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a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Manning. Without him, Finn never would have met the brilliant, bold
young woman who had ensnared him with a grin and a silly paper frog.
Near the end of his keynote address, Dr. Manning shared some slides on the screen behind him
of recent patients, including a baby born with her heart outside her body and a baby with a broken
heart a colleague had mended in utero. Older photos were also included and Dr. Manning began to
call out the names of teenagers and adults in the audience. Hadley was among of the last of them. She
rose with a shy smile and waited for Dr. Manning to make his point that every life they manage to
save was a life filled with potential.
When she sat down, Hadley smiled at him and then at her father who kissed her temple. There
was no mistaking the depth of love between father and daughter. It occurred to Finn that there were
two men sitting at that table who would die for Hadley. He had already proven that he was more than
willing to run through a hail of gunfire for her. Eddie Rivera wouldn't hesitate either.
A new speaker took the stage, and Hadley leaned over to rest her head against Eddie's shoulder
for a bit. She might be a grown woman, but she was always going to be daddy's little girl. Finn began
to understand that Hadley's father would be the biggest roadblock in the relationship he wanted with
her. She had stood up for him tonight, but it was clear that she cared very much for Eddie's opinion. If
he couldn't win over the old man, he had no chance of winning her love either.
During a lull in dinner, while the waiters cleared away the tables and brought dessert, Finn
excused himself and headed for the men's room. On his way back to the table, he heard a man call his
name.
"Finn Connolly."
Slowing his speed, he pivoted toward the origin of the voice and found a man standing near a
potted plant and a marble column. His face wasn't familiar. He looked Hispanic but didn't speak with
an accent. "I'm sorry. I don't know your name."
"It's not important." The man moved closer but was careful to stay hidden from view. "My
employer is interested in speaking with you about an open position in our organization."
The penny dropped. Stepping so close that he could see the flecks of green in the man's whisky
colored eyes, Finn hissed, "You can scamper on back to Mexico and tell your boss that Finn Connolly
isn't for sale."
The man didn't bat an eyelash. "I won't actually. In fact, I'm going to forget you said that. I'll
give you a few days to reconsider, Mr. Connolly. After that, my visits won't be as pleasant as this
one."
Finn watched the anonymous man stride away and swallowed the anger clogging his throat. Last
night, he'd had the Russian mafia up his ass. Tonight, he had a Mexican cartel showing up on his date.
He didn't even want to think about what kind of bullshit he'd have to deal with tomorrow.
Pissed off and conflicted about what to do, Finn returned to the table. He slid into his seat and
smiled at Hadley who shot him a curious look. Could she read him that easily? He ignored her
questioning gaze and focused on his dessert. Hadley was pulled into a conversation with Pips, and he
finally read through the glossy program that he had been handed earlier that night.
On the last page, he found the list of donors. It didn't surprise him that Hadley's family was at
the very top of the list. The key at the bottom of the page gave a range of donation amounts to earn
bronze, silver, gold or platinum status. The minimum amount for the platinum table where he now sat
was three times what he earned in a year.
Hadley plucked the program from his hand and dropped it onto the table. "Would you like to
dance?"
Had she seen him staring at the donor amounts? Was she worried about their conversation in the
truck? Not wanting to ruin her night, he grasped her hand and tugged her onto the dance floor. She
giggled excitedly and followed him in the sea of bodies twirling around them. He gathered her close
and dipped his head to breathe in the alluring scent of her.
Dancing on a prosthesis had been one of the hardest skills for him to master. He still wasn't as
smooth or comfortable on the dance floor as he had been in the past, but Hadley didn't seem to mind
one bit. The slow two-step was easy enough. She grinned up at him and slid her hand from his
shoulder to the back of his neck, gently stroking him as the danced.
For a moment, he allowed himself to get lost in her beautiful face. He let himself forget about
Nikolai Kalasnikov, the Ghost and the Guzman cartel. He didn t worry about the simmering tension
between his father and Jack. He only cared about Hadley and this perfect moment with her.
Closing his eyes, he pulled her in even closer and silently thanked God that she had been saved
by Dr. Manning. There was something about this girl, something so special, that he was certain they
were supposed to cross paths. He'd gladly brave another assassin for the chance to dance with her
one more time.
But when he opened his eyes, he found himself looking right at Eddie Rivera's glowering mug.
The older man didn't like him one bit. Of all the enemies Finn had at the moment, Hadley's father
might be his worst.
* * *
As we entered my penthouse later that night, I couldn t figure out where the night had gone
wrong. Something had happened when Finn had left the table during dessert. He had returned with a
scowl on his face. Then I'd caught him looking at the donor page in the program. It was so terribly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]