Masquerade (Swept Away #2.5)(11)

“And did he?” I asked Larry, the intensity of my gaze letting him know I wanted the truth.

“I don’t know what your father did.” He shrugged. “It’s a possibility.”

“That’s why you’re worried?” My stomach dropped. If my father had killed her mother, that would make my ultimate plans more complicated.

“No,” Larry said shortly. “There are other issues to be more worried about.”

“Oh?”

“There are other things that she could find out, if she digs too deeply. Things that could bring down the whole company and disgrace the Bradley name.”

“And give her a cut of the company?” I asked softly.

“Bianca’s father was the company’s chief inventor.” Larry nodded. “She might wonder why he died with barely a penny to his name. She has his patents.”

“Why did you give her the boxes?” I asked him curiously. “Didn’t you think it might bring up some questions?”

“I didn’t realize that he’d left her a letter.”

“A letter?”

“He suspected that his wife hadn’t died by accident.” Larry’s voice was a monotone and I saw Steve looking away.

“Okay, and?”

“Look, we just need to make sure that she doesn’t uncover something she shouldn’t.” He shrugged. “This isn’t the place for us to be having this conversation.”

“Would she really want to know, though?” I leaned forward, my eyes narrowed as I gazed at him. Hearing Bianca’s story almost made me feel bad for her. She was doing what I would have done if I’d been in her shoes. The only problem was that even if she discovered the truth, she was going to be heartbroken. It would be bad for her and it would be bad for the company.

“I don’t care if she would want to know. All I care about is that she doesn’t know.” Larry’s voice was angry. “We haven’t worked this hard for it all to end this way.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t have stolen the products, then,” Steve said softly, receiving a hostile glare from Larry.

“It’s not for us to question their motivations now,” Larry huffed. “What is done is done.”

“What about the family of the true inventor?” Steve replied. “What thought was given to them?”

“That was Jeremiah’s doing.” Larry looked angry. “Jeremiah and Nicholas are the ones who stole the blueprints for the inventions. They are the ones who passed them off as theirs.”

“Exactly,” I said quietly. “So why is this Bianca London a threat? Her father was just as culpable.”

“Her father wanted the truth to come out,” Steve said, his beady eyes narrowed. “Bianca might respect his wishes and expose the truth to the world. All the dirty, dark secrets of Bradley, Inc. might come to light. Then the company would be worth nothing.”

“I haven’t worked this hard for it all to be worth nothing.” Larry stared at me.

“So what do you want to do?”

“I have a plan,” he said softly. “But we need your help.”

“You’re talking about whisking her away to my island?” I said thoughtfully.

“Yes, you can leave her there with some food.”

“By herself?” I frowned, shaking my head. “No way.”

“Then what?”

“I’d go with her.” I looked to the side and thought for a moment. “We’d be kidnapped together. She doesn’t know me. She won’t know it’s a setup. Then I can get her to trust me. Once she trusts me, I can figure out exactly what she knows.”

“Who’s to say she’ll trust you?” Larry frowned. “I don’t like it.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” I countered. If Larry was against it, there had to be a reason. I didn’t trust him and I was pretty sure that he knew that. I was playing along now so that I could further my own goals, but Larry was also on my hit list. If he didn’t want me to be part of this plan, there had to be a reason. And that made me more determined to be with Bianca on the island.

“Let’s see what happens at the shareholders’ meeting next week,” Steve said. “Maybe she’ll go to the meeting and just forget about it all. I mean, she’s going to figure out pretty quickly that she’s not going to meet Mattias.”

“Yes, let’s see what happens next week.” Larry nodded his agreement.

“What if she goes after David?” I said softly.

“David has a girlfriend,” Larry said tightly.

“Who knows how long that will last? She looks like a tight-assed skank.”

Larry’s eyes narrowed then and I could see that he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself.

“Let’s just see what happens,” he mumbled, and turned away. “I have to go and mingle now.” And then he walked away, leaving Steve standing next to me.

“If you go to the island, I can come as well.” His eyes gazed into mine, but his expression was neutral. “If I show up out of the blue, she might trust you then, because it will be the two of you against me.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll consider it.”