“None taken,” Lin replied evenly. “Of course you have to feel comfortable with such a large business venture. I think you might be underestimating the business savvy and brilliance of some of the leaders of these companies. Watchmaking is an ancient art that has also been a forerunner in miraculous advances in technology.”
“There isn’t a damn thing those suits can teach me about watchmaking.”
She absorbed his disdainful yet supremely confident manner. From what she’d learned from Ian, Kam wasn’t bluffing. When it came to both mechanical devices and the biological rhythms of the human body, Kam Reardon was a veritable da Vinci.
“This could be a very lucrative venture for you,” she reasoned.
He gave her a gleaming sideways glance, his eyes going warm as they wandered over her face. “How lucrative?”
“A hundred, possibly two hundred times more than the deal you cut with the pharmaceutical company for your device. Ian believes your invention deserves all the acknowledgment it can get. He wants you to have as much security as possible. This sale could give you even more working capital, a solid base for a future company.”
Kam rolled his eyes and exhaled with a hiss. “Ian’s got it all figured out, hasn’t he? He’s known we’re related for less than a year and already he’s pulling a big brother act on me.”
Lin smiled. “I hadn’t realized he was the elder of the two of you.”
“By a year and a half. Lucien is the oldest of us all. Six weeks ahead of Ian,” Kam said. She noticed him studying her face with a narrow-eyed gaze. Instinctively, she knew he wondered if Ian had told her about the background of their common heritage.
“Ian has explained to me about Trevor Gaines being his, Lucien’s, and your biological father,” she said without flinching.
“Did he also tell you that dear daddy was a fucked-up son of a bitch?” he asked with harsh flippancy, before he took a swallow of beer. Too flippant. She sensed the edge of anger beneath his unconcern this time. His description of Trevor Gaines was apt. The French aristocrat had been a sick SOB who got his thrills from impregnating as many women as he possibly could, whether by seduction, rape, or other unsavory means. Using those means, he’d gotten Lucien’s, Ian’s, and Kam’s mothers pregnant in a close span of time. There had been other victims, too. The newly discovered knowledge had nearly sent Ian over the edge when he’d learned of it last year. This much she knew: Kam came by his bitterness toward his father honestly.
“He told me,” she replied simply.
His tense expression relaxed
somewhat when she offered no false platitudes in regard to the unthinkable crimes of the man who had created him.
“I’m having trouble finding uses for all the money I got with the pharmaceutical deal,” he said, changing the subject. “What am I supposed to do with a hundred times that amount?”
“Ian and Lucien both seem to think the capital will help you to buy more advanced laboratories and equipment that will spur you on to more creative heights of invention. You could potentially create a lasting company that could revolutionize the watchmaking and medical biofeedback industries—not to mention people’s everyday lives. You could provide thousands of jobs. Ian has a lot of faith in your brilliance, Kam. But in the end, if you can’t think of anything you’d do with the capital from another sale, then this entire conversation is pointless.”
His nostrils flared slightly as they faced off in the silence. Just beneath his obstinacy and wariness, she sensed he was listening.
“I’ve arranged meetings with three watch company representatives,” Lin said, sitting back slightly so that Victor could arrange bowls of Emile’s steaming, fragrant onion soup before them. “I can tell you with certainty that every one of my contacts is far from thinking it’s a waste of time, as you put it. They’re extremely interested in your product. Fascinated, in fact. They’re all very eager to see a firsthand demonstration of your product.”
“And to meet me,” Kam muttered.
She met his stare calmly. “And to meet you, yes. Thank you, Victor,” she said when the bartender handed her a black napkin. He knew the white ones left lint on her black skirts. She was in the process of smoothing the napkin over her thighs, when she glanced sideways.
Kam’s gaze was on her lap. As if he’d noticed her sudden stillness, his stare flicked up to her face. The heat she saw in his eyes seemed to set a spark to her flesh. Excitement bubbled in her, the strength of her reaction surprising her. She couldn’t deny it, this unexpected rush of lust.
It was because he looked so much like Ian that she was having this reaction. It must be that. The forbidden held the power to tantalize. God knew there was nothing more taboo than her boss. Ian Noble was the one thing she couldn’t have . . . could never have. Even if he was the only man she’d ever loved, he was off-limits to her, now more than ever since Francesca Arno had entered his life.
But his newly discovered brother wasn’t off-limits, Lin acknowledged as Kam’s hot, gray-eyed stare lowered to her mouth and she felt her nipples tighten as if by magic. No, Kam Reardon appeared to be about as available as she wanted him to be.