Max jerked his head backwards. “What?”
“The investor. I am Basil Q. Jones. Your investor.” Her cheeks were bright red.
“My investor?” Max repeated blankly.
“And landlord,” she continued with a grimace. “I suppose that’s the most pressing of the issues. I did receive your offer. I’m considering it.”
“Landlord?” Max frowned, his thoughts spinning.
“I meant to tell you.” She winced and shook her head. “Actually, no, I was never going to tell you. But then I liked you, and I thought you liked me, and then I wanted to kiss you, and when I thought you were going to kiss me… I couldn’t not tell you. You needed to know who you would be kissing.”
“I was going to kiss Basil Q. Jones?” His stomach bottomed. She was not who he thought she was after all. She had tricked him.
Bryony nodded. “Exactly. I’m sorry. Not about being Basil, but about finding out like this. If it’s all the same to you, I would very much like to continue both relationships. Business and personal.”
The pieces clicked into place with horrifying precision. “You invested in my business under an assumed name, purchased the property we stand on out from under me despite my invested interest, donned a male costume in order to disguise your identity and trespass in my office—”
“Not trespassing,” she pointed out with an embarrassed flash of a smile. “Landlord, remember? I own this place.”
“It isnotall the same to me,” Max bit out in fury. He stalked past her and flung open the office door before he could say something they both would regret. “Get out.”
“You do realize,” she began.
“Idorealize,” he agreed. “Now, anyway. You have never been honest with me, not once. Not the disguise, not your name, not even your reason for being here.”
“I never meant to meet you,” she said in a rush. “I knew you were closed on Tuesdays, which is why I chose that day to—”
“Legally but unethically enter this building to rifle through my private belongings,” he finished, his disgust in her rivaled only by his disgust in himself. He had allowed himself to be deceived because he had wanted to believe she was different.
“It sounds bad,” she admitted.
“It is bad,” he corrected, keeping his voice as cold and businesslike as possible. There was nothing else between them. Not now. “The subterfuge was unnecessary. I send you monthly reports. If there was anything else you needed to know—”
Max’s fingers shook. She hadn’t been trying to discover his club’s weaknesses. She’d been looking forhis. And she’d found them.
A harsh laugh escaped his throat as he replayed their various encounters in his mind.
Her cheeks paled.
“Were you laughing on the inside when I handed you my journals?” Of course she was. “No wonder it was easy for you to make quick judgments. You had seen all the details before. Knew my business as well as I did before you even walked in the door.”
She bit her lip. “It wasn’t like that. I mean, yes, I have committed all of your monthly reports to memory. But that isn’t why I’m here. My suggestions for improvement and future opportunities for analysis were both spontaneous and sincere.”
“Sincerely trying to line your own pockets,” he said flatly.
She winced. “Our contract is up in a little over a month. You won’t owe me a percentage after that.”
“But you will still own the deed.” The completed contract was immaterial. Keeping him beholden was where the money was. He could do sums as well as she could. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To learn how much you can squeeze from me in rents before I break?”
“No,” she hedged. “Although, objectively speaking, that would be the wisest business decision in this circumstance.”
He glared at her.
“I said no,” she said quickly. “And I meant it. I did sneak in to see what I could learn that you weren’t telling me. You’re right about that. But it was never my intention to treat you unfairly.”
“Wasn’t it?” He advanced on her, his cold voice sharp enough to cut glass. “You were just going tofairlysneak into my office when you knew that I was away, andfairlysnoop through my journals and any other private documentation you could find, in order tofairlyrespond to an offer that is already double any reasonable market value?”
Her lip trembled. She looked miserable.
