Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [25]
There were tons of reasons.
“Why?” he repeated.
That, sir, is no business of yours. That’s what Jane Austen would say. But Faith wasn’t Jane Austen, and she needed a tougher author mentor now. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of one right at the moment, but she would soon. Her ability to channel Jennifer Garner from Alias seemed to have disappeared.
Since Faith couldn’t think of something stinging and brilliant to say, she turned her back on Caine and looked for Yuri again.
Removing her earbuds, she called out, “Yuri, I need you.” The doorman quickly appeared at her side. He was a stocky man built like a wrestler. “Is there a problem?” he asked.
Faith nodded. “This man is giving me a hard time.”
“Yo, Bentley, is that you?” Caine said.
Yuri glared at Caine before blinking. “Hunter? Caine Hunter? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Me? What about you?” Caine slapped him on the back. “What’s with the uniform? What happened to your dress blues, Gunny?”
“That was a long time ago.”
“You two know each other?” Faith had to ask, even though the answer seemed obvious.
Caine nodded. “Bentley here was a Marine. Semper fi.”
She turned to look at her doorman. “You were a Marine?”
Yuri shrugged. “Like I said, that was a long time ago. Nearly ten years.”
Faith eyed both men suspiciously. “Did you pay Yuri off to say he knew you?”
Her question was directed to Caine, but both men gave her an offended look.
“What?” she said.
“You don’t pay someone off to say they were a Marine,” Caine stated.
“Why not? Yuri does a lot of community theater work. He’s a good actor.”
“I’m just starting out,” Yuri said modestly.
“He was an extra on an episode of ER last year,” she said.
Caine frowned. “Gunny, you’re an actor?”
Yuri nodded sheepishly.
“Why are you calling him Gunny?” she asked.
“He was a gunnery sergeant in the Marines.”
“What about you?” Yuri asked Caine. “I thought you’d be a lifer.”
“It was time. I had important business here at home that I had to take care of.”
“It must be something really important to make you leave the Corps.”
“Affirmative. My mission here doesn’t get any more urgent or more personal.” Caine’s look made it clear to Faith that no one and nothing would get in his way.
Yuri said as much. “You always excelled at getting the mission accomplished.”
“His mission is deeply flawed,” Faith said.
Yuri looked at her in surprise. “You know the nature of his mission?”
She nodded.
“How did you obtain that piece of intel?” Yuri asked.
“Caine told me himself,” she said.
“Is that right?” Yuri asked Caine.
Caine nodded.
Yuri shifted uncomfortably. “Uh . . . this seems personal between the two of you.”
“You could say that.” Caine’s voice was curt. “Her father is responsible for my father’s death.”
“That’s not true,” she vehemently denied.
“It is true,” Caine said. “And I aim on proving it.”
“And I aim on proving you wrong,” Faith said.
“You’re welcome to try, Sunshine, but you’re bound to be disappointed.”
“Yuri, do not let this man into my building.”
“So you own the entire building now, do you?” Caine said.
“This is private property, and you have no business trespassing on it,” Faith said.
“I’m standing on a public sidewalk,” Caine pointed out.
“I’ve got to go or I’ll be late,” she muttered.
“Late for your new job working for your daddy? Why don’t you just admit it? You were working for him all along.”
“I’m not admitting anything to you. You’re the one who lied to me continually.” Her eyes widened as a new possibility occurred to her. “Wait a second. What about that guy who was choking at the hotel that first day? Was he your plant? Did you pay him to pretend to choke so you could save the day and get my attention?”
“No, but that would have been a good idea.”
You, sir, are a blackheart and a cad. Okay, she had to stop channeling Jane Austen here. The problem was that Faith had never been good at insults. She’d never really had the need before.
It’s not as if she hadn’t heard plenty of salty language in Las Vegas. But she’d never bothered to pay attention to it. The words had