Page 32 of Shattering Dawn

As she had told Amelia, he had a real name, but his code name, Falcon, suited him. Amelia had guessed correctly. Falcon was dangerous. Irene looked at Daisy and Dahlia, who were cruising serenely past the little bubble-blowing diver on the bottom of the aquarium.

“That’s what makes him so much fun,” she said.

The goldfish ignored her, as was their habit. They only took a serious interest in her when they spotted her approaching their water world with a jar of fish food. They had priorities. She respected that. She had priorities, too.

She closed down the laptop and got to her feet. Falcon was the polar opposite of the boring men who drifted in and out of her life. With the notable exceptions of a special forces operative and a race car driver—both of whom had been brief, whirlwind affairs—sheinvariably found herself in the company of singularly dull males. Tech bros. CEOs. Politicians. They all had three things in common: they were narcissists to the core, they expected her to do all of the work in bed, and they got fever-hot when she put on the leather gear and pulled out the dominatrix paraphernalia.

Falcon was different. Sure, he was a narcissist, but he had a real edge. He wasn’t looking for someone to whip him into an erection. He liked to be in charge.

Three sharp raps sounded on her door. She made her way across the living room. She was very certain that Falcon was on the other side of the door, but she was a single woman living alone. She took a moment to check the peephole.

Falcon in all his leather glory was in the hallway. She was suddenly a little breathless.

She opened the door. “Come in. I’ll be ready in a minute.”

Falcon moved through the doorway and gave her a head-to-toe assessment, taking in the teal-green slip dress and the high heels. His mouth curved in a satisfied way and his eyes narrowed.

“Nice,” he said. “Very nice.”

“Thanks. You look good, too.” She picked up the small handbag and the gossamer cashmere wrap and went back toward the door. “To tell you the truth I expected you to cancel tonight. When you texted earlier you said there had been a glitch in your current project.”

“Things got fucked up last night but I’m in the process of getting the situation back under control,” Falcon said. “There’s going to be a delay but the end result will be the same.”

“You’re not worried?” she asked, moving past him into the hallway.

“No, I’m dealing with an amateur,” Falcon said. “Amateurs are unpredictable, and that can complicate things, but amateurs are weak. Soft. And they have no idea what’s really going on.”

Something in his voice sent a flicker of anxiety through her. She was attracted to Falcon because of his dangerous edge but she did not fear him. From the outset she had been confident that in the final analysis she was the one in control. She was, after all, a lot smarter.

She remembered what she had told Amelia about her father.He always thought he was the smartest one in the room. Until he wasn’t.

Chapter Sixteen

Amelia walked throughthe resort parking lot like a woman walking a gauntlet. Tense, a little shaky, but resolute.

Gideon watched her out of the corner of his eye as they made their way toward the brightly lit entrance of the resort. When they reached the rectangular reflecting pool in front of the glass doors she visibly relaxed.

He stopped as if pausing to admire the brightly illuminated fountains that ran the length of the pool. Amelia halted and gave him an inquiring look.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“I think so,” he said. “This isn’t about you being nervous because you’re afraid you might run into someone who remembers you, is it?”

“I’m not sure what you mean—”

“A moment ago I was afraid you were going to have a panic attack. Do you want to explain why?”

“Lucent Springs holds a lot of bad memories for me.”

“You were doing okay this afternoon at the ruins. Tonight you almost fell apart in a parking lot. What’s wrong with this picture?”

“I did not fall apart, damn it.”

“No, but it was touch-and-go there for a while.”

“That is not true,” she said. She sounded like she was talking through clenched teeth. “You’re imagining things.”

He turned away from the pool and looked at her. “There’s something else going on here, and under the circumstances, I think I’ve got a right to know.”