The Devil's Thief by Samantha Kane Page B

grabbed her arm and jerked her to
a stop at the first door.
    “In
here,” he growled. He opened the door and Julianna was momentarily blinded by
the bright sunlight in the room. She was pushed in. “Only her,” the guard
barked, and Julianna swung around to see him shove Mr. Wiley out the door,
slamming it closed in his face.
    “Good
afternoon, miss,” a smooth voice said from inside the
room. Julianna slowly turned to see a large man sitting at a table beside a window
that faced the street. Julianna knew that if he’d been sitting there all along,
he must have witnessed her arrival.
    The
man’s hair was still deep black, but he looked older than her father and all
his youthful muscle had turned to fat. His eyes were a watery blue, and
Julianna was struck by his resemblance to the guard. She looked back and forth between
them, and the large man sitting before her chuckled. “My brother, Cam. I am
Blackman.”
    Julianna
gave a slight, very polite curtsy. “How do you do,” she said. “I am Julianna
Harte.”
    He
looked taken aback at the curtsy, but his gaze sharpened when she told him her
name. “Any relation to Philip Harte?”
    Julianna
blushed at her father’s name. She nodded. “Yes, he is my father.”
    He
chuckled again. “Well there you have it, Cam. The gentry cove’s daughter. That explains how she got what she claims she’s got. Your father take it?”
    Julianna
felt her brow furrow as she tried to follow the conversation. “My father? No.
No, he knows nothing about it. And he mustn’t find out.”
    “Hmm,”
was all Blackman said, as he tapped the table with his finger. “Let’s see what you have for me.”
    Julianna
opened her reticule and awkwardly removed the pearl from the pouch. She
unwrapped it, nearly dropping it in her nervousness. When it was unwrapped, she
set the whole bundle on the table, the pearl perched on top so that it wouldn’t
roll off.
    Barely
touching the pearl with the tip of his finger, Blackman rolled it this way and
that as he bent his head at a sharp angle to examine it. “How’d you get it?
From where?” His questions were sharp, although not unfriendly ; just rather businesslike.
    “I hardly
think that is your concern,” she told him, reluctant to reveal details after
her earlier experience in the curiosity shop.
    Blackman
laughed loudly. “Leave it to my imagination, eh?” he asked slyly. “I’ll be
wondering what you traded for it.”
    Julianna’s
face flamed, her cheeks burning in embarrassment and shame. Luckily Blackman
only took it for embarrassment. “Didn’t mean to offend, miss,” he said snidely,
before snatching the pearl up into his hand and closing his fist around it.
“One hundred pounds.”
    Julianna
gasped. “That’s outrageous! I happen to know it is worth at least five times
that much.” She held out her hand. “Give it back, please, and I shall find
another buyer.”
    Blackman
tilted his head and pursed his lips as he watched her. He sucked on his teeth thoughtfully
and then said, “Two hundred.”
    “Absolutely
not,” Julianna declared firmly. “Five hundred or I take my business elsewhere.”
    Blackman
spread his hands out in a gesture meant to convey the question, Where?
    Julianna’s
lips tightened. “I found you, didn’t I? I am not altogether ignorant of this
sort of business.”
    Blackman
leaned forward and tapped his finger on the table as he regarded her with
narrowed eyes. It had become a battle of wills. “Two hundred fifty.”
    “Five
hundred.”
    He
sighed and sat back with a frown. “The way negotiations work, miss, is that I
offer and you counteroffer. I raise my price and you lower yours until we reach
a mutually satisfying agreement.”
    “Five
hundred,” Julianna said stubbornly.
    “Girl,”
Blackman growled. He shook his head. “Three hundred.”
    “Fi—”
    He
cut her off. “Four hundred and not a penny more.”
    “Fi—”
    He
cut her off again. “Don’t misunderstand my meaning,” he