He frowned and a shadow crossed his features. I honestly thought he was going to start talking…until he lifted his fork again and began to eat, taking all the time in the world.
I groaned.
Damn!
He did it again—ignoring me. Letting me wait on purpose just because he felt like being in control.
Assessing. Testing.
Testing what?
I felt like leaning over that table and shaking some sense into him. Maybe even strangle him while I was at it, because his reasoning, or lack thereof, made no sense to me, and I was slowly losing my patience at his reticence.
“It’s not just Lucazzone I’m talking about. It’s the elite club he belonged to,” he said slowly. “My father, Robert, was involved many years ago.”
“What club?” I eyed him carefully, sensing the sudden change in the air.
Jett sighed and ran a hand through his tousled dark hair. His gloomy expression reflected the countless emotions fighting to gain control inside. In the end his shoulders slumped like he’d made a decision he didn’t want to make, but his dark expression didn’t change.
“I’ll tell you everything I know, okay?” Jett said. “But I want you to just listen and listen carefully. Whatever I say today doesn’t leave this table. You cannot tell anyone.”
The sharp edge in his tone instantly raised my alertness. He grabbed my hand and gave it a hard squeeze until I nodded, silently giving him my word.
“A few years back, Alessandro Lucazzone was involved in my father’s business. It was for a brief time and he was never officially listed as a shareholder, so I couldn’t figure out why my father would let him make the decisions he made—decisions that cost us millions. I stumbled upon it when I checked our financial reports dating back to my time at college. A few weeks ago, Robert finally came clean and admitted something that could harm the company.”
Jett paused and his eyes narrowed, the angry line between his eyebrows saying more than a thousand words. His grip on my hand tightened, hurting me just a little, but I didn’t pull back. “They were both involved in this sort of elite club. You know, drugs and kinky sex practices, and lots of people to be paid off to keep quiet. My father and quite a few people—many of them rich and famous—were addicted to that stuff and paid whoever hosted the events millions. In my father’s case, he paid it out of the company’s accounts. When I joined the business the company was on the verge of liquidation, in which case we would have lost everything. I’ve pulled in enough business to keep us afloat for a while. But one wrong decision and it’s all over the media, and we’ll end up losing major deals and our good reputation. If anyone finds out, the company’s done. You were right about everything.”
“I don’t understand. Right about what?” I had a hard time following him and the sudden change in tone didn’t exactly help. His gaze settled on me, imploring me to understand. His hand squeezed mine again, silently asking me to relate, to feel his emotions, or maybe to believe him.
“Robert thought by buying the Lucazzone estate he could save the company. I first agreed it was a good idea because the land is valued at much more than we initially offered and tourists flood in every year. I thought, why not try to sell it as the next St. Tropez or Kitzbuhel?” He began to massage his temples.
“But you increased your offer. It was a huge gamble. You could have lost a lot of money,” I whispered, my head still spinning around the words ‘sex practices’ and ‘elite club.’ It sounded like a bad Hollywood movie.
“I was against paying more because, like you, I know when the risk’s too high but he wanted it and in the end it’s still his company. After meeting you, that wasn’t what worried me. I was afraid that once the people involved learned of your inheritance, they’d come after you to make sure you wouldn’t find out their secret and talk.”
His hands cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nodded, but not because I understood. He was nervous. I could feel tension wafting from him in strong waves. The glint in his eyes scared the hell out of me.
“You said ‘club,’” I began slowly. “Are we talking about a few kinky preferences like a bit of BDMS or—”
He shook his head gravely and let go of my face but didn’t break eye contact.
“All I know is that they’ve been fanatic about keeping their identities protected, which leads me to assume there was more to it than that.”
“Wow.” I bit my lip hard, barely feeling the pain. “Where did the meetings take place?”
A grimace crossed his face and a silent look passed between us. He didn’t have to tell me that it was the Lucazzone estate.
“According to my father, many powerful people were involved,” Jett said. “He made it clear that many of them would stop at nothing to keep their preferences hidden from the public.”
“But why would they think I’d know anything about them?”
“Because you’re the heiress. You’re expected to inherit Lucazzone’s secrets and no one knows the specifics. They’re probably scared. I know I’d be.” His expression remained earnest, but the sudden caginess in his voice didn’t escape me.
“You were never involved?” I tried to instill nonchalance into my voice, like his past didn’t matter. After all, we didn’t know each other back then, so it wasn’t really my concern. But it mattered. I didn’t want him to be some pervert.
Shooting me a dirty look, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The way his fingers began to tap on the table told me he was having a hard time keeping his annoyance under control.
I raised my chin a notch and regarded him stubbornly. “Were you—”