“Impressive.That could make you useful in certain circles.I’m only surprised you don’t get out more.”
The ambassador insisted that Karolina was always accompanied by some big meaty thug if she left the embassy, which didn’t exactly encourage her to take many outings.
“Have I upset you?”Conor asked when she frowned.
Replacing the frown with an interested smile, she tried to forget how she felt about her father’s rigid control of her every move.She had no right to complain when her situation was nowhere near as dire as his slaves in the cellar.At the thought of them, a seething anger and loathing for everything the ambassador and his cronies represented made her tense up again, and seeing this, Conor suggested diplomatically, “Shall we take this outside?”
She glanced at the ambassador.“Before my father thinks there’s something wrong with his plan to sell me?Heaven save us from that thought crossing his mind!I promise you, it won’t.”
“But still…” Taking her arm in a firm grip, Conor steered her across the dance floor and out through the open French windows into the chilly country night.As soon as they were out of earshot, he brought her around to face him.“Who are you, Karolina Karolides?”
“I’m thinking exactly the same thing about you.I’m my father’s daughter.Who are you, Conor Murphy?”
“I very much doubt you’re like your father.As for who I am—”
“Infamous polo player,” she supplied.“Tech entrepreneur, playboy billionaire, breaker of hearts—take your pick.I only know what I’ve read about you, and it hardly forms the ideal résumé for a husband.I’m being forced into this marriage, as you surely know, and I’m prepared to go along with it for my own reasons.”
“May I know what those reasons are?”
“No,” she said flatly.“You may not.Not yet.Not until I’m sure of you.”
“You’re not afraid of taking risks, are you?”
“With a dangerous man like you?”She huffed a humorless laugh.“Don’t you think I’m used to handling dangerous men?”As she turned to go back into the banqueting hall where her father and his cronies were well into the booze, her breath hitched when Conor caught her close again.
“I choose to stay outside,” he said, staring directly into her eyes.“And, unless I’ve misread you, I think you’d like that too.”
His hand on her arm was an incendiary device for her senses.Throat dry, she stepped back.But it was easier to go along with Conor’s suggestion than return to the table, where her father would analyze their every move.
“You’ve got free will,” Conor reminded her as they stepped deeper into the night.“You can still pull out of this marriage.”
That deserved a cynical look.“You think?Why are you so keen on this marriage?What do you stand to get out of it?A man who enjoys your level of success hardly needs to buy a bride.There must be some compelling reason to ally yourself with my father, and I’d like to know your angle.”
“My angle is quite simple.I intend to debrief you.”
“Debrief me?”She laughed.“You can’t do that without marrying me?If you’re hoping to learn who my father’s contacts are through me, I should warn you that I’m never allowed near the top table.This is as close as I get.”
“But you know more than I do,” Conor insisted as he escorted her into the garden.
“I also know when to keep my mouth shut.How do you think I’ve survived so long?”
Conor’s stare was sharp on her face.“You’re the ambassador’s daughter.”
“And?”The shock of discovery sent ice coursing through her veins when she noticed her father on the steps, poised to join them.She quickly acknowledged him with a nod of her head.
“Is there anything I can do for you two?”the ambassador asked with a suspicious stare.
“No, thank you,” she said lightly, feeling the chill of menace creep down her spine.“We’re taking the chance to get to know each other a little better.”
“Don’t be too long out here,” the ambassador advised with a warning glance.
“We’d better go back in,” she murmured discreetly to Conor.Whatever Conor’s motives, her father’s mood could turn quickly, and if he thought they were working against him, they would both be in danger.
Before they left the garden Conor explained that he had no interest in poaching her father’s contacts.“Identifying them, however…”
She glanced up with surprise when he paused.Was this Conor’s way of telling her that he was on the side of the angels, or was it a trick to persuade her to betray her father?
Still frowning when they approached the banqueting table, she attracted unwanted interest from her father.“Karolina?”he barked.
“I’m fine.”She flashed him a reassuring glance.
“Just a little faint,” Conor explained.“The heat inside this room.Here,” he said to Karolina.“Sit down and drink this.”He gave her a glass of water, and then positioned himself in a chair between Karolina and her father, effectively blocking her from the ambassador’s view.
Conor’s voice had been surprisingly gentle, and his eyes were kind.Or was that an act?
It was hard, maybe impossible, for her to trust anyone when her only experience was living with danger.And what did Conor stand to gain from this?He still hadn’t given her a proper answer, and until she discovered his true intentions, she was at Conor Murphy’s mercy as much as her father’s.
