Read Online Power play by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page A

What I want to hear is your side of the story."
    Talia's fingers tightened around the frosty glass and her soft mouth firmed. She could sense the unyielding demand in Kane; she knew he would not cease pressing her until she gave him the answers. The strange part was that a portion of her wanted to tell him the whole sordid tale. But that would mean admitting her own weakness and she wasn't at all sure she could risk baring her soul to this man.
    "The story is mine and I do not wish to go into it," she said quietly.
    "Then let me guess," Kane said, equally quietly, his face hard and intent as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, the glass cradled between his palms.
    "You were bright, educated, and on your way to that vice-presidency when someone named Derek Hazelton stepped in your path and said he could make your fast track even faster if you were nice to him. Right so far?"
    "You sound as if you may have made the offer a few times yourself!" she was stung into retorting.
    He ignored the accusation. "The big question is, what did you say to Hazelton at ABC Amber Text Converter Trial v ersion, http://www.processtext.com/abctxt.html
    that point, Talia?"
    Talia rose to her feet in a swift, agitated movement. "I told him to go to hell!" she flared. Turning her back on him, she braced herself against the railing and gazed blindly out over the darkening golf course. "What do you think I told him?" she concluded bitterly.
    "Life must have gotten rough after that," he observed behind her in an enigmatic tone.
    She lifted her chin. "Very rough." She took a deep breath, remembering.
    "Hazelton was my boss. He began bombarding me with incredible quantities of purely clerical work. He excluded me from important meetings. He kept vital information from me and then made accusations of incompetence when I made mistakes because I lacked that information. He ruined crucial business relationships I had established. God! There are so many ways of punishing a manager who reports to you. I hadn't even dreamed people could do things like that to other people. Not in real life."
    "So you saw your career going down the drain and Hazelton gave you another chance, right?"
    Talia bit her lip. "He let me know my problems could all be solved with a weekend in San Francisco." She had been nothing more than an amusing challenge for Derek Hazelton. When she'd resisted, he'd casually crushed her whole career.
    "A weekend with him."
    "Yes."
    "And you said no, still believing you could get that promotion on your own merits?"
    "Naive, wasn't I?" she gritted. "As the promotion drew closer, rumors started to circulate. The board of directors got wind of them and after that, the newspapers.
    They had a field day with it!"
    "I saw," Kane admitted.
    "I tried to explain what had happened, but no one listened. Even…" She broke off on a strangled sob that she forced back down her throat.
    "Even who, Talia?" The deep voice was soft now, coaxing, persuading, soothing.
    "Even my fiancé," she whispered. "Oh, Richard claimed he believed me, but he pointed out that he was planning a career in politics. He really shouldn't be burdened with a compromised wife!"
    "So the engagement was broken off?"
    "Naturally." Talia had regained control of herself once more. The worst was over.
    Proudly she swung around to face Kane, amber eyes glinting in the patio light.
    "That's it. End of story. Still going to feed me dinner?" she managed with savage flippancy. "You don't have to worry about being seen with me, you know. Just like in the old days, it's not the man who suffers from the gossip."
    He was watching her with that enigmatic look she'd seen more than once in those emerald eyes, as if he were analyzing and judging. Condemning?
    "Do you," he asked, without a change of expression, "like your steaks rare or medium rare? I refuse to cook good meat to the well-done stage on general principles."
    She blinked, taken offguard for an instant. "Rare," she whispered after a long