Chapter 15
Arne braced himself against the torrent of ambition and calculus bursting from Katharina’s aura. The sheer intensity of her emotions made it easy to identify the subcurrents, and what he felt pleased him greatly.
She held, at least for the moment, no ill will towards him. He had been more than a little worried after she saw through both of his attempts at unbalancing her, but she did not seem to hold a grudge. Instead, she was clearly trying to figure out how she could get the most of his proposal.
“Consider me… tentatively interested,” she said with an impish smile. “Do you have something specific in mind?”
He did, in fact, not. Turning the scheming young lady into a preliminary ally had been a spontaneous idea, born from the realization that they shared a ‘secret’ now. They both had a vested interest in keeping quiet about today’s events, and would prefer if the other did the same. Such a connection was, according to Arne’s mother, an optimal foundation for a fruitful partnership.
Obviously, fully trusting her was impossible. But if he could harness that frightening ambition of hers… ‘I’ll have to be very thorough with my diary-keeping.’
“Well, that mostly depends on your current goals,” Arne said, shamelessly relying on his higher status to force her into revealing at least part of her motivations.
Katharina did not take it particularly well, frustration welling up in her aura. It quickly took on a tinge of vengefulness, though – and Arne quickly found out why.
“Hmmm, before we get into that, might I hold you to your promise?” she cooed with fluttering eyelashes.
‘Damn it, I forgot about that…’