Making Mina 2: Strings Attached

by Graves, Tacie

  Or what she wouldn’t see.

  She could feel the walls closing in on her. She shifted from foot to foot nervously, waiting, waiting, waiting, but she wasn’t sure for what.

  “You left without saying goodbye.” Marco’s voice was flat, the words curiously distant.

  “I thought it was better that way.” Her voice didn’t crack and she was grateful for that. Her breathing was tight, her heart was racing. She raised a hand to push a curl out of her face and was amazed that it wasn’t shaking like a leaf. Long, muscular legs took a stride forward and cut the distance between them in half.

  “You were,” he paused again and she forced herself to look at him, “mistaken.”

  His calm infuriated her. How dare he come in here, to her office, to her world, and pull this kind of stunt? He might be used to all this King of the Universe crap, but she didn’t have to put up with it.

  “The only mistake I made,” she said, anger putting an edge in her voice, “was going home with you in the first place.” The look on his face changed minutely and she hurried on. “Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed myself. I did. I can honestly say I’ve never experienced anything like it before, but it was a mistake. Rebound madness. A one night stand.”

  Everything in the room grew still. She wasn’t even sure she was breathing. Marco held her gaze for a moment that stretched into another and another, longer and longer until she was almost dizzy with it. Then he stepped forward, crowding her back against her desk, the heat from him palpable even in the stuffy little room.

  “Come to dinner with me.”

  Mina sucked in a breath. Okay, she thought, her brain changing gears, not what I expected.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she managed, wincing at the breathy quality of her voice.

  “Oh, I think it would be a good idea,” Marco said, leaning forward a fraction and sending her pulse skyrocketing, “a very good idea.” His eyes glittered with heat. “You can’t tell me that you don’t want to—I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your breath. I bet that if I were to lift your skirt I’d find you soaked and ready for me.”

  Mina drew in another shaky breath, trying vainly to calm herself. One of his hands reached out, the long fingers that had given her such pleasure trailing down her side, lightly grazing her breast and then resting on her hip. It stopped there, grasping at the lightweight material of her skirt. He was right: wetness pooled between her legs as she remembered what those hands were capable of, and her nipples were tight in invitation, begging to be tugged and sucked. She shifted away from him, desperate to put distance, even an inch, between them.

  “This isn’t the place for this,” she tried. “Dr. Peabody…”

  “Fuck Dr. Peabody,” Marco snarled, sliding his hand possessively over her ass and pulling her tightly against him. “I’m not above a little exhibitionism, and unless you want your dear Dr. Peabody to see you taking a little more than dictation…” he ground his hips against her, his erection hot and heavy against her stomach, “you’ll agree to come to dinner with me.”

  Mina whimpered at his words, a flood of moisture soaking her panties. Her eyes fluttered closed and she breathed in the scent of him, every inch of her body aching for him to touch her.

  Marco was not going to take no for an answer, so Mina decided to accept the temporary defeat. “Okay,” she whispered, licking her dry lips, “I’ll come.”

  Marco growled next to her ear, his breath sending goose bumps down her arms. “I know you will.” His tongue darted out and traced the shell of her ear, causing her knees to buckle, but as soon as he made contact he withdrew. “I’ll pick you up at eight.” An instant later he was back across the office, nonchalantly examining the books on the shelves beside the door as Ivy and Dr. Peabody reappeared, babbling about papers and shipments and honorariums. Mina turned to face her desk, leaning heavily against it as she struggled to gather the tattered remains of her control.

  “Thank you for all your kind attentions,” Marco said, appearing as unruffled as ever. “Miss Hemingway has graciously agreed to accompany me to dinner tonight, so I will take these documents with me and we will look over them this evening.” He pushed himself away from the wall, reaching out to shake Dr. Peabody’s hand.

  “Well then,” the older man said with enthusiasm, “I’ll leave you in her care. I’m certain she will be able to address anything that comes up.” He stepped over and patted Mina on the shoulder. “Won’t you my dear?”

  Mina smiled wanly and nodded.

  “Absolutely,” she agreed, listening half-heartedly as Marco made his goodbyes. His eyes landed on her and she could see the determination there behind a façade of civility.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  Chapter Two

  “So, you’re telling me that the whole thing is nothing but a power play? Some big scam to get even with you for running out on him?”

  Mina flopped into an armchair covered in Finnish flowers.

  “I don’t know, Ivy,” she sighed, head flopping back. “What I do know is that it’s an unlikely coincidence. It’s the only thing that makes sense. I mean, yeah, sure, he has a collection of Etruscan art and the Oppen is as good a place as any to exhibit it, but really? Three days after a torrid romp in the sheets he appears in my office making ridiculous offers to make me Head Curator? Me? You know that isn’t how it works—Hell, I’ll be lucky if Santiago doesn’t penny my door shut when he hears that his position as Head Curator has been given over to a lowly grant writer.”

  Ivy pushed her chair back from the table, eyes intent.

  “None of this makes sense—including the torrid romp, if you don’t mind my saying—if he’s trying to make you look bad,” she said. “This is a man who runs a multi-billion dollar corporation. Coming in to the office singing your praises, agreeing to provide an exclusive collection to the museum as long as you are the one running the show… there’s just not enough downside to this scenario.” Mina could hear the wheels grinding away in Ivy’s head and smiled. She never could leave a puzzle alone. “All he’s managed to do, other than get a dinner date with you, is make you look really good. Dr. Peabody is so happy he’d have your name tattooed on his ass if you told him it would keep Mr. Genovese happy.”

  Mina couldn’t help laughing at the image, but it didn’t last long.

  “I know. Right now I’m his golden girl, but if this exhibit goes south then I’m going to be looking a lot less like the Girl from Ipanema, and a lot more like Bea Arthur.”

  Ivy grabbed her water bottle and took a long drink. “We just have to make sure that we get all the contracts in place up front. Once he’s committed—in writing—it won’t matter what happens between the two of you. The exhibit will be protected, and that means your position at the Oppen should be safe, too.”

  Mina blushed at the thought of what could happen between them, and Ivy gave her a stern little look.

  “Now that there’s a plan in place for the exhibit, you need to explain—in a little more detail, thank you very much—about how all this happened in the first place.”

  Nothing could budge Ivy once she got her teeth into something, so Mina didn’t try.

  “It’s like I told you. I was upset about Ethan, so I went down to Carlito’s with the idea of picking someone up and taking them home in front of all of Ethan’s co-workers.” Ivy’s heavily plucked eyebrows rose in surprise. Mina let out a groan of frustration, blonde curls flying everywhere. “I know, I know! I don’t know what I was thinking. It wasn’t like me at all, but I couldn’t help it. I think I was insane. All I could think of was how much I wanted to hurt him, or at the very least embarrass him, and you know what a bunch of backstabbing bitches he works with.” Ivy nodded and Mina went on. “When Marco showed up it was like the Universe had sent me the ultimate weapon. I couldn’t imagine anything that would piss Ethan off more than me, his frigid little cast-off, getting it off with Mr. Italian Club Med who wouldn’t give him, or his company,
the time of day.”

  The anger in her voice surprised even her. She thought she’d be able to let it go already but apparently Ethan’s betrayal cut deeper than she realized.

  “I can see the want to hurt Ethan part,” Ivy said as she took another drink, “I can even see the screwing Marco Genovese part.” Mina raised her eyebrows in return and Ivy gave an unladylike snort. “I may not have a boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a good-looking man when I see one.”

  No one could argue with that. Marco was definitely a good-looking man.

  “What I don’t understand,” she said, “is why a pick-up in a bar ended up with him playing Fairy Godfather at the museum today.”

  Ivy tucked a long, straight strand of hair behind her ear and set her bottle down. She fixed Mina with the same look that deciphered two thousand year old petroglyphs, and Mina squirmed amidst the Marimekko.

  “That’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question, you know? I admit it: I left without saying goodbye, but, so what? That’s not a crime. Men run out after one-night stands all the time.”

  Ivy didn’t say anything, so Mina went on.

  “What did he expect? Here he comes all sexy and Italian, touching me and kissing me and telling me he’s been waiting for me… I swear, if I’d been a little more drunk we’d probably have had sex before we even left the bar!”

  Ivy jerked up at that. “He took advantage of you because you were drunk? That’s terrible! I didn’t realize…”

  Mina held up a hand and headed off the rampaging Fury disguised as her best friend.

  “No, no, it wasn’t like that. I was tipsy, but I knew what I was doing. And he didn’t force anything; it was just kind of crazy. I mean, one minute I was explaining that Ethan was screwing someone else because I was frigid, and the next he’d managed to drag those fingers of his over half a dozen spots and turned me into a puddle of goo. Not even goo… it was like my insides were melting out between my legs—I’ve never been so turned on in my life, and I still don’t know how he did it! I had zero control. Zero! Four years with Ethan and I never felt like that, and with him, what? Fifteen minutes and I’m agreeing to go home with him? It was insane.”

  Confusion replaced anger on Ivy’s face.

  “Let me see if I understand this. You wanted to pick someone up. You went to Ethan’s favorite bar to do it so you could maximize the gossip potential. Marco Genovese came in, let you pick him up, took you home with him, made you come your brains out, and in the morning when he expected you to stay, you snuck out without so much as ‘goodbye.’ Then, he tracks you down at work and instead of telling you off for running out on him, he offers you the opportunity of a lifetime, possibly making your career. The career, may I remind you, that you tossed away when you decided to marry the son-of-a-bitch who started this fun house ride by cheating on you?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Of course--it’s all so clear to me now! How dare he be so nice to you?”

  Mina flushed. “When you say it like that it sounds stupid, but you have to understand. I had to leave. I had to.”

  Ivy pushed away from the table, shaking her head.

  “I understand,” she said. “I understand that you’ve spent four years being an emotional punching bag for that asshole Ethan, and when a real man comes along, someone capable of getting through that wall you’ve built up around yourself, you’re so scared of making another mistake you don’t realize it might just be the best thing that could happen to you.”

  She walked around the corner of the table and stood in front of Mina.

  “Be honest. If I told you a story about a guy picking up a girl in a bar—someone who really liked him—who, after a night of hot and heavy action, crept away in the early morning without a word, what would you think?”

  Mina scooted to the edge of the seat, and buried her face in her hands.

  “I’d think he was a right bastard who deserved to have his ass kicked.”

  Ivy patted her arm. “Right. So now we know where you are. What about Marco Genovese? Do you think this exhibit deal is really some complicated method of getting even?”

  Mina looked at it from every angle she could. Would Marco really go to such lengths to get even? Yes. Would he be this underhanded about it? Fear warred with logic for a minute, but logic won out. Marco might be ruthless, but if he wanted to destroy someone’s career, he’d be much more direct about it. If he wanted to make you suffer, you’d suffer and know exactly who was causing it and why.

  “I don’t think so. I can’t know for certain, but honestly, it doesn’t seem like his style.”

  Ivy looked thoughtful for a moment.

  “How much does he know about you? Did he know that you didn’t finish your degree because you were getting married?”

  He knows more than he should, Mina thought.

  “He told me he’d asked about me after the party Ethan’s office threw. And he obviously knows enough to show up in our office, so yes, he probably knows about my questionable academic decisions. I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” It was a touchy subject for Mina, one she and Ivy had argued about more than enough in the past. “It isn’t like he’s sending me back to school. I’m telling you, this isn’t just some noble gesture on his part. He’s holding this exhibit, and your career, and Dr. Peabody’s career over my head, either because he wants to punish me for walking out on him, or because he wants me back in his bed. Either way I’m screwed.”

  She flopped back into the chair with a defiant look on her face, trying not to think about what being screwed by Marco Genovese might entail.

  Ivy cocked her head to one side and wondered. It wasn’t like Mina to over-react. If she had to guess, she’d say Mr. Marco Genovese had gotten a lot farther under her friend’s skin than she was willing to admit. There was no point in pushing it, though. Only time would tell.

  “Well, since you put it that way I only have one thing left to say.” Ivy let her hair fall back down over her face to hide her smile, as she walked out of their living room.

  Mina looked after her warily. “And what is that, perchance?”

  Ivy stopped at the door to her bedroom and turned. A little bright eye peeped out and Mina knew she was in trouble.

  “It’s ten after seven and you have less than an hour to get ready for dinner.” She grinned at the look of panic that spread across Mina’s face as she bolted up out of her chair. “I have a kick-ass little black dress if you’d like to borrow it.”

  Chapter Three

  “I believe that covers it.”

  Mina slid the last contract into its file with trembling hands and prayed for the evening to end. Dinner had been excruciating; the food was excellent, the wine luxurious, the service exquisite, and Mina? Mina was in hell.

  Marco had arrived at Ivy’s house in the outskirts of Miami precisely at eight. He presented her with a file that was at least an inch thick full of pictures and photocopies of documents pertaining to the Genovese collection. For fifteen long minutes Mina had stood in her borrowed finery—tight black with more buckles than a Pilgrim convention—without Marco saying so much as, “Hello.” Well, at least not to her. With Ivy he was charm itself.

  “Excellent,” Marco said, refilling the wine glasses. “You have been most,” he paused as if searching for the word, “diligent.” His eyes skimmed over her, never meeting her gaze. Mina felt two spots of color burn high on her cheekbones. This is ridiculous, she thought angrily. He’s acting like nothing happened between us. She grabbed her glass from him and downed a hasty gulp. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but this wasn’t it.

  You knew what you expected, the voice in her head whispered. You expected him to have his hand up your skirt before the appetizer course was over. You’re just disappointed that he’s been all business. You must not have made as much of an impression on him as you thought.

  Mina’s hand shook a little more as she thought about Marco tracing his fingers along the inside of her thigh, sliding
higher and higher, and she put her glass down with a snap.

  “Is everything alright?” He inquired his face blandly polite. “You seem a trifle distressed.”

  “Everything is fine,” she said. “And I am not distressed. It’s just a little warm in here.” A corkscrew curl had escaped the knot she’d wrestled her hair into with Ivy’s assistance and she brushed it out of her face. Marco’s gaze traveled over her skin and she felt like she was burning up.

  “Since we’ve covered all of the requirements from the museum’s end, is there anything else that you would like to discuss? Any other concerns you might have?” She smiled so widely her cheeks hurt, but she’d be damned if she let him see how nervous she was. “Once the contracts are in place, everything else usually follows like clockwork, but I want to make sure you’re satisfied with the arrangements.”

  Marco’s eyes finally met hers, holding her gaze for a long, silent moment.

  “Contracts are very important,” he said finally. “Verbal agreements are too easy to break.”

  Mina winced at the hardness in his tone.

  And here it comes, she thought. At least he already signed the contracts for the museum. Even if he decided to throw her off the project, Ivy and Dr. Peabody should be fine.

  “Verbal agreements only work between equals,” Mina said, hoping the subtext was clear enough to make him back off. She wasn’t going to allow this man, no matter how good he was in bed, to dictate her behavior. “There has to be trust before the parties involved can accept things at face value.”

  Mina watched the handsome face across the table darken, and she knew she’d offended him somehow.

  “Trust is hard to come by. But then, some people simply throw trust away.” His lip twisted in a ghost of a sneer. “Apparently preferring to take what they can get and then cut their losses.”

  Mina couldn’t believe him—making it out like she’d taken advantage of him. Honestly! Like she could have made him do a damned thing he didn’t want to do. She leaned across the table and pointed a finger at him.