“He used that against you.” Travis’s eyes slide past me as he stares off into space. “He does that sometimes.”

“Most men do.”

Travis smiles—it’s the smile of a fox. “You’re a smart woman, Bell. I can see that. You see Lander for what he is. A charmer, a deceiver . . . a typical man. So if you’re going to be with a man, why not be with him for a while? And why not give back a little of what he’s given?”

“You’re talking about revenge,” I say calmly. “But he hasn’t hurt me . . . not unless you fire me for this.”

“It’s not revenge, it’s survival,” Travis reasons. “Survival is finding ways to use the people who would use you.”

“Ah.” I smile to myself. I’m fairly sure that Travis thinks everyone on this earth is trying to use him, in which case we’re all fair game.

“Enjoy him, Bell. Use him. It’s what he planned to do to you, so there’s nothing to feel guilty about. You don’t have to give anything up and you can gain so much.”

“What can I gain?”

Travis smiles, shrugs. “That depends on what secrets you can pry from him.” He reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. His touch makes my skin crawl.

“It’s just a little game of espionage,” he continues. “We could have fun with it.”

“A game of espionage,” I repeat. “Or, if we employ your philosophy, this would be a bit like the game of survival.”

“Sometimes they’re the same thing.”

I nod calmly as I feel the spark of excitement. Thanks to Travis’s bizarre and rather extreme litmus test, I have already proved my loyalty to him. Now I can prove my usefulness.

It’s funny, though, his thinking that I would seek revenge for something so petty as a simple deception. I would never do that. I have a much higher bar.

My phone beeps and I pull it out of my bag to find a text from Lander.

“He knows I’m here,” I say out loud to Travis, the surprise in my voice genuine. “He wants me to meet him on the fifth floor, room 552.”

“It’s a conference room. It should be empty about now.” Travis stands up, offers me his hand to help pull me to my feet. “Meet him. See what he wants and call me afterward.” Again he smiles . . . Such a wide grin doesn’t fit well on his face. It’s false, and a little grotesque. “Like I said, we’re going to have fun with this, Bell.”

“Yes,” I say, grinning back, matching him tooth for tooth. “I actually think we will have a lot of fun.”

chapter nineteen