The other half is being willing to grab the man next to you and use him as a human shield.

“Good,” he said at last. “Where did you take him today?”

“He wanted to see the city, so we walked around downtown and I explained the basics of syndicate structure.”

“What’s his disposition toward signing?”

I shrugged, and the leather upholstery creaked beneath me. “Understandably hesitant, but interested.”

“Have you come across anything we can use to make him less hesitant?”

“Not yet.” That was mostly true, because I didn’t yet know what Ian wanted from Jake. And since Julia wasn’t there to read the tiny kernel of a lie buried deep in that larger truth, I would get away with it.

“So you walked, talked and dined all day long, and you didn’t come up with anything useful?”

“Um… He’s left-handed, a democrat and a nonsmoker,” I said. Jake was not amused. “In my own defense, liquor was the main course at lunch, so it’s not like we lingered over conversation and coffee.”

“What about his things? What name is on his license? What numbers are in his phone? Are there pictures in his wallet? Credit cards?”

“I didn’t realize I was supposed to be spying on him.”

“You’re supposed to be convincing him to join the syndicate. Whatever that takes. Too many credit cards could mean he has heavy debt. Pictures of kids in his wallet could mean he has someone we can threaten.”

“But you already ran a credit check, and a background check, and every other kind of check there is.” I’d seen the results. Ian’s parents and only brother were dead, and he had no other close living family members. He lived alone, and well within his means. He had $17,000 in savings and no stock portfolio. He owned his car outright—a two-year-old midlevel sedan—and rented a two-bedroom house. He was an ordinary man with a good sense of humor and an extraordinary Skill.

“That won’t tell me what bastards he fathered on the sly, or what debt he’s racked up under someone else’s name.”

“He’s not a thief, Jake.” Or a deadbeat dad. He just wasn’t.

Jake rolled his chair backward and pulled open a minifridge built into the credenza behind him. “You’re a lot of things, Kori. A steady hand, a good shot, a beautiful face, a foul mouth, an abrasive bitch and, recently, a very big pain in my ass. But one thing you’ve never been is naive.” He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and pushed the door shut, then rolled his chair back to his desk and scowled at me over it, bottle in hand. “You don’t know what he is, and the minute you start thinking you do is the minute you’ve failed this assignment. You only know what he lets you see, and the reverse damn well better be true.”

I nodded—you can never go wrong with a noncommittal answer.

“Only two kinds of people join the syndicate. Those who have something to hide and those who have nothing to lose. It’s your job to figure out which one of those descriptions fits Ian Holt.”

“What if neither of them fits? He hasn’t said he’ll sign yet,” I said, and immediately regretted reminding him of what I hadn’t yet accomplished.

“He’s here for a reason, Korinne. Find out what that is.” Jake cracked open his water bottle and took a long drink, but his gaze never left me, disapproving stare intact. “Where are you taking him for dinner?”

I shrugged and, too late, I realized he probably wasn’t going to like my answer. “I thought I’d let him choose.”

Leather creaked as Jake sat straighter in his chair. He leaned forward, arms crossed over his desk blotter. “So, he ordered his own breakfast, you neglected to feed him lunch, and you’ve made no dinner reservations? The plan is to weaken him with hunger? Starve him until he signs?”

Making concrete plans for dinner honestly hadn’t occurred to me. I never ate anywhere that required reservations unless I was with Jake—he took two bodyguards everywhere he went—and even then, his assistant always did the reserving.

“I can make some calls,” I mumbled, digging my phone from my pocket.

“What, the fry cook at Denny’s owes you a favor?”

I had no good response to his piercing sarcasm, so I bit my tongue. Until it bled.

“I’ll make dinner arrangements. You go fetch my guest. I’m ready to discuss business.” He reached for his desk phone and waved one hand at me in dismissal.

“Can I get a key card?” I said, standing.

Jake looked up at me, anger flashing in his eyes. “When and if I want you to have unlimited access to my home, I’ll give you a key card. But don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.”

I nodded curtly, pretending that didn’t sting. I didn’t want it to. I didn’t want to give a damn that he still didn’t trust me, because I’d never trusted him a day in my life. But it did sting, and beyond that, it was a hell of an inconvenience, not being allowed into the syndicate’s headquarters without being personally cleared by security every time I traveled into the darkroom.

I excused myself and made my way back upstairs alone and was not surprised to see that Jake had sent another guard to make sure I went no farther than the darkroom. This one didn’t grab my arm. He didn’t even speak to me.

He must have liked his face the way it was.

Twelve

Ian

I didn’t know Kori was there until she stepped out of the bathroom without warning, and I nearly jumped out of my own skin. I’d met shadows that made more noise. “You know, you should give a guy some warning. What if I’d been naked?”