Read Online For His Keeping (For His Pleasure, Book 3) by Kelly Favor - Free Book Online

again making her uncomfortable with what felt like an intrusive intimacy.
    “I’ve never heard of it,” she said softly.
    Kane laughed. Red’s cheek twitched in response.
    “I think you’ll find it quite satisfying, Nicole,” Kane said, taking his linen napkin and spreading it across his lap.
    “Why don’t we dispense with the pleasantries and get down to business?” Red asked, his expression almost predatory. Nicole could feel the waves of hate and tension radiating off him, like he was holding himself back from leaping across the table and strangling the other man.
    If Kane sensed the hostility, he didn’t appear intimidated by it. Instead, he raised his eyebrows. “I thought we were getting down to business. You see, that’s the difference between your fiancé and I,” Kane said, turning once again to Nicole. “He thinks like a crocodile. It’s all about the kill for him—whereas I am more like a cat with a mouse in its jaws. The cat doesn’t just clamp down and break the mouse’s neck, although it could. Instead, it plays with its food, it chases it, lets the poor thing believe it has a fighting chance.”
    Red was about to reply, but the waiter appeared with the wine and began to pour.
    Kane spoke to the waiter in German, and if anything he was more fluent in the language than Red. The way he spoke was melodic, and she could tell that Kane loved hearing the sound of his own voice.
    Once the wine had been poured, the waiter placed the bottle on the table, bowed and disappeared back into the dark gloom of the restaurant.
    Nicole took a sip from her glass and found that it really was an amazing taste.
    She hated that she was enjoying something this man had given them, knowing how it came at Red’s expense.
    “You like?” Kane asked.
    Red put up a hand to stop her from speaking. “Enough,” he said to Kane. His voice was low and guttural. “I’m about to get up and end this so-called business meeting unless you tell me why you’ve asked me here.”
    Kane laughed yet again. He seemed genuinely pleased in having provoked this response from his younger opponent. “Please, you frighten me with these threats. What would I do if you left me here like this?”
    “I imagine you’re used to dining alone,” Red replied.
    “A man who cannot stand to be alone has a weakness that can be preyed upon by his foes,” Kane said. He picked up his wine glass and sniffed the contents, then drank it with apparent enjoyment. “As you wish, my friend.” He placed the glass on the table again, and his smile faded, as he looked across the table at Red and Red alone. “Let me lay my cards on the table for you.”
    “Please.” Red sat back and crossed his arms.
    “We both know that Jameson International is a hair’s breadth away from utter catastrophe.”
    Red didn’t react to the other man’s assertion. His face was as calm and implacable as a black lake on a winter’s day.
    “I’m interested in a partnership with you and your company,” Kane said finally, smiling a bit at the sound of what he was saying. “Perhaps I can be of some help to you.”
    Red shook his head. “I can’t partner with someone I don’t trust. And I’m not interested in having a partner in any case. I built Jameson International from the ground up and I don’t require any help. But I appreciate the offer.” He made as if to stand.
    “Wait just a moment, don’t be so hasty,” Kane said. “There’s still more drink and food to be had. This is the best restaurant in all of Germany and you want to rush back to your hotel for what?” Then he glanced at Nicole. “Of course, you have your reasons for wanting to rush back, I am sure. But still…” he smiled. “Let me clarify my position a bit further.”
    Red relaxed into his chair again, waiting. “Go on.”
    Kane met his gaze and they stared at one another for a long enough time that it made Nicole distinctly uncomfortable. She could see there was some kind of subtle fight