White Lies (The Arcane Society #2)(17)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

For the first time he seemed amused. “Starting to worry about your inheritance, after all? I thought you told me you weren’t interested in my money.”

“Now who’s being sarcastic?”

He made an obvious bid for patience. “Yes, Clare, I’m aware that setting up a well-endowed foundation will cut into the inheritance I plan to leave for my heirs. Don’t worry about it. There will be plenty left over for them and for any children they might have. Matt will take the company into the future and make even more money for the next several generations. Trust me, I can afford to fire up a foundation.”

“Have you discussed this with Myra?”

“No. I talked it over with Owen but I asked him to keep quiet about it until I had a chance to discuss it with you.”

“Why the secrecy?” Clare asked, opening her parasenses cautiously.

“Because I wanted to get you on board first.”

The pulse of truth reverberated in the words.

“You’re not planning to set up this foundation of yours just so you can give me a job, are you?” she asked.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

Not an outright lie, she decided. But Archer was not telling the whole truth, either.

“Since when?” she asked.

His mouth twitched a little. “You’re the skeptical type, aren’t you?”

“I have trust issues.”

“The idea came to me a few months back.”

“Right after you found out that I got fired from my job at the Draper Trust and it became obvious I was having trouble finding a new position?”

Archer moved one hand negligently. “I’m not saying that there was no connection. I’m telling you that it all came together in my head a few months ago.”

“Far be it from me to discourage you from giving away some of your money but I honestly don’t think it would be a good idea to put me at the head of your new foundation.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Well, for starters, you’d want to be in charge,” she said. “My ultimate goal has always been to be my own boss.”

“I’d give you your head. It’s not like you haven’t had plenty of experience in the field. You’ll know what you’re doing.”

“Let’s not kid each other, Archer. We both know that you’ve dedicated your life to building your empire. You’ll certainly want the final word when it comes to deciding who gets your money and what they spend it on.”

He snorted. “Well, it would be my foundation, after all. I ought to have some say in where the money goes.”

She picked up her tea. “I agree.”

“Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be in charge.”

“Yes,” she said. “It means exactly that.”

Annoyance hardened Archer’s sun-weathered face. “Doesn’t look to me like you’re going to get a better offer anywhere else.”

Clare’s stomach knotted. “Please don’t tell me you’re the one who’s been calling every potential employer I’ve contacted in the past six months and warning them not to hire me.”

“Hell, no.” Archer slammed his hand flat on the table. “You really think I’d do something low-down and nasty like that just to get my way?”

“If it was sufficiently important to you, yes.”

For a few seconds she thought he was going to explode. Then he heaved a heavy sigh. “Your mother told you a little about me, huh?” he said.

“She said you could be ruthless. At least you were in the old days.”

“You don’t build the kind of company Owen and I built unless you’re willing to play hardball.”

“I don’t doubt that for a minute.”

“I did what I had to do,” Archer said. “But I had my own rules and I stuck by them. As God is my witness, I never took advantage of anyone who was weaker than me or anyone who didn’t know how to play the game.”

He was telling the truth, Clare decided.

“That sounds fair enough to me,” she said quietly. “But you have to admit those rules do leave some wiggle room.”

“Won’t argue with that. But I didn’t use that wiggle room to call up people in San Francisco to tell them not to hire you.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

He looked at her. “Be reasonable, Clare. It doesn’t look like you’re going to get a better offer anywhere else.”

“I know. That’s why I’m thinking about setting up my own business.”

“Why did you get into the charitable foundation field?”

“It wasn’t my first choice, but I have to admit that it turned out to be a reasonably satisfying alternative.” She paused. “At least until recently.”

“What was your first choice?”

She hesitated and then decided there was no harm in telling him the truth. “For the past several years, I’ve dreamed of going to work for Jones & Jones.”

Archer was clearly taken aback. “Your goal was to become a psychic investigator for J&J?”

“I thought it would be exciting and a perfect way to use my talents. I’ve sent in applications to the West Coast office every six months for the past few years.”

“No luck, I take it.”

“The dumbass who heads up the regional office, Fallon Jones, always rejects my applications.”

Archer blinked. “Dumbass?”

“I assume that is an appropriate description because he is obviously too dumb to realize how much I could contribute to J&J.”

“I see.”

“Every time I apply, I get a letter informing me that there is no position available. Doesn’t take a human lie detector to know that’s a bunch of bull. Fallon Jones has decided my sensitive nature is too delicate for the work.”

“How do you use your talent in the philanthropy field?”

“Lots of frauds and scammers out there who will go to any lengths to get their hands on a foundation’s money. It just so happens that I am uniquely qualified to detect frauds and scammers. Until six months ago that’s what I did for my employers.”

Archer turned thoughtful. “Must have been tough all these years, living with that lie detector talent of yours, though.”

“Mom and Aunt May saw to it that I got some help from a really insightful parapsychologist. Dr. Oxlade helped me figure out how to control my sensitivities.”