Free Luck Be a Lady by Meredith Duran

it? Casting him on the likes of me.”
    â€œMy feelings do not factor. A businesswoman never acts from spite.”
    His laughter was short and startled. “Is that so? You hear that in some pastor’s homily, or did you make it up yourself?”
    She leaned forward. “I believe it,” she said heatedly. “The company is my only concern here. My father entrusted Everleigh’s to both of us. But Peter cares nothing for it. Politics is all that interests him. Very well, he should be encouraged to direct the whole of his interests to the political field. That is what I ask of you.”
    O’Shea nodded again, his gaze wandering her face. He seemed oddly fascinated by her mouth, studying it a moment too long for her comfort. “Businesswoman, you say.”
    â€œYes.” His attention made her feel overwarm and fidgety, as though her blood was rushing too forcefully, or her skin had grown too tight. Her heart was beating faster, suddenly, than the conversation warranted. “Imagine me sexless, if the notion troubles you.”
    He smiled. “Now, that would be a pity.”
    â€œListen,” she said more sharply. “Can you help me, or not?”
    â€œWhat of the courts? If he’s such a criminal, bring him up on charges.”
    â€œNaturally I’ve thought of it.” Did he imagine her an idiot? “But the courts would not allow for discretion. I would have to publicly reveal Peter’s wrongdoings. That scandal would destroy the company, too. Nobody wants to patronize an auction house that cheats and steals from its clients.”
    â€œTrue enough.” O’Shea’s eyes unfocused as he consulted himself; freed of his unblinking study, she felt like she could breathe again. “So. No courts, no violence. A tricky proposal. And what’s in it for me?”
    â€œMoney, of course.”
    â€œAh.” He glanced down at his hand on the desktop, stretching out his fingers and flexing them slightly, as though to admire the lurid glitter of the gemstones on his long fingers. “Small problem. I don’t need money.”
    What he needed, in fact, was taste. “You surprise me, Mr. O’Shea. Can you ever have enough money?”
    He flashed her a swift, startled grin. “A girl after my own heart!”
    â€œNo, that’s not what I meant.” Money was not her main concern. “It’s only that . . .” He had not struck her as a man to turn down a profit. A recent political cartoon, agitating against crime and corruption, had depicted him outside the House of Diamonds, sitting atop piles of moneybags. Even his niece had once suggested that money would sway his interest. “What do you require, if not money?”
    â€œWell, now.” His lashes dropped, veiling his sharp gray eyes as he tilted his hand to make a study of his rings. “Your brother sits on the Municipal Board of Works, I recall.”
    She frowned. “Yes, he does.”
    â€œWhat’s his aim, there?”
    â€œA stepping stone for his political career.”
    â€œSuppose so. Your brother wasn’t born to a political family. He’ll have to claw his way up.”
    â€œThat’s his intention.” What did this have to do with Everleigh’s?
    â€œNo doubt he’s using those ill-gotten funds to buy himself friendships.” He glanced up. “And he’ll need them. To make himself a proper goer, he’ll have to ensure those friends are given no cause to shun him, either.”
    She followed him now. “Blackmail won’t work. His reputation is linked to Everleigh’s success. He’d never believe I would expose him, if it meant endangering the company.”
    â€œSlow down.” O’Shea offered her a crooked smile, no doubt intended to charm her. “Lovely lass like you will put my brain into knots.”
    She snorted. A pity if Mr. O’Shea had not yet heard her nickname.