The Dangerous Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page A

failure brought about by corporate greed and bad executive decision-making. They lost everything and they deserve justice. I don’t know about you, but personally, I don’t want to be a part of a system that lets this kind of thing pass.”
    Ryan glances at the monitors; Liza’s face is in close-up on one of them, nodding, and she’s hanging onto every word from Joseph’s mouth, her lips slightly parted and color high in her cheeks. The other three screens are all Joseph, his face and body caught by different camera angles. The light in the studio is flattering, highlighting the golden hint of five-o-clock shadow on his jaw and his long eyelashes. He finishes his speech with a joke that makes Liza laugh. He smiles back at her, making the fine lines around his eyes crinkle, his irises looking vividly green. Ryan finds himself staring, and feels a strange, weightless sensation in his belly.
    He feels Estelle turn her head and look at him, and he whispers, “He’s good,” to her.
    Estelle smiles knowingly, like it’s a given.
    The interview finishes and Joseph gets up from his seat, taking Liza’s hand. She says something to him and Joseph laughs, showing teeth, glancing quickly over his shoulder at the spot where Ryan and Estelle are waiting for him. He says something else and makes an apologetic face, before he’s tugging his hand out of hers and striding across the studio toward them.
    “She asked me to dinner,” he says when they’re safely ensconced in the back of Joseph’s private car. “Wanted me to check out that new Thai place with her. The one that’s gotten all the amazing reviews. Apparently Donald Trump’s a regular.” He snorts dismissively, but he looks pleased with himself. He turns his attention to Ryan, and Ryan stiffens under the scrutiny, feeling like a fox caught in a couple of high-beams, pinpointed and exposed. On Joseph’s other side, Estelle is coolly scrolling through her BlackBerry, taking zero notice of either of them.
    “Do you like steak, Ryan?”
    He shrugs, trying to make himself sound relaxed. “I’m from Texas, what do you think?”
    Joseph snaps out a grin, looking pleased with the answer. He leans forward in his seat, knees brushing against Ryan’s as he raps on the driver partition. It scrolls down with a soft whirring sound. “Dave, take us to the Grill. I want a steak.”
    “Okay, Mr. Van Aardt,” the driver says.
    Joseph sits back in his seat. “I fucking love steak. Estelle doesn’t, though, huh, Stell?”
    She looks up from her phone and gives Joseph a long, considering look. “I care about what I put in my body.”
    Joseph laughs. “Okay, okay. Dave, you hear that? Take Ryan and me to the Grill, and drop Miss Levereux at her place.”
    Joseph turns his attention back to Ryan. “Should you call someone? Let them know you’ll be late? Girlfriend?” He pauses, raises an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”
    Ryan feels his stomach get hot and tight at the question and he silently berates himself. It’s New York City, for Christ’s sake; there are plenty of gay dudes around, some probably working at Chase Mackey Van Aardt. It’s not unusual for Joseph to ask him that question or even make that assumption, and there’s no reason why Joseph shouldn’t ask him. Of course, he isn’t gay and he definitely doesn’t have a boyfriend, but he’s not going to be offended if Joseph thinks he might be gay, and anyway, Joseph might be gay himself. He knows that Joseph doesn’t have a wife or kids and there’s surprisingly little gossip linking him to anyone. At least nothing Ryan found during his research, because yes, he looked, of course he looked, he’s a good attorney, he looks at everything. So, yeah, Joseph Van Aardt might be gay.
    The tight, nervous feeling in his stomach isn’t going anywhere; if anything, it’s getting worse. He can feel Joseph’s eyes on him like a physical thing, piercing and dark and far too knowing.
    “Fiancée,” he says finally. “I