The truth, though, had been that he’d wanted to see her—to check out Dora Thorn in person.
Something hot and primal snaked over his skin.
He knew enough about casinos to know in advance that her uniform would have been carefully designed to convey modesty, while hinting at what lay beneath, and yet watching her walk across the room had been a shock.
As she’d leaned forward to decant drinks from her tray onto the table, he’d noticed a man at the bar glance over, his eyes narrowing appreciatively, and Charlie had felt a rush of anger. At him, a nameless stranger, at her, for being there, and most of all with himself, for feeling anything.
Emotions were a distraction—particularly in this instance. He was here in London for one day and with one purpose. To fulfil his father’s dying wish. To bring his father’s baby son back to Macau.
And it was going to happen. No matter that he had this questionable hunger for a woman he didn’t like or trust.
His father didn’t countenance failure, and neither did he. He had made a promise, and not keeping that promise would mean bringing dishonour to himself, to his name, to his family.
‘Let’s keep this simple, Ms Thorn. And civil.’ His eyes swept over her face. ‘We are almost family, after all.’
‘Civil?’ She almost spat the word at him. ‘You lured me here under false pretences. How is that civil?’
He shrugged. ‘I assume you had your reasons for coming here.’ Leaning forward, he pushed the folder Peter Muir had given him across the table. ‘I think you will find everything in here that you want.’
Her grey eyes widened. ‘I don’t want anything from you.’
He watched two spots of colour spread over her cheeks, her face betraying the lie. His body hardened to stone. So she felt it too.
‘My apologies,’ he said calmly. ‘I should have said “need” rather than want.’
He could almost see the war raging inside her. Her curiosity battling with her indignation. Slowly he counted to ten and then flipped open the folder.
‘You have a negative cashflow problem.’ He flicked over a page. ‘Put simply, your outgoings exceed your earnings and are likely to continue doing so.’
Her face jerked upwards. ‘How do you know that?’
He watched her jaw tighten.
‘Oh, I get it.’ She shook her head, her eyes narrowing. ‘Very classy. You know, you should probably change your name to Lawless. It would be more appropriate.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said blandly, enjoying the flush of anger in her eyes. ‘But I do know that if you carry on as you are it won’t be long before your financial situation becomes an issue.’
He paused and let his eyes drift over her slowly. ‘Archie’s guardian needs to be capable of caring for him and providing for him. Hard to do that without money. And you are what would be classed as “low income with no prospects”.’
The muscles in her face tensed.
‘I’m sure the powers that be know that some things are more important than money,’ she retorted. ‘Not that I expect you to understand that.’
‘Meaning?’ he said softly.
She leaned forward, smiling coldly. ‘Meaning that when your father was alive he had no interest in Archie, or even the concept of Archie. He wanted sex from Della—not a son.’
Charlie blinked, caught off guard by the bluntness of her words as much as the emotion in her voice.
‘Your sister knew exactly what she was getting into. She knew he was married—’
‘Yes, she did. But you don’t know what Della was like.’
Wrong, he knew exactly what she had been like. She had been one in a long line of his father’s mistresses, all of them hoping, believing, that Lao Dan would make her his wife.
His chest tightened and, changing the direction of his thoughts before they could cross into dangerous territory, he shook his head. ‘None of that is relevant to this conversation. What matters here is Archie, and his well-being, and we both know that I can offer him the very best of everything. If you sign this document, I can make your financial problems go away.’
Her breath hitched in her throat. ‘So you’re offering me a bribe?’