by Leanne Banks
He was suddenly too far away and she suddenly couldn’t wait a minute longer to be close to him. She moved closer and he immediately pulled her onto his lap. Skimming his hands over her naked, wet body underwater, he lowered his head and took her mouth in a sensual kiss that made her breathless.
He touched the tips of her breasts and kissed her again. “I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“Oh, no,” she said, her brain muddled by his effect on her.
“It’s not so bad. I’ve been thinking that you and I should make our arrangement permanent.”
Confusion warred with arousal. She frowned. “Permanent,” she echoed.
He played with her nipples again, short-circuiting her thought process. “I think we should get married.”
Shock raced through her and she gawked at him. “Married? I—I—”
He shot her a half grin before he took her mouth again, his hands distracting her. “Think it over,” he murmured against her mouth. “Later.”
Awakening the next morning to the sound of Damien in the shower, Emma stretched, feeling the aftereffects of Damien’s repeated lovemaking. She covered her face with the sheet when she thought of how uninhibited she’d been.
Shaking off her self-consciousness, she rose from his bed and pulled on the nightgown she’d never worn last night and went into the kitchen to make coffee. The scent of fresh coffee in a timed maker told her she was too late for that.
She poured herself a cup and added sugar and milk, then gingerly sipped the hot liquid. Hearing the scream of a fax machine, she walked down the hallway and opened the door to an office. A large cherry desk dominated the room lit by three-quarter length windows covered with linen shades.
The fax machine continued to scream and she heard a rustle of paper. Emma rearranged the paper in case it was jammed. Seconds later, several sheets flew onto the floor. Although she wasn’t trying to read the fax, her gaze snagged on the name Max De Luca. Quickly scanning the document, she gleaned that it was a report with references to Max’s late half brother.
Damien appeared in the doorway, already dressed in black slacks, his shirt not yet buttoned. He lifted a dark eyebrow of inquiry.
“I heard a strange noise from the fax machine. It sounded jammed, so I tried to clear it. What is this about Max De Luca?”
Damien walked toward her and she handed him the papers. “It’s a report. I had him investigated. It’s not unusual.”
“But this mentions his brother. Well, the brother that died. Tony,” she said, still confused.
Damien read over the paper. “It appears that Tony briefly worked for MD and stole some money from the company. One of the company attorneys was determined to prosecute. This says Max De Luca not only paid Tony’s debt, he also paid the attorney to keep quiet and accept a transfer. Wonder what the board would think of this.”
Emma gasped. “You wouldn’t tell them, would you? I can’t imagine why you would. It doesn’t have anything to do with the downsizing.”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “Always protective of Max and Alex,” he said in a velvet voice with an undertone of bitterness. “Don’t worry. This is between Max and me.”
Confused, she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
He thumped the paper with his forefinger. “No. You wouldn’t. You remember the story I told you about how my grandfather lost the family home in a business deal where he was cheated?”
“Yes,” she said, wondering where this was going.
“Max De Luca’s grandfather was the man who cheated my grandfather. My family home is a Megalos-De Luca resort.”
“Oh, no,” she said, horrified by the connection. Her mind and heart racing, she reached out to him. “That’s horrible.” She could hardly believe it. “I can’t believe Max knows about this. He truly is an honorable man.”
“Some might not agree,” Damien said, tapping the papers that gave damning evidence.
Her stomach tightened in apprehension. “But you wouldn’t use that against him because of something his grandfather did.” A long moment of silence passed and she felt a terrible sense of dread. “Would you?”
“Three generations of my family have suffered in some part due to what the De Lucas did to my grandfather,” he told her.
His harsh expression made her feel as if she were looking at a different man than the Damien she’d come to know. “How long have you known this?” she asked, trying to make sense of it all. “Why did you accept this assignment if you hated him so—” She broke off, suddenly realizing that Damien had taken the job with revenge in mind.
Emma felt as if her world had been turned upside down. If Damien was so consumed with revenge, where did she fit into the plot? He’d known she was protective of Max and Alex. He’d known…
Realization broke through. Her mind flashed back to that time when she’d told Damien about Max’s and Alex’s vulnerabilities. He’d used that information to dig deeper into Max’s situation with his half brother. She’d given him the clue and he’d run with it.
Nausea swept through her. “You were just using me.”
“Just as you were using me. Do you think I didn’t know that you went to Alex and Max every time I told you something important?”
Humiliation stung. Overwhelmed, she shook her head. “I was doing my job.”
“You tried to spy on me,” he said.
The truth hurt, but her heart hurt even more. “I almost thought you cared about me.”
“The irony is that I do, and I know you care about me. The situation is unfortunate.”
“And you mentioned marriage last night. How could you even begin to think we could have a successful marriage?”
“You thought we could, too,” he said. “Admit it.”
Never, she thought. “I would never marry you, because I’d only marry for love, and you’re not capable of it.”
Thirteen
Damien tried to reason with Emma, but she recoiled at his touch. Concerned for her emotional state, he insisted on calling his driver to take her home. She left his condo without a backward glance.
The way she’d looked at him, as if he were a monster, sliced at his gut, but he pushed it aside. He had what he needed to bring down Max De Luca. For the sake of his family, he couldn’t stop now.
Damien decided, however, that he wanted an opportunity to talk with Max before he took his final action. Giving his assistant a call, he was immediately put through to Max, and the VP agreed to meet with him.
He carried the report sealed in an envelope in his inner jacket pocket. In a way, he may as well have been carrying a loaded weapon. Max’s assistant informed him of Damien’s presence and he was ushered inside the VP’s richly appointed office.
“Good morning, Damien,” Max said. “Sarah, can you get us some coffee please? How do you take yours?”
“Black,” Damien said.
Max nodded. “Same. Please have a seat,” he said, motioning toward the leather chairs and sofa on the opposite side of the room as the desk. The magnificent view from the floor-to-ceiling windows revealed the mountains in the distance.
“Nice view,” Damien said. It occurred to Damien that Max had never spent a day of his life outside the lap of luxury, a life far different than that of his family.
“I prefer the mountains to the strip. More serene.”
Sarah delivered the coffee and excused herself.
“I understand employees who are being laid off will receive the news tomorrow?” Max asked, taking a sip of his coffee. “I have to confess I was against you from the beginning. Your reputation precedes you. When I look at the new organizational chart, however, it looks as if you skillfully used a scalpel instead of a hatchet.”
Surprised by the praise, he nodded. “There is a right way and a wrong way to reorganize. Sometimes it takes an objective eye to spot redundancies and stay current with changing economies and needs.”
“It’s a painful process, but I think you made it as humane as possible. So, what do yo
u have going next?”
The conversation felt surreal. Damien was talking to the man he’d targeted for most of his life. He worked to access his contempt for the man, but for some reason it wasn’t as strong as before.
“I may take some time off. I have a brother in Florida who is always bugging me to visit him.”
Max lifted his eyebrows. “Time off? You don’t strike me as the type. I know I wasn’t until I got married. Lilli changed my priorities. Hell,” he said. “She changed my life.”
“The love of a good woman,” Damien said.
Max nodded. “Yeah, although I would have been the last man to believe it was possible. Being a father will turn you around, too.”
Silence lingered for a moment. “I’m curious,” Damien said. “Did you know your grandfather well?”
“No. I do know that he was very focused on the company. He was determined to expand the empire, so to speak. My father had his own issues. It was left to me to try to rebuild the De Luca name. I had a half brother, but that’s another sad story. What makes you ask?”
“Are you familiar with the MD Chateau on the outside of Florence, Italy?” Damien watched Max’s face carefully.
Max furrowed his brow in concentration. “It’s not in the city? Right?”
“No. It’s in the countryside.”
“I have a vague recollection, but I don’t think I’ve ever visited it.” He lifted his hand and met Damien’s gaze. “Why? Is there a problem with it?”
“More the way it was acquired,” he said.
“Okay,” Max replied, leaning forward, lacing his fingers together. “What do you know about it?”
“I know that Chateau Megalos-De Luca was once Chateau de Medici and it belonged to my grandfather.”
Fifteen minutes later, Damien walked out of Max De Luca’s office feeling much different than he had going in. He stepped into the elevator thinking that Max De Luca had actually been somewhat reasonable. The damning report about the man felt as if it were burning a hole in his coat pocket.
Damien had spent most of his life fighting one thing or another, the loss of his family, an abusive foster parent, and poverty. He’d always thought that taking down Max De Luca would rid him of one of his biggest demons at the same time it would help right the wrong done to his grandfather.
Now that he had the chance to do it, his appetite for revenge had fled. It wasn’t that Max De Luca was Mr. Nice Guy, because he wasn’t. During that conversation with Max, though, Damien had seen glimpses of himself in the man he’d been prepared to hate.
Max was a family man. His top priority was taking care of his family. That was why he’d protected his half brother. Max’s growing-up situation didn’t sound all that rosy, either. His eyes lit up when he mentioned his wife and baby.
Exiting the elevator, Damien couldn’t squelch his envy at the man’s personal happiness. He couldn’t help thinking about Emma and how he felt when he was with her. Just her presence made the world seem better. It was odd as hell, but she made him want to be better.
Swearing under his breath, he walked into his private office and paced the length of it. He pulled the envelope out of his pocket and stared at it. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for most of his life. He had the gun and the bullet. All he had to do was pull the trigger.
Five minutes later, he’d made his decision and his deed, as far as he was concerned, was done. Hearing the door to the office suite open, he glanced into the outer office, surprised to see Emma.
His heart stuttered in his chest. “I didn’t expect you to come in,” he said.
She met his gaze, her eyes colder than ice. “I made an agreement. I try very hard to keep my word.”
She slid into her chair and turned on her computer. She clearly hated him. The knowledge stabbed at him. The pain he felt took him by surprise. How had she become so important to him? He’d thought he had everything under control.
“I’ve done some thinking about our agreement,” he said.
She shot him a look of suspicion, but said nothing.
“I’m terminating it effective immediately.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “I don’t know how long it will take me to pay you back that kind of money, but—”
He lifted his hand. “You fulfilled your part of the agreement. You owe me nothing.”
“But—” She lifted her hand to her throat. “But you said a year.”
“I changed my mind,” he said, giving her a wry smile. “Billionaire’s prerogative. I can’t buy your loyalty or your trust. I’m not sure I would want to if I could.” He shrugged. “I’m cleaning out my office. I’ve finished this project. You can take off the rest of the day. Except one thing,” he said. “I’d like you to make sure the paper in the shredder basket is destroyed.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Okay. Would you like me to do that now?”
“Yes, I would,” he said and stepped aside so she could go into his office to collect the basket. He caught a draft of her subtle, sweet scent as she passed him and clenched his jaw. He would never hold her again.
“Where do you want me to take it?” she asked.
“Somewhere off-site,” he said.
She dipped her head in surprise.
“It’s the report on Max De Luca,” he said.
Her jaw dropped and she looked at him in surprise, followed by hope, followed by confusion. Clearing her throat, she licked her lips and nodded. “I’ll take care of it right away,” she said softly.
“Thank you,” he said, meeting her gaze for a long moment, his mind replaying the times she’d smiled at him, the times she’d come to him and kissed him, the time they’d talked about wishes, and she’d made him start wishing again.
She looked away. “Thank you,” she finally said. “For everything.”
“Goodbye,” he said, more for himself than for her. She was never going to be his. Never.
Emma considered stopping to throw the shredded report away at a mall, a service station, a fast-food restaurant. None seemed right, so she drove all the way to her apartment.
She was in shock, numb. She’d been so furious earlier this morning when she’d realized he’d used her. Furious with him for pointing out her deception with him. She considered her so-called spying assignment with Damien to be the lowest thing she’d ever done.
Then when she’d learned he had information he planned to use against Max, information she’d helped him find, she hadn’t known who she detested more, Damien or herself.
It had taken everything in her to show up for work. She had to stick to the agreement for her mother’s sake. She was fully prepared to despise him and resent him for the rest of her life.
But then he’d let her off the hook. No reprisals, no you-owe-me, nothing. On top of that, telling her to destroy the remnants of the report about Max totally boggled her mind. She didn’t know what to think or feel.
Parking her car in the paved parking lot, she walked inside her apartment to get some matches and a pitcher of water. She returned to the parking lot, dumped the contents of the bin onto the pavement and burned them. Staring into the fire, she wondered what had made Damien decide not to go after Max. She wondered what had changed his mind.
As Damien had instructed, she took off the rest of the day. She caught up on cleaning her apartment and doing laundry, turned on the television for a while, then turned it off. Fighting a bone-deep restlessness, she escaped her apartment and visited a park.
She saw a couple and thought of Damien. She saw a golden retriever and thought of Damien. Frustrated with herself, she went to a movie by herself, a foreign film, French. Surely that would distract her. Except midway through the movie, an Italian character was introduced. She began to feel haunted.
Bedtime finally arrived and Emma crawled into bed, craving escape from Damien. Instead, she dreamed of him. She dreamed he died and she woke up in a cold sweat, screaming.
Hugging her knees to her chest, she gasped for
breath. Something had changed, she realized. Without really knowing it, some part of her had begun to count on him. She’d been so busy doubting him, but something inside her had made another determination about him.
Her heart? Somehow, someway, she had begun to love him.
Her stomach twisted with the realization and she laughed, the harsh, bitter sound breaking the silence of the night. How futile was that? she thought. If ever a man was incapable of love, it was Damien.
Damien missed his next shot. He was winning against his brother, but not by much.
Rafe downed a shot of tequila and made a hissing sound. “You’re off your game, bro,” he said and chalked the cue.
“I’m doing okay,” Damien said, taking a sip of scotch.
“Got something on your mind?” Rafe asked, banking a shot that just missed the pocket. “Damn,” he muttered and raked his hand through his hair. “What’s up? You’ve been walking around crabby and distracted since you got here.”
Damien shrugged. “This was a big contract. Sometimes it takes awhile to wind down.” He took a shot against another ball. And missed. He swore under his breath.
“Sounds like BS to me,” Rafe said. He took a shot and sank it into the pocket. “Score,” he said, then missed the next one.
Damien gritted his teeth and lined up his next shot.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with that pretty assistant you brought onboard when you visited South Beach a few weeks ago, would it?”
Damien scratched the table with his cue and glared at his brother for his bad timing. “I wouldn’t go there if I were you.”
“Why not?” Rafe asked. “If I keep pushing on that raw place, I may win. Then I can hold it over your head for years.”
“In your dreams,” Damien said.
Rafe chuckled but missed his next shot.
Damien swallowed a growl and chalked his cue.
“She must not have liked you. Did she dump you?” Rafe taunted.
Damien clenched his jaw, then forced himself to relax.
“Did she decide she wanted a man with a heart and brains?”
