My heart slams to a stop and my eyes sting as I struggle to keep them focused. “I don’t believe so, sir.”

“Are you sure? I’m usually right about these things.”

I shake my head and smile apologetically. “I’m quite sure we haven’t. I would remember.”

He laughs. “Oh, don’t be so sure. Without the suit I look like your run-of-the-mill senior citizen. You know what they say: clothes make the man. In any case, it was good meeting you.”

He turns and walks to the door, leaving Travis behind without another word.

I glance at Travis, who seems lost in thought as he studies the door his father just exited through. His silence gives me the time I need to collect myself. So far his father hasn’t placed me. He may never place me . . . or if he does, hopefully it will be too late for him to do anything about it. I clasp my hands behind my back to keep them from shaking. Focus and calm, that’s all that’s called for. I take a quiet breath and will my heart to resume a regular pace.

“Your father’s quite a . . . presence.”

“He is that.” Travis leans back on his heels and stares at the door. “HGVB is . . . I suppose it’s as close to a family business as an international bank can get. All the Gable men work here. Me, my father, and, of course, my brother.”

And there’s the opening I’ve been waiting for.

“Oh yes!” I say enthusiastically. “I know! I assume Lander has talked to you about us by now. It’s a small world, isn’t it?”

Travis’s eyes snap back to me. “Excuse me?”

“Lander . . . He’s . . . he has talked to you, right?” I ask, now feigning uncertainty.

“How do you know Lander?” Travis’s eyes are narrowing, his jaw growing more rigid.

“Oh no,” I whisper, putting my fingers gently to my lips. “I just assumed . . . But I promised . . . Oh, I really screwed up!”

“What are you talking about?”

“He specifically asked me not to say anything, I thought he just wanted to be the one to tell you! Like he was going to make some kind of joke out of it and he didn’t want me to spoil the punch line . . . But I was so sure he would tell you by now . . .”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

His words cutting the air, Travis seems startled by his own outburst. I, on the other hand, can take it in stride. But perhaps that’s because this is the reaction I was actually trying to provoke.