Page 7 of Breaking Point
She was surprised he had stayed at the soiree for this long.She’d presumed he’d left long ago, once he’d squeezed enough hands and shored up enough business relationships.
He looked up as she drew closer, and his hand fell away from his knee.
Luciana remembered that his Forum image didn’t include the cane.Hewasself-conscious about it.
Clearly, he was in pain.She stopped beside him.“Is there anything I can do to help?”she asked.“My house is just around the corner, here.Not even twenty meters away.I could bring an analgesic….?”
He didn’t answer straight away.Was hethatself-conscious?
Luciana wasn’t certain why he would be even a little bothered by it.He was still a whole, healthy man.She had felt the solidness of him when she had run into him, tonight.
She still wasn’t certain if it was the shock of him abruptly stepping out as he had done, or the way she had bounced off him that had been the largest surprise.He had been a solid wall, with no give in him at all.
Once she had got to her feet again, the impression of solidness remained.He radiated vitality.He was taller than her, with high, harsh cheekbones that gave him a stark air.The jawline was just as sharp, the chin square.
She had been surprised to see that his eyes were pale blue.She had expected pitch black, just like his hair.
Up this close, she could sese that his suit wasn’t the plain cloth that most men favored.Black stitching decorated the edges.Swirls and flourishes.Clearly he paid attention to details, and liked decoration for the sake of it.
Even with him standingright there, clearly ignorant of who she was, Luciana had still not been tempted to try to further the matter of the stalls.Tonight, she did not care about any of it.
Now, standing at the corner of the Field of Mars, with the man sitting beside her, she still didn’t care.She wanted to step into her house, and drift to sleep wrapped in the aura of a beautiful evening filled with simple happiness.Talking about business would spoil it.
Only, she couldn’t ignore someone in pain, either.
“I’m fine,” Falcon rasped.“I don’t need anything from you, thank you.”
His tone puzzled her.Then she understood.“You know who I am, now…”
He shifted.In the near-dark, she couldn’t see a lot of detail, yet she thought he had extended his bad leg.To ease it, perhaps?
“I know who you are,” he said heavily.“I just can’t figure out your angle.All that blather about your son…”
A tiny coil of tenseness lodged in her middle.“All that blather was nothing but the truth.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m shocked.”She made her tone as dry as she could get it.
He tilted his chin up, examining her.Not that he could see much more of her than she could see of him.
“If your leg can’t withstand extended walking, then whyareyou walking?You can afford to rent every pod on the ship all at the same time.”
“The more I walk, the farther Icanwalk,” he said.“A week without a long walk and this damn thing stops working altogether.Not that it’s any of your business.”
“It isn’t,” she agreed.“Well, if I can’t get you a painkiller…” She stepped over his out-thrust leg, and moved on.
“No, just wait one damn minute,” he snapped.And his fingers closed around her wrist and brought her to a stop.
She spun around.“Let go of me!”
He released her instantly, but surged to his feet as if both legs worked just fine.He leaned over her, nearly a silhouette in the dark of the ship.“I have to know.”His voice was a low rumble.“What is your play here?”
“My play?”
“How does this work?Is it reverse psychology?You pretend you’re not interested in buying the stalls, so that I let down my guard?”
She stared at him.“Not everyone has an agenda, Falcon.”
