Jayne Castle - Dark Light

She raised her brows. "Wow. A Guild boss who actually admits to having a weakness?"

"Sure. But not in public. I'm counting on your wifely loyalty to keep that news flash out of the press."

"Hot dang, another Guild secret." She watched him refill their glasses. "All right, so your father lived his life for his business, and when it failed, he couldn't go on. I still don't understand why he left the company to you."

"That's obvious. Burns was more than just a financial empire. My father intended it to be his legacy, a monument that would live on for generations after his death. When he realized that the firm was headed straight for the catacombs, he did the only thing he could think of to preserve his reputation. He dumped the business on me."

"What was the point?"

"Don't you get it?" His mouth twisted in a humorless smile. "My father figured that when Burns & Co. eventually folded, it would look like I was the one who had destroyed it, not him. He wanted me to take the fall for his failure so that his own reputation would remain untarnished."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Your relationship with your father was obviously pretty complicated."

"There was nothing complicated about it. I was his bastard son, a source of humiliation and embarrassment to his wife and her elite family. He met his financial obligations to me until the day I turned eighteen. Otherwise he pretended that my mother and I didn't exist."

"I've got news for you, Fontana. That description of your relationship with him meets the definition of complicated."

"So?"

"So, here's what I think," she said. "Your father was very aware of your success within the Guild. He also knew that you had built your own financial empire."

"It's no empire. I've made some good investments, but I'm not worth anywhere near as much as he was before Burns & Co. started to crumble."

"Only because you had other priorities," she said. She was impatient with his uncharacteristic obtuseness. "You were more interested in becoming the head of the Crystal Guild than building an empire, so that's where you concentrated your energy and talent."

He gave her an odd look. "What makes you think I could have built the same kind of business enterprise that my father put together?"

"Anyone who can run a Guild can run a corporation. Same skill set."

"Is that right? I thought you were convinced that Guild bosses were only half a step away from being mob bosses."

She smiled. "Like I said, same skill set."

He looked amused. "An interesting view of the corporate world. Does your father know about this?"

"Who do you think pointed it out to me?"

That stopped him for a few seconds, although you had to know the man to notice the sudden stillness that indicated she'd caught him off guard.

"Your father told you that there wasn't much difference between a CEO and a Guild chief?" he asked, not bothering to conceal his skepticism.

"Yes. Of course, a Guild boss does have some unique options when it comes to getting rid of the competition or dealing with personnel problems. All those convenient tunnels. But aside from that…" She moved one hand, waving the issue aside.

Fontana slowly lowered his fork. "You're serious, aren't you? You really believe that I could have built the business empire my father built."

"Sure, if that's what you had set out to do. What's more, your father knew it, too. He would have been a fool not to realize that your rise to power within the Guild and your own personal wealth were clear evidence that you had inherited his talents." She smiled. "And that, Fontana, is why he left Burns & Co. to you."

"He left me a dying business, Sierra."

"Don't you get it? You said, yourself, Burns was more important to him than anything else. Your father knew that you were the only one who had a chance of saving it. In the end he put his reputation and the fortunes of the entire family in your hands."

SOMETIME LATER HE LOUNGED AGAINST THE RAILING OF Sierra's little balcony, letting the psi-rich night envelop him. Elvis sat beside him, clutching his miniature guitar in one paw. The fog was the heaviest it had been all month.

When he looked over the edge of the railing, he could see the green glow of the sign above Simon Lugg's tavern, but it was impossible to make out the words Green Gate . He could hear people coming and going from the establishment, but they were no more than faint shadows in the mist.

He looked at the delicate crystal glass in his hand. It was half-filled with Amber Dew, a rare and very pricey after-dinner liqueur. Like the expensive wine, he had brought it along tonight to help celebrate the day's victory. He had planned to share the triumph with Sierra.

That was why he had not taken her out to dinner. He had wanted to be alone with her.

He had not wanted to talk about Burns & Co.

"All in all," he said to Elvis, "the plan did not go well."

Elvis made a little rumbling noise in what sounded like a commiserating tone.

"There was a plan?" Sierra said from the doorway.

He turned his head to look at her. "I'm a Guild boss. There's always a plan."

She smiled in the shadows and walked toward him. He opened his senses, unable to resist the unique, enthralling aura of feminine mystery. The sweet, hot, exciting energy aroused everything inside him, just as it had the first time she had entered his office. But the pull, the sensation of a psychic link between them, was so much stronger now than it had been that first day. He sensed that the bond was only going to grow more powerful with time. The part of him that comprehended the nuances of strategy and risk-taking was waving a red flag of warning. He had two options: cut his losses fast or stick around and hope that Sierra felt at least some of what he was feeling.

No doubt about it. The smart move would be to bail while the bailing was good. But sometimes you ignored the odds.

"What was the plan?" she asked, coming to a halt at the railing.

"I wanted to talk about some things tonight," he said. "Things that had nothing to do with Burns & Co."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I realize my timing was bad. It's just that your brother seemed so anxious, and the whole situation sounded very urgent."

"I'd rather you didn't refer to Nick as my brother."

Her eyes widened. "But he is your brother."

"Technically speaking, he's my half brother. Believe me, on the rare occasions when we think of each other, it is strictly in technical terms."

She searched his face. "You have no sense of a family connection with him?"

"Why would I? I've only met him and the others twice. Once at my father's funeral and once in the lawyer's office afterward."

"I see." She turned away to look down at the Green Gate. "Well, I've said my piece. I promise you I won't mention Nick or Burns & Co. again."

She sounded truly chagrined. It was her determination to abide by the vow that made him smile.

"Right," he said.

"What's so funny?"

"The thought of you trying to keep silent about Nick and the business."

She raised her chin. "You don't think I can do it?"

"No. Sooner or later you'll bring up both subjects again."

Her brows snapped together above the dark frames of her glasses. "How do you know?"

"Because you won't be able to help yourself." He laughed. "You are what you are."

"And just what is that?"

"Goal-oriented, just like me. Just like the others in your family. You can't rest until you've achieved your objective and, at the moment, your objective is to convince me to save Burns & Co. For my own good, of course. Your fancy, high-grade intuition is probably telling you that I'll get some of what the para-shrinks like to call closure out of the whole thing."