Kate whispered. “I trusted you, Kate. I left myself wide open. I’ll have to hand it to you, lady, you’re brilliant, a professional from the word go. You had me fooled, and that doesn’t happen very often.” Kate couldn’t believe what was happening. Max was livid. Not only was he stern and unforgiving, but she could feel the heat of his anger in the fingers holding her arm in an iron grip. “Just a minute, Max, aren’t you being unreasonable?” Matthew Blue had moved to the edge of the circle. “I, for one, don’t believe a word of it. Let’s hear what Kate has to say.” “I didn’t believe it either,” Max said, desperation in his voice. “I told the committee that they were wrong. Kate couldn’t work for him. Making Kate a writer for Maverick magazine was just one of Dorothea’s little jokes.” Max saw the stricken look on Kate’s face. Confusion gave way to hurt, then total disbelief.
