Faking It (d-2) Read Online Free PDF

said.
    “Who is this?” she said, annoyed. The last thing she needed was Mason hearing some man calling her “darling.”
    “It’s Ronald,” the voice said, clearly hurt.
    “What do you want?” She stretched to see into the dining room. Mason was still leaning toward Gwen. Honest to God, she’d gotten the man a caterer for the evening -well, she’d hired the man who showed up at the door canvassing for odd jobs after she realized Mason expected her to handle dinner- and now he was using the dinner party she’d arranged to flirt with another woman. Where was loyalty? Where was appreciation?
    “I know you said not to call,” Ronald was saying, breathless, “but this is important. Davy Dempsey has found us.”
    “
What
?” Clea looked around to make sure Davy wasn’t standing there, flashing that lousy grin.
    “He tracked us down somehow,” Ronald said. “He even knew where you were, I don’t know how. He threatened me to keep me quiet, Clea, but I had to tell you, I don’t care if he beats me up, I had to tell you because I love you.”
    “
How
did he follow me here?” Clea said, her voice like a lash. Honest to God, she had a
genius
for picking men who would let her down. Davy, Zane, Cyril… “He didn’t know where I was. He followed
you
. What did you do, leave a forwarding address?”
    “I’m taking a great risk telling you this at all,” Ronald said, his voice thick with hurt. “He’s
dangerous
. He threatened to
kill me
. If I didn’t love you so much-”
    “He’s a con man, not a hit man.” Clea thought about Davy -good-looking, shifty, and implacable- and glanced around the empty hall again, thinking fast. He could be anywhere, the bastard, looking for his money. She had to get rid of him. Ronald should do that. He owed her. It was his fault Davy was here. “If he’s so dangerous, why did you send him after me?” Clea let her voice tremble. “Oh, Ronald, I’ll never be able to trust you again-”
    “
Clea
-” Ronald’s voice strangled on his panic.
    “-unless you help me.” Clea let her voice drop, deepening with promise. “Unless you prove you love me by saving me, Ronald. If you did that, I’d know we-”
    “Anything,” Ronald said, his breath coming quicker. “
Anything
. We should talk about it. Let me see you. If we could-”
    “You have to prove you love me first.” Clea craned her neck to make sure Gwen hadn’t crawled into Mason’s lap. God, you just could not trust men.
    “I’ll meet you,” Ronald said breathlessly. “We’ll-”
    “I can’t possibly meet you while Davy is around.”
    “Clea, please-”
    “Get rid of Davy and then we’ll talk,” Clea said. “I have to go-”
    “Wait, wait, I have a plan for that,” Ronald said. “I think I can get him to agree to leave you the million he stole from you and only take the money he made with it. The first million is rightfully your-”
    “It’s
all
mine,” Clea said, outrage making her louder. Honestly, where was this man’s mind? How long did he think a million would last her in this economy? Well, in any economy. She dropped her voice again, this time to the purr that had made stronger men than Ronald twitch. “You
know
that, Ronald darling, you
know
that’s true.”
    “Of course,” Ronald said automatically. “But if he’ll leave-”
    “He won’t leave,” Clea said. “I know him, he’s impossible. Get rid of him, and then you and I can be together forever. I only have a few more paintings to buy, Ronald. Another month at the most and then we’ll be together again. With a beautiful art collection.”
    “A month?” Ronald took a deep breath. “I don’t-”
    “But only if you get rid of Davy,” Clea said. “As long as he’s around, we’ll
never
be together.”
    There was a silence on the other end of the line, and Clea stretched to see what was going on in the dining room now. Gwen was laughing at something Mason said. The woman was practically a hyena. And her jawline was