"Mr. Mercer, I was waiting for you."


    James paused, then gestured for his two bodyguards to leave him. He crossed his arms.


    "Waiting for me?"


    Patti dangled a sh drive in front of his eyes.


    "I just made an excuse to get Hawthorne to leave first. I was originally nning to go shopping with the girls, but since you''re still here, this is the perfect chance to give you this without us having to meet upter."


    James took the sh drive from her hand.


    "What''s on it?"


    Patti''s lips curled into a slight smile.


    "I heard from Hawthorne that he''s working on a huge project, worth billions. I thought you might be interested. This drive contains his detailed project n."


    Naturally, James wasn''t going to trust her so easily.


    "Why would he show you something this confidential?"


    He couldn''t believe Hawthorne would trust Patti to that extent. A multi-billion-dor project... he had slept with this woman, grown tired of her, and if it weren''t for the fact she still had some use, he wouldn''t even spare her a nce. As for the child in her belly, if he could get his hands on Hawthorne''s entire fortune, he would, of course, wee the child into the family someday. Otherwise... well. James was a thorough businessman; he only treated people seriously if they were useful to him. A woman of her ss, thinking she could carry his child? He scoffed at the thought. "Hawthorne trusts me. That''s why he made me a supervisor at thepany. And my education abroad wasn''t for nothing; I''ve helped him out in the tech department quite a bit. The head of this project is an old colleague of my father''s, so Hawthorne probably showed it to me hoping I could use that connection to help him secure the deal. He''s already set up a dinner meeting with my father''s former colleague for tomorrow night and left the documents with me. I just copied them when he wasn''t looking. If you believe me, take it. If not, I''ll just take it back and deal with it myself."


    Patti made a show of putting the drive back into her purse, but James snatched it away with a quick movement. "Patti, I was just joking with you. Don''t take it so seriously."


    A faint, cold smile touched Patti''s lips. “It''s Patti. Have you been with so many girlfriends you''ve gotten our names mixed up, Mr. Wang?"


    James chuckled dryly. "Patti, don''t worry. Once this project is secured, I''ll make sure you get credit for it."


    Patti immediately started


    negotiating. "I don''t need the credit. You promised to get my father out of prison. With his reputation in this country, he could bring you far more resources if he came back."


    "Yes, yes, of course I know that. I''ll arrange it right away. I''ll have mywyers go


    abroad immediately to get my... father-inw... out."


    James was all smooth talk. After


    pocketing the drive, his eyes lingered on Patti. Her figure had be fuller since her pregnancy, especially her chest, which was now high and firm. The sight made him itch with desire, "When you free We


    should go on a date. Iftake you to


    the most luxurious hotel."


    Patti, of course, didn''t refuse. Her eyes held a hint of seductive charm. "Alright. Mr. Wang, you set the time and ce."


    Just as she finished speaking, the car Hawthorne had called for her arrived. A BMW pulled up smoothly in front of her. James recognized the license te as Hawthorne''s and quickly ducked out of sight. When Patti


    turned to look for him again, he was already gone.


    Hmph. Old fox, runs fast.


    The car window rolled down, revealing an unfamiliar face. “Miss Yale, Mr. Everhart sent me to pick you up."


    Patti had no reason to doubt him and got into the car.


    As the car started moving, Patti looked at the man in the driver''s seat. "Are you Mr. Everhart''s assistant or his driver? I haven''t seen you before."


    "I''m a driver, one of Mr. Everhart''s specialists. I go wherever he needs me to go."


    Patti nodded. It seemed reasonable enough. But after nearly half an hour, she realized something was wrong. “This isn''t the way to my house. Did you take a wrong turn?"


    The driver ignored her question, speaking in a t tone. “You''re right, it isn''t. Miss Yale, Mr. Langford would like to see you. Pleasee with me.”