High Stakes Seduction - Book 1 Read Free Page A

around our town than for his alleged connections with the mob. Nothing had been proven, of course, at least nothing that would get him booted out of office. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder about his friendliness with Mancini. I frowned, remembering the calls we’d received about Dad’s gambling debts and wondering if there somehow was a connection.
    I looked more carefully at the other photos. "Do you recognize any of these other people?" I asked Maria.
    "The Mayor," she said, pointing to the picture I’d just put down. Her finger moved to hover over another image. "Isn’t this that club owner who was in the news recently? The one who survived an apparent mob hit that killed a whole bunch of other people at his club?"
    "And this," I said, showing her a newspaper clipping of Mancini with a middle-aged business woman with sharp features and a frowning mouth, "identifies a Mrs. Grant, you remember, that woman whose husband died under mysterious circumstances shortly after she took over his father’s manufacturing business?"
    Maria looked up at me, her mouth twisted in thought. "And Mancini seems to be friendly with all of them. What the hell was Dad doing with this guy?"
    I picked up a business card Conner had included in the stack. "I don’t know, Maria. But I’m going to find out."

Chapter Six
     
    "Yes? What can I do for you?"
    I froze when I heard his voice on the other end of the phone. I hadn’t exactly planned out what I was going to say when I got Antonio Mancini on the line. I figured I could handle a simple conversation. But that was before his voice erupted into my senses. It sounded like smoke and velvet, and I found my eyes drifting back to the photos still sitting on the coffee table.
    "Miss Tilson," he said, "what is it?" I could hear a touch of impatience unraveling the velvet.
    I cleared my throat, snapping myself back to reality. "Mr. Mancini," I began. "I am the daughter of Jack Tilson, who has… recently passed away."
    "I’m sorry for your loss," Mancini said a bit too bluntly, but after a pause, he added, "He was a good, if somewhat troubled man."
    I looked over at Maria, and took another deep breath. She watched me expectantly. "How did you know my father?"
    "You might say we had a business arrangement."
    I didn’t like the way he said the words. I didn’t like what the words implied. "What kind of arrangement?" I asked, feeling the heat rise in me. "And why does my father have an insurance policy with your name as the beneficiary, instead of his own daughters, Mr. Mancini? Tell me that."
    After a brief silence, he responded in a calm voice.
    "Your father had a problem that I am sure you were aware of, Miss Tilson. Though I suspect you don’t know just how deeply his debts have taken your family."
    I stared at the phone in my hand. After everything that had happened, how could I not know? "And how would you know this?" I sputtered, unable to stop the anger from creeping into my own voice.
    "Perhaps it would be best if we discussed this in person, Miss Tilson," Mancini said quietly.
    "No, Mr. Mancini," I said, raising my voice. "You’ll talk to me right now."
    "No, Miss Tilson," he said. His tone, cold and uncompromising, gave me pause. "You will come to my office at Emerson Plaza tomorrow morning at nine. We will discuss your financial situation at that time. Is that clear?"
    I blinked, stunned.
    "I will accept your silence as compliance, Miss Tilson. I will see you in my office at nine a.m.," he said, and then the line went dead.
    "What?" asked Maria, frowning at the shock that must have registered on my face. "What did he say?"
    "He didn't. He won't tell me anything on the phone."
    "Well, that's outrageous! Call him back and insist."
    "He wants me to meet him at his office tomorrow." I continued. "He said we'll discuss it then."
    "Ange—I can't believe you're willing to let this guy order you around. That's not like you at all. You're nobody's fool, and certainly nobody's