Masquerade (Swept Away #2.5)(18)

“I’m here on Larry’s orders.” Steve pulled off his fake mustache and shrugged. “He wants me to make sure she’s not getting too close to the truth.”

“By following her?” I glared at him. “She knows you were watching her.”

“Good.” He stood up. “We want her to know. Maybe then she’ll back off.”

“What do you care if she backs off?” I leaned toward him. “What’s in this for you?”

“What do you care?” There was a glint in his eyes I’d never seen before. “What’s in it for you, Jakob? What’s in it for you?” And then he walked out of the coffee shop quietly and unobtrusively. I stood there for a few seconds, thinking. How had he known where Bianca was going to be? And why hadn’t he been surprised to see me there? I walked out of the coffee shop and wondered if it was Larry sending me the letters. It didn’t make sense that he’d want me in close contact with Bianca. Not when he was having Steve follow her as well. Unless he was trying to set me up for something. All of a sudden, I didn’t know whom to trust. I needed to ensure that I was the one steering the ship and not the one being led to a shipwreck.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and made a call. If this next step was going to happen, it was going to happen on my timing.

“Jakob, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” David’s voice was dry as he picked up the phone.

“I think it’s time.” My voice was firm as I walked down the street and headed toward Dave’s New York, a traditional army-navy store in the city.

“Time for what?” David sounded confused, and I stifled a sigh. Sometimes I wondered how he hadn’t brought about the collapse of Bradley, Inc. already.

“It’s time for us to get on Bianca’s good side. It’s time for us to figure out exactly what she knows.”

“Okay,” David said hesitantly. “So you’re going to take her to the island?”

“Yes,” I said without pause. “She needs to be kidnapped and put into the back of a van. When she wakes up, I’ll be tied next to her.” I paused as I looked at the bright lights of the city. “We’ll be drugged, maybe a shot of something or some chloroform over our faces to knock us out for the helicopter ride. When we both come to, we’ll be on the island, tied together.”

“And you’ll figure out what she knows.”

“Yes.” I was going to figure out exactly what she knew and more.

“When?” David sounded excited.

“In a week or so.” My brain was racing as I thought of everything that I needed to do. “I need to go to the island first, set some things up.”

“What things?” he asked curiously.

“It doesn’t matter what things.” Though of course it did. I was going to plant some photos of her parents and some letters. I needed her to trust me and I needed her to open up. And I didn’t want to be the one to have to start the dialogue with her. I wanted the dialogue to start naturally. It mustn’t seem that we were connected until we picked up the clues. The clues would be an innocent way to start a conversation. If I were to just do it myself, it would seem suspicious. “Can you take care of getting her to the van when I give you a date?”

“Yes, I can.” David laughed. “Roma can help me with that.”

“Oh?”

“Turns out she knows Bianca. In fact she—”

“Good,” I said, cutting him off. I didn’t want to talk about his girlfriend now. If he found out I’d f*cked her, he was liable to try to spite me and that was the last thing I needed to happen now. I needed him to get Bianca into the van and I could take care of the rest.

“So are you going to take Steve?” David sounded annoyed that he’d been cut off. “Larry isn’t sure what’s going on with him. He’s been acting funny recently.”

“I need him to come, to help me quickly create a shared connection with Bianca. Steve will be our common enemy. It will make her open up more to me.”

“She’s not dumb, you know,” David said. “And I wouldn’t try getting into her pants, either—that bitch doesn’t like to give it up.”

“I’m sorry she didn’t sleep with you, David. Does Roma know how much that upset you?”

“Jackass.” David sounded annoyed. “I’m just letting you know that I wouldn’t bother trying to win her over with sex, she’s not likely to give it up.”

“That’s the least of my concerns, David.” I was starting to feel angry. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you when it’s time. Have everything set up and ready to go. We’ll talk later about the plans.”

I hung up and continued walking down the street as if I didn’t have a care in the world, but my heart was beating fast. This was going to be the riskiest thing I’d ever done. It was likely that Bianca would recognize me now. It was likely that she wouldn’t trust me. It was likely that I wouldn’t get any truth from her. However, I didn’t care. I’d get to be with her, spend time with her. I’d get to know her. And right now that was all that mattered. Maybe the plan to seduce her and break her heart wasn’t such a bad one after all. I’d just have to make sure that I didn’t end up breaking my own heart as well.