“Well, poorly, I confess. I realized I should have contacted her first, and instead I just jumped in head first, a habit of mine. I’m just too impulsive, especially when my feelings are engaged. Eve had such a hard, hard time back then, and seeing me, out of the blue, no warning at all, it must’ve taken her right back. I upset her.”
Now she pressed that hand to her lips, and her eyes shimmered. “You have no idea what that poor, sweet child was like when she came to me. Like a little ghost in my house, hardly casting a shadow, and scared of even that just the same.”
“Yes, I imagine so.”
“And I blame myself for not thinking it through first, because I understand now that seeing me again just made her remember those terrible days before she was safe again.”
“So, you’ve come to see me so I can pass your apologies along. I’m happy to do so. Though I think you’ve overestimated your impact on my wife.”
He sat back, swiveled the chair lazily. “I believe she was a bit irritated by the unexpected visit. But upset? It isn’t the word I’d choose. So, please, rest your mind, Ms. Lombard. I hope you’ll enjoy your time in the city, however brief, before you return home.”
It was a dismissal, flat and pleasant. A busy man idly brushing a speck of lint off his jacket pocket.
He saw it register, saw that quick flick, like a snake’s tongue, flash in her eyes.
And there she is, he thought. There’s the viper under the conservative dress and sugary accent.
“Oh, oh, but I couldn’t go back to Texas without seeing my little Eve, without making personal amends, and being sure she’s all right.”
“I can assure you, she’s fine.”
“And Bobby? Why my Bobby’s fretting to see her. He was like a brother to her.”
“Really? How odd then she’s never mentioned him.”
Her smile was indulgent now, and just a little sly. “I think she had just a tiny little crush on him. I expect she doesn’t want you to be jealous.”
His laugh was quick, rich and long. “Please. Now, if you’d like, you can certainly leave your name and address with my administrative assistant. If the lieutenant wants to contact you, she will. Otherwise…”
“Now this just won’t do. This won’t do at all.” Trudy sat up straighter, and her tone took on a little lash. “I took care of that girl for over six months, took her into my home out of the goodness of my heart. And believe me when I say she wasn’t easy. I think I deserve more than this.”
“Do you? And what do you think you deserve?”
“All right now.” She shifted in her chair into what he assumed was her bargaining pose. “If you think that seeing me and my boy isn’t the right thing, then—and I know I’m talking to a businessman here—I think I should be compensated. Not only for the time and the effort, and the trouble I went to for that girl all those years back when nobody wanted to take her in, but for all the inconvenience and expense it’s taken for me to come here, just to see how she’s doing.”
“I see. And do you have a measure of this compensation in mind?”
“This has taken me by surprise, I have to admit.” Her fingers fussed with her hair, red against red. “I don’t know how you can put a price on what I gave that child, or what it’s costing me to turn away from her now.”
“But you’ll manage to do so, I’m sure.”
It was temper he saw deepen the color in her cheeks, not embarrassment. He merely kept that mildly interested look on his face.
“I’d think a man in your position can afford to be generous with someone in mine. That girl would likely be in jail instead of putting people in one if it wasn’t for me. And she wouldn’t even speak to me when I went to see her yesterday.”
She looked away, blinking at tears he noted she could call up at will.
“I think we’re past that now.” He allowed a sliver of impatience to come into his voice. “What’s your price?”
“I think two million dollars wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
“And for two million dollars… that’s U.S. dollars?”
“Of course it is.” Faint irritation took the place of tears. “What would I want with foreign money?”
“For that, you and your Bobby will happily go back to where you came from and leave my wife alone.”
“She doesn’t want to see us?” She raised her hands as if in defeat. “We won’t be seen.”