Now it’s my turn to laugh, much bolder and heartier than her.
“Who says I haven’t been living? It’s perfectly acceptable to entertain your worst vices, especially when they synch so well with your natural inclination to survive.”
“You mean exact revenge.”
“You say that like they’re conflicting ideas. In my experience, they’re one in the same. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do if the men I targeted didn’t have sins of their own that they were slaves to. Greed. Lust. Envy. Gluttony. Take your pick. There’s a reason they bring about a man’s downfall.”
She gives me a cool smirk. “Now, you’re the avenging angel?”
I lean back in my chair and take a sip of my brandy before answering.
“Do you know how I made my first million?”
Her brow lowers with curiosity. “How?”
“A mineral and oil speculator named Hector Crane. At the time, he’d had a run of bad luck with his land purchases.” I smirk at the look Sloane gives me. “No, not due to any of my meddling. All the same, when his corporation took out a substantial loan, I knew he had something big, and more importantly, a sure thing, coming.
“At the time, I was only twenty-two. That’s how long it took me to build up enough funds to do anything worthwhile. Almost ten years after the murder of my parents and I couldn’t even make much of a dent until that point. But, as they say, revenge is a dish best served cold.”
“You must have stayed pretty hot if your resentment carried you for that long.”
“And it has yet to cool down.”
Sloane swallows hard at the low timbre of my voice. “Let me guess; you outbid him?”
“That I did, but first I had to find out what the deal was and what his bid was going to be.”
Sloane narrows her gaze. “I suspect this is where the real story is.”
“I always figured you for an astute mind.”
“Do tell,” she says with sly amusement.
“I slept with his wife.”
“Admirable.” Her voice and gaze are both dripping with sarcasm. “I suppose he brought that on himself?”
“Do you know how easy it is to seduce a woman in a loveless marriage? A woman who has been publicly humiliated by her husband’s flings for years? A woman who has wasted what she assumes are the best years of her life on a heartless man?”
“You make her sound so pathetic.”
“When she was with me, I guarantee you she felt anything but.”
There’s a slight bristling at that. I’d like to attribute it to jealousy.
“So good, she just gave you the information?”
“There might have been a bit of blackmail involved. A prenup, which left her with nothing if there was proof of cheating—only on her end, of course.”
“So…you prey on helpless women in order to get back at the men who wronged you?”
My lips curl into a smile. “She wasn’t quite that helpless as it turns out. Never underestimate the ingenuity of a motivated woman. You of all people should know that, Sloane.”
I smile at the way her nostrils flare with anger.
“You’re comparing my threat of death to her cheating on her husband?”
“I think you have the roles reversed. I believe in this scenario, you and I are the same. Predators.”
I’m both pleased and surprised to find a slight glow in her eyes at the descriptor.
“Except you were successful. What happened to the prey in this instance?”
“She made out quite well. Her husband had been stupid enough to underestimate her. He never assumed that being careless in what he said around her would result in his being outbid by an unknown player. Further proof that he only thought of her as window dressing.
“As for the woman, I suggested she cut her losses in the marriage and divorce him. It worked out for her in the end when she did just that, and then, via various LLCs, she shorted the stock of his company just before he was underbid in this final, but unsuccessful Hail Mary of his.”
“I wonder where she got that idea, one that sounds decidedly like insider trading.”
“Fortunately, at the time, there was still a money-laundering operation she could take advantage of to cover her tracks,” I say, hearing the slightly dark tone in my voice.
“And Hector Crane?”
“Bankruptcy, of course. The loan was called in. He had already spent half, thinking the bid was his. Complete insolvency. He never really recovered and two years later had a heart attack. Hector was one of the first men on my list. From there, it was easy. As they say, the first million is the hardest…so is the first kill.”
“I’m sorry, was this supposed to be a persuasive tale?”
“You came to Monte Carlo to learn about me, about what I’m up to.”
Sloane goes still, waiting for me to continue.
“Did you ever stop to consider that you might learn something about yourself? Are you sure coming to Monte Carlo was all Jan’s idea?”
Her body goes erect in that regal way she has about her. “What are you implying?”
“I think you know exactly what I’m implying.”
“If he got the idea that I’d have sex with you in order to get this information, then both he and you are quite wrong.”
“And yet…” I say, taunting her with one eyebrow raised.
“That was…that had nothing to do with this.”
“Didn’t it?”
“You think I fucked you to get this information from you?”
“No, I think you fucked me because you wanted to. As did I. Like I said, you and I are two of a kind. Which is why you showed your cards almost as easily as I’ve shown mine.”
“A momentary lapse on my part. Trust me, I don’t plan on being that easy in the future.”
“Good,” I say, downing the rest of my drink. I catch the sudden reaction from Sloane, though she desperately tries to hide it. It’s a response she wasn’t expecting—and one she certainly doesn’t like.
When I set
