Heat Seeker Read Online Free PDF Page B

yourself.”
    “Not all of us are born into wealth.” His smile was tight, almost angry, as he spoke back just as softly. “Some of us definitely have to work for our retirement.”
    Bailey’s brows arched as she glanced several feet from where they stood from Raymond’s delicate wife.
    Mary was one of the sweetest people Bailey knew and one of the few who understood the word
sincerity
. She was a sister to one of the men Bailey hated most in the world and the aunt to the girl who had once been Bailey’s dearest friend.
    “Some things should never be considered work,” she stated softly as she turned back to him.
    He glared back at her.
    “Really, Raymond, I’m your hostess, don’t you know you’re supposed to kiss my ass.” She brought her glass to her lips to hide her own gloating smile. “You’re letting your roots show, my friend. That’s considered impolite.”
    “What do you want?” He ran a hand over his thinning brown hair, and his hazel eyes flickered back to her in suspicion.
    Bailey shrugged at his question. “We should be friends. We’ve come from the same world in some ways. The same dangers. We could trade war stories.”
    Not in this lifetime and she knew it. Raymond despised her for her birth, just as she despised him for his arrogance. But that arrogance had been an inborn trait of his. He was finally where he had felt he had belonged all along. It didn’t matter how he’d had to lie, cheat and perhaps even kill to get here.
    Raymond’s gaze narrowed on her at her suggestion. “Funny, you were never interested in discussing anything with me before.”
    She smiled at that. “We never had anything in common before. We’re both a part of this society; we see each other often. We should make the best of it.”
    “You’re not interested in returning to the agency then?” he asked her, a hint of calculation in his voice and in his gaze. “After a year I’d assume you’ve missed it.”
    It was a question she had been asked several times over the past months since returning home.
    “You don’t have to insult me,” she informed him coldly. “I think we’re both aware that’s never going to happen.”
    Let him get his strikes in. She could handle them as she had never been able to before.
    “Because you were fired.” He smiled in gloating satisfaction.
    Bailey gave a low, light laugh. “I quit. Rushmore just felthe should fire me in retaliation. Haven’t you heard? He didn’t like having someone on his team who didn’t believe he had a direct line to God.”
    Raymond’s brow arched curiously at that. She was repeating his own insults concerning Rushmore.
    “Figured that out, did you?” he asked smugly. “I did warn you, Bailey. Rushmore believes he’s above the rest of us. One of these days someone should put him in his place.”
    “Six feet under,” she muttered before directing another tight smile in his direction. “If you’ll excuse me now, Raymond, I need to mingle. We should talk again later, though.”
    She moved away from him but glanced back, giving him the impression that she was considering more than a bullet through his head. She was considering much more.
    Bailey had worked a year to incorporate herself back into the society she had run from so long ago. For twelve months she had lied, schemed and worked herself to the point that she knew Orion’s employer, Warbucks, would contact her soon. He would have to. Only Bailey could supply information he needed now. Information that would lead him to a prize she knew he had all intentions of selling.
    As she greeted her guests and sipped at her champagne, the image of her parents flashed through her mind. Ben and Angelina Serborne had been gracious, enduring. Her mother had smiled with genuine amusement or fondness; her father had had a deep belly laugh that never failed to make others laugh in turn.
    Her father had been a patriot. A man dedicated to his country and its freedoms. It was a dedication she knew