Read Online Blood Diamond by R. J. Blain - Free Book Online Page A

trouble. While Zachary hadn’t pushed any women in my direction, he was the most vocal of my associates regarding his belief I needed to find someone new.
    He’d take one look at Evelyn and begin matchmaking whether or not I wanted him to.
    “What happens after we’re in Canada?”
    “You’ll settle in. I’ll go to work arranging new accounts for you. You’ll be given funds, and my contacts will establish you in your new home. It’s a bit like witness protection, but better. You’re not the first person I’ve made disappear. Money will be deposited automatically into your new accounts for a period of ten years. After that, you’re on your own.” Once she was in Canada, it’d be business—business conducted from thousands of miles away.
    It’d be better for both of us that way.
    “All right. That sounds fair.” Evelyn stood, picking up the empty bottle, and set it on the dresser before heading to the phone. “What sort of wine do you want? It seems we have run out.”
    “Your choice,” I said. “I prefer red over white.”
    “Red it’ll be then.” She grabbed the wine menu, made a thoughtful noise, and called the front desk to order two more bottles. “We’ve got a lot of time and nowhere to go. Let’s play a game.”
    Intrigued and curious about what sort of game a Fenerec found amusing, I asked, “A game? What sort of game?”
    “Truth or Drink. We’ll take turns asking a question. You either choose to answer honestly or you drink. No lying allowed. The penalty for lying is drinking half a bottle. Don’t think you can get away with it, either. I can smell a lie, Mr. Jackson.”
    I eyed the emptied bottle warily. “This sounds like a dangerous game. Why?”
    “I want to learn more about the man willing to defy the Inquisition for my sake. Why not?”
    “Have you ever had a wine hangover before?” I asked, shaking my head.
    “Food helps with that. Eat before it gets cold. Do you really have anything to lose by playing? If you don’t want to answer, you drink some wine. No harm done, right?”
    “Right,” I acknowledged, turning my attention to the hamburger. While I ate, I was aware of her gaze on me. When I finished, I didn’t look up from my plate. “I’m not all that interesting, you know.”
    “Any man who can rig his brother’s truck to explode is plenty interesting. I’m also of the opinion that any man with your restraint is very interesting.” I heard laughter in her voice, and when I stared at her, she grinned.
    “Compared to the people I know, I’m an amateur at explosives,” I countered, feeling my face growing warm.
    She crossed her arms and arched a brow at me. “And your restraint?”
    I needed a lot more than a glass of wine to answer that question—an entire bottle wouldn’t be enough to take the edge off my nerves and embarrassment. Unfortunately for me, she deserved the truth, and drinking wouldn’t make the problem magically go away. “You deserve better than some one night stand with a man you don’t know.”
    My words were the same I had said to Suzanne the first time we had met. I had been doing the Inquisition’s dirty work.
    She had been working a corner.
    With a dead-end job and student loans she couldn’t afford, she barely paid her rent, so just to get by, she took any man willing to pay to her bed. I had been the last to buy her time, and I had refused to sleep with her until our wedding night three years later.
    “You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”
    It was pointless to deny the truth, but I took a long swallow of wine anyway. “Every day.”
    “Ask me a question.”
    “If Fenerec mate for life, why throw yourself at me?”
    For a long moment, she didn’t speak, and I doubted she would answer. She sighed. “I wanted to see what you would do. If I didn’t want you, you wouldn’t have me. It’s that simple. I’ve been alone a long time. You risked your life to save mine. You’re risking it even now. Why help me?”
    I