Exclusive Access (5 page)

He
opened containers of steamed veggies, stir-fry smelling of peanut sauce, and a
white cake covered with raspberries and cream. Her stomach rumbled. Then he
reached into a large brown bag and removed plates, silverware, napkins, a
bottle of very expensive wine, a corkscrew, and two glasses. “To toast your
upcoming stories.”

“
So, I do have upcoming stories then?”

He
proceeded to open the wine. “Yes, you do.”

She
watched him, and then once he had the wine poured, she raised her glass in
imitation of his gesture.

“
To your stories, and to new possibilities.”

“
To both,” she said, clinking has glass gently against
his. The wine tasted incredible, and she said so.

“
I’m glad you like it. This food smells amazing, too.
Let’s have something to eat while we talk.”

“
First tell me why I’m here with you. You could have
told me about the stories over the phone or even in an email.”

Kane
sighed loudly, but she didn’t give a shit. Julianne needed to know what his
intentions were so she didn’t make a damn fool of herself. If that made him
uncomfortable, tough shit.

“
All right. I’ll tell you because you’re right. I could
have called or emailed you and told you what they said. You’re here because I
haven’t stopped thinking about you in five years.”

Whoa.
She hadn’t been expecting that.

“
You’re here because I was pissed off Monday when I
thought you were trying to pull the same shit, but I also couldn’t believe my
reaction to seeing you again. You’re here because I called your editor again
Tuesday morning, and asked her to send me links to all the stories you’ve done
for
UTU
.”

“
You did
what
?”

He
held up a hand. “Hold on. Let me finish. You’re here because I read all of
them, and then I re-read the letter you sent me and the retraction you made
The Whole Truth
print. Either you’ve
been putting on one hell of an act for four years, or you really have changed
your ways. I want to give you these stories because they’re good press for my
company, and also because they’ll be good for your career.”

He
sighed again and gazed into her eyes for long moments. Time stopped. She didn’t
move. She didn’t dare breathe. “Most of all, you’re here because I want to make
love to you. The right way this time. Not in a hurry, bent over a desk. I want
to wine and dine you. I want to seduce you, Julianne. This time, we’re doing it
right.”

Chapter
Five

Julianne
blinked a few times and swallowed hard against the sudden lump in her throat.
How in the hell was she supposed to eat now, after hearing that speech? “Thank
you for telling me. I want the same thing.”

The
words seemed inadequate, but they were all she had. She was stunned, and for
the first time in a long time, had been rendered incapable of firing off a
smartass comeback. Sure, she knew he’d dropped hints and flirted mildly, but to
hear him say it made it real. Now she had to do something about it.

He
smiled, his gorgeous face filled with relief. “Thank goodness. I was afraid for
a second or two I’d made a complete ass of myself.”

“
I’ve been worried about doing the same thing.” She
hadn’t realized how much until she said the words. “I haven’t stopped thinking
about you either.”

“
Honestly?”

“
Honestly. I’m not just feeding you a line. I have
changed, Kane, and I want these stories badly for the same reasons you do.”

They
gazed into each other’s eyes, and Julianne wasn’t sure what else she could say
right now. She was no stranger to seduction, but she’d never heard such an
honest, straightforward speech from a man, and she’d never expected one from
Kane Bannerman. She wasn’t easily thrown off guard, but damn if he hadn’t done
that to her now, and in a big way.

The
air was charged as if a storm were brewing, which of course was impossible. It
never even rained underground. The excitement in the room was palpable, and she
was torn between suggesting they not waste this food or wine, and ripping off
her clothes. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted any man.

“
Well,” he said, his voice uncertain, “now that we’ve
laid it all out there, it still would be a shame to waste this food and wine.”

That
broke the spell, and she chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing. Let’s eat.
The smell is making me crazy.”

The
food was incredible, and Julianne only ate so much because she was nervous, and
he had gone to the trouble of doing all this for her. Now she was glad she’d
worn her sexiest underwear. It was a cobalt blue satin teddy that matched her
eye color, and she’d never worn it before. It made her feel wanton and sexy,
and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction to it.

The
bottle of wine was nearly empty when they finished dessert, but she didn’t feel
drunk at all. Every nerve ending was on fire. Kane placed the leftover food in
the fridge and walked out onto the balcony again, holding his wine glass. She
followed, and they eyed the crowd. The game would start in about half an hour,
and the arena was nearly filled to capacity already. The noise was deafening,
but she felt isolated from it all.

Tonight,
she was royalty, poised above the peasants in a private loge with a prince.
They could watch the game, or they could ignore it and the throngs of peasants
below to instead fuck like monkeys in their private enclave. She sipped her
wine, her head swimming with decadent images and endless possibilities of what
might happen later.

“
Do you want to stand out here and watch the game once
it starts?”

She
gazed up at him, suddenly wondering how many other women he brought here
routinely. It didn’t matter because he’d given her no indication this was
nothing more than a one-night thing, but she would like to know where she
stood, regardless. “Is that what you normally do with the dates you bring
here?”

The
corners of his mouth turned up. “Julianne, if that’s a roundabout way of asking
me how many women I’m seeing, relax. I don’t do that, despite what the tabloids
say. I’m not seeing anyone right now, except you, of course. Unless you’d
rather this be a fling and we will never repeat tonight.”

Holy shit.
“Do you want it to be one time
only?”

“
I asked you first.”

How
had he nailed her, just like that? “I don’t want it to be a one-time thing.”

“
Good. Neither do
I
. Now, I’ll
ask again. Do you want to watch the game from here, or from inside?”

“
Let’s watch it from here for a while. This is kind of
fun. I’ve never looked down over a crowd from a private perch before.”

He
handed her his wine glass with a big smile on his face. “I was hoping you’d say
that. Be right back.”

When
he returned, he carried two folding canvas chairs. Once he set them up, they
placed their wine glasses in inserts he’d placed inside the cup holders
attached to the arms of the chairs, and looked out over the arena. They were
close to the center of the ice, so they had a fabulous view. “How long have you
owned the loge?”

“
Since the arena was built. I wanted the one two down
from this at dead center, but someone beat me to it.”

She
laughed softly. “You mean there’s someone richer than you?”

“
Yes. My father.”

“
He owns a loge, too?” That answered the question of
whether he still had family alive.

“
Two of them. The one I wanted, and the one between
that one and mine.”

She
peered left toward center ice. “Is he over there now?”

Kane
shrugged. “No clue. We don’t talk much.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t be. We get along fine, but he hasn’t much to say
to anyone unless it’s a business conversation. He and my grandfather still own
shares in the company, and we all get together for holidays, but we don’t have
a great deal of day-to-day chitchat.”

Julianne
couldn’t imagine not speaking to her family every day. She had to silence her
phone at night or her sisters called and texted her at all hours. They thought
nothing of it, and assumed everyone could easily go back to sleep like they
could.

“
What about you?” he asked. “Do you have family here
with you?”

“
All of them. Two brothers, two sisters, my parents,
and my maternal grandparents. My dad’s parents had already passed away before
we all moved underground. I also have assorted aunts, uncles, and cousins
living close by.”

“
That’s wonderful.”

“
It’s crowded.”

He
chuckled. “But I’ll bet you’re never lonely.”

She
averted her gaze as the crowd shouted. The players were being introduced.
“Never lonely for someone to talk to, that’s for sure.”

“
I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

She
rolled her eyes. He was either very intuitive or she was more transparent than
she thought. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date or had sex.” No point
in being coy now.

“
Thank you for the candor.”

Julianne
glanced at him. “I don’t believe in head games anymore. I told you I’ve
changed.”

“
Fair enough. So tell me how you found out about the
teams to begin with. You said you have a source.”

Fuck.
“She told me something in passing,
and I asked her to dig deeper. Be reasonable, Kane. It’s a juicy piece of
gossip.”

“
I don’t disagree with that, but we’ve been over why it
can’t become public knowledge. You may never agree with me on that point, but
surely you can see my point of view.”

She
sighed. “I can see it.”

“
What were you eventually told by your source?”

“
That you each had a covert team tracking down IP
addresses and even machine IDs.”

“
Who told you? That’s inside information, Julianne.”

His
voice had turned hard, but she ignored that for now. “Is that a confirmation?”

“
I think you’ve already figured out we have them.”

She
had trouble staying in her seat, and wished her damn recorder wasn’t back
inside. He knew it was, and he knew if she went to retrieve it he wouldn’t say
another word.
Well played, Kane.
“All
right. So tell me if the other Weathermen are going to let you give me what I
want to write the story.”

“
They have two conditions. One, you name the source. We
can’t have leaks, Julianne. Surely you can understand why.”

“
I do understand. It’s a security issue. What’s the
other condition?”

“
That you give it a different slant.”

The
noise inside the arena was so loud now she could barely hear him, and as much
fun as it was to sit out here, she didn’t want to stop his momentum right now.
She stood. “I can barely hear you. Can we go back inside to finish this
conversation?”

“
Sure.”

Once
they brought their wine glasses and chairs inside, and were seated on the sofa
again, he closed the shade and put the TV on, but turned the sound down so they
could hear each other.

“
What do you mean by the condition that I give the
story a different slant?”

“
They want you to write about cyber security in
general, and how most companies can track what we’re doing, and how they do
it.”

She
frowned. “Isn’t that the same thing as letting the hackers know you’re on to
them?”

“
No, because you won’t be writing that we all have
secret teams, and you won’t be using language that would give away our secrets.
It’s information that anyone could find with a bit of knowledge about the
industry.”

Disappointed
didn’t even begin to cover how she felt. “Others before me have written a
hundred articles just like that.”

The
gleam in his eye angered her. Was he mocking her? “They have, but not with
direct quotes from each of us.”

“
Kane, forgive me. I know you all are billionaires and
legends in your fields, but this is nothing more than a fluff piece. Patti
might not even let it go to print. It’s too generic and vague. Or was that your
plan all along? Throw me a bone in the hopes my editor will kill it stone cold
dead?”

“
Ouch. You know how to wound a guy.”

“
Come on. Seriously. You’ve given enough interviews to
know I’m right.”

He
ran his hands through his hair. “I told you not to expect too much from this.
Those are the conditions for the story you wanted to do. Take them or leave
them. You can still do the backup piece I suggested, and I will do the
interview you want for the story on the curriculum at
NorthEast
University. That’s two stories you still have, and I’m betting your editor
won’t toss out either one. Think of it this way. You have exclusive access not
only to me, but to all the Weathermen.”

She
sank back against the cushions and turned the sound up on the TV. “I’ll think
about it.”

They
didn’t speak for twenty minutes, but Julianne was more than aware of his body
next to hers on the sofa. She could still smell his cologne, and every time the
Demons scored a goal or got close, his excitement was contagious. Finally, she
had to ask him about the reason for a penalty, and he answered her without any
hesitation, as if they hadn’t been sitting in silence for so long.

He
obviously wasn’t fazed by her curt answer that she’d think about it. Did he
know how disappointed she was? Did he even care? Julianne pretended to watch
the game, but her mind played over everything he’d said on Monday and earlier
tonight. Patti had taught her to put herself in the place of the subject when
she was having trouble understanding resistance or outright refusal of a story.
In this case, the subject of the article wasn’t Kane or the other Weathermen.
It was the hackers.

If
she had been one of the people, or the single person, who had sent The Madeline
Project on a course of destruction, she’d do everything possible not to be
found. If an article were printed online that detailed how the men whom
everyone knew by now were searching for the hackers had found a way to track
their IP address or even their machine ID, they’d go deeper into hiding. Just
like Kane had said on Monday they would do.

He
was right, of course. She couldn’t print anything about the covert teams. And
what was she going to do about Isabelle? She hadn’t spoken to her since Monday,
and still recalled the unsettling conversation that day during lunch. She
didn’t want to get anyone fired, but what if Isabelle’s resentment went deeper
than Kane turning her down?

She
hadn’t been able to find anything on Rob Marin, and she had done some serious
searching. Would Kane tell her? No. Not likely. Would he tell her whether
Isabelle had pursued him? If she asked, he’d be suspicious why. Julianne had
never named a source. It was a time-honored code. If she refused to name
Isabelle, would she still get the other two stories?

Julianne
shifted her weight so she could see his face. “If I give up on the story about
the covert teams, do I have to name my source to write the other two?”