by Cat Schield
“Roark, where have you been?”
“Making love to my fiancée. You remember Elizabeth, don’t you?” Contentment rolled through him as he recalled the last several hours with Elizabeth. “She’s the only woman I want in my bed.”
Color flooded Sabeen’s cheeks at Roark’s rebuke, but her confidence never wavered. “She’s too dull for you. You need a woman with passion. Someone who can satisfy you.”
“Elizabeth satisfies me. More than any woman I’ve ever known.” Roark had no idea what prompted him to add the second sentence, but he spoke the truth.
“You’ve never known me.” She let the sheet fall and reached up to run her fingers through her long hair.
Roark felt nothing. For all that he thought of her as a little sister, she was an incredibly beautiful woman. But her nudity and seductive pose aroused him no more than a marble statue.
Time for a little hard truth. “And I never will. You are a child, Sabeen. Elizabeth is a woman.”
“You don’t love her. The engagement isn’t even real.”
Any warm spot Roark may have once had for his mentor’s precocious daughter turned to ice at her accusation. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” Sabeen slid off the bed and stalked him like a jungle cat. “You forget that I’m not one of your stupid society friends, ready to believe any story you concoct. I know where you’ve been this last year and what you’ve been doing. There’s been no woman in your life.”
Roark scooped her clothes off the chair where she’d left them and tossed them her way. “Get dressed.”
“Tell me you love her.” Sabeen wasn’t going to let the issue of his engagement drop until she received some confirmation of its legitimacy.
Roark wasn’t going to lie. “My relationship with Elizabeth is none of your business.”
“You don’t love her.”
“And you’re such an expert?” In her attempt to goad him, she’d unleashed his impatience. “What about the business between you and that fortune hunter? When you looked in his eyes, did you see love or dollar signs?”
Gasping, Sabeen turned her back on him. Her hunched shoulders told Roark his point had hit home. Not proud of his counterattack, he returned the knife to the kitchen and brewed a pot of coffee. As the dark brown liquid streamed into a glass pot, the blast of adrenaline receded. Weariness hit him. Roark rubbed his face and wondered how Elizabeth was doing. He wished he was snuggled beside her in that ridiculously tiny apartment she lived in.
They’d been hitting the social scene pretty hard these past ten days in an effort to establish the legitimacy of Roark’s transformation from playboy into someone stable and responsible. Not that it was all for show. He might not want to tear up the town with a different woman every night, but that didn’t mean the itch to embark on his next antiquity hunt was gone. Already the necessity to appear at parties and charity events chafed at him. He wasn’t cut out to dress up and play nice. He’d rather be skulking through back alleys in Cairo or tracking down hidden caches in Kabul.
Only in the private moments he shared with Elizabeth did the restlessness leave him. Damn. He was on the verge of being domesticated.
“May I have a cup of coffee or are you planning on kicking me out as soon as possible?”
Roark poured a second cup and slid it across the counter toward her. Sabeen had dressed in black leggings and a short green skirt. A long black and maroon scarf, wound several times around her neck, almost obscured the black lace blouse she wore. Intricate gold earrings, Middle Eastern in design, played peekaboo with her black hair.
She wasn’t dressed to seduce. Her appearance in his bed had been an act of opportunity rather than premeditation.
“Give me the key.” He looked at her purse. “Your brother has access to the loft so he can assist me when I’m overseas and need him to research something. You are not to come here without my permission.”
She sulked as she fetched the key. “I came because I’m worried about Darius.”
“So worried that you crawled naked into my bed?”
His point struck right where he wanted. She wouldn’t look at him.
“The wedding is just around the corner. He’s going to do something stupid—I just know it.”
Concern buzzed. “The only stupid thing he could do is to help Fadira escape her father’s plans for her.”
And Sabeen’s expression told him that’s exactly what her brother intended to do. Cursing, Roark pulled out his phone and dialed Darius’s number. It rolled to voice mail and Roark left him a terse message.
This is what love did to you. It made you stupid and foolhardy. Darius was going to risk his freedom, possibly his life, and for what? A pretty face. Some fleeting passion? Darius was twenty. Too young to have settled on one woman for the rest of his life.
Roark closed his eyes and imagined throttling the impulsive youth. Then, he refocused on the problem at hand and scrolled through the list of contacts on his phone.
“When did he leave?”
“Yesterday morning, I think.”
Twenty-four hours. Darius could be in deep trouble already. “I’ll make some calls.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for your father. I promised him that I would look out for you two.” And the responsibility was like being trapped in a newly discovered Egyptian tomb. “I just had no idea it was going to become a full-time job.”
Eight
The pre-sale exhibit at Waverly’s had attracted a very select crowd. Elizabeth tried not to gawk at the who’s who of New York society as she circled the room on Roark’s arm. Although she’d protested against his purchasing the emerald gown she wore, Elizabeth appreciated that she’d lost this particular battle.
As she surveyed the collection of artwork, furniture and formal china that would be auctioned off the following week, the emerald-and-diamond earrings on loan from Roark’s mother’s collection tapped her neck. He’d refused to disclose their price or the value of the matching bracelet that she touched every few minutes to reassure herself it remained on her wrist, but she had the sneaking suspicion that what she wore cost upwards of a hundred thousand dollars.
Elizabeth glanced Roark’s way. The man might be physically present, but his mind was a thousand miles away. He’d been distracted for the past two days, only abandoning whatever bothered him to make her body sing over and over. A tremor clutched her knees as she pictured the things he’d done to her in the hours leading up to the party.
Roark’s phone rang, disturbing her sultry memories. He frowned at the screen and sent her an apologetic glance.
“Take it,” she said, hoping the call would clear up whatever had been distracting him. “I’m going to get myself a glass of champagne and a plate of shrimp.”
That he hadn’t shared his troubles with her was yet another reminder that they were only playing at being engaged. It helped to slow the slide into falling in love with him. Or at least she was better able to brace for the eventual pain when she landed hard in reality. She pushed aside her concern and gave him an encouraging smile.
He answered the phone with a tight nod. “This is Roark.”
The rest of the conversation was lost in the hum of voices around her as Roark strode toward the exit. This whole fake engagement was starting to mess with her head. Each time she behaved as if Roark owed her explanations, she drew closer to the moment when her expectations would lead to disappointment.
And she’d only have herself to blame.
“Elizabeth, how wonderful you look.”
Elizabeth turned in the direction of the voice and smiled at Charlotte Waverly, the wife of Vance Waverly, Roark’s half brother.
The woman was radiant in a white, strapless gown with an empire waist banded in silver sequins and a feather skirt that made the most of her curvy figure. Her long blond hair trailed over one shoulder. Diamonds dangled from her ears.
�
�I love your dress,” Elizabeth retorted. “You look like an angel.”
“Thank you, and your jewelry is divine. A gift from Roark?”
“On loan from his mother’s collection.”
Charlotte grinned. “A loan today, but yours the day you two get married.”
Elizabeth’s stomach twisted. More and more, any mention of her upcoming marriage was like a knife thrust to her gut. The longer this pretend engagement went on, the deeper beneath Roark’s spell she slipped. Her worst fears were coming to light. Losing Roark from her life would leave a hole in her heart as big as the state of Texas.
“Vance and I were hoping you’d join us for Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Me?” Elizabeth’s thoughts rushed to catch up with what Charlie was saying.
Charlie laughed. “Of course. You’ll be family soon, and Roark mentioned that you have too many events that weekend to be able to get out of town to spend Thanksgiving with your parents.”
Being swamped with work was what helped Elizabeth from crumbling beneath the weight of grief. Thanksgiving Day would mark a year since her sister and her family had died. Guilt stabbed at her. If Elizabeth hadn’t been too busy with work to leave the city, Stephanie and her family wouldn’t have been driving in to spend the holiday and they wouldn’t have been killed on the road.
“That’s awfully kind of you.” Elizabeth groped for a way to refuse, but her throat closed, preventing any excuses from escaping.
“We’ll have dinner around four. I’m so glad you can join us. From what Vance has told me, it’s rare that Roark is in town, much less around for the holidays. Vance is looking forward to being surrounded by family this year.”
A familiar arm circled her waist. “Mind if I steal my fiancée away? I have someone she must meet.”
“Of course.”
“You looked like you needed rescuing,” Roark murmured. “What was she saying to you?”
“She invited me to Thanksgiving dinner.” Elizabeth kept her expression smooth, but her insides were cramping. “Did you know about this?”
“Vance mentioned something about dinner, but it slipped my mind.”
“I hate this.”
“Hate what?”
Yes, what? The lies? The pretense that she was unaffected by being included in a Thanksgiving dinner with his family? The fact that they weren’t truly engaged and so she couldn’t be the happy future bride with a wedding to plan? What a self-delusional idiot she was to claim that she was okay with never getting married, when it was why she’d always tried so hard in relationships even though it was obvious that the men she’d chosen didn’t want the same things.
Elizabeth bit her lip hard to bring her wayward emotions back under control. The pain helped distract her from the ache in her chest.
“This time of year.” She let out a ragged sigh. “My sister and her family died last Thanksgiving. They were driving down to the city to spend the weekend with me.”
“Elizabeth, I’m so sorry.”
His fingers covered hers. He understood about loss. And guilt.
“They wouldn’t have died if I had taken the days off to drive up to Albany. But I put my career first and booked events all four days. Stephanie was determined I wasn’t going to spend Thanksgiving by myself.” Elizabeth gave a bitter laugh. “And now I’m always alone for the holidays.”
“What about your parents?”
“Their life is in Oregon. They moved there seven years ago and have only been back once, when Trina was born.” Elizabeth stared at the bracelet on her right wrist. “I suppose you think I’m being overly dramatic. From what you’ve said, you’re almost never in New York for the holidays.”
“They’re just another day for me.”
For a second she felt sorry for him. His mother had been his whole life. Growing up without brothers, sisters, cousins or grandparents left him without a support network to rely on. His old nanny was as close to family as he knew. But now there was Vance and Charlotte and her son. Only Roark didn’t want to acknowledge his importance in their lives and theirs in his.
“Are you going to Vance’s for Thanksgiving?”
“Do you want to go?”
He was giving her the choice?
“I know this fake engagement has been difficult for you,” he continued. “If you don’t want to spend the day with Vance and Charlie, I’ll understand.”
“I knew it.” Sabeen came around the corner like a vengeful spirit. Attired in gold from head to toe, dazzling earrings, sparkling sequined dress, metallic sandals, she shimmered as she stalked toward them, her expression intent and malicious. “I was right that you didn’t love her.”
Roark met her halfway and seized her arm. The way Sabeen flinched, his grip must have been punishing. He halted her five feet from Elizabeth.
“You were eavesdropping?”
“I followed you to see if you’d heard anything from Darius.” Her dark eyes flashed with malicious glee. “And I hear that you’re not really engaged.”
Roark gave her a rough shake. “This is for the good of Waverly’s. You will say nothing.”
Sabeen was one of those women who had a pretty pout. “Why didn’t you pretend with me?”
“Because you would have seen it as something more than it is.”
And he was counting that Elizabeth would not. She held her ground when everything inside her longed to flee the truth. She was in love with Roark. Despite her determination to stay strong, she’d tumbled head over heels.
“You and I belong together.” Sabeen set her hand against Roark’s cheek and stared up at him. “My father knew that. It’s why he asked you to watch over me. He believed once I was old enough you would see me as your perfect mate.”
Roark seized both her wrists and held her away from him. “Your father entrusted me with your fortune and your welfare. He expected nothing more than that I do right by you and your brother. This fantasy of yours needs to stop. I am not meant for you or anyone. Elizabeth is pretending to be engaged to me because Rothschild is trying to take over Waverly’s and I need the board to be confident that Ann, Vance and I are the perfect choice for the future of Waverly’s.” He gave her a little shake. “Do you understand?”
“No.” Sabeen tore free. “I love you. Why can’t you give us a chance?”
Roark set his hands on his hips. “Sabeen…”
Before he could say more she backed away. “This isn’t over.”
Elizabeth began to breathe again as the brunette vanished the way she’d come. “Do you think she’ll tell someone?”
“Who is she going to tell?”
Elizabeth pictured the roomful of New York society a few steps away. “I can think of a couple hundred people out there.”
Roark’s arm came around her. He lifted her chin and kissed her passionately. Elizabeth responded as if the past ten minutes had never happened. It was easy to forget everything in Roark’s strong embrace. His lips transported her to another universe, a whole new dimension where her senses were in control and passion ruled.
“Don’t worry about Sabeen,” he murmured. His lips swept across her cheek and lingered near her ear. “She’s just worried about her brother. Once she calms down, she’ll forget all about what she heard tonight.”
Elizabeth longed for even a fraction of Roark’s confidence. The best she could do was press her cheek against his powerful chest and gather strength from the arms that circled her. He had more to lose if their masquerade became public knowledge.
“You might be underestimating what your rejection might drive her to do.” Elizabeth pushed out of Roark’s arms. She had no more claim to him than Sabeen and it was time she remembered that. “She’s an emotional young woman with strong feelings for you.”
“She’s a girl who should be focused on finishing school and tormenting boys her own age.”
Roark’s words made Elizabeth shake her head. He might not have encouraged Sabeen, but he didn’t understand how intoxicating his c
harisma was in large doses. And Elizabeth had been absorbing the stuff for two weeks now. She was hooked. No doubt the young Egyptian girl had become addicted in a similar fashion.
Roark had been put in charge of her welfare by the girl’s father. He’d rescued her brother from the Amazon jungle. It made perfect sense that hero worship had become infatuation.
“And if we stick to our story,” Roark continued, squeezing her hand. “Stick together, it’s the word of a hotheaded girl against the two of us.”
Elizabeth forced away her anxiety. Over the next week, she was in charge of six different events, two of them last minute parties she’d scored thanks to the connections she’d made while on Roark’s arm. All that meant she had enough to worry without loading up on Sabeen’s drama.
“Is her brother really in danger?”
“He is unless I find and stop him.”
“Is that why you’ve been so preoccupied these last few days?”
Roark cocked an eyebrow. “Have I neglected your needs?”
“No.” She felt her cheeks heat beneath his loaded question. “It’s just that you’ve been carrying your phone more as if you’re waiting for someone to call.”
All expression dropped from Roark’s features. Worry shadowed his eyes. “The boy is a fool. He has gone to Cairo to steal Fadira away before her wedding. If he’s caught, he could face imprisonment, maybe worse.”
“Can you stop him?”
“If I can find him. I have friends looking for him now.” Roark sounded annoyed and Elizabeth almost felt sorry for Darius. “And from what I discovered earlier today,” he continued. “I’m not sure she’ll go with him if he gets to her.”
“Why not?”
“Her family is in trouble. It’s why her father is forcing her to marry.”
“Financial trouble?” Elizabeth recalled the reason Darius had gone looking for the temple in the Amazon.
“More like blackmail. He’s trying to locate the documents that will exonerate her father and free her.”
Elizabeth could see Roark was itching to join the action. “Are you going to help him look?”
