Afterburn Read Free Page B

the one. Well, this just got interesting.”
    * * *
    D URING THE REMAINDER of the ride back to the office, I braced for Lei to tell me the conflict of interest was a problem. I scrambled to find a way to downplay it.
    “It wasn’t serious,” I told her as we rode the elevator up. At least not for him... “More like an extended one-night stand. I don’t think he even recognized me just now.”
    And hell if that hadn’t stung. He hadn’t even looked at me.
    “You’re not a woman a man forgets, Gianna.” She looked thoughtful. “I think we can work around this, but are you up for it? If this is going to get personal for you, we need to talk about that now. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I also don’t want to put my business at risk.”
    My first instinct was to lie. I wished Jax had meant as little to me as I had to him. But I respected Lei and my job too much to be untruthful. “I’m not indifferent to him.”
    She nodded. “I can see that. Glad you’re honest about it. Let’s keep you on this for now. You’ll throw Rutledge off balance and we’ll need that. And you’re my in with Chad Williams. He likes doing business with you.”
    I breathed a sigh of relief. She was wrong about Jax, but I wasn’t going to blow my shot by pointing that out. “Thank you.”
    We exited onto our floor and were buzzed through the glass doors. The receptionist, LaConnie, raised her brows at me, obviously picking up on our agitated vibe. We should have returned triumphant, not frustrated.
    “Any idea why Rutledge would have a sudden interest in the restaurant industry?” Lei asked, returning to her earlier question as we headed to her office.
    “If I had to make a guess, I’d say one of the Rutledges owed Pembry a favor.” That was the way the Rutledge family operated. They worked together like a tightly knit team, and even though Jax wasn’t a politician, he still played the game.
    Lei went directly to her desk and took a seat. “We’ll need to figure out what chip he’s cashing in.”
    I caught the undercurrent of annoyance in her voice and understood it. Ian Pembry had been undermining Lei in countless ways for years, but Lei had bided her time—it had been a study in patience that she admitted had made her a better businesswoman. She was determined to prove she’d learned his last lesson in betrayal well and I was determined to help her.
    “Okay.” I knew a little of what she felt. It still made me angry that I’d jumped into bed with Jax. I’d known who he was, knew his reputation, yet I’d thought I was sophisticated enough to take him on.
    Worse, I’d deluded myself into thinking he cared. He lived in D.C.; I was in Vegas. For five weeks he’d flown out to see me every weekend and the occasional weekday. I’d told myself a guy as beautiful and sexy as Jax wouldn’t go through all that trouble and expense just to get laid.
    I hadn’t considered how rich he was. Rich enough to find it entertaining to jet cross-country for a piece of tail and cautious enough to find it convenient that his inappropriate mistress was far away from both the public eye and his family.
    My desk phone started ringing, and I hurried out of Lei’s office to answer it. My station was set up just outside her doors, making me the last barrier visitors faced before they had an audience with her.
    “Gianna.” LaConnie’s voice came clipped and quick through the receiver. “Jackson Rutledge is in the lobby, asking to see Lei.”
    I hated the way my heart gave a little kick over hearing his name. “He’s here?”
    “That’s what I said,” she teased.
    “Have him sent up. I’ll be around in a minute to show him to the conference room.” I placed the receiver carefully back into its cradle and then walked back into Lei’s office. “Rutledge is about to arrive at reception.”
    Her brows rose. “Is Ian with him?”
    “LaConnie didn’t say so.”
    “Interesting.” She glanced at the diamond-encrusted watch