Warriors of Poseidon 05 - Atlantis Redeemed

am very lucky, this will be him now.”
    Brennan jerked the door open, and a man standing on the other side practically fell into the room. He’d clearly been eavesdropping. Tiernan managed to uncurl her lip into a polite smile before he recovered his balance, but he offered up in response only an officious sniff that Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
    Page 42 of 232
    matched his neatly pressed pin-striped suit. Unfortunately, his balding head flushed a hot red, giving away the mortification that his superior expression couldn’t hide. Human, then. Vamps didn’t have the blood pressure to do that.
    “Ms. Baum? Tracy Baum?” He made a point of looking anywhere but up at Brennan, who had a good foot of height advantage on him. “I’m Mr. Wesley, your liaison to Dr. Litton. He wanted me to be sure and catch up to you right away with your press pass and schedule and answer any questions you might have.”
    He shoved a dark blue folder at her. Tiernan took it from him and smiled her best ditzy reporter smile, ignoring Brennan’s sudden and unmistakable tension at her side. Always good to be nice to the mad scientist’s Igor, after all. Brennan was going to have to get used to her in her undercover role if he really intended to stick close.
    “Thank you so much, Mr. Wesley. Please call me Tracy. I’m so looking forward to this conference and everything I can learn for my article.” She put a hand on his arm and leaned in, as if sharing a confidence. “I’m sure you’ll be very helpful.”
    Behind her, Brennan made a sound low in his throat that almost sounded like . . . a growl ? She evaluated the odds she could stamp on Brennan’s foot without Wesley noticing, then decided to just introduce him instead. “This is—”
    “Brennan. Litton is expecting me,” Brennan interrupted smoothly. “When do we meet?”
    Wesley instantly turned flustered, all but fluttering his hands. “Oh, Mr. Brennan. Dr. Litton is so glad—so honored—uh.” He paused, biting his lip. “Thrilled. He’s thrilled, we’re all thrilled, that you’re here to consider further funding of our research. It’s really cutting edge. You see, we’re—”
    “Yes. I will see, won’t I?” Somehow, Brennan managed to edge his calm tone with a layer of menace. “I don’t just hand out ten-million-dollar grants on the basis of no evidence. So far, what I’ve seen from my first half million hasn’t impressed me.”
    Tiernan wanted to applaud his technique. He’d be fantastic undercover. Of course, the man actually spent most of his life undercover, come to think about it. It wasn’t like he went around announcing he was an Atlantean warrior. She was still waiting for High Prince Conlan’s go-ahead to break that story.
    Wesley wasn’t setting off any warning bells in her mind, though. The little he’d told them so far had been the truth. Or at least the truth as he believed it to be, but that was the one constant drawback to her abilities. Litton could have fed his assistant a bunch of crap. People were very, very good at lying to one another—and even to themselves.
    “Well, yes. We don’t really want to discuss this in the hallway, do we? I just came to give Ms.
    Baum her materials, and—” Suddenly the man seemed to make the connection he should have Atlantis Redeemed – Warriors of Poseidon 05
    Page 43 of 232
    wondered about in the first place, and he narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “In fact, I am surprised to find you here with a reporter, Mr. Brennan. We certainly . . .” Wesley’s voice trailed off and his face turned a peculiar shade of greenish white.
    Tiernan glanced at Brennan and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud at the fiercely intimidating glare he was directing at Wesley. The warrior had “arrogant billionaire”
    down cold.
    “Yes. Well.” Wesley adjusted his tie, surreptitiously loosening it as he broke into a light sweat.
    “Dr. Litton will be able to answer all of your questions. I’ll be sure to tell him you’re here.”
    “You do that,” Brennan said, putting an arm around Tiernan and closing the door in the man’s face.
    Tiernan shrugged away from Brennan’s arm, waited a few moments, then peeked through the peephole to make sure Wesley was gone. Then she turned to Brennan. “Really, did you need to terrify the poor man?”
    “I had a certain reputation to uphold. We have set up my identity as a very eccentric billionaire who is not only arrogant