"You're what?" Britney asked him once again, the concept finally beginning to sink in.

"I'm not, um, we're not as rich as you think," Ron stammered in reply. "I, um, I've been getting some extra money from the company. Well, not getting, actually. Um, taking the money, actually. From the accounts. And putting it into ours."

"You're a thief???" she fairly yelled.

"Actually, the proper term is embezzling. I'm an embezzler."

Britney sank back into the leather sofa in shock, her eyes surveying but not taking in the rich fabrics, expensive electronics and valuable art decorating their home. She could've married a doctor or a lawyer and lived the same sort of life, she reflected. A fact that her mother still hadn't quite stopped reminding her of. But she'd fallen for Mr. Justin Trask, with his soft, soulful looks and his needy manner. And while a doctor or lawyer could've provided all this luxury to her, they probably wouldn't have relied upon her as much as Justin did. So she'd put aside her mother's advice and married the accountant. And all had been well until this.

"So you've been embezzling and you got caught. Now what happens?"

She listened carefully as he repeated the auditor's exact words. Clearly the company's auditor wanted a cut of the action. But how much? She puzzled over it as he told her the rest. The man would be coming to dinner in just two hours to discuss things. There was much to do and talk about before her arrived.

Justin was so nervous he could barely eat. Telling Britney about the embezzling had been the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. Harder even than asking her out that first time in the bar, after his friends had fortified him with some liquid bravery. Even now he still had a niggling of doubt that they'd sent him over there as a joke. But here he was, married to her, and some of them were still pathetically single. At least, he was married to her for now. Despite her reassurances to the contrary, he could see that she was worried about their financial security. Especially now that another person was involved. In fact, she'd taken the news so well that he'd come clean on another secret: they were very nearly broke. Their purchases of the house in Vail, the vacation time shares, the partial ownership of the yacht, and even much of her jewelry were financed by the bank, and the payments were draining their accounts faster than the money was siphoning into them. He had been only weeks from increasing the skim to cover it all. But now all that was up in the air as well.

He watched with no little fear as the auditor finished his meal. The man appeared to be completely at ease, in contrast with the menacing manner he'd displayed at work. Of course, what did Mr. Victor Cominsko have to fear? He wasn't the one who'd been caught with his fingers in the company cookie jar. And he wasn't the one facing ten or more years in prison. The very thought made Justin tremble. He would last a day in jail, if that.

He felt like he'd been facing the firing squad for several hours already. Mr. Cominsko, 'No, no, call me Victor,' had arrived at seven on the dot. After greetings and introductions at the door, Victor had taken Britney by the hand and asked for a tour of their home. Even as she led them from room to room, Justin often caught Victor casting admiring glances at his wife. And what was not to admire? Britney had decided that they should charm the man, in the hopes of striking an more advantageous deal with him. So she'd worn a stunning black evening dress, perfectly tailored to accentuate her figure and held up with only the thinnest of spaghetti straps. And showing enough skin to tempt a monk. Still, Justin was so nervous that even those interested glances barely registered on his radar. When, oh when would they get to the negotiations?

Victor evidently had his own schedule in mind. After the house tour, they'd sat down for a glass of wine and some small talk. Victor kept the conversation going as Britney hopped up and down to attend to the cooking, asking a number of questions about their vacation trips, their home electronics and other investments. To ease his discomfort, Justin downed his wine quickly, which only caused to loosen his tongue and lose track of the conversation. And it did nothing for the knot in his stomach.

He felt even less alert as Victor carefully poured himself another glass of wine. "That was a wonderful meal," he complimented Britney, toasting her with his glass. "It's been some time since I've had such a delicious veal piccata. And the salad was the perfect choice. My compliments!"

In answer, Britney raised her glass in a silent toast, letting her hair fall half across her face to add to her allure. If Justin didn't know better, he'd think that she was flirting with the man! But, he assured himself, it's all part of the plan.

"It's too bad that we have to follow such a wonderful meal with talk of business, but unfortunately that's where we're at," Victor continued, leaving his seat to lean against the kitchen island. "From what I can see, you've taken almost two and a half million dollars from the company over the past 46 months. And until I came along, no one has even suspected the money was missing. The losses are chalked up to deviations in the exchange rates. And they still appear on the books. So, as far as anyone else knows, you haven't done a darn thing wrong.

"Second, this operation is so subtle, it would take me a long time to make the financial guys understand it, much less think of a way to keep it from happening again. So there's little chance they're going to stumble upon it by mistake. Which keeps the circle of knowledgeable parties at a very manageable three. More succinctly, the three of us."

Victor set his wine down and strolled about the room, steepling his hands as if contemplating his next thoughts. "At this point I have two choices. I could hand you over to the authorities, and take the well-earned credit for being so attentive to my job, as well as the small bonus and salary boost that I will have earned. You, Justin, will go to jail, and poor, sweet Britney will be left alone in this big house without a single source of income. Or, I could acknowledge the genius of your operation and let it continue, taking the risk that no one else will stumble upon it and send all three of us to jail. Of course, if I'm going to be taking a risk, there should also be a comparable reward."

Justin marveled at how suave and at ease Victor appeared, calmly standing in their dining room and discussing felony crimes. Of course, Victor always seemed to have that air of confidence and invincibility about him. He was atypical of an accountant. Well-built, well-dressed, with a lean muscular body, short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Although he was at least 35, he looked ten years younger, walking with a swagger that dared other men to take him on, and dared the women to ignore him. He had a reputation as a ladies man, and some office gossip held that his beautiful secretaries were required to wear sexy lingerie under their office attire, and were often called into his office for a midday sex break. Justin had usually discounted such rumors, but now, seeing and talking with the man up close, he thought he could see the predator just under the surface. Certainly Victor was now moving as if he was stalking something.