn’t work, though?’ Raoul couldn’t resist asking, especially with Kate sitting across the table, her face betraying none of her emotions. He was ashamed at having forced her to listen to it, but on the other hand, he wanted her to take in every word. She needed to see for herself Marc’s total confidence in being able to deliver.

‘Oh, but i
t will.’ He wasn’t disappointed. Marc’s perfect teeth that must have cost a fortune flashed in an eager smile. ‘My success rate is one hundred percent, no matter how difficult the case might be. I’m absolutely positive that next week at this time, we will be sitting here, celebrating our victory with the best champagne in town.’

They wrapped up the meeting at that
. Marc’s cordial offer for Kate to show Raoul more of the gallery was met with a defiant flash of her hazel eyes. She was obviously teetering on the verge of telling Marc what she thought of his blatant attempts to bring her and his new client together. In the end, she kept her mouth shut. With a noncommittal smile that was barely there, she excused herself under the pretense of being too busy, especially with the flight to Madrid looming so soon. Raoul watched her walk away, her dark head held high and the heels of her shoes clicking against the marbled floor of Marc’s office.

‘Women
,’ Marc sighed with false amusement.

Raoul guessed this was the part where their male solidarity was supposed to cement the deal.

‘Kate is wonderful, though, the best addition to the gallery in the longest time.’

‘I thought she was more than that to you
. Was I wrong?’ Raoul noticed a little shadow of annoyance cross the other man’s face. Marc didn’t want to be reminded of his private relationship with Kate; that much was obvious.

‘
Well, we have had fun together, that’s true,’ he said finally, carefully choosing his words. Raoul could have sworn that he didn’t want to say too much without knowing what Kate had already told him. He was most likely cursing the need to have to address the subject at all.

‘I like her a lot
. Don’t get me wrong, Raoul.’ His grin gave off a confidential vibe. ‘But you know women better than I do, if I’m correct. They always take things a bit too far, already planning the invitations to the wedding and searching for the dress while we men don’t look further than having a bit of fun, right?’