She nodded and he lowered his hands, shoving them into his pockets.
‘It was Tony Andrews I was supposed to be meeting.’
Her lips parted in surprise. ‘Tony?’
‘Yes.’
Her head gave a little shake. ‘But why?’
‘We were discussing this business...your business.’ He watched the confusion rain down over her face and pushed himself onwards, ignoring the sinking feeling in his gut, the sheer shittiness of what he was about to tell her.
‘My business?’ She shook her head more fervently, a lock of hair falling distractingly across her paling cheek.
Stick with it, Marcus.
‘But that makes no sense,’ she said softly. ‘Tony hasn’t mentioned any potential work with Tech-Incorp.’
She coloured slightly at the name, realising she had revealed too much in that sentence. So she’d looked him up? He would have been flattered if not for the fucked-upness of it all.
‘That’s because it’s not a simple joint venture.’
She brought one hand up to her mouth, her expression changing as he could see her putting it together, piece by piece.
‘He was supposed to have spoken to you,’ he continued, very much on the defence. ‘In fact, he was supposed to bring you to meet me last night so we could discuss the future in a more relaxed environment.’ He withdrew one hand from his pocket to rake it through his hair again, his prepared words coming back to him. ‘He wanted the opportunity to explain his reasoning and make you understand why he was doing it. All before the paperwork was signed.’
‘The paperwork?’
‘He kept saying he wanted to tell you himself, and I’ve been pushing him for weeks to speak to you, but there’s no telling that guy.’ He shook his head with genuine frustration. ‘Last night was his final opportunity and he couldn’t even get that right.’
‘His final opportunity?’
She looked lost now, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
‘Yes.’ He pushed on. ‘Time was of the essence. He needed the deal done this morning and it worked for me too.’
She came alive on a harsh laugh. ‘It worked for you?’
Shit...
‘Just to be clear,’ she bit out, the hand in front of her mouth moving to slice the air between them. ‘What exactly has he signed?’
He looked at her head-on. The woman who had driven this company to the fore was very much present now. Jennifer from last night was long gone. There was no carnal promise to her gaze, no flirtatious tilt to her mouth. Her countenance was like steel, cold and hard.
And that suited him just fine.
This Jennifer he could work with.
‘He’s sold his half of the business.’ He rolled his shoulders and jutted his chin. ‘To me.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘YOU?’
Before her, Marcus nodded, the movement sending hair across his forehead with appealing charm.
He had no right to be appealing or charming. Not when she wanted to scream, to vent her anger and get to the bottom of what the hell had happened.
She’d been made a fool of. By the pair of them.