The Galilee Falls Trilogy (Book 3): Fall of Heroes (12 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Playing With Fire

“Better late than never, I suppose.”

The hostess at Komodo pulls out my chair across from the smirking playboy. I sit with an apologetic smile for my dinner companion. I’m only twenty minutes late, and I did text him to let him know I would be. Still rude of me. After the Jphone store, which took over a freaking hour, I became so immersed in tracking that bitch Diamanda I lost track of time. The trap and trace not only got me her phone number but the general location of where she took the call, near a cell tower in Greenwitch, a suburb of Galilee. I started culling through the property records of every warehouse or large building in that thirty mile radius. That’s over a hundred buildings. I only got through two thirds when I noticed the clock. After emailing my findings to Harry, I had about ten minutes to get dressed and beautified, which took double the allotted time. The only dress not wrinkled from its time in a trash bag is so low-cut a stripper would feel immodest wearing it. Bennett’s gaze glues itself to my overflowing rack the moment I step into view. Despite what I told Jem, I have no intention of letting this dinner veer into romantic territory. None.

“Sorry. It’s been a hell of a day,” I say.

“So I heard. You’re the talk of the business world. The story went national.”

“Oh, God,” I groan. “What are they saying?”

“That you had a nervous breakdown. That you were forced out. That you’re in rehab. That you quit to become a supervillain. I think a body switching machine was mentioned as well. Let them talk. It’ll be forgotten in the next news cycle.”

Our waitress comes over and leaves with my coffee order. “Forgive me if I pass out in my miso soup,” I say.

“Well, at least you look great. I could see why someone would want to switch bodies with you.”

“Please keep the flirting to a minimum, alright? I don’t have the energy to play with you tonight.”

“Well, I have no problem with you lying back as I do all the heavy lifting,” he says, cocking his left eyebrow. “I’m in a giving mood.”

I open the menu. “Good. Then you can pick up the check. I’m fucking starving.” The waitress hustles back with my coffee and leaves with our orders. Great service here. “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

“Just a bit of business. A pet project is finally getting off the ground. I’ll be popping in and out a lot in the next few months.”

“Does your project have to do with the proposition you mentioned on the phone?”

“Yes and no, but mostly no,” Bennett says.

“Cryptic. So give me the pitch, playboy. The suspense is killing me.”

He sips his martini. “Do you recall when you said you and I could be the poster children for super powered collateral damage?”

“That was a lifetime ago. No.”

“Well, I do. And unlike you, it stuck with me. It even sparked something inside me. An idea. A vision if you will.”

“Glad I could be of assistance.”

“You’re not off the hook yet, Fallon.
You
started it, you’re going to help me finish it.”

“What?”

“I want to start a global fund, maybe even an organization that provides aid to anyone affected by supers.” He leans forward. “I did some research. Only about a third of the major population centers have
any
charitable organizations that focus on super violence. Galilee and Independence are two of the lucky ones, and I use the word loosely. And once the baseline organization or foundation is established, in the future we can branch out into lobbying for changes in the laws and—”

“Providing information and counseling, not only to those affected by the violence but those with powers,” I cut in. “A lot of these people, when they discover they have an ability, the only resource available about how to behave is from mass media. They have no other examples of what to do save for the heroes and villains they see on TV.”

“Which leads to more heroes and villains popping up and more collateral damage,” adds Bennett.

“We can stop the problem before it even becomes a problem.”

“I never thought of that possibility,” he says, impressed. “I was thinking more along the lines of reconstruction and covering medical bills, but…I like it. It’s a holistic approach to the issue. Did you just come up with that?”

“Not exactly,” I say. “Jem had the idea awhile back. It was just talk though.”

“Well, if you have to steal, steal from a genius, huh?” Bennett’s cell phone rings, and he rolls his eyes. “Shit. Just when things were heating up. I am so, so sorry.” He rises. “I have to take this.”

“Go right ahead.”

With an apologetic smile, he hustles away for some privacy. I chuckle to myself. I have to say I’m surprised. I really thought the only business we’d be discussing would be who would pay the cab fare when we went back to his hotel. Not that I planned to go to his hotel room. I made a promise to myself no matter how charming he was tonight, the man wasn’t getting so much as a kiss. Until I get my head on completely straight, I’m gonna live like a nun. No more self-destruction for Joanna Fallon. Hell, if Bennett has his way I may be in the saving the world racket.

The waitress returns before Bennett with our edamame and miso. I don’t care if it’s rude I begin eating anyway. It’s actually not a bad idea this foundation or fund of his. The medical bills alone after a concussion or just removing glass from an explosion can be in the thousands, forget it the person needs surgery. After Cain, my hospital bill was almost $100,000 even before the plastic surgery for my face. Two years ago that would have bankrupted me. Most people don’t have a best friend who fakes his death then leaves you billions. Okay, I’m fairly sure I’m the only person ever that’s happened to. Well, it’s time to put my ill-gotten gains to better use.

Jem and I did discuss setting up something similar once or twice, we were just too fucking busy to go beyond talk. I’ve got nothing but time now. I find myself frowning. Another thing I wanted to build with him I have to do alone. Well, not alone.

Whoever called Bennett must have had complex news because my companion doesn’t return for over ten minutes. I’ve finished all our hor’derves when he finally hustles back. “Thought maybe you abandoned me here,” I say as he sits.

“Never.”

“Everything alright?”

“Wonderful. Better than the projections.”

“So what is this secret project?” I ask.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret,” he says with that butter wouldn’t melt smile of his. “No, you’d just find it incredibly dull. I’d much rather return to our original discussion. As I said, early stages I know, but I have built an international charity from the ground up before. I know the right people to hire, the right people to bribe to speed up the process both in our country and many others. I already have my accountants crunching numbers. Consequently, just for the infrastructure, advertisements, office space, bribes, endowments, just getting started we’re talking twenty-five mil, fifty if we set up counseling centers. Now I’m more than willing to split that cost. My issue is time. In that I have precious little to spare. This will be a full time plus endeavor. Lots of travel, lots of meetings, lots of press junkets. I do want us
both
to be the face of the charity, though. Any major events or interviews, I would want to be there as well.”

“So I’d do all the work and you’d get all the limelight.”

“Pretty much. But I do shine in the limelight. How I imagine it is I’m the fun-loving rapscallion who makes people feel good, whereas you are the strong, capable gal who makes them feel secure.”

“Good cop, bad cop. I always did rock bad cop.”

“So you’re in?” he asks with excitement.

My eyes narrow. “I…you want an answer tonight? Right now? Bennett, this is a massive commitment, not just financially. You’re asking me to become your partner, this minute, on an undertaking that will basically consume my every waking hour. I need more to go on. Time to think. Time to review this with my accountant, my lawyer. I—”

“Fallon, I’m not asking you to elope,” I raise an eyebrow, “metaphorically of course. Think of it as engaged to be engaged. I brought the projections, a list of potential staff, a preliminary proposal, basically a road map to guide you. All I’m asking right now is that you take a look at those files. If you envision yourself partnering with me, trusting me on this journey.” He leans forward. “Look, I know we’ve just met, I do, but for whatever reason I trust you. I feel…a kinship with you. I have never connected with someone so fast like this before. After one minute with you I just
knew
we were going to be friends. I did. We’re cut from the same cloth. We get each other. Am I wrong?”

“No,” I concede.

“See? And I also know there is no one on this earth that will put in more time, fight harder for the people we mean to help than you. You’ve been there. You know their pain. If in some way helping them helps you, more’s the better.”

“So this is pity? I’d prefer that you just wanted to bang me.”

“Well, there is that too.” And there goes the boyish grin. “But I swear, this offer comes not from my libido, not from pity, but from a place of respect. Let me prove it. Just take this first step, okay? Just say yes.”

It is an intriguing proposal. I could do a lot of good. It’d be my chance to build something from the ground up, shaping it to fit my vision. It’s definitely a prospect worth exploring. The only downside I see is the man sitting across from me. I don’t entirely trust his motives, or him for that matter. I could just be gun-shy when it comes to friends. We’d be partners, though it sounds like he’d be closer to the silent variety save for when there are cameras around. It really couldn’t hurt to just skim the proposal and documents.

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

“If you say so.”

“And
I’d
be the captain of this ship. If we plan on me doing all the work, I get a greater say in how its run, personnel, policy, allocation of resources. Your input matters, but I’d have final veto power.”

“Exactly how I imagined it as well. I’ll even concede top billing in whatever we decide to call it.”

“Okay.” I hold out my hand across the table. “Consider us engaged to be engaged.”

Bennett gives my hand a firm shake. “You won’t regret this, gorgeous.”

Yeah, like I don’t regret my last engagement. I’m still culling through the damage from that crash and burn. And here I go again, playing with fire. At least this time the only thing on the line is my time, money, and reputation. There isn’t a shred of heart or soul left to destroy.

*

“How about The Fallon/Stone Super Rescue Foundation?”

I crinkle my nose with distaste. “That sounds like we’re a superhero rescue team.”

Bennett laces his fingers behind his head and crosses his ankles on the bed. “Well, if you think about it, we kind of will be. Just minus the flying and laser beam eyes.”

No, I am not in bed with him. I sit at the desk across the giant studio apartment-like hotel room surrounded by papers, a cup of coffee, and notepad where I’ve been scribbling thoughts for two hours since I agreed to return to his hotel. I have to get my financial advisor and lawyer to review everything, but so far it all appears on the up and up. For once Bennett Stone isn’t trying to screw me, at least financially.

“I just think the word ‘super’ sounds ridiculous no matter what we put around it,” I say.

“Then perhaps The Fallon/Stone Aberration Rescue Foundation? Inhuman? Freak? Mutant?”

“I still vote for the Fallon/Stone Shit Happens Foundation.” I toss my pen down and rub my eyes. “Okay, maybe we take our egos out of the equation. One thing people can get behind besides a person is a symbol, right? A word, a concept. People hear it, see it, they know what we’re about. So what are we? Throw out some words.”

“Rescue,” Bennett says, “angels, crisis, heroes, idol, champion, defender, protector—”

“Guardian,” I add with a scoff.

Bennett’s arms fall to his sides, and he sits up in bed. “The Fallon/Stone Guardian Society. Our volunteers would be called Stone Guardians. Our emblem…a shield with angel wings engraved on.” He holds up a finger as he leaps from the bed. “No! Not just wings. Icarus. The god who flew too close to the sun. He flies on the shield.”

I have to admit it’s better than anything I’ve come up with in an hour. “Society not foundation?”

“Foundation sounds too stuffy and formal. Society implies it can go anywhere, is inclusive of all, that it can have many facets.”

I write it down on the pad and circle it. “Then we have a winner. Hallelujah. I can go home.” I glance at the clock. Jesus, it’s past one AM. Even with three cups of coffee I’m bone tired. Excited but tired. Because I’ve been playing it cool, but I am so absolutely doing this. Even if he pulls out every cent of his, I’m going forward. I just don’t want him to think I’m
too
easy. “Fuck, it’s late.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay the night. I even promise to keep my hands to myself.”

“I think I can make it home, thanks.” I rise from the desk. “Just gonna use your bathroom before I go. Can you gather everything for me to take? I’ll have my people review it tomorrow.”

“I live to serve you, Miss Fallon.”

With a smirk, I cross the room to the bathroom just as his cell phone begins buzzing on the nightstand again. The man’s been getting calls all night long. I turned mine off before I got to the restaurant. It’s just good manners, not that Bennett apparently ever learned that. He took two more calls at the restaurant then several more as I reviewed the files. He was gone half an hour at one point. It seems he might not have been lying about being too busy for our newly formed society. Good. This queen sure as hell doesn’t need a king meddling in her realm. She’s got this.

The coffee is just about out of my system when there’s a knock on the door. “Um, Joanna?”

“Occupied!”

“Joanna, uh, phone call for you,” he says, sounding almost confused.