cocked her head slightly when he didn’t respond right away. “I rather thought you’d be on the same page. After all, you were just behind John when you tracked him to me.”
And Finn should have kept on tracking him, leaving Felicity to deal with her unfortunate incarceration. Now all he could think about was damned dessert. “I have my own ideas on who the other players are, but I wanted your input. You seem to have a direct connection to Reese. If we both know what we’re dealing with, all the better in terms of being successful in getting the piece back.”
She lifted one slender shoulder and picked at the folds of her dress. “As you said, there are several key players, but I’m fairly certain he’s going with the Russian.”
Finn said nothing. She could be telling him the truth, or she could be purposely steering him off the right path. It was true, she’d never directly lied to him in the past, but, despite the adversarial nature of their relationship, she hadn’t had reason to. In both cases during their previous meetings, they’d already known the whereabouts of the quarry in question and hadn’t needed the information or discussed the topic with the other. Had she bested Reese earlier today, she’d have likely beaten him to the prize this time. Only she hadn’t. Which meant it was a race now, to see who got to it first. And he wasn’t entirely sure what she was capable of doing in her quest to win.
What the hell had he been thinking, partnering with her? His cock twitched when she recrossed her legs, reminding him exactly what he’d been thinking with.
“You’re certain he has it?”
She nodded. “I was close, but I’d hoped to get a key piece of information from him and beat him at his own game.”
“He wasn’t aware you were…in the market for the same piece?”
“I let him think I had heard about it and was interested in buying it.”
“And he’d give you just enough information on who he was getting it from?”
“Something like that.”
Finn thought on that for a moment. “Have you used his…services before?”
She smiled then. “You’re adorable when you’re jealous. I assure you, however, there is nothing to be jealous of. Yes, I have worked with him in the past, Foundation business mostly.”
“Mostly.”
“Yes,” she reiterated, “mostly. Some family business as well. Nothing of a personal nature.”
He wondered how foolish he was to believe her. But, holding her direct gaze as he was, he did. “Of course you’re aware of his reputation for playing a bit outside the lines, when it comes to direct line of ownership with some of his more…unique artifacts. Not that this would be a problem for you personally, but how does the Foundation feel about working with someone whose character has been described as less than sterling?”
She laughed. “You’d have to understand British peerage and the Trents’ very rich personal history to know that someone like John Reese causes barely a blip on the discomfort scale. The fact that he’s a very powerful man building quite the trade empire is of more interest than whatever means he might have used to secure some of it. Of course, everyone maintains quite the upper crust appearance on the surface, but that doesn’t mean they don’t wallow in all the gossip once the evening’s event is over. Everyone loves a good story, and John Reese comes packaged with quite a rich one.”
“He’d have gotten along well with my father,” Finn muttered. “Perhaps your family would have as well.”
“Perhaps,” she said, not taking the least offense. “Of course, I’m the last in the line,” she added, her own smile mischievous, “so I more or less dictate what the Foundation will deal with.”
Finn smiled at that. “So, you think the trade itself will take place at Antoine’s?” he said, keeping his gaze anywhere but on her damn legs. “Rather high profile.”
“Which is what he’s counting on, to be certain. Only someone with an…ego the size of John’s would dream of pulling that off.”
Finn scowled, not wanting to think about Felicity having direct knowledge of the size of any part of John Reese. “Won’t seeing you there thwart that particular plan?”
Her smile spread. “I most certainly hope so.”
Finn propped his ankle on the opposite knee and willed his hard-on to subside. Jesus, it was as if he’d never had sex before.
“Not only do I hope to unsettle Mr. Reese, I hope that by seeing that I have not only rebounded from the unfortunate circumstances he left me in this afternoon, but having come back stronger and more determined than ever, he will realize that there is no place that he, or that lovely piece of sapphire, can hide.”
Finn noted that she’d made it sound as if this were still all her game, with him playing the role of nothing more than a convenient escort. He didn’t bother to correct that assumption, thinking perhaps that would be to his advantage later. And God knew he needed one right about now.
“Seeing you pop up might make him that much more eager to dump the stone,” Finn warned. “Once he makes his deal, he’s out of it, and the chase moves on to the buyer and the courier. Which gets tricky with Russian import/export laws being what they are.”
“I don’t think Chesnokov will be as eager to take possession of an artifact with a less-than-pristine provenance if there is suddenly some less-than-discreet public attention being paid to it.”
“Less-than-discreet public attention?” Finn leaned forward. “What scheme are you cooking up now?”
“Why look, darling. We’ve arrived.” Felicity turned her attention to the side window, beyond which was the slowly rolling scene of the nightly line that formed outside Antoine’s.
The car rolled to a stop at the entrance. Finn waited for the chauffeur to come around this time, using the extra few minutes to prepare himself for the gauntlet that lay ahead. He was used to operating behind the scenes, preferring to handle his affairs—both business and personal—in a one-on-one setting, without the attendant glare of public attention or speculation. He’d had enough of that during his days as an assistant district attorney in this very city, and even more so during the long months following his father’s death.
He was several years into the private sector now, and his father had been gone long enough, his empire long since dismantled, that Finn rarely drew any attention beyond the local variety back home in Virginia. And even then, he kept a low profile. His neighbors in the privileged Middleburg horse community had never accepted his return upon his father’s death, mostly because they considered what he’d done with his inheritance to be a sacrilege to success. The fact that he was using the remaining Dalton wealth to help people less fortunate than themselves didn’t seem to up his social ante in the least. Which could have something to do with the fact that he didn’t give flat damn what any of them thought.
The driver helped Felicity out of the car, eliciting a wave of murmurs from the crowd as they craned their necks to see who was emerging from the sleek, black town car. Finn followed, and immediately placed a hand on the small of her back, using his body as a shield between her and the crowd, who were now flashing cameras and cell phones, snapping pictures and calling out for her to stop and pose
