A MAN CALLED BLUE Read Free Page B

establish a beachhead in Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine." She dipped her chin. "Impressive."
    He blew on his fingernails and made a show of examining his cuticles.
    She tilted her head then, her look genuinely curious. "So, what happened after the consulting job? It's as though you disappeared. That was five years ago."

 
     
     
    Chapter 2

     
    Simone stared at the man across from her, waiting for him to answer. Sprawled comfortably, ankles crossed, sockless feet inches from her high-heeled Italian pumps, he looked at home, confident, as if he owned the damn car. He possessed the same complete self-assurance as Josephine, who'd always told her, "Simply behave as if you owned the universe, Simone, and it will fall into your hands."
    So easy for Josephine, for Bludell, so difficult for her no matter how hard she tried. She did the mental equivalent of pulling up her socks. She had nothing to whine about. Josephine was right, she had the world by its "codpiece." What more did she want?
    She hated that question, so instead of answering it, she decided to repeat the one she'd asked Blue. He still hadn't answered her, just sat there, studying her through those dark glasses of his as if she had three heads and none of them pleased him. It surprised her she cared. She erased the thought, reminding herself he was Nolan's friend.
    "So, what happened?" she asked again. "Why aren't you in business anymore?"
    "What makes you think something happened?"
    "Cause and effect. Successful businessman walks out of corporate jungle. There has to be a reason, or are you one of those burned-out types who couldn't take the heat anymore?"
    "Nope. I just decided to revisit an old dream before my creeping senility caused me to forget it entirely."
    "How old are you?"
    "Thirty-eight. How old are you?" he shot back.
    She straightened, taken back by his echoing query. Normally only she asked the questions. She hesitated, not because she wanted to hide her age; she just wasn't sure she should give him the right to ask it. Certainly Josephine wouldn't.
    He grinned at her and her stomach did a surprising flip. "Cause and effect. Tit for tat," he said.
    "They're not the same thing." She sounded huffy, even to herself.
    He waited.
    "I'm thirty-two."
    "Yeah? Then you're holding up pretty good," he said, before casually turning his head to again look out the window. They were passing Buckingham Palace.
    The insolent—
    Before she could muster an appropriate response, Nance's voice came through the intercom.
    "We're here, Miss Doucet," he said, pulling the Rolls up to a town house in Eaton Square, one of the most exclusive areas in London. Her questions would have to wait. She caught Blue's self-satisfied expression, a smugness that said, "Gotcha, this round to me," and had a sudden thought. It had a lot to do with vengeance.
    Simone touched a button on her armrest. "Nance, after we're settled in—" she gave Blue an appraising glance "—Mr. Bludell and I will be going shopping. In about an hour. Harrods, I think. There's not enough time for Savile Row." She took her finger from the button and watched the movement in Blue's lower jaw, a kind of sliding motion before it locked firmly into place.
    "Shopping?" he asked, not moving a muscle.
    "Shopping," she confirmed, trying not to smile. "Unless you have something suitable for a black tie evening at Claridges in that thing you call luggage."
    She waited. Finally, and reluctantly, she thought, he shook his head.
    "I thought not, and as we have a dinner tonight, a dinner hosted by Josephine, I'd like you to at least look—" she eyed him again, frowning at his scuffed deck shoes "—respectable. As I see it, that can only be accomplished by shopping. You don't mind if I pick out a few things for you, do you?" Her voice dripped with enough honey to sicken a bee.
    She wished he'd take off his sunglasses so she could see his reaction. He didn't, but his grin came back, full force, and he tugged lightly at his