Lisa Jackson's the Abandoned Box Set Read Online Free PDF Page B

found out what he was doing here. They were compatriots, in a perverse way, she thought. Neither one of them belonged here. Only Adam had shown up despite the fact that he wasn’t wanted; she, on the other hand, was wanted and would do anything to leave.
    She accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter and then slipped through the guests toward the one man who had the guts to defy her father.
    Adam saw her coming. He’d watched as she had disentangled herself from Kent and mingled among the clusters of people. She had been smiling at her father’s jokes but not really listening. It was almost as if she were playing a part, putting in her time, and she’d cast more than one curious glance in his direction. Good.
    She was beautiful, he had to admit that. Her wavy hair was pale blond, almost silver, her eyes were an intense shade of blue and even though she was often serious, Adam remembered that she laughed easily.
    But she wasn’t laughing tonight. No, Miss Montgomery appeared uncomfortable with all the hoopla, though she was dressed for the occasion in a silky dress that must have cost a fortune and in diamonds that sparkled around her wrist and neck. No one would doubt that she was Victor Montgomery’s spoiled daughter.
    He found it interesting that when she’d first spotted him she hadn’t run to Daddy to tell him that a traitor wasin their midst. Instead, she’d appeared mildly curious and now she was walking toward him.
    The ghost of a smile crossed her full lips and her eyes twinkled for just a second. “Mr. Drake,” she said, stopping just short of him.
    â€œIt’s Adam, remember?”
    â€œImpossible to forget,” she replied, showing off a dimple. “Your name will probably be whispered in the corridors of Montgomery Inns for years. You’re a legend, you know.”
    â€œAs part of the poor and infamous?”
    She plucked a shrimp canapé from a tray. “What’re you doing here? Don’t you know you’ll be drawn and quartered before the night is out? That’s what they do to party crashers.” She plopped the canape into her mouth and washed it down with a sip of champagne.
    He couldn’t believe that she was actually baiting him. Adam’s mouth slashed at a sardonic angle. “And here I thought my invitation had just gotten lost in the mail.”
    â€œRight,” Marnie replied dryly, her ice blue dress glimmering seductively under the lights. “If I were you, this is the last place I would’ve shown up.”
    â€œNever was one to miss a party.”
    â€œYou must be a glutton for punishment. My father will flip when he finds out you’re here—and he will, you know. It won’t take long.”
    â€œI’m counting on it.”
    â€œWhy?” For the first time, the teasing glint disappeared from her eyes. She lifted her glass to her lips and appraised him solemnly over the rim.
    â€œHe and I need to talk, and he’s been dodging my calls.” Adam glanced back to the fountain-cum-podium where Victor was introducing Kent Simms and congratulating him on his promotion to executive vice president. Adam finished his drink in one gulp, as Simms acceptedVictor’s hearty congratulations, shook hands with the mayor and rained a brilliant pretty-boy smile on the crowd.
    â€œYou’ve called Dad?” Marnie asked, apparently stunned.
    Adam swung his gaze back to her. “Several times. Never got past Kate. Victor didn’t bother to call me back.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œI even stopped in at the offices. Kate ran interference. Wouldn’t let me in to see him.”
    Marnie couldn’t believe it. Her father hadn’t said a word about Adam trying to contact him, and she would have thought, given Victor’s feelings about Adam Drake, he would have ranted and raved for days at the younger man’s impertinence. “What did you want to talk to him