Read Online The Player's Club: Finn by Cathy Yardley - Free Book Online Page B

buildings. No, no, this will be firsthand, personal evidence.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “You’re joining the Player’s Club?”
    What would the stockholders do if they found out their stalwart president and CEO was running with the bulls? Spray painting murals? There would be a riot. The stock price would plummet. No wonder he wanted her in here; she had to either come up with a way around this idiocy or figure out a strategy to keep it absolutely secret.
    Her mind was already racing with ideas when his laughter broke through her frantic plans. “That’s ridiculous, Diana. There’s no way I’d do any of that craziness.”
    She let out a long exhalation of relief.
    “ You are.”
    She blinked. “I’m…what?”
    “You’re going to go through all these high jinks Finn thinks are so life changing in a positive direction. You’ll do the stupid challenges, get hazed, whatever.”
    “Why me?” she yelped, stunned.
    “Because I trust your judgment,” Thorn said quietly. “I trust you implicitly, and believe me, I don’t say that to many people.”
    “Try any people,” Finn tacked on, earning him a frown.
    “A whole month?” Diana repeated. “No, sir. Respectfully—absolutely not.”
    Thorn glowered. “This isn’t a request, Diana.”
    She winced, but pressed forward. “You’ve hired me to be legal counsel,” she said. “You hired me to iron out problems. I fix things.”
    “Well, now I’m telling you to fix my son.”
    “Ouch.” Finn shifted his weight, covering his crotch. “That sounds painful.”
    She ignored him. “You told me to get Finn out of the Club. I did that. I can still do that. So why are you bothering with this charade?”
    Thorn looked pissed, but he didn’t look away. “Finn, why don’t you tell her why I’m making this deal?”
    Finn cleared his throat, all joking fleeing his expression. “If you go through with this, and you don’t understand why this is so important to me…if you don’t see that it’s actually beneficial to me, rather than destructive—” he swallowed visibly “—then I’ll not only quit the Club, I’ll go to every board meeting. I’ll take a job here at Macalister Enterprises.”
    Aha. Diana felt her stomach drop. Finn knew his father, and he’d used the one lure Thorn would be completely unable to resist. Fantastic.
    Finn stepped toward her, and her stomach jittered. “But you’ve got to play fair, Diana. I’m trusting you implicitly, and Dad’s promised, too, that you’ll be completely impartial.”
    She closed her eyes.
    “So what do you say now, Diana?” Thorn asked.
    What could I say? “Yes, of course.”
    “Great.” When she opened her eyes, Finn was smiling at her, his eyes shining, his whole body almost pulsing with vitality. She thought he was about to hug her. No. He looked like he wanted to do more than hug her.
    “First meeting’s tonight,” Finn announced. “And Dad said you get to focus on just this all month. I’ll pick you up.” He winked at her, then nodded to his father and left the conference room, whistling.
    She waited until the door closed before she spoke to Thorn. “He trusts you.”
    The “smiling dad” face vanished, and Thorn’s expression turned sharp. “Don’t you?”
    “I know you.”
    If a stalking lion chuckled, it would sound like Thorn’s responding laugh. “One month,” he said. “No matter what, Diana, end this thing. You know what the answer is. Just make him believe you’re going through the motions.”
    “What if I think the Club really is life changing in a positive direction?” she heard herself ask.
    “Diana,” he said, and his voice was low, dangerous. “You know better.”
    This was too important to Thorn for her to screw it up. If she let his son slip away…
    She felt nausea hit her.
    Oh, yes. She knew better.
     
     
    FINN FELT A LITTLE NERVOUS. It was early for a Player’s meeting—only eleven o’clock at night. They’d chosen an airplane hangar in Alameda