Hot Item (Hot Zone 3)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CINDY RAN from Athletes Only. She took an elevator to the street, then did something she never did, hailing a cab instead of taking the cheaper subway. She paid for the fare all the way to the Bronx, straight to Miguel’s office, not stopping to check in with the outer receptionist and practically flying past his personal secretary.

All the while, her heart pounded like a sledgehammer in her chest as she silently repeated the mantra, Please don’t let Sophie be right. Please don’t let him be using me.

She entered his inner sanctum without knocking. Sleeping with the man gave her some privileges, she thought. And if she’d been misreading him, if he did have an agenda, well, better she find out now by gauging his reaction to her barging in on whatever he was doing inside.

She entered and came to a stop, breathing heavily. She could only imagine the wild look in her eyes, but she refused to second-guess the impulse that had brought her here. She’d dated the man, despite Sophie’s warnings, and she’d fallen in love with him, despite her own. If he’d betrayed her—

“Cynthia!” Miguel rose from behind his desk, bracing his hands on the edge of the dark wood. “What’s wrong?”

She never took her eyes from his face, watching every nuance she could capture. So far, all she viewed was surprise and concern that she’d shown up unexpectedly. Still, the man was a master at masking his emotions.

He knew how to wine and dine her. His ability to treat a woman well and make her feel like the rarest diamond was unmatched in Cindy’s experience. But as much as he did and said all the right things when they were together, and as often as he called when they were apart, he’d been hurt badly by his first love. A woman who’d remained in his home country after promising she’d join him in the United States. Instead she’d stayed and married his best friend, who owned a small fleet of boats on the island, betraying Miguel in a way that had broken his heart and caused him to put up walls.

He claimed she was the first woman he’d let in ever since. He said that the other women in his life had been ways to pass time, but she was his único y verdadero amor, which meant his “one true love.” She prayed he was telling the truth.

“Cindy?” That he used her nickname told her he was worried.

Well, she was worried, too, but now that she stood in front of him, fear overwhelmed her and the words didn’t come as easily as she thought they would.

“Nicholas, let’s call it a day. I have an emergency,” he said to a man Cindy hadn’t even realized was there.

“Not a problem,” the other man said. He rose, gathered his suit jacket, nodded at Cindy and left the room.

Miguel wrapped his hand around her waist and led her to the leather sofa. “Sit and tell me what brings you by.”

She couldn’t relax enough to sit. “How badly do you want to sign John Cashman?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I do not understand.”

“It’s a simple question,” she said, stepping out of his warm, comforting grasp. She couldn’t think when he touched her like that. “How badly do you want to sign John Cashman?” she asked again.

“As much as I want to sign any young athlete with years of potential ahead of them. What are you really asking me?”

/>

She tried to swallow, but the inside of her mouth was too dry. “We all know Cashman’s father is pulling strings, manipulating his son. He wants the best deal and he’s unsure of who can get it for him.”

Miguel inclined his head. “Your point?”

“You’re doing your best to convince him that you can do a better job for him than Spencer Atkins or Yank Morgan.”

He nodded, not denying the obvious truth. “And they are doing their best to convince him they can negotiate a better deal than I can. That is the nature of the business. You knew we were business rivals before we started seeing one another. I do not understand why you have a problem now.” His voice held a frustrated edge.

She understood but she didn’t yet have the answers she sought or the settled feeling she needed. “Did you sabotage the computers at Athletes Only? Did one of your e-mails to me contain the virus that disabled the system?”

He stared at her in shock, not replying immediately.

At his silence, she continued to ask the questions pounding at her brain. “Did you hire someone to break in? Put a hidden camera lens in Sophie Jordan’s bathroom?” Tears filled her eyes as she questioned him and she wiped away the moisture that prevented her from seeing him clearly.

This time he stepped away. “I am insulted you would even ask if I did such terrible things.”

“I can’t help it. There’ve been a lot of unsettling incidents. Scary things are going on over there. I need to know you aren’t behind them.”

He ran a hand through his neatly combed hair. “I love you, Cynthia. I’ve trusted you not only with what has hurt me in the past, but with my heart now. I have never given that to another woman. Not since Lisette. If you cannot trust as I have, there is nothing I can say that will convince you.” He turned and started back for his desk, not facing her again until he was behind the large piece of furniture. Far away from her, physically and emotionally.

She trembled, but inside she heard Sophie’s voice, questioning Miguel’s motives and actions. And she felt swamped by guilt over the possibility that she’d willingly accepted his love without question. She hadn’t thought about her employers, only about herself.