Page 6 of Risk It All
“So, it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to expect you to do a striptease on the bar and drink shots off the waiter's abs like your sister was just photographed doing in Vegas?”
Damn.
“Because that's what all beautiful, vapid women from rich and powerful families do.” His crystalline eyes bear down on me waiting for an answer.
“No.” I grit my teeth, because while my sister has a reputation of being a celebutant party girl, the situation with her dancing on the bar and drinking shots wasn't all what the tabloid reported, and another reminder why men couldn't be trusted.
I work to pull my anger and pain back in control. There's no need for Max to know just how his remark hit me. “It's not quite the same. You do business with this company. You profit from the destruction it causes. I gain nothing from having an impulsive sister.”
“What sort of destruction?”
I search his eyes to find out if he really wants to know or if he's just trying to placate me. “Child labor and animal extinction, to name two.”
The amusement in his eyes vanishes, leaving a cool, nearly dark look in its wake. “What company?” His tone matches his eyes.
“SiliCo Mining.”
He stares at me for a moment, as if his mind is scanning for recognition of the name. “I don't know that company.”
“That's where Digitechnik gets its minerals to build the components you buy for all those great tech gadgets your company makes.”
“How do you know this?”
I sip my champagne nonchalantly. “I'm writing a story on it now.”
“What documentation do you have? I want to see it.” The smooth charmer is gone.
“Really?” I don't hide my disbelief that he'll do something with the information if I give it to him. Men like Max know how to act outraged toward the raping and pillaging of the earth, but the anger is fake. Businesses don't get rich caring about social and environmental issues.
“I can't fix what I don't know about, Ms. Hainsworth. How does SiliCo Mining hurt children and animals?”
“They use children in the mines, for one. They also take on workers the same way agriculture uses migrant workers. They aren't paid very well and are forced to hunt to survive.”
He jerks back. “Hunting is the way humans survived throughout mankind. In fact, many families in the United States still feed themselves through hunting.”
“They aren't hunting deer or rabbits. They're hunting gorillas. Did you know the gorilla in the wild will be extinct in our lifetime, Mr. Delecoeur? And businesses like yours don't care, because to care and do it right costs too much.”
His stormy blue eyes tell me that he doesn't like being called a capitalist jerk.
“I want to see the documentation you have so I can look into this further.”
He sounds sincere, but I learned a long time ago that when it comes to business, money always has the last word.
“And don't print anything, at least about Delecoeur Electronics until I'm able to look into this.”
It's not a request. It's a demand that has a hint of threat behind it. Of course, the story is a long way from being ready. The follow-up interviews, such as those with Mr. Delecoeur and other business executives, haven't even been set up. But the idea that he thinks he can tell me how to do my job-that irks.
“I don't take orders from you, Mr. Delecoeur.” I don't wait for a response. I turn and move away as quickly as my legs in the form-fitting gown will take me.
Later that evening,I sit on the window seat in my apartment with my laptop overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The minute I arrived home from the benefit, I changed into yoga pants and a long-sleeved cotton t-shirt. I wanted to be comfortable as I researched Max Delecoeur.
I already know he obtains electronic components from the northern California company Digitechnik, which imports its silica and other minerals from SiliCo Mining in Nigeria. I also know his philanthropy focuses on child welfare, for which he has donated a great deal of his money and time. I would have had to live under a rock to not know his reputation with women. Except for a two-year relationship with actress Jana Andrews, he's never been seen out with the same woman twice.
I feel justified in my dislike and open hostility, especially since there's something about him that unsettles me. Even so, I didn't get the same dismissing vibe I usually get from powerful men. Then again, maybe I was distracted by his brilliant blue eyes and disarming smile.
That annoys me. Not that I don't like men. Especially handsome, charismatic men. I'm a woman, after all. And any woman would have to be dead not to notice and appreciate Max Delecoeur. He has the looks and presence that make everyone stop and take notice.
Still, I thought I had a better handle on my hormones. It's been a long time since a man has made my senses sizzle. It's like he awakened the sensual side of me that I spent the last year pushing away.
