Instead of doing the sensible thing and making a case for herself, she merely shrugged in her most offhand way. ‘How does urgent family business sound?’ she quipped lightly, and knew from the narrowing of his eyes it hadn’t gone down well. Not that she cared in that instant. His opinion could hardly get any worse when it was at rock bottom already.
‘Anton and his fiancée departed about the same time, too,’ Nathan went on. ‘I suppose they also had “urgent family business”?’
Rachel couldn’t speak for Anton, but Emma certainly hadn’t been able to get back to her family quickly enough. ‘I imagine so. They didn’t say,’ she agreed blithely.
‘Anyway, having seen you in action, you can imagine my consternation when I took over the running of the bank and found you were Linus’s granddaughter.’
Rachel sank down onto the arm of the chair. She had no difficulty imagining that at all. Having caught her act and believed the worst, she understood why he had disliked her on sight. But why had he remained silent all this time?
‘Why didn’t you say something before?’
‘I admit my first instinct was to confront you, but then I became intrigued. You looked so different from what I remembered. You acted differently, too. I began to wonder what you were up to. I waited to see what sort of game you were playing,’ Nathan explained smoothly.
Her brows lifted in an arc of surprise. ‘I wasn’t playing a game,’ she pointed out, and he half smiled.
‘On the contrary; you play it all the time. You have that look of innocence down pat. No wonder Linus thinks the sun rises and sets in you. Does he know anything at all about the men in your life?’
Her eyes narrowed at that. ‘He knows I date,’ she conceded cautiously.
Nathan laughed. ‘That’s a quaint way of putting it, but it keeps him happy, and that’s the way you want it. The game you play, sweetheart, is to keep him believing you’re still made out of sugar and spice and all things nice, when in reality your private life wouldn’t bear scrutiny.’
She frowned darkly, thinking she understood him all too clearly, but seeking clarity before she hit the roof. ‘My…private life?’ she probed in a tight voice.
‘You know, the things you get up to after hours. I don’t care what man you’ve set your sights on now, or how you go about getting him. It’s none of my business. What I do need, however, is for you to use that talent on Luther Ames. Use it to keep him occupied whilst I search for the letters.’
She was stunned by what he was suggesting. Now she understood his continued disdain. He had never seen her differently. All this time he had believed there were two Rachels. The one he saw during the day, who did her job and caused her family no harm, and the one who came out at night to prey vampirically on unsuspecting males. Dear God. It was almost too incredible for words.
Unable to sit still in the face of this, Rachel sprung to her feet, striding over to the window, battling to keep her temper in check. All this time, whilst she had been mooning like a lovesick idiot, he had believed her to be spending her nights having a good time with countless men whose names she doubtless couldn’t remember! Ooh! Never mind that she had, in fact, been a model of rectitude. In his mind she was branded a man-eater, and so she remained to this very day. The injustice of his blindness made her see red, but she fought with her own personal devil. She had promised her family she would do her best to curb her instinct to respond blindly in anger, but never had she needed to use more self-restraint. Turning back to face him, she folded her arms to hide the way her hands were balled into angry fists.
‘That’s quite an opinion you have of me. Tell me, Nathan, did it never occur to you that you could be wrong about me? Did you ever give thought to the possibility that I’m not the person you think I am?’ she asked in a seriously controlled voice.
Nathan’s lips curved mockingly. ‘No, but you couldn’t seriously expect me to. I’m one of the few people who know from experience that there’s more to you than meets the eye.’
She laughed out of sheer disbelief. ‘You truly believe you know me that well?’
‘Like I say, I’ve seen both sides of you. One I can respect; the other… Well, we both know what you’re capable of. We both know you can do what Linus is asking of you. Why bother to waste time denying your alter ego?’
She shook her head helplessly. Every word he said was pushing her towards an outcome her family knew only too well. When the devil got in her, there was no stopping her, but she was prepared to give it one more try. ‘You’re wrong, you know. There is no other me.’
His brows rose sceptically. ‘Are you asking me to believe that you’re a reformed character? Sorry, darling, but as felines go, you’re as sleek as they come. A prime example. And, as the saying goes, a leopard cannot change her spots.’
‘I don’t need to change,’ she argued through gritted teeth. ‘Think about it. There hasn’t been one breath of scandal linked to my name in all the time you’ve known me, has there?’
‘I’ll agree you’re certainly more discreet than you used to be. I haven’t heard any recent gossip about you,’ he conceded dryly, and it was the way he said it which put her back up and had her teetering disastrously on the brink.
‘Even with that you won’t accept that you heard nothing because there was nothing to hear. Damn it, why do you find it impossible to accept that you’re wrong about me? That there might be an innocent explanation for what you think you saw in Antibes?’
His expression became remote. ‘Because I’ve known women like you before. I’ve seen all the tricks they use to blind a man to their true character, but what they all forget is that in the end nature will out. They always give themselves away.’
The scales began to tip dangerously. What he didn’t say was that he considered her to have given herself away already. His arrogance was beyond belief. ‘How can you make such a sweeping statement? Nothing is so cut and dried. Surely it’s possible for at least one to have a change of heart?’
‘Am I supposed to believe that’s what happened to you? You saw the error of your ways and reinvented yourself?’ he challenged incredulously, and she wanted to shake him till his teeth rattled.
She wasn’t saying that at all, as he would know if he really knew her as well as he thought he did. Well, he was about to learn a great deal more. She went over the edge, waving caution goodbye. As far as she could see, she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t, so to hell with it. ‘Oh, believe what you like! You will, anyway,’ she snapped, with a defiant lift of her chin.
Nathan stared at her through eyes dancing with amusement. ‘Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’re now as pure as the driven snow. But frankly, sweetheart, that doesn’t interest me right now. What does is that you know what to do and how to do it to get the best result,’ he added trenchantly.
His patent disbelief fanned the flames of her anger. ‘Perhaps I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m prepared to help you.’
‘You think not?’ he murmured softly. ‘Don’t be too sure. Everybody has their price, Rachel. What’s yours, I wonder?’
Rachel laughed hollowly. ‘Don’t try to blackmail me, Nathan. It won’t work,’ she pointed out as coolly as she was able.
‘What if I were to put it this way? What would you do for my continued silence?’
The soft words seemed to ring around the room, and Rachel froze. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she asked in total disbelief.
He smiled mockingly. ‘I thought that would get your attention. I’ll give you my ultimatum. Do what Linus wants, and he’ll never hear