Power Play (Crimson Romance) by Nan Comargue Read Free Book Online Page A

should be divorced. Not to mention the stupidity of that pregnancy test.”
    “Have you taken it yet?”
    “No,” Lila admitted. “Instead you sprang this meeting on me. What sort of tactic is this?”
    He seemed intent on answering all of her questions with ones of his own. “What makes you think it’s a tactic?”
    She rolled her eyes to the discreet fluorescent lights overhead. “You make a living anticipating the next move and always being ahead of it.”
    “This is not a sport.” For the moment, he sounded grimly serious.
    Lila pulled out a chair and sat down. “Well, if you’re not going to come clean then I’m happy to wait here until Adam comes to get me.”
    “Adam,” he repeated the name with a sneer. “On a first name basis with your counsel, are you?”
    As this was self-evident, she did not reply but glanced at her wrist.
    He came away from the door. “All right, I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
    “I knew it was a tactic,” Lila murmured, unable to account for the rush of disappointment. “What is the point of this one? Trying to make yourself look good before the judge we’re going in front of next month or just continuing in your ongoing attempt to bankrupt me?”
    The long stare to which he subjected her made her regret her unthinking words. They’d exchanged financial statements some months ago so he had a fair idea about her financial situation but he didn’t know of the mounting legal bills she owed to Adam’s firm or the move she’d recently made to a smaller apartment in a slightly seedy part of the city. It was a bachelor apartment, combining living and sleeping quarters into an uncomfortably tiny space, and she was still too ashamed to take Jack there.
    “Why haven’t you taken any of the support I’ve offered?”
    She adopted his approach and countered with a query. “Is this really how you want to spend your half hour, by going over the same tired ground?”
    He shook his head. “No, you’re right. Let’s discuss this offer. I want a reconciliation because of personal reasons that have nothing to do with you.”
    The statement stung. “I think it has something to do with me,” she responded. “My lawyer explained to me that any reconciliation attempt we made, beyond a certain length of time, may delay my ability to obtain a divorce.”
    He was frowning. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    Lila gestured to the chair across from her. “Why don’t you explain it? I have to admit that I’m curious.”
    He sat down and leaned his long arms across the table, fixing her with a piercing stare.
    “It’s a woman.”
    She laughed. “Isn’t it always?”
    The strong talented hands folded into loose fists.
    “Her name is Victoria Brantford and her father’s a big shot in the States. The family owns a chain of department stores along with a partial share of the Chicago franchise and Victoria’s used to getting what she wants.”
    “And you’re what she wants this time?” Lila asked the question.
    Cahal grimaced. “She’s not my type but I made the mistake of accepting her invitation to some society affair involving the owners of the team and I took her out to dinner a few times afterwards. I thought coming to Toronto that she would get the idea. No luck. She followed me from Chicago.”
    Lila’s throat tightened. She didn’t doubt his version of events for a moment. Women always followed him; that was the curse of his looks and talent.
    “The daughter of an owner of your team must be hard to shake.”
    He reached for a clean glass and filled it. “It’s even harder when everyone knows you’re separated from your wife.”
    “So you don’t want to be separated any longer,” Lila concluded. “I get it. You want me to pretend that we’ve reconciled so you can stop running from this woman. You know, she didn’t seem scary.”
    His head snapped up. “You’ve met Victoria?”
    “Last week.” She explained about the meeting at Cathy Monahan’s