Worth Everything Read Online Free PDF Page A

happen before. His reputation painted him cold, calculating, ruthless in negotiation. An unfeeling machine was how a fellow attorney had most recently described him.
    What he was experiencing in this woman’s presence wasn’t cold or unfeeling. Looked like Anastasia Renaldi was the exception to his long-standing rule.
    She struggled against his hold, doing her best to get away from him. Ironic considering how much he wanted to be near her, despite his reluctance. “You’re not going to let me talk to him, are you.” She made it a statement, not a question.
    “Not here, where anyone could overhear your very personal conversation and sell all the gory details to some slimy tabloid. Come on.” He led her through the room, nodding and smiling at passersby. It wasn’t prudent to leave, not yet. Didn’t want to give the woman monitoring the front door any more fodder to consider. It was bad enough they’d made that particular spectacle earlier. They didn’t need to make another one.
    Yet he was starving and exhausted after a long day at work, and dealing with a hostile woman was pushing him closer and closer to his breaking point. All that soft femininity was clearly a façade—she was hard as steel and more determined than any woman he’d ever met.
    Determined to get at a fortune, no doubt. He was a cynical bastard; he knew this, and he’d seen it all. What Stasia Renaldi wanted to do, what she wanted from him, didn’t settle well.
    He plucked a stuffed mushroom off the tray of a passing waiter and popped it in his mouth, thankful for some sort of sustenance. Stasia took one as well, nibbling delicately, her gaze scanning the room. Looking for Rhett, no doubt.
    Gavin knew he needed to get her out of there before she found Rhett and pounced. He wasn’t as close to the youngest Worth brother as he was to Alex, so Rhett might not recognize him if something went down.
    And then all hell would break loose at a very swanky party. Not the sort of image he wanted portrayed.
    “Five more minutes and then we’re leaving,” he told her.
    She glared. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
    “Like hell I can’t. You’re now my client. And I advise you that we should leave in five minutes. Staying any longer could end in disaster.”
    Rolling her eyes, she shoved the rest of the mushroom into her mouth. “Are you always this dramatic?” she asked after she swallowed.
    “Listen. Being in the same room as Rhett Worth isn’t prudent. Let me…” He took a deep breath, chastised himself for even thinking it, let alone suggesting it. Keeping this newly formed relationship strictly professional was going to be a testament in self-control. “Let me take you to dinner and we can discuss everything. Lay out some sort of plan so we can figure out where to go next.”
    “I already know what I want to do. I want you to call Alexander Worth first thing tomorrow morning and set up a meeting. And all three of them should be present. They need to know they can’t avoid me forever.” She lifted her chin.
    “Sounds like a starting point, though I have other ideas.” He glanced around, noticed that the crowd was thinning. His gaze drifted to the farthest corner of the room, tension riveting him completely still when he realized he was looking at Rhett.
    The man was oblivious, concentrating solely on the woman who stood so close to Rhett, you couldn’t slip a piece of paper between the two of them. The perfumer girlfriend, no doubt. Gavin had heard they were sickeningly in love.
    Gavin tore his gaze from the youngest Worth brother and offered Stasia a quick smile, guiding her toward the door as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t cause suspicion.
    “Our five minutes aren’t up,” she protested, automatically suspicious.
    He swore she dragged her feet. “My watch must be fast, then. We need to leave.”
    Thank Christ he got her out of there and swiftly, ignoring the pointed glare the woman at the door gave them when they left.