Trace of Fever. Lori Foster

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      In a precise, angry tempo, he asked again, “Do. You. Have money? On you?”

      “Inside my shoe.”

      He straightened, his expression impressed. “Good girl.”

      If he didn’t stop referring to her as a child, she just might brain him. And then it dawned on Priss. “That’s why you swiped my driver’s license?” A short laugh—caused by nerves and something else, something sort of like gratitude—escaped her. “You took it so that they couldn’t?”

      “Let’s go.” He started her on her way again. “It’s never a good idea to keep Murray waiting.”

      At the enormous double doors, Trace turned the knob, took a quick survey inside and gestured her in.

      When she entered, Priss saw why he’d checked before letting her past him.

      The Amazon waited.

      A little more subdued now, she sat on the corner of Murray Coburn’s massive desk. Sunlight poured through the wall of windows behind her, bathing her in a glow, putting blue highlights in her inky-black hair.

      Her gaze, narrowed and mean, tracked Priss’s every movement.

      Despite herself, Priss stepped a little closer to her self-appointed protector.

      “Priscilla Patterson,” Trace said, as if formal introductions were just the thing for the situation. He gestured toward her father. “Murray Coburn. And the lovely lady with him is Helene Schumer.”

      Lovely lady? Priss bit back a gag.

      Behind his desk, Murray surveyed her. “You made it this far, girl, so don’t start cowering now.”

      Had she been cowering? Well, hell. That was the impression she wanted to give, but this time, it hadn’t been feigned.

      She felt like she’d entered a viper’s nest.

      “Where do you want her?” Trace asked, taking personal responsibility for seating her.

      Murray’s gaze crawled all over her, lingering on her breasts. She wanted to clobber Trace for that.

      “The chair there will do,” Murray said, indicating a padded seat in front of his desk, far too close to the Amazon’s pointy-toed shoes.

      Priss eyed the woman. What was it Trace had called her? Hell—short for Helene. Yeah, that suited her.

      Sinking back into her veneer of shy reserve, Priss gave a tremulous smile. “Thank you so much for agreeing to see me. I know this is a shock, that I’m a shock. And I wouldn’t blame you if you’d refused me.”

      Air unchanging, Murray said, “Sit.”

      That one blunt word, said as a succinct command, left her nettled. Priss wiped all hostility from her manner and moved forward. Gingerly, she perched at the edge of the chair, ready to bolt if the Amazon took aim at her head.

      Trace stood behind her. To Murray, he probably looked positioned to restrain her if necessary. Priss hadn’t known him long, but she was a good judge of character, and despite whatever role Trace Miller played in her father’s evil enterprise, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

      To get the ball rolling, Priss opened her mouth—and Murray forestalled her.

      “I’ve never fucked a red-haired woman.”

      “Oh.” His bluntness unsettled her. So he’d make no pretense of being a smooth businessman, of being anything other than a crude bully? He had enough money and power that he didn’t have to bother hiding his true nature in the sanctity of his office?

      Or did he already know she’d never have the chance to share what she learned?

      If only she could blush on cue, Priss thought, but that little trick eluded her. Instead, she touched her long ponytail. “My hair color is that of my grandmother. My mother had darker hair.” She nodded toward the woman perched on his desk. “Beautiful, much like hers.”

      Hell leaned toward her, her body vibrating with menace.

      With a casual lift of a hand, Murray warned the Amazon to stay back. She retreated, but she wasn’t happy about it. Slowly, her father came out of his seat.

      Priss eyed him warily. Would he try to kill her outright, as Trace suspected?

      When Murray propped a hip against the front of his desk, Priss nearly melted with relief. Until his big feet bumped against hers.

      No way in hell was he unaware of the contact. Priss fought the need to shrivel away from his foul touch. Her gut told her that the understated move was in no way fatherly.

      A test? Or a warning?

      Whatever Murray’s real intent, she didn’t know. She just knew it made her stomach pitch. Given that she trusted her instincts, she also knew to be on guard.

      Murray nodded toward her chest, his gaze heated, his mouth a little too slack. “Braless?”

      Now her face flamed. “I—”

      Trace shifted. “She had herself bound with some sort of tight sports bra. But since that could have concealed a weapon, I cut it off her.”

      He hadn’t been kidding about telling Murray! Priss waited to see how he’d react. It wasn’t what she’d expected.

      “I see.” Murray’s gaze lifted to hers. “Your mother was busty?”

      Good God, the cretin hadn’t yet asked her mother’s name, but he wanted to know her bra size? He was more disgusting than she’d ever imagined.

      Inside, Priss churned with fury, but outside, she stammered like a virgin. “She was, yes.” Belatedly, parts of her rehearsed spiel shot to the forefront of her mind. “After you left her, she never wanted another man. So she did her best to … conceal her figure.”

      “As you did with whatever undergarment Trace removed from your person?”

      “Yes.” She tugged at the material of her blouse, trying to get the gaping front to close. “I’m not at all comfortable like this.”

      “What you have is an asset. You should be proud.”

      Oh, this was soooo not a father/daughter conversation. “Sir, I want you to know—”

      “Give me your mother’s name.”

      Well, ‘bout damn time! A deep breath didn’t ease the tension in her chest. “Patricia Patterson.” Priss waited, but there was no recognition, and predictably, no real interest. She forged on. “I’m twenty-four, so it would have been close to twenty-five years ago that you knew her.”

      “I’d have been thirty-two.” He rubbed at his goatee in fond remembrance of the past, then caught himself. “She’s dead?”

      Priss ducked her head, as much from grief as to hide the incandescent СКАЧАТЬ