Countdown - Iris Johansen [27]
“You’re wrong. Eve opens herself to hurt every time she starts a reconstruction.”
“That’s different. That’s her job, her vocation. You and Joe are her life, and she’d do anything to protect you and keep you happy and safe.”
“That’s not unusual.”
“I’m not saying it is. I admire her and we have a lot in common.”
“She’d argue that statement,” Jane said dryly. “And so would I.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Trevor met her gaze. “I protected you once.”
She felt a sudden breathlessness, a heat . . . Oh, Christ, she’d thought it was gone, and here it was rushing back. No, she wouldn’t have it. “My God, how arrogant can you get? Am I supposed to thank you for saving the poor underage Lolita from her lustful cravings?” she asked through clenched teeth. “You didn’t want me? Fine. I wouldn’t have wanted you if I’d had more experience. I suppose you’ve been patting yourself on the back all these years because you saved me from myself. Well, I may have been only seventeen, but I wasn’t stupid and I had a right to free choice. You treated me as if I was a child with no—”
“Hold it.” He held up his hand to stop the flow. “How do you know that’s what I meant when I said I protected you? After all, I did my best to keep Aldo from killing you.”
She blinked. “Oh.” Then she studied his bland expression and said through gritted teeth, “Damn you. That isn’t what you meant.”
“But it could have been.” He smiled slyly. “And it was the only way I could defuse all that abuse you were heaping on me.”
“You didn’t defuse anything, and I—” But the clever bastard had done just that. The anger and hurt ignited by those memories had been lessened. “I meant every word I said, and it’s just as well it’s out in the open.”
“Right. And did it occur to you that might be why I did it? There was no use having a festering sore that might erupt any minute when we had other problems to address.”
“What a disgusting metaphor. And you flatter yourself. I wasn’t festering.”
“Maybe I wasn’t talking about you.”
Heat, again. Jesus, what was wrong with her?
She jerked her gaze away. “Don’t try to con me. I know how much you like to control situations. You’re not going to control this one, Trevor. Stop trying to manipulate me and tell me why you wanted me to come with you.”
“I told you, to eliminate one more weapon to be used against me.”
“By whom?”
He didn’t answer.
“I came with you because I couldn’t see an immediate alternative that would give me what I needed. But I’m not going to stay around if you keep me in the dark.”
He nodded. “I hoped for a little more time, but I knew it would come down to this.”
“You’re darned right. Who?”
“An extremely nasty fellow by the name of Rand Grozak.”
“Nasty? How?”
“Murder, smuggling, drugs, prostitution. He dabbles in a good many areas to get what he wants.”
“And what did he have to do with Mike’s death?”
“Leonard works for him. I don’t believe Grozak told him to kill Fitzgerald. It was a blunder. It was a kidnapping attempt and you were the target.”
“Why? And don’t tell me about your Achilles’ heel. If he knows you as well as you say he does, he must know that you’re too tough to be influenced.”
“It’s heartwarming to realize how well you read me,” he murmured. “But perhaps Grozak senses another, more sensitive side to my character.”
“Why did he want to target me?” she repeated.
“He wants Cira’s gold and he’s looking for an edge. He probably believes you may know where it is.”
“That’s crazy. Why? You’re the one who’s been searching for it for years. You’re the one who found the scrolls.”
“Perhaps he believes I may have shared information with you. We were together in Herculaneum four years ago. You’ve gone on three archaeological digs to Herculaneum since then. Add it together and he’d assume you were on the hunt for the gold too.”
“Not everyone prefers money to knowledge.”
“You won’t convince Grozak of that. Money makes his world go around.”
“And yours too.”
“I won’t deny I like it. It doesn’t