by C. C. Gibbs
For one lunatic second he felt as though he’d been offered the keys to paradise and every picture he’d ever imagined of Katherine working beside him rushed by in brilliant flash frames. ‘I’ve got time,’ he said, keeping his voice steady. ‘I’ll go get the paperwork.’
Over the next half-hour, Dominic walked Kate through two deals he was working on, one a software start-up, the other a communications network in India that required a steep learning curve on the flexibility of governmental policy. He was a good teacher; thorough, patient, knowledgeable. And Kate hadn’t earned the designation of hacker genius for nothing. She was quick; he didn’t have to repeat himself. And when Dominic flipped over the last page of the contract, she said, ‘That’s not so bad. You didn’t lose me. Although if I were you, I’d think about brokering the deal yourself and save the fees.’
‘I’ve been working with Naren for years.’
‘That explains his exorbitant fee. It’s way above the norm. If you don’t want to piss off a business colleague, someone else could point out the discrepancy to him.’
‘Want the job?’
‘Sure. I can be bad cop to your good cop.’
He made a face. ‘Naren and I sail together. We occasionally race on the same team.’
‘I understand. No problem. You can afford it.’
He smiled. ‘Although, I’m guessing you’re going to help improve my profit margins in the future.’
Leaning back in her chair, she opened her arms wide and grinned, the sadness gone from her eyes. ‘I’m guessing you’re right.’
His smile was doting, there was no other word for it. ‘Welcome aboard Knight Enterprises, Mrs Knight.’ He leaned over and kissed her as she sat beside him. ‘You don’t know how happy this makes me. I don’t like being away from you.’
‘You might get tired of me underfoot every day. Seriously, Dominic.’
‘I am serious. If there really is a valley of the shadow, I’ve been there, and now that I’ve passed through it I’m not letting you out of my sight.’
‘Good.’ She gave him a cheerful, sideways glance. ‘Because that was me being tactful before.’
‘Fuck that.’ He grinned. ‘This may be a dangerous obsession but I like it, so screw tact.’
‘And it’s not as though we’re not both a little crazy. I figure obsession just goes with the territory.’
Her smile was sweet-Jesus beautiful. ‘Exactly,’ he said. ‘A perfectly rational explanation for you and me – us.’
Kate’s smile suddenly died at the word, us, and the despair that was never far away crashed over her like a ton of bricks. ‘You have to give me another baby, Dominic,’ she whispered. ‘Soon. So it won’t be just you and me.’
Something cold tightened at the back of his neck, slid down his spine, paralysing his nerves. Soon. He hadn’t seen this coming; he needed time.
‘You have to say yes.’ Her breathing was fast, the pitch of her voice rising. ‘You have to.’
God no, I can’t take the chance. ‘Yes, of course,’ he said, knowing he’d give her anything at all to make her smile again. Reaching over, he lifted her from her chair and placed her on his lap. ‘You just have to tell me when you’re ready.’ He’d hire every top specialist in the world, set them up next door, buy the whole fucking street of homes if necessary to house them and keep Katherine safe.
She nodded. ‘I’ll – send you – an invitation,’ she said in a shaky whisper.
He traced the curve of her bottom lip with his index finger and smiled. ‘I’ll be waiting.’
Kate sucked in a breath. ‘I’m not going to cry all the time.’ Her mouth trembled. ‘Really, I won’t. I promise.’
‘Let’s get the hell out of here,’ Dominic said, brusquely. ‘We don’t have to wait for the doctor. I’ll leave her a message.’
‘Can we do that?’
She looked so hopeful he would have built the pyramids for her single-handedly to satisfy that hope. ‘Sure we can. And Yash is here if we need a doctor.’ He rose from the chair with her in his arms. ‘You didn’t have a purse, right?’
He was suddenly looking into an unflinching stare.
‘I don’t carry a purse. Were you thinking of some other woman?’
Dominic laughed. ‘Jesus, sorry. It won’t happen again. I swear. And I didn’t marry any of them, OK?’ he added, because, at the moment, Katherine in temper trumped Katherine in tears.
Her gaze narrowed.
‘Julia asked me.’ His shoulder lifted faintly. ‘I explained all that. You’re the love of my life, Katherine. You always will be. So you don’t have to go ape-shit about something that’s ancient history.’
‘It better be.’ Then she smiled a little. ‘Remember obsession can be dangerous.’
‘I’m pretty fucking aware of that, thank you very much. And you remember, Mrs Knight,’ he said with a lift of his brows, ‘that jealousy’s a two-way street, I’m ruthless as hell and if you don’t behave I’ll whip your creamy ass.’
A real smile this time. ‘Why don’t I try to be good then.’
‘Try?’ He hadn’t raised his voice but he didn’t have to.
She looked at him blink-free. ‘I’ll try as hard as you do. How about that?’
His jaw unclenched. ‘I can live with that. So,’ he said, his voice suddenly mellow, ‘if you’re done jerking my chain, let’s get the fuck out of here. I’m going to set you down for a minute while I give Jake a call. He’s around here somewhere.’ After placing her on her feet, he hit a name on his cell, then looked up and smiled at the woman who made his sun come up in the morning and his stars shine at night. ‘You need your jacket, baby. It’s not exactly hot outside. Hi Jake. We’re coming down. Main entrance. Five minutes.’
CHAPTER 21
As Jake drove them away from the hospital, Dominic turned to Kate. ‘If it’s all right with you, we’ll swing by the office on the way home. It’ll take five minutes for me to run up and collect some papers I have to sign.’
‘Go for it.’
‘The office, Jake,’ Dominic directed. ‘Some of the palladium leases came through.’ He smiled at Kate. ‘Feel like next summer at Nana’s?’
‘Do I ever? There’s nothing better than summer up north.’
‘Find a lake place you like and we’ll buy it.’ He grinned. ‘I’m not averse to staying with Nana, but just not for long. I like to have you for myself. No one else around.’
‘Me too, with you. There’s nothing better.’
‘In all the whole wide world, baby … we lucked out.’ Sliding his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her close. ‘Scale of one to ten?’ he whispered.
‘A thousand.’
‘Small-time, baby. I was thinking a zillion, zillion.’
‘That’s because you’re a billionaire and never think in terms of ordinary numbers. A thousand past ten is super good.’
He grinned. ‘So I’m super good?’
She looked up. ‘Really. You need flattery?’
He let out a tendril of a breath, a small stirring of melancholy in his gaze. ‘No. I just need to know you’ll always be there.’
‘I can guarantee you that.’ She smiled, wanting to erase the small distress in his eyes. ‘Consider me impossible to dislodge – like the Rock of Gibraltar.’
‘Reassuring,’ he said with a slow smile. ‘That’s immovable. But seriously, baby,’ and his voice took on a quiet gravity, ‘the entire world can disappear and I’d be happy so long as I had you.’
‘You might miss your homes around the globe and private planes, fleets of cars and hundreds of retainers.’
‘Ask me if I was happy,’ he said, softly.
She stretched upward, wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘That’s my job,’ she whispered, her words a warm buzz on his lips before she kissed him lightly. ‘To make you happy.’
He studied her for a second, as though she might be a mirage that would disappear because so much in his life wound up broken. Then she smiled, he thoug
ht maybe this time … and smiled back. ‘You have a God-given talent for making me happy, baby. And I don’t fool myself that that’s easy.’
‘I’m not easy to get along with either in case you haven’t noticed,’ she said with a little lift of her eyebrows.
He laughed softly. ‘Where I come from you’re practically a saint. You don’t fight dirty, no low blows, no sharp edges; you don’t even hold a grudge. And you lie like shit which I find weirdly comforting.’
‘So you’re exposing me to the lifestyle of the rich and famous and I’m giving you a tour of the world of Mother Teresa.’
‘Not exactly,’ he said, drily. ‘Mother Teresa’s a real stretch. Although you’re definitely my personal nirvana, heaven, paradise – whatever …’ A quiet satisfaction resonated in his voice at the last, redefining a man who had never known peace.
Her green gaze was amused. ‘So I’m only semi-saintly, but completely lovable anyway.’
‘Fucking A, baby,’ he said with a sudden grin that erased the small furrow between his brows. ‘No question.’
When they reached Knight Enterprises offices, Kate watched Dominic stride across the gravel drive looking more like a surfer in cargo shorts, black T-shirt and sandals than a billionaire CEO. Looking beautiful – all raw male and supple strength, tall, broad-shouldered and hers, she thought, feeling outrageously happy. Reaching the stairs, he took them at a run, then stopped at the door to chat with the security guard. The young man smiled at something Dominic said, spoke in turn and Dominic’s expression instantly sobered. A moment later, he nodded, and walked through the door hastily thrown open for him.
Settling back in the seat, Kate was just reaching for the TV remote when a green Jaguar sedan drove in through the gate and pulled up near the stairs. The driver got out, walked around the car, opened the back door and a woman with long dark hair emerged. Since her back was to Kate, her face wasn’t visible, but she had the willowy slenderness of youth and as she moved up the stairs, it was clear she also had the sleek, polished patina of money. Her short red summer dress was not off the rack – something Kate had come to recognize after being supplied with a lavish designer wardrobe. The woman’s green strappy heels matched the little quilted Chanel shoulder bag – their combined cost enough to feed a family for six months; Kate might not know fashion, but she knew numbers. And the young woman’s long black hair had the casual elegance only seen on models in glossy magazines.
Kate leaned forward slightly. ‘Any idea who that is?’
Jake had a good idea, but since he’d never seen Bianca, the young woman Dominic had been forced to marry, he was able to answer with nominal honesty, ‘No, I’ve never seen her before.’ If the privacy glass had been up, he would have called Dominic and given him warning. As it was, he did nothing; he knew Dominic wouldn’t want Katherine involved.
Also, there was a chance Bianca would be turned away at the door.
She was stopped. But after what looked like a heated exchange at least on Bianca’s part, Forbes escorted her inside.
‘Is everyone stopped at the door?’ Kate asked.
Jake nodded. ‘Unless they’ve been previously cleared.’
‘Has Dominic always had such major security?’
‘Yeah. For quite a while.’
‘Why?’
‘Dominic could answer that better than I.’ Jake’s reply was circumspect and guarded. If she didn’t know, Dominic didn’t want her to know that his high profile life was inherently vulnerable to threat. With ransom a business model in some countries, someone as rich as Dominic was a natural target. Add personal enemies to the mix and security was a necessity.
Kate understood that Jake was being evasive, so she didn’t press the issue. She glanced instead at the digital clock on the small TV – an unconscious reaction perhaps to the fact that the young woman had not re-emerged from the building.
Dressed as she was, Kate doubted the woman was there on business or at least real business. Also, she had a disquieting resemblance to Julia – tall, dark-haired, slender. Call it female intuition, but Kate would have bet big bucks that the woman was here to see Dominic.
So she faced a dilemma: politely stay in the car or impolitely interfere.
*
While Kate was debating the merits in conjugal politesse, Forbes – out of caution – had planted himself between the woman and the stairway to the office floor and waited while the receptionist called Helen. Because this young woman who’d just cursed and insulted him in Italian and English wasn’t getting up to see Dominic without someone’s OK.
Helen immediately notified Dominic.
He was just about to leave his office, the folder in his hand, when Helen’s voice came through on the intercom. As he listened, his scowl deepened and when she finished, his voice was pure ice. ‘Have her come up, then send her in. I’ll take care of this. I don’t want any interruptions. None. Katherine’s outside so I need an affirmative from you on that.’
‘No interruptions,’ Helen said, quickly. ‘I understand.’
‘Good.’ He dropped the folder on the desk, slowly exhaled and mentally ran through his options. Katherine had to have seen Bianca come in. A problem. Huge. There was no doubt in his mind. Helen would do her best, but with Katherine’s temper there were no guarantees she wouldn’t be pounding on his office door real fucking soon. So since the bitch was here, the point was to get Bianca in and out quickly and hope Katherine would understand. Or, more realistically, not get too pissed. He wasn’t knocking Katherine’s jealousy; he understood the concept viscerally.
He was just hoping to avoid the nuclear fallout.
Taking a seat behind his desk, he flicked a switch under the middle drawer, leaned back in his green leather chair and waited for his office door to open.
Jesus. Everyone’s a drama queen, he thought as the door slowly opened and Bianca came to a stop on the threshold in a pose that would have done justice to a soap opera star.
He felt like saying I’ve seen it done better by real actresses. But he said instead, his voice as cool as his gaze, ‘Come in, shut the door and tell me what you want. You have five minutes. I was just about to leave.’
As Bianca shut the door, he flicked a second switch under his desk drawer and when she turned to face him, he winced at her glossy smile.
She walked towards him slowly, her hips swinging. ‘Are you happy to see me?’
‘No. Shouldn’t you be home taking care of your baby?’
‘Gora took him away,’ she said, pleasantly, referring to her Mafioso boyfriend. ‘It was part of our agreement. He wanted a boy and I wanted his money.’
After having had to bargain his life away for three months because Gora was trying to please his pregnant girlfriend who needed a husband, Dominic was pretty sure that Gora wanted the baby’s mother as well, but Gora’s motivations weren’t relevant at the moment. ‘I’m not giving you any money if that’s why you’re here.’ His blunt words matched his scowl.
Her smile was smooth and easy, undeterred by his words or expression. ‘Can’t I stop by for a friendly visit?’
‘Like hell,’ he said and the temperature in the room went down twenty degrees.
‘My, my, such a scowl. If you’re going to be cross for no reason,’ another practised smile, Eve in the garden of Eden, unaware she was ruining the world or in this case fucking up Dominic’s life, ‘why don’t we say I came to give you an invitation to my birthday celebration next month. Papa’s rented the Villa Borghese for the night. All of Rome will be there.’ She strolled around the side of Dominic’s desk as if she had all the time in the world, as if he did, then stopped within inches of his chair, extracted a gilded envelope from her purse and handed it to him. ‘I thought why not invite my husband to my birthday celebration.’
‘Ex-husband.’ Dominic took the envelope and dropped it in his wastebasket.
She didn’t even blink. She sat down on Dominic’s polished desk, slowly crossed her legs and twitched her sh
ort skirt a little higher over her gleaming thighs. ‘You’re still my husband in Italy,’ she said, soft as silk. ‘They don’t recognize your divorce.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong.’ He was telling himself not to strangle her, the price was too high. ‘The divorce papers have been stamped and filed.’ His blue gaze took on a sardonic edge. ‘You pay enough in France or Italy or anywhere and they get the job done in a hurry. The minister who took my money is almost as happy as I am.’
‘That’s a shame,’ Bianca purred, reaching down to stroke his hand resting on his chair arm, smoothing the fine dark hair on his tanned fingers. ‘I was hoping we could become better friends.’
‘I’m not interested.’ Rather than jerk his hand away, he took a small restraining breath and let the scene unfold. Although if she got on her knees, the stage curtain was coming down fast.
‘Maybe I can change your mind,’ she whispered, lightly circling his middle finger. ‘You like whips. I like whips. You like violence with your sex. I think I might be the woman you’ve been waiting for.’ Raising her hand, she slid her warm palm up Dominic’s arm. ‘Gora’s too old to play.’
‘Are you sure?’ Dominic repressed his impulse to flinch. ‘No one does violence better than Gora. I know that for a fact.’
She pursed her mouth. ‘Please. He likes me to play the innocent young maid.’
He met her sultry gaze. ‘And you’d rather play with whips.’
‘With you I would.’ She leaned forward slightly more so her full breasts were on display, reached out with her other hand and trailed the pad of her finger over Dominic’s bottom lip. ‘I hear you can last all night. That you have a world-class dick.’
‘That’ll do,’ he ambiguously grunted, slapping her hands away, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet. ‘Tell your family to look somewhere else to mend their fortunes. I’m not interested in aristocratic whores.’
She jumped off the desk, her dark eyes flashing in anger. ‘How dare you? You bourgeois prick!’ she snapped, glowering at him. ‘My noble family is eight centuries old!’ She stamped her foot. ‘We have royal blood in our veins!’
