The House of Grey- Volume 4 Read Online Free PDF Page A

Boulogne . ” Baroty vainly attempted to hold back his amusement . “ Renowned as the smelliest cheese in the world. Definit ely an acquired taste , but once you do—”
    Monson interrupted . “You see , that doesn’t make any sense to me . ”
    “ What do you mean , Monson?”
    “I mean , why would you force yourself to acquire a taste for something that bad ?”
    Christopher Baroty studied the inquiring face of Monson Grey as if the answers were tattooed on the crinkled lines of his forehead. He sounded unsure once he spoke.
    “Umm…I don’t know , Mr. Grey . T hat is an excellent question.”
    “Monson.”
    “What was that , Mr. Grey?”
    “You asked for my permission to call me Monson and then you reverted back to Mr. Grey. I was just reminding you to call me Monson.”
    Baroty laughed again . “ S orry about that Monson , my boy.”
    A crushing pang of familiarity assaulted Monson , as Baroty’s voice echoed in his head. “ M y boy….”
    Monson’s hand moved on its own, gravitating towards his pocket and grasping a white piece of paper. He threw the crumpled white invitation onto the table. “I believe you were going to answer a question for me , Chris.”
    Baroty glanced at the crush ed paper on the table . “ T hat I was , Monson, but one question at a time. Did you not want to know why I asked you to meet me here tonight and after hours?’
    Although at this point it didn’t seem to matter, Monson nodded. “Sure, why not. Lay it on me .”
    Baroty took another sip of wine . “ I t may be shocking to hear, but the answer is an exceedingly simple one.”
    Monson waited patiently for the punch line.
    “I was testing you , Monson.”
    “You were testing me?”
    “Yes , I was testing you.”
    Monson wasn’t sure how to react . Should he be angry? Confused? Annoyed? He did not know. He settled on confused and allowed the emotion to show .
    “I see that you are confused.”
    Monson snapped his fingers. “And I was trying so hard to hide it.”
    Monson caught a glimpse of Gibson who gave an unexpected, appreciative chuckle in reaction to Monson’s sarcasm.
    Baroty continued , either not noticing or choosing to ignore Monson and Gibson. “Do you want to know why I’m so successful , Mr. Grey?”
    Another cheeky comment, half a second away from leaving Monson’s lips , never quite made it out. Cold . Monson felt cool impatience emanate from Baroty. Monson decided that it was about time to get down to serious business.
    “Sure, Chris, why don’t you tell me why you are so successful?”
    “Because I always have better information th a n the next guy.”
    “So you were testing me to get information?”
    Baroty continued as if Monson had never asked the question . “I find that the most accurate indicator s of people are their true desires, their morality, and their ingenuity.  All of these can be seen in situational task s, like the one I assigned you.”
    Monson did not quite catch his meaning so he remained silent.
    Baroty leveled a penetrating stare at Monson . “Look at what I found out about you , Mr. Grey. I found out that you are resourceful . Y ou were able to find a way out of The Barracks, move along patrolled grounds , and arrive here , all without being caught. From that, I ascertained that you are gutsy , maybe even reckless . Y ou were willing to come here despite the chance of serious punishment and without knowing the nature of the information that I have to share with you. This fascinates me . Incredibly enough , t here is something about you that tells me that not only did you ignore the consequences of your actions but that you hardly even consider ed them. I also discovered that you are cautious and logical despite your apparent recklessness . C ase in point, I told you in my letter to come alone, but I know that you have at least one of your friends out in the gardens here. Finally, I determined that you are willing to do what it takes to get the job done . T hough I