“I’d think that would be complicated.”
Ty chuckled. “No, I think it would be simple. Simpler than a fake date with benefits.” He stopped in front of her house and fixed a look on her that was so intense that she simmered. He reached for her hand, and his fingers closed over hers. “What do you think, Amy?”
“I’m surprised,” she admitted, because she was caught off guard by the turmoil his question launched inside her. On the one hand, she wanted to accept. On the other, her forbidden fantasies weren’t going to go away anytime soon. She had to believe that they’d ultimately drive Ty away.
“I’m not,” he said. “I knew from the moment you started to tell me off that I was in deep trouble.” His gaze was locked on hers and she was keenly aware of how close they were together.
Amy caught her breath. She tugged her hand from his. “I don’t think I can, Ty.”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s someone else. It’s complicated. I don’t want to break my promise to you about the weddings, but I can’t just abandon him. I need to see it through, even though I don’t know where it’s going. It might not go anywhere, but I have to finish what I started.”
There she’d said it, and not well.
Ty straightened and his eyes narrowed and for a moment, Amy had an intriguing glimpse of the domineering billionaire book boyfriend in him. “Someone else,” he echoed, clearly incredulous.
“Someone else.” Amy forced a smile but she felt awful. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it mattered since ours was just an arrangement. If we’d really been dating, I would have broken this off ages ago.”
Ty appeared to be stunned.
Amy guessed that he didn’t get turned down very often.
“So, um, thanks for today. I really appreciated you coming, and I’ll return the favor next weekend.”
He didn’t say a word.
She thought he was just shocked but when he turned to face her, she saw that his jaw was clenched. “Who is he?”
“I don’t think that really matters,” Amy said. “You wouldn’t know him. Not in your social circle at all.”
Ty’s eyes narrowed. “Amy…”
If he tried to change her mind, if he touched her or kissed her or did that thing with his thumb, Amy was pretty sure he would convince her to choose him. But it would be only for the short-term and it would hurt more when it came to its inevitable end.
When she disappointed him.
She was trying to do the right thing. Why was it so hard?
Amy flung open the car door, not waiting for him to come around to open it. If he touched her, she’d be lost. “I’m sorry, Ty. Good night.”
She was running away and she knew it, but Amy couldn’t see another option. Her hand shook as she got out her keys, but she didn’t look back. She could feel Ty watching her, his gaze practically boring a hole in her back, but he’d get over it. He didn’t like being declined. No one did. But he’d find someone else easily.
Amy didn’t think that Matteo had the same advantage.
He needed someone to believe in him. It might not be enough to matter, but she was going to try, just like her dad always tried. She had to trust the power of their connection, or at least give it a chance.
Amy shut the door behind herself and leaned back against it, fighting a sense that she’d just done a cowardly thing. She felt all mixed up, and reminded herself that it was only natural that she find Ty attractive. He had everything.
Even the fact that he wanted her didn’t mean that she was the woman for him.
And that was when she knew exactly what scene her book was missing.
She kicked off her shoes and fed Fitzwilliam. She got her laptop and typed like a madwoman at the kitchen table.
Argenta had to heal Lothair with her trust.
“You have yet to learn the lesson taught by pain,” I said softly, feeling her still. I knew she watched me. “You have yet to learn that there is more to fear from the presence of others than their absence.”
I stirred up the fire in the brazier, feeding it until the flames leaped high. I tugged the signet ring from my finger, the gold one that indicated my rank as heir. I placed it upon a hook, one used to hold a vessel of wine or milk while it heated, and dipped it into the flames. It was not long until the metal began to glow. I knew Argenta watched me intently.
“I pledged to teach you of pain,” I said, through my teeth. “Pain has shaped me and I have shown you how. You are right that I was cut, I was shackled, and I was burned. Perhaps I was too gentle with the wax for you to heed my lesson. Let us return to burn.” I lifted the hook from the flame and the ring glowed hot. I donned my glove as I carried the ring toward her.
Her gaze flicked between it and my face, but her defiant expression didn’t change. She glared at me, defying me to do it, to prove myself to be that I was less than she believed me to be.
I would take her dare.
I donned the glove. She didn’t flinch.
I took the ring between finger and thumb, and the heat passed even through the leather. She lifted her chin.
I placed the ring over her breast, planning to Mark her where the brand of my insignia would always be seen.
She stared at me, proud and defiant.
Trusting.
I moved the ring over her flesh, choosing my spot. The skin turned rosy even when the hot metal was close, but Argenta kept her chin high and her gaze locked upon my face. Her confidence was absolute.
And confronted with the steely challenge in her eyes, I realized she was right.
I couldn’t do it.
I spun and flung the ring across the chamber, not caring where it fell. I cast the glove aside, and removed her gag with rough gestures. I kissed her hungrily as I unfastened her bonds, my hands shaking with my need to possess this warrior maiden who had stolen my heart, against all odds.
By mirroring my truth in her relentless gaze.
I wasn’t surprised in the least that she welcomed me, meeting me touch for touch, driving me onward until we were consumed together in the storm we had built.
* * *
No?
No?
Ty drove back downtown, more furious than he’d been in a long time. Maybe ever. Amy had turned him down? Ty could live with that, but he knew she’d chosen Matteo, a loser with a jail record, over him. He knew Amy was smarter than that.
He could have changed her mind. He could have overwhelmed her with his touch, followed her into the house, persuaded her to surrender to him. But she said no and no meant no.
No matter how much it pissed him off.
This wasn’t over, not by a long shot.
Ty knew that Amy liked to help people. In hindsight, he saw that he’d created Matteo to be a little too much in need of a good woman. He’d tried to solve things for Amy, in the mode of Mr. Darcy making all come right for Elizabeth, never anticipating that she’d choose the rogue Wickham in the end.
That wasn’t how the story ended.
Ty had seen it enough times to be sure.
It wasn’t how this one should end either.
He parked in the entrance to the private garage, still simmering, and tossed the keys to Joe, who owned it. The older man watched him, undoubtedly discerning his mood. “I shouldn’t park it tonight, Joe,” Ty said and Joe smiled.
“No problem, Mr. T. You know, my boy Noah is home from college this weekend. He’s coming in at midnight to give me a break.”
“He’s a good kid, Joe.” Ty took a steadying breath.
“And he loves this car.” Joe ran an appreciative hand over the hood. “If you don’t mind, I’ll leave it for him to park.”
“I don’t mind. Tell him to take it around the block first.”
“You were always good to Noah, Mr. T. If it weren’t for that summer job you gave him at F5, I don’t think he’d be going to college.”
“Noah’s smart, Joe. I always said we’d all be working for him one of these days.”
>
Joe chuckled, his pride in his son more than clear.
Ty was still riled as he rode the elevator to his apartment. He knew it would take a hundred laps to calm him down. Maybe that wouldn’t even work. How could he convince Amy? She had to know how good they were together. She couldn’t really believe that Matteo could offer her a future.
He refused for the moment to consider that he was also Matteo, and how deeply screwy that was.
He’d played it all wrong, and that was a good part of what made him so mad. He couldn’t blame Kyle for giving him bad advice. This situation was entirely his own making and he had to make it right.
The burner phone was still on the counter. Of course. Ty flicked the door shut and marched toward it, hesitated only a moment, then turned it on.
Two more missed calls.
His lips tightened.
Then the phone rang right in his hand.
Ty glared at it.
Here was his chance to kill Matteo, for once and for all.
Ty unlocked the door of his balcony and stepped outside, cleared his throat, and answered Amy’s call.
* * *
Amy sat back.
She read the scene again. She knew truth when it fell out of her fingertips.
It was perfect. It was romantic and ideal and just so perfect.
Jade would love it.
Amy seized her phone and called Matteo again. She got up to pace in the kitchen. She’d called so many times that she wasn’t really expecting him to answer.
She jumped when he did.
“Angel,” he said in his deep dangerous tone and she sat down hard. “You should not call me.”
“I needed to know that you were all right.” She could hear the faint sound of traffic and wondered where he was.
“I have been better.”
“I need to see you…” she began but he interrupted her.
“No.”
“But I can help.”
“You cannot help. I am running, Angel, because I have been betrayed again.”
“I told you before that I can help. You should come here.”
“No!”
“You’re protecting me, and that’s sweet, but we have to work together…”
“Sweet?” he snarled. “I am not sweet, Angel. I play games at F5 and give women what they want, but it is a game. I might have played it longer with you, but it was always a game and it was always going to end.”
“Not necessarily,” she argued.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You are tempting. You are a little tease. You could never satisfy me.” His voice dropped lower. “No one woman can.”
“Maybe you should try being with one woman before you decide that.”
He laughed harshly, then caught his breath. “No,” he whispered and she knew he wasn’t talking to her. He swore in Spanish, then his breath worked as if he was running.
“Matteo? What’s going on?” Amy stood up, clutching the phone. “Matteo?”
He roared as if in pain, then his voice grew more distant. The sound of traffic grew louder and there was a sound like rushing air as Matteo’s cry faded away.
Amy jumped at the crash of the phone impacting something.
Then the connection was lost.
She called again immediately, but the line rang busy.
Amy sat down at her kitchen table, horrified. What had happened to Matteo?
* * *
Ty knew as soon as he heard the phone hit.
No. Not his car.
It had been irresponsible to throw the phone, and he knew as much, but he was so livid with Amy that he hadn’t considered his choice more than to chuck the phone in the direction of the roof of Joe’s garage. There was never anyone there.
He’d been hoping it would hit the pavement and shatter.
But as soon as it left his hand, he knew his aim was off.
When the phone crashed on something metal. Ty knew what it had to be. He winced and leaned over the railing to look.
Sure enough, the silver roof of his car had a dark star on it now.
Shit.
Joe was standing beside the car, frozen in horror. He looked up and Ty knew he had to go down and reassure the older man.
Admit it was his own fault.
One thing was for sure. He’d smash that fucking burner phone to cinders first.
Then he’d make this right.
The truth would be told, in all its horrible glory, and the game would be done.
* * *
Someone knocked on Amy’s door hard about half an hour after she talked to Matteo. It was past midnight and the sound echoed through the house with force.
But Matteo didn’t know where she lived.
She ran to the living room and looked out the window. Ty’s car was parked in front of the house, the engine running. Why was he back?
She opened the front door, only to find him waiting with obvious impatience on her doorstep. He’d loosened his tie and looked positively wrinkled, his gaze snapping as it swept over her. His hands were balled in his trouser pockets and he looked more furious than she’d ever seen him.
She felt bad for having turned him down.
“I’m sorry,” he said tightly. “I’m sorry to be back in the middle of the night, but I owe you an apology and it can’t wait even if you don’t want to hear it. It’s not one I’m going to deliver over the phone.”
Amy watched him, thinking how hot he was when he was intent like this. “Okay.”
“I deceived you. That wasn’t my plan, but that’s how it worked out, and then I couldn’t tell you the truth because I was sure you’d be angry with me and I didn’t want to risk you walking away. You would have been right to be angry. You’d be right to be angry now. I fucked up.” He shoved a hand through his hair and glared at her. “I never meant to lie to you. I never meant for it to go so far.”
Another f-bomb. This was serious. Amy leaned in the door frame and crossed her arms across her chest. Her heart was racing. It would be so easy to drag him inside and have her way with him, or let him have his way with her, but if there was a next time, it had to be right. “Should I understand what you’re talking about?”
Ty pulled his hand from his pocket, then took her hand and pressed something into her palm. Something small and metal. He kept his hand locked over hers so she couldn’t look. “I couldn’t let any other guy do that to you,” he murmured. “I’m sorry I lied about it.”
Then Ty stepped back, watching her. Amy opened her hand to find the earrings she’d lost at F5 cradled in her palm. She frowned. “But how could you have had them? I left them at F5…”
She blinked. Matteo had said he had them.
She looked up at Ty, her lips parting. Matteo was about the same height as Ty. His shoulders were the same breadth. His eyes were green.
And now that Ty’s mouth was a taut line, the similarity was striking.
“I kept them for you,” Ty said tightly. “I thought they were important to you and didn’t want anyone else to take them from the lost and found.”
Amy still couldn’t believe what he was telling her. “But that…”
“It means I was Matteo,” he said, then his voice dropped lower and he spoke with a Spanish accent. “Angel.”
Amy gasped in astonishment and heat surged through her.
Ty was Matteo.
Matteo was Ty.
She didn’t have to choose.
Amy could have it all.
Relief nearly took her to her knees, a thousand details and impressions suddenly making perfect sense. Ty was Matteo. He’d been the one to touch her at F5. She’d called him to talk dirty.
And he’d done it so very well.
Oh.
Ty looked away again, his annoyance clear. “You’re probably really pissed off at me, and I don’t blame you for that, but if you could ever give me a chance again, you know where to find me.” He gave her a hard look and she wondered how she’d missed the truth.
> “I would do anything to make this right, Amy. Anything.” He turned away then and strode back toward his car, as if he had no expectations of a reprieve.
“It’s cute how protective you are,” Amy said.
Ty granted her a smoldering look over the top of his car, which had a dent it hadn’t had before. “Cute,” he repeated with precision, his opinion of that adjective clear.
“Adorable, then.”
“I am not adorable,” he growled.
“You must be.” Amy smiled. “Because I adore you.” She took a deep breath. “Cuore mio.”
Ty froze.
“What does that mean?” he asked softly.
Amy raised a fist to her chest. “My heart.”
Ty stared at her.
“It’s what you call your beloved in the language of love and romance.” Amy smiled despite the lump in her throat. “It was always you, my own colpo di fulmine. I just didn’t want to disappoint you, with my wicked fantasies.”
“They’re very naughty.”
“They are.”
Ty began to smile slowly as he strolled back toward Amy, his gaze locked upon hers. “But they have a certain appeal.”
“Do they?”
“Absolutely.” He paused in front of her, then took her hand in his. “There’s a kind of nexus where what you like meets what I like, and it’s very hot.”
“Very,” Amy agreed and swallowed.
“Say I’m cute again and I take no responsibility for the consequences,” Ty warned her.
Amy smiled. “Are you suggesting that would be naughty?”
“Very naughty,” he agreed, surveying her with a hungry smile. His expression made her want. “Very, very naughty.”
“Maybe you’ll have to do something about that.”
“Maybe?” Ty framed her face in his hands then lifted her to her toes. His grip was possessive, tender and tough all at once, and Amy loved it. “I’d say definitely, cuore mio.”
Amy loved how the words sounded on his lips. “Your place or mine?” she asked, hearing how breathless she was.
“Lady’s choice. Always.”
“But the lady has chosen. The rest is just detail.”
“Mine,” Ty said with a satisfactory vehemence. He bent to whisper in her ear, and his words sent shivers down her spine. “I want you in my bed this time.” Then he claimed her with a kiss that made her heart soar and her blood boil.
Simply Irresistible Page 28
