Read Online Until Midnight by Desiree Holt, Cerise DeLand - Free Book Online Page B

Dan. Seen it on other men’s faces. But never directed at her. Until now. When she saw it on Adam
    Molloy’s face every time he kissed her or made love to her.
    The shock froze her.
    Love was not on her agenda. Never had been. An affair, loose and noncommittal,
    sure, she could do that. An interlude, fast and hot, always a possibility, but never often.
    Never an entanglement she sought. But tenderness? Love from a man she knew was so
    untamed, so talented, so quick and smart? That was the biggest danger. Wasn’t it?
    Maddie and Dan turned toward her and grinned, then rose.
    “Hey, Nicki!” Dan was first to put out his hand toward her. Because she was the
    boss and this was the office, he was always professional here. Never hugging her in greeting.
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    Maddie was more casual, more natural. Fourteen years of friendship between them
    meant Maddie was going to be less formal. She came over and hugged Nicki, then held her arms to pull back and glance in her eyes. “How are you? Cat gave us headlines. But Dan and I need details!”
    Nicki smiled gently. “And we’ve got lots for you both. This is Adam Molloy.”
    “Adam,” Dan shook hands, his green eyes wary of the newcomer.
    “Hi, Adam,” Maddie greeted him and followed Nicki’s lead to take their seats.
    Nicole folded her hands on the table. “Let me tell you first that Adam happened to be in the right place for me at the right time. His ability to do that comes with his nine-to-five job.”
    Dan got an astonished look on his face. “Nine to five? Yeah, right.”
    “Do tell,” Maddie encouraged with a grin.
    “Mossad,” Adam provided.
    “No shit,” Dan muttered.
    Maddie fell back in her chair. “So you were just out for a stroll on a private beach and managed to see a suspicious character about to hurt our girl, huh?”
    Adam tipped his head. “You might say it like this.” Then he explained what he was
    doing there, why, and how he had helped Nicki survive.
    Nicki shifted in her chair. The expression on Maddie’s face told her that her friend could detect a few holes in Adam’s summary. Dan absorbed the tale with a few nods.
    But Maddie’s cool blue gaze on Nicki’s face made her blush.
    She swallowed hard as Adam finished. “And now we have these suspicions of the
    owners of the resort.”
    “And you have to track them,” Dan added. “Who are they?”
    When Nicki listed the five, Maddie widened her eyes.
    Dan grimaced.
    “The manager of the place seems clean,” Adam told them, “but we’re not certain.”
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    Nicole tapped the table with her fingertips. “We need a complete dossier on all five partners who own the resort. Plus the manager.”
    “That’s where I come in,” Dan added. “I’ll get on it.”
    “We also need,” Nicki added, “an update on their financial records. Public and
    private. If you can get the private ones. We suspect they have a few little accounts in the Caymans. Just for emergencies.”
    Maddie nodded. “Who doesn’t?”
    Adam agreed. “But anything we can get that isn’t in the papers or the bank
    accounts, that would be a bigger help.”
    Maddie grinned. “Just my cup of tea. Who are we talking about?”
    Adam rapped his knuckles on the table. “One of the five is an acquaintance of mine.
    He, of course, would rather forget how we met. But he owes me a favor. A big one. He seems to me to be the easiest to get to.”
    “Which is he?” Maddie asked.
    “Henri LeClerq.”
    “LeClerq. LeClerq.” Maddie frowned for a moment, then brightened. “I went to
    boarding school in Geneva with his daughter, Marie. Nice man. What’s your connection to him, Adam?”
    “Three years ago, I headed a team to find out who was funding the purchase of
    guns and rockets to Hamas in Gaza. We soon learned it was a group in Iran, but the money made its way through Henri’s private bank in Basel. We were about to make
    arrangements to close him down when it became clear he