Power play Read Free Page A

for the simple reason that she hadn't been able to handle the real-life situation.
    Kane was grinning. "Is that another way of saying you teach assertiveness training?"
    "That certainly comes into the program!"
    "I get the feeling you're practicing some of the techniques on me." He chuckled.
    "Now that I've answered your question, Mr. Sebastian," Talia began with as much assertiveness as she could muster.
    "But you haven't. I still don't know why your name should be familiar. I've certainly never attended one of your seminars!"
    "It might not be a bad idea if you did," she gritted, unable to resist. "You might get some helpful guidance out of the one on uses and abuses of executive power!"
    "Uses and abuses of… wait a minute!" Kane sat back in his chair with a decisive movement and Talia could have groaned aloud. "I've got it now. You're Talia Haywood, aren't you?"
    "Of course I'm Talia Haywood," she snapped, angry at having provided the clue he needed. She could almost see the relays closing in his agile mind. "I've told you that already!"
    He shook his head impatiently, the red-brown of his hair catching the overhead light in a movement which, for some reason, briefly caught her attention.
    "No, no, I mean you're the Talia Haywood. The bright up-and-coming young manager over at Darius & Darnell Industries. The one on the fast track to a vice-presidency… until you made the mistake of trying to find an even faster track via the bedroom." He was on his feet, a long, gliding stride taking him back to the window where he turned to confront her interestedly. "Or so the papers implied.
    You were quite a topic of conversation three years ago as I recall."
    Talia had whitened under the impact of his words. The skin across her knuckles grew taut as she grasped the arms of her chair and faced him with a fierce pride.
    "Now that you've satisfied your nagging curiosity, may we return to the main subject?" she demanded acidly.
    "Did you?" he asked simply, ignoring her query.
    "Did I what?" Confused for an instant, she glared at him.
    "Did you sleep with, what was his name? Hazelett? No, Hazelton. I think that was the name of the president over at Darius & Darnell at the time, wasn't it? And you were his fair-haired girl…" The last words were accompanied by a mocking glance at her tawny-brown hair. It was as if they were discussing a delightful tidbit of gossip.

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    Which, thought Talia savagely, was exactly what she had been three years ago.
    Gossip fodder.
    "It is not a subject I wish to discuss. No one believed me three years ago. There's no reason to think anyone would believe me today. I'm here to talk about Justin Gage Westbrook." It took an unbelievable amount of control to refrain from leaping to her feet and crossing the room to strike his hard, tanned face.
    "You're telling me you weren't sleeping with him?"
    "I'm not telling you anything about that mess! It's over and done with," she hissed, feeling her control slipping and hating herself for not being able to handle her emotions better. But on this one topic she still felt wounded and horribly vulnerable.
    "About Justin Westbrook…"
    Kane sighed as if pulled away from a juicy steak. The green eyes flickered again with the speculation she had seen the moment she'd been ushered into his office. He moved slowly back toward his desk.
    "Yes, about Mr. Westbrook," he repeated slowly. "As I've said, I don't see what good it would do you to have us try and contact his old address."
    She knew he was going to refuse. Probably the only reason he hadn't refused outright in the beginning was because of his own personal curiosity. Well, she'd satisfied that curiosity, Talia thought, inwardly raging. Damned if he was going to get away with such a one-sided deal!
    "I have," she interrupted coldly, "a reason or two you may wish to consider before refusing my request." She steeled herself, already a little