Free The Temptress by C. J. Fallowfield, Book Cover By Design, Karen J Page B

She swept her
revolting fox fur stole around her throat and an image of that poor fox’s jaw
opening to rip her jugular, flashed in front of my eyes. She’d deserve it.
    ‘If he’s half the man you claim he is, then
tell me, why do you not want him for yourself?’ I asked, full of curiosity.
Handsome, honest, trustworthy, skilled in bed, what woman wouldn’t want him?
That was even before you took into account his net worth.
    ‘Would you want to fall in love with a man who
barely registered your very existence? Who was fixated on the past, on the
memory of a love that never was? Who spoke her name in his sleep?’
    ‘No,’ I replied, with a shake of the head. So
it seemed he did have some short comings. A man like that was best steered
clear of, nothing could eradicate the pain of knowing you weren’t his first
choice.
    ‘Exactement,’ she bit. ‘Bring me good news and
soon, Miss McQueen. Don’t let me down, we both have a lot at stake here.’
    ‘Of course, Mrs. Le Grand,’ I nodded, opening
the door.
    ‘You’d better get your wheels on, it is nearly
seven o’clock already.’
    ‘Skates,’ I retorted, unable to hold back the
correction. She raised a haughty eyebrow at me, then turned and stalked down
the corridor, the creepy, silent Raul hot on her tail. I shuddered. Damn her,
if it wasn’t such a large, life changing amount of money, I’d have told her
where to go. I had to think of Tristan though, of what this would mean to us as
a family. I returned to my desk and stopped the recording, running it back to
check it had worked. That was one I definitely didn’t want to lose. I pressed
the intercom for reception.
    ‘Hello, Lulu,’ Violet answered brightly. I
smiled, “Lulu” meant I was free to talk, Mrs. Le Grand had already left. “Miss
McQueen” meant that we had visitors or staff loitering within earshot.
    ‘Why the hell hasn’t Ian provided me with
pictures?’
    ‘It wasn’t Ian who got the file together, it
was one of his interns. Ian and his team are on an urgent job for someone else
at the moment.’
    ‘Have you rung to chase them?’ I asked.
    ‘Yes, but I only got through to the intern
again, he sounded flustered and assured me that they’ll be emailed over
shortly. I’m not holding out much hope.’
    ‘Damn it. Nothing on Google?’ I asked, I hated
going in blind.
    ‘I’m so sorry but I haven’t had a chance to
look. There was a slight crisis with the Adam’s case that Frankie’s currently working.
I’m on top of it, nothing for you to worry about, but I need to get back to
helping her. I can fill you in tomorrow. Hilda has put your outfit, wig and
lenses in your bedroom, Henry’s kitted out Mike with all of the surveillance,
as well as putting a microphone and camera in your clutch. Mike’s ready and
waiting in his workshop, wearing a suit no less, with the Merc on standby. Go
and get ready and make it fast.’
    ‘Message received and understood, Miss
Moneypenny,’ I laughed. I hung up and rushed to the bedroom to get changed,
emerging ten minutes later with brown eyes, short bobbed blonde hair and my
sexy, but obviously classy little black dress. Being in a hotel bar, dressed
up, alone, I didn’t want to be mistaken for a hooker. I quickly turned the file
on my desk around, I hadn’t even seen the client’s christian name. No name and
no photo. I’d never been so unprepared. I sighed as I saw his name was Lucas,
Lucas Le Grand. My mind was instantly taken back to my own Frenchman, my one
night stand, that it seemed no other man would ever live up to, Luc. I wondered
what he was doing now, if he ever thought about me the way I thought about him,
far more frequently than was healthy. This Mr. Le Grand’s financials showed
that he liked modern art, having spent a fortune on some pieces, so I grabbed
my favourite modern art book off my well stocked book shelf, then my clutch and
made my way to the door. I had a job to do, reminiscing could wait until I was
tucked