The Negotiator (Harbor City 1)

“You know that was all Irena and not me,” Sawyer said, keeping his voice low and his tone pleasant so neither Clover nor Mr. Lim would realize what was happening.

“Of course.” Tyler raised his glass in a toast and then downed it in one large gulp. Then he held up his glass and two fingers, catching the eye of a nearby waiter who nodded and hustled toward the bar. “Someone of your stature would never do something so crass as break up a man’s marriage before it even started. Even a dumb scholarship kid like me realizes that.”

Tyler may have been a scholarship kid to Atlantic Prep, but he’d never been dumb—except when it came to Irena. Even Sawyer had seen that she was nothing more than a gold digger looking for a big enough pot. Tyler hadn’t realized until it was too late and that painful failure was obviously all he could see now.

“I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do.” Again. And again. And again. He’d been down that road too many times with shit results. He’d moved on. It was beyond time that the other man should, too.

Tyler chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, making it look to the rest of the world as if they were still friends. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to.”

No. He’d just hold a grudge for the rest of his life.

“So how did you manage this?” Sawyer asked.

“Advising Mr. Lim? We happened to run into each other a few months ago, and I’ve been offering my insight.”

No doubt about all the ways in which Carlyle Enterprise was a bad choice to build the trio of high-rises on Pulau Ujong.

Before he could press him, though, the waiter arrived with two scotches, one of which he placed in front of Tyler and the other in front of Sawyer, and then he took their order from Clover and Mr. Lim. After that, it was the kind of surface, getting-to-know-you chitchat he fucking hated but was the way of business dinners in Singapore. It took years to develop relationships in Singapore, and Sawyer had been nurturing this one for three. Carlyle Enterprises couldn’t allow Tyler to sink it, they had too much time and planning invested already.

By the time the food arrived in large family-style dishes that everyone shared, Sawyer was on edge. The warning siren that had whistled when he’d spotted Tyler at the table was blaring in his ear now. So he did what he almost never did, he turned on the charm, asking Mr. Lim about his family and life in Singapore, his abysmal golf game, and his killer tennis game. Of course, that meant that Tyler had all of Clover’s attention and that burned a hole right through Sawyer’s stomach lining. It shouldn’t. What did he care? She had a part to play, that was all. But just like it had been since Clover had come into his life, he couldn’t help but turn his attention to her with every soft giggle and smile.

Tyler, for his part, was really playing it up. He didn’t cross any lines, but he walked right up on them—tucking a stray hair behind her ear, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially, making her laugh when all Sawyer had done tonight was piss her off. By the time Mr. Lim had begun another story about a golf ball sailing into a sand trap, Sawyer was only half listening because the sound of blood rushing through his ears was too damn loud to catch more than every third word.

“It is good to see a man who is so taken with his bride,” Mr. Lim said, the change in subject jerking Sawyer’s full attention back to him.

This is exactly why he shouldn’t have brought Clover tonight. Hudson was right. She was a distraction he didn’t need right now. “I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologize.” Mr. Lim offered an indulgent smile. “I am the same way when I am around my own wife. Perhaps you can come over for dinner when you are in Singapore? I’m sure she would love to meet you.”

“I would be honored.”

“Then it is a deal.”

“Hopefully not the only one.” He’d have to take advantage of having Mr. Lim separated from Tyler to seal the deal. This trip just might be his final shot.

“We shall see after your final site visit.” Mr. Lim nodded. “I’m anxious to see your proposal after that.”

“You’re going to love his proposal,” Clover said, her smile open and engaging as she looked away from Tyler. “I took a sneak peek and it is really going to fit in with the eclectic nature of Singapore’s skyline.”

“What was your favorite building in Singapore?” Mr. Lim asked.

“Honestly, I couldn’t say, I was enjoying the people,” she looked down at the plate in front of her “and the food too much.”

Mr. Lim chuckled and nodded. “We have that much in common.”

And there, just like that Clover had intrigued the other man and set him at ease. Sawyer couldn’t get over it. The woman was a whirlwind.

The rest of dinner was more stories about golf and family from Mr. Lim while Sawyer fought not to drag Tyler out of the booth so he could smack the flirting asshole around. Not that Clover was helping. She laughed at all of the other man’s jokes and ignored Sawyer completely. The first time she even looked at him since they’d sat down was when he slid in next to her in the Town Car’s backseat. She looked over at him, her posture ramrod straight, that luscious mouth that had smiled at every stupid joke from Tyler was a flat line and the friendliness in her eyes she’d shown to Mr. Lim had grown cold.

He waited for her to say something, anything, but she didn’t. Instead she fastened her seatbelt, clasped her hands in her lap, and looked out the window as they drove through the busy streets of Harbor City. By the time they were back in the elevator on their way up to his penthouse, frustration and anger—at himself? her? who knew—was a ball of fire eating him up inside, and it needed to g

o somewhere or he’d go up in flames.

“What in the hell was that?” he asked, his voice as cold as he was hot.

“It would have been a wonderful dinner if you hadn’t been giving me the evil eye the whole time.” Clover narrowed her eyes at him as a pink flush of anger rushed into her cheeks. “I know details aren’t your thing, but if you want the world to believe we’re getting married, then acting like an asshole to me isn’t the way to get it done.”

“I shouldn’t have brought you. It was a distraction.”