Donovans 02 - Jade Island

brothers didn’t have a good eye for jade.”
    “Why would Lianne rob Wen?”
    Archer gave his brother a look of disbelief. “The usual reason. Greed.”
    “Not her style.” Kyle’s voice was certain. His mind and his gut were in complete agreement on this one.
    “Greed doesn’t have a style,” Archer retorted. “But if you don’t like that motive, there’s always revenge.”
    “They haven’t done anything to Lianne except give her a lot of clients and an entree into the closed corridors of the jade world.”
    “Bullshit. Think with your brain instead of your dick. How do you suppose Faith would react if she knew she was as much a Donovan as any of us, and everyone from Dad on down treated her like a bad smell? But, hey, the girl is useful. Real talent. So the Donovans just use Faith like any other employee, except—”
    “Lianne—” Kyle interrupted.
    “Shut up and listen. Except we always knew she was desperately hungry to belong to the family, and we used that, too, dangling little rewards like candy in front of a starving kid. Someone with Faith’s guts and temperament and hunger would keep trying and trying and trying to prove that she was worth being loved…until she grew up and realized that she was being as thoroughly screwed as her unmarried mama, and the pay wasn’t nearly as good.”
    Kyle’s fists and shoulders bunched with tension. He wanted to argue with Archer. His gut kept saying Lianne was innocent.
    But his mind understood the need for revenge all too well. Lianne was both intelligent and proud. A dangerous combination in some circumstances.
    “I won’t argue the point,” he said evenly to his brother. “I won’t agree all the way, either. I can’t.”
    Archer let out a long breath and a hissing curse at thesame time. “What’s the problem—your mind or your dick?”
    “My gut.”
    “Hell.” Archer crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “You have a better idea how to explain the missing jades? And they are missing.”
    “Soddi,” Kyle said succinctly.
    A sardonic smile deepened the already bleak lines of Archer’s face. “Soddi, huh?”
    “Yeah. Some other dude did it.”
    “That only works for defense lawyers.”
    “It works for me until something better comes along.”
    “Parts of Japan are real pretty at this time of year,” Archer said. “The Mikimoto showings are among the most spectacular gem displays on earth. Rooms of pearls, all sizes, all shapes, gleaming like heaven come to earth. And those South Seas black pearls have to be seen to be believed.”
    “Enjoy your trip.”
    “You enjoy it. I’m staying home.”
    “Send Faith. Separate her from Joy Boy upstairs.”
    “I’m considering it,” Archer said. “The two of you would have a great—”
    “No.”
    A year ago, Archer would have argued. A year ago, he would have won.
    It wasn’t a year ago.
    “I’ll do it your way,” Archer decided. “For now.”
    “And then?”
    “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Chapter 13
    K yle was still thinking about Archer’s words the next day when he and Lianne set off aboard his boat for Farmer Island.
    Whatever it takes.
    It wasn’t a threat. It wasn’t a promise. It was simply Archer stating a fact. A year ago, Kyle would have been nervous about the whatever. Today, he was simply wondering if he would have been closer to the truth about the Jade Emperor if he had screwed Lianne senseless last night.
    It had been a near thing. The screwing, if not the truth. What had started as a casual, polite good-night kiss had burned like a fuse on the way to nuclear meltdown. He had barely stopped himself from ripping off her clothes and taking her in the open elevator with her taxi waiting twenty feet away. When he finally forced himself to let go of Lianne, she was trembling. It wasn’t from fear. She was as hungry as he was.
    What happened?
    Kyle hadn’t had an answer to Lianne’s question. The realization of how fast and deep she had gotten under his skin was like a bucket of ice water thrown in his face. He shouldn’t want any woman that much. He sure as hell shouldn’t want that woman when he knew Uncle was drawing up an arrest warrant for her.
    On the other hand, maybe a few sweaty hours betweenthe sheets would loosen her sexy, hungry tongue. He hadn’t had much luck prying anything useful out of her with questions and answers since she had met him at the little dock that was just below his cabin. When he brought up the