by Anna James
“Sorry,” Sophia replied, without the slightest hint of contrition. “You startled me.”
Dante shook his head.
He didn’t believe her. Oh well. She didn’t care.
“I called out your name several times. You didn’t answer.”
“I didn’t hear you. The music’s loud and…”
He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the enormous wet spot on his shirt.
Sophia stared. The liquid made his shirt almost transparent, and heaven help her, there were those rock-hard abs on display again.
He glared down at her when he noticed her watching. “What?”
Heat invaded her cheeks. Why had she been gawking at him? Get a grip. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Nothing.”
He let out a disgusted snort and continued to dab at his shirt.
A shiver ran through her as she remembered what those strong, capable hands could do to bring a woman pleasure. No. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to steady her pounding heart. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you regarding your decision to leave the company.”
Her lips tightened and nostrils flared. Are you kidding? He knew damned well why she’d decided to leave. Had he really expected her to stay? Things had been bad enough when they each owned equal shares. They’d get worse now. How could she help run the company when he wouldn’t even listen to her? “You know why I—”
A tall woman hurried toward them. The Greek goddess, Aphrodite, came to mind with her dazzling beauty, coy smile and youthful appearance. Sophia suffered a momentary pang of inadequacy as the woman pressed her voluptuous body against Dante and brushed her lips against his cheek.
He smiled. “Hello, India.”
Sophia’s fingers clenched into tight fists when the siren wrapped a possessive arm around him. She had to clamp down hard on the overwhelming urge to scratch the woman’s eyes out and, oh, wasn’t that a lovely thought? Good grief, what was wrong with her tonight? Who cared if Dante was involved with someone else? Not her. No siree. It wasn’t as if she’d spent the last six years pining after him. There’d been other men in her life. Plenty of others.
She took a deep breath and relaxed her hands.
“Excuse me a moment.” Dante extracted India’s arm from around his waist, took her hand and stepped away.
Sophia watched their exchange, trying hard not to be obvious. He spoke, his mouth close to the woman’s ear. Whatever he’d said had her leaning against him again. His eyes turned dark and lit with laughter. So different were they from the cold, antagonistic glare he always aimed in her direction whenever they spoke.
He glanced over, as if knowing she’d been watching him, and kissed India’s cheek, but his eyes never left Sophia’s. India hurried off.
He strode toward Sophia, his gaze roaming over her in critical appraisal. She held her breath. Instead of the animosity and contempt she’d expected, his piercing gaze glittered and triggered a surge of excitement deep inside her.
“Sophia.”
Was it her imagination or did his voice take on a husky, sensual quality? Tingles radiated throughout her and she had to make a concerted effort to stop her body from trembling in reaction.
“About you leaving the firm.”
His words were as effective as a slap in the face at halting her wild imagination, thank God. She shook her head and held up a hand to stop him from saying more. “I don’t have anything more to say. My decision is final.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“Hi, Sophia, sorry we’re late.” Clair gave her a hug, then turned to Dante and smiled. “I finished collecting the information you asked for on the Brown account and left the file on your desk. You’re all set for your Monday meeting.”
Sophia frowned. Why was Dante meeting with John Brown? She’d made sure his financial portfolio was in order before leaving. What was he up to now?
“Thanks. I appreciate you staying late to finish it up.”
“No worries. Hey, do you want to join us?” Clair pointed to a small table a short distance away where David sat.
Sophia’s lips tightened. No way!
Dante glanced in her direction and shook his head. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding. Come on.” Clair looped her arms, one around Sophia and the other Dante, and moved them along. She sat next to her husband and tapped the seat beside her. “Sit here, next to Sophia. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
Like hell. I mind very much! “Actually, I—”
Clair interrupted before she could voice her objection. “David, why don’t you and Dante go and get Sophia a drink? I still have the soda you got for me earlier.”
You set me up! Sophia fumed. No wonder Clair had insisted on her coming here tonight and had been late, too. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Did what?” Clair asked.
“Don’t play innocent with me. You made me come to this night club, even though I told you no, and then asked Dante—”
Clair shook her head. “I invited you out tonight because we haven’t seen each other since you took a leave of absence from work and I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
A leave of absence? Is that what Dante told everyone? It didn’t matter. They could think what they wanted. However, she needed to nip this thing with Clair in the bud. “We’re going to see each other at your baby shower tomorrow. We could have talked then.”
Color crept up Clair’s neck and flooded her cheeks. “Okay, you’re right. Dante asked me to set up this meeting because you left him no choice. He’s been trying to reach you for days and you won’t return his calls.”
Damn straight. She folded her arms across her chest and glared down at her cousin. “I have nothing to say to him.”
“I realize things have been a little strained between the two of you, and you don’t see eye-to-eye on how to run the business, but—”
She blew out a noisy breath. “It’s a lot more than that.”
“Sophia, it was a long time ago.”
Lord, she regretted telling Clair anything about what happened in New York six years ago with Dante, but she’d had no choice when Clair overheard her and Trey talking after Dante dropped his bomb about relocating to Los Angeles. Which he’d decided to make permanent, the moment he inherited part of Baker Investments.
Thankfully, Clair had bought her story about meeting him back when she and Trey had attended NYU. How they’d shared a few kisses…and things hadn’t worked out. It was all true, she’d just left out the rest of the humiliating details. When she thought about that awful night and how he’d ended things…what he’d said, how he—
Not going there again. She’d already spent way too many nights crying over Dante Leone. She wouldn’t shed another tear. “That has nothing to do with any of this.”
Clair tilted her head to the side and stared, a doubtful expression on her face. “You and Dante are partners now and you can’t keep fighting with him. You’ve got to find a way to get along.”
If only that were possible, but it wasn’t. One thing was certain. He’d never accept her as his partner. No matter how hard she tried. “How can we? He overrides every business decision I make and if I question him… God help me. If he’s this bad now, think what he’ll be like once he buys Allen’s share of the company.”
Clair gasped. “Allen is selling his portion of Baker Investments?”
Sophia’s shoulders sagged. “Yes. I overheard the two of them discussing the deal in Dante’s office last week.”
“And Dante agreed to buy them without talking to you about it?”
She nodded. “Why wouldn’t he? Allen’s part, combined with his, means he’ll own a controlling interest in the company.”
“That doesn’t sound like Dant
e. Are you sure?”
“Dante may be kind and friendly on the surface, but beneath he’s a sneaky, underhanded bastard.”
“Sophia!”
Sophia shook her head to stop any further protest. “I don’t want to talk about Dante Leone anymore.”
Clair glared. “Fine. Tell me what’s been going on lately.”
“The court declined Allen’s petition to remove me as executor.”
“Mom told me as much. How’s he taking it?”
“He’s stopped fighting me, at least for the most part.” He still scrutinized every cent she spent. “He also withdrew his other suit regarding the division of the estate.”
“It’s about damned time. I don’t know why he was being so pissy anyway.”
Sophia laughed. Clair did have a way with words. “He was angry with Dad’s decision to split everything fifty-fifty.”
“I don’t see why. You’re Gil’s daughter.”
“Stepdaughter and—”
Clair gestured with her hand as if waving off the notion. “Don’t give me that step crap. You know better. Gil may not have been your biological father, but he loved you just the same. And you loved him.”
“I know, but Allen—”
“Are you going to sit here and tell me you didn’t think of Uncle Gil as your father?”
She shook her head. Gil had been her father in every sense of the word. And he would have made it legal if her mother had let him adopt her like he wanted. But, she hadn’t. Couldn’t. Even after Sophia’s biological father walked away from them.
“This can’t be easy on you. Why don’t you let Mom and Dad help? They’re more than willing to do anything they can.”
“I appreciate the offer, but there isn’t much left to do. Now that Allen has backed off I’ve been able to put the house on the market and settle the last of Dad’s debts, including the medical bills the insurance company didn’t cover.”
“Why didn’t the insurance cover his treatments?”
“They did, but not the experimental drug the doctors used at the end.”
Clair scoffed. “You mean the one that actually worked.”
The one that worked. And left his immune system in a weakened state. Her heart lurched. A fresh set of tears clogged her eyes. Lord, when was this supposed to get better? Sophia closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
Clair clasped her hand in Sophia’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Sophia blinked the moisture away and pinned a determined smile on her face. “You didn’t.”
Clair smiled back. “Hey, did you see the news bite on the MSN home page this morning? Sanford Jackson just threw his name into the ring for the open New York Senate seat in the next election.”
She nodded, grateful for the change of subject. “Trey told me he intended to do so.”
“When did you talk to him? I thought he went back to Africa a few days after the funeral?”
“He did. We talked a couple of nights ago on Skype.”
“What does Trey think about Sanford’s bid for election?”
“He’s worried.”
Clair nodded. “He has reason. That scandal involving him a few years back caused Sanford to drop out of the Senate race once before.”
Sophia sighed. If only people knew the real Trey, the sweet boy who’d been her best friend since childhood, the one who’d stood up for her when others had bullied her, the only friend who’d been there for her, who understood what she’d been going through after her mother’s death. If they knew that Trey, they wouldn’t believe the vicious lies spread by the media. “He didn’t blackmail his professor. The teacher made up the allegations to divert attention from himself when the scandal broke that he’d gotten one of his female students pregnant.”
“Maybe not, but, the media sure had a field day with the rumors.” She laughed. “What did they call him? Oh yeah, ‘The bad boy you love to hate’.”
Sophia glared at her.
Clair held up her hands in mock surrender. “I’m only kidding. But you’ve got to admit he’s had a bit of a tough time with the paparazzi over the years.”
“Occupational hazard when your parents are in the limelight all the time.”
“They were great humanitarians,” Clair said, more serious now. “And they did a lot of great work in the war-ravaged countries abroad, before that group of rebels blew up the van they were in. I think it’s great Trey is following in their footsteps with the work he’s doing in Africa and here in the US to fight hunger.”
Sophia nodded. “It is great and I—”
“Hi ladies, here are your club sodas.” David placed the drinks on the table, and took his seat next to Clair.
The music slowed. Clair grabbed David’s hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
Sophia aimed a withering stare in Clair’s direction. Thanks a lot.
Clair grinned back.
“Would you like to dance, Sophia?”
Her eyebrow arched up. “No thanks, Dante. Why don’t you ask your lady friend who stopped by earlier? I’m sure she’d welcome the opportunity.”
He closed his eyes for a long moment, opened them and said, “Fine. We can talk here.”
Sophia had hoped the haughty comeback would tick him off enough to make him leave. No such luck. Not going to rehash this again. “I’m out of here.”
“We need to talk.” Dante grasped her arm and whirled her around to face him.
She collided with the solid muscles in his chest and, heaven help her, a wave of exquisite pleasure crashed over her. Her breasts swelled, the tips tightening and pressing against him.
His eyes darkened and a lick of excitement raced through her. When his lips parted, an answering heat pooled low in her belly.
He lowered his head toward hers. She didn’t move, couldn’t have, even if her life depended on it, trapped by the intensity burning in his fathomless blue eyes.
His arms clamped around her and dragged her into full contact with his body and oh, finally his mouth was on hers, hard, possessive and demanding. She couldn’t think. Didn’t want to, only wanted the delicious excitement spiraling through her to continue. Reaching up, she locked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Reality set in when his hard erection pressed against her core. What the hell am I doing? She ripped free from his embrace.
He pulled her back against him.
“Dante, no.”
He glared. “What kind of games are you playing at?”
“I’m not playing at anything.” His eyes bore down on her and lingered at the base of her throat where her pulse still thudded…where his lips had caressed…tasted. Oh, she wanted them there, again, with a desperate intensity.
His head lowered.
No. He’d already hurt and humiliated her enough for one lifetime. Why was she letting him do it again? No way! She backed away from him, grabbed her purse and hurried off before doing something she’d regret in the morning.
Chapter Six
Sophia woke the next morning to the bright sun streaming through her bedroom window. Groaning, she rolled over and peered through squinty eyes at the alarm clock. It seemed only minutes since she’d fallen asleep in the pre-dawn hours, the haunting memories of last night flashing through her mind allowing her no escape.
Eleven o’clock? Oh crap! She bolted out of bed and raced to the shower. The tepid water sent a jolt through her system. She’d set the temperature cooler than normal in order to get moving. What she needed was a strong cup of coffee, but there wasn’t any time for one if she wanted to make it to Carlsbad by noon.
It was after one o’clock when she pulled into the parking area of the resort and spa where her Aunt Caroline had booked Clair’s baby shower. After checking in, she headed to the clubhouse and found Clai
r, David and Uncle Sam seated on the patio overlooking the golf course. “Hi, you guys.”
Sam stood and enveloped her in a big bear hug and placed a noisy kiss on her cheek. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
She smiled. “It’s good to see you too, Uncle Sam.”
He sat down and tapped the seat beside him. “Come join us.”
Clair sent a speculative glance in Sophia’s direction. “Glad you made it. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”
Sophia sighed. “You know I wouldn’t miss your baby shower. I hit traffic leaving the city and an accident on I-5 in San Clemente. Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s no problem, Sophia. There’s still plenty of time before the guests arrive. Can I get you something to drink?” Sam asked.
She tapped the duffle bag slung over her shoulder. “I have a few things I need to give to Aunt Caroline.”
“Wait for me. I’ll walk in with you.”
Crap. Clair was sure to give her the third degree about why she’d left without saying goodbye last night and she sure as heck didn’t want to reveal the reason. Sophia opened her mouth to tell her cousin to stay put, but Clair had already hoisted herself out of the chair and was making her way toward Sophia. Having no choice, Sophia stopped and waited until Clair waddled over.
“Want to tell me about you and Dante, and what happened last night?” Clair asked breathlessly when she reached Sophia a moment later.
Sophia froze. Had Clair seen her kissing him? “I’m sorry I left so abruptly. I—”
“I know why you left.”
Heat rushed to Sophia’s cheeks. Damn it. Clair had seen everything. Well, what do you expect? You practically devoured Dante right there in front of everyone.
“So, what did he say this time to make you storm off?”
“Huh?” It wasn’t what Dante had said, it’s what she’d done, groping the man in public for all to see. An image of her wanton self, sliding her hands over Dante’s shirt, exploring the hard planes of his chest and the contours of those strong, broad shoulders, flashed in her brain. A shudder ran through her at the memory. She’d made a spectacle of herself.
