“Of course,” she assured him. “Keep in mind that I need all the details. Don’t leave anything out.”
He swallowed hard. “I have a problem with sex.”
She didn’t say anything to that. Didn’t most powerful men?
“I like,” he went on, “having sex with exotic dancers. It’s like gambling, I can’t resist.” He made a sound, like a sob stuck in his throat. “My wife would be devastated if she knew.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve tried to stop.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I just can’t.”
Annette would bet he had tried. Giving him credit, according to what she knew of the man, other than that one dirty little flaw, he was extraordinarily upstanding. Fine husband and father, dedicated churchgoer. The works. It appeared that if he could just keep his cock in his trousers when his wife wasn’t around, his life would be perfect.
“I need to know exactly what happened. If you leave out anything, I can’t do my job.” Annette settled back in her seat and watched the man’s profile. He wouldn’t want to look at her as he spoke, but she needed to analyze him as he did so.
“I made a mistake. I always go out of town when I ... I can’t bear it any longer.”
How thoughtful of him.
He shook his head again as his mouth quivered. “I didn’t know she was seventeen. She said she was twenty-one. It was a mistake. Just a mistake.”
Annette wanted to laugh, but she didn’t. “Forgetting a meeting is a mistake, McGrath. Fucking a seventeen-year-old girl who looks twenty-one is just plain stupid.”
He turned to Annette then, his face contorted with fury, but it was the fear in his eyes that kept him seated in her car and taking her shit. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. She was working at that club.” He looked away, shook his head. “I just assumed ...”
Ah, well. She wouldn’t bother telling him what happened more often than not when one made assumptions. “I’ll need the name and address of the club and the girl’s name.”
He gave her the information. She committed it to memory. That was something else she never did. She never, ever wrote down anything she was told or entered it into a database of any sort. Only she had access to the information her clients shared.
“What happens now?” he asked, defeated.
“Now I find her weakness, then I make her a deal she can’t refuse.”
He moistened his lips. “How much is this going to cost me?”
The bottom line in all her transactions. “Depends upon how much trouble the girl gives me. I’ll try to keep it under fifty grand. I’ll need half of that deposited into this account.” She wrote the number on his hand. “Today.” This was an account the feds wouldn’t know about. Her business account. Unfortunately, it was only a temporary holdingaccount that automatically transferred all moneys to one or more of her foreign accounts.
He blinked, then nodded.
“Once the situation is resolved, you’ll pay the balance. My work is guaranteed. I doubt that she will give you any trouble in the future, but if she does, I’ll take care of it at no additional cost.”
His gaze collided with Annette’s once more. “You won’t hurt her? It won’t go that far, right?”
Annette smiled. Hardly. “If you’re asking me will I do physical harm to her, the answer is no. That’s not the way I do business.”
“So that’s it? I pay you and it’s done? That completes our business.”
“It’s not quite that simple.” This was the part no one ever liked. “You will be in my debt. At some point in the future, I may need your assistance. When the time comes, I’ll call in the marker. Until then, you should go on with your life as if this incident never happened. As if we never met.”
A frown marred the smooth, classic features of his face. “Marker?”
“You needn’t concern yourself with that now.”
He nodded jerkily.
“But be aware, if you ever discuss this meeting or me with anyone-—and I mean anyone—I will ruin you.”
Another halting nod. “I understand.”
Yes. She was quite certain he did.
“Very well, Mr. McGrath.” She arranged another smile into place. “That’s all. I’ll contact you when the situation is resolved. If possible, I’ll take care of it in the next twenty-four hours.”
