A Deceptive Attraction: The Wilsons, Book 3 by Alicia Roberts Page B

coldly. “I know how to make a scene. You won’t like it.”
    “You wouldn’t do that,” Leon said. “The police would be called. Your family would not approve.”
    Violet twisted her wrist out of his grasp and backed away from him. Her enormous blue eyes smoldered with anger. “What do you care about my family? If you had your way, you’d have us all sent to prison, our entire fortune scattered to the four winds, the laughingstock of the press. Don’t you try to pretend you give a crap about my family!”
    Leon stood in the center of the room, breathing hard. He felt helpless. Of course she was right. He had done his job – reluctantly, but he had done it.
    “All right,” he said wearily. “May I at least help you with your bags?”
    “No . I’ve already called for a bellhop.”
    Leon’s mood sunk even further, if that were possible. Under normal circumstances, Violet’s manners were perfect, but just now she had simply told him no. Not “no thank you.” Just no.
    “Won’t you need help when you get to your apartment?” he asked.
    “I can handle things fine at my place. I have a doorman.”
    There was a knock at the private entrance to Violet’s room. “Bellhop,” a voice said.
    “Violet, I can’t understand why you won’t let me help you,” Leon pleaded.
    “No way am I showing you where I live.” She shot him an icy look and opened the door for the bellman.
    Then she was gone.
    ***
    Violet stepped out of her cab and arranged for the doorman to have her two big suitcases brought up to her apartment. It was the second time this week that she had to lug those suitcases around after unpleasant conversations with men, and it was getting old.
    Outside it was still the morning rush hour, but inside the building it was quiet. She let herself into her apartment and emptied out the suitcases on her bed.
    Her heart was pounding as she hung up the black velvet dress. Hugh was definitely doing insider trading. The only question was whether Leon was in on it and had tried to involve her in the fraud.
    The reception the night before had taken an unpleasant turn, but Violet forced herself to recall all of the details anyway. Hugh had doggedly tried to get rid of Leon before giving her the tip about selling Amixa stock before it crashed. Maybe Leon didn’t know what his partner was doing.
    On the other hand, maybe it was a setup. Maybe Leon’s job had been to look clean and win her confidence so she would let her guard down. Then it was Hugh’s job to slink in and do the dirty work.
    If that was the case, then they were both well suited for their roles, Violet thought. She spied the pot of Daphne eyeshadow still sitting on her vanity and almost burst into tears.
    She needed to talk to someone. Amelia was out of the question. She was well known on Wall Street, and Zetta Holdings, the brokerage she had set up with Max, had earned top-ten ratings and ruffled the feathers of its competitors. Violet would do nothing to jeopardize Amelia’s reputation. She didn’t want her sister to get anywhere near this.
    In fact, the minute she told anyone with the slightest connection to the market, she herself would be an accomplice.
    She had to call Max. He had kept the Zetta Corporation out of the stock market, instead keeping the family business’s investments in the private equities market, where the real money was. He was a silent partner in Zetta Holdings, letting Amelia manage the day to day operations of the brokerage.
    Max would know what to do, and he knew how to keep his mouth shut.
    Violet punched up her brother’s private cell phone number on her speed dial, smiling briefly. The Wilson siblings had played Batman when they were growing up. Max, who had always insisted on hogging the lead role for himself, called this cell line the Bat Phone. It was for family members only, and he would always answer it or return voice mails within five minutes, no matter where he was or whom he was with.
    Max answered