Sam gulped and glanced around Dominic’s spacious office at Hardcastle Enterprises. What on earth would he say if he knew she’d also slept with Louis? Tarrant’s first son was highly principled, to the point where he’d at first rejected his father out of hand, disgusted by the man who’d abandoned his mother and neglected his responsibilities.
“What time’s he coming?” Amado had flown up from Argentina to meet his new brother, and was clearly excited.
“He’ll be here any minute,” she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Dominic surprised her by crossing the room to take her in his arms for a hug. Though standoffish and reluctant to join either the family or the corporation at first—to her great pride and happiness, he’d become their enthusiastic leader. “Sam, you do realize that none of us would be here without you. You’re a miracle.”
She laughed off his compliment. “Don’t be silly. It was all Tarrant’s idea.”
“You can say that all you like. We know better.”
“You’re the mother of all of us, Sam,” said Amado, while crunching a crudité. “Whether you like it or not.” His mischievous grin revealed how happy he was to be here, though at first, he’d refused to even meet his famous father.
Sam blanched. Of course he had no idea how deep his well-meant comment cut her. “Oh, don’t be silly.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’m more like your sister.”
Not that being Louis’s sister even by marriage made sleeping with him any more excusable.
“In age, yes, but in wisdom and caring? No. You’re our mom.” Amado wrapped his arm affectionately around her shoulders and squeezed.
Warmth flooded Sam and made tears well in her eyes. Honestly, she did feel maternal affection for these strong and capable young men.
So how had things gone so horribly wrong with Louis?
Her feelings for him were anything but maternal.
Sam almost jumped out of her skin as the door to Dominic’s office opened. Fiona, Tarrant’s daughter from his second marriage, marched in. “Louis DuLac has arrived in reception. He’s on his way up.”
“Oh, goodness.” Sam’s hand flew to her chest. “That’s great. Wonderful.” She smiled at Fiona, but the pretty redhead was fiddling with her new lavender phone. Probably pretending she didn’t care one way or another that yet another sibling had shown up to displace her from her former position as Tarrant’s only child.
Sam felt for her. She’d managed to become close to the prickly young woman, and didn’t want anything to damage their delicate relationship. Yet another reason her accidental liaison with Louis had to remain secret.
She glanced around the bright, comfortable office. Dominic and Amado stood, expectant grins on their faces.
Their wives, Bella and Susannah, were at this very moment helping Fiona hastily arrange the details for a celebration party tonight.
How would she herself react when she saw Louis? His face had haunted her dreams. Worse yet, so had the touch of his hands and the press of his hard body against hers.
Would she be able to keep her emotions and physical reactions under control when he arrived, or would a bright flush or a sudden tightening of her nipples give her away?
She checked the buttons of her thick Chanel suit. At least no one would see the nipples.
The door flung open again and Sam tried not to topple off her heels. Melissa, Dominic’s admin, peered around it. “He’s here!” Her smile radiated the joy everyone in the company seemed to feel about the exciting news that Sam had found a new family member.
She should be happiest of all, since it was her avowed mission in life to gather Tarrant’s scattered children.
So why did she feel dread trickling through her veins?
Louis appeared in the doorway and his eyes locked instantly onto hers.
“Welcome!” she stammered. “Louis, this is your brother Dominic.”
Dominic strode forward and shook his hand, then broke the tension by pulling Louis into a hug. “We’re so glad Sam found you.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Louis glanced up at Sam with those familiar honey-gold eyes.
Anxiety pooled in her belly, along with the unwelcome thickening of arousal. “And this is your brother Amado. He flew overnight from Argentina to be here when you arrived.”
Amado clasped Louis’s hand in both of his and shook it forcefully. “I know you probably feel strange right now meeting a crowd of relatives you didn’t know you had.” His English was accented, but flawless. “Trust me, you get used to it.”
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel strange at all.” Louis looked from Amado to Dominic. “Sam was so convinced I’d be Tarrant’s son, that when the DNA test results came back, I wasn’t the least bit surprised.”
Sam swallowed hard. “Goodness, look at the three of you together.” Tarrant’s three sons were all so tall and handsome. With their dark hair and warm complexions, they actually looked more like each other than any of them resembled Tarrant. But there was no denying they all had the air of commanding authority that had struck her so strongly when she first met her husband.
Emotion swelled in her chest. “What a wonderful sight. If only Tarrant was here to enjoy it.”
Dominic stepped toward her and wrapped his big arm around her shoulders. Probably because he knew too well that memories of Tarrant easily reduced her to a blubbering wreck.
She grabbed his strong hand, sucked in a breath and tried to pull herself together.
I can do this. Her role here was to honor Tarrant’s memory as she gathered his family together. She could forget about Louis as a man, and think of him purely as her...son.
Couldn’t she?
She sought his face, hoping to reassure herself. But when his eyes locked onto hers, energy flashed between them with defibrillator intensity.
Uh-oh.
Chapter Fourteen
“This is the lab.” Bella, the head of technical research at Hardcastle Enterprises, beckoned Louis and the others into the bright space, with its gleaming instruments and rows of computers. He’d been in the building for less than an hour, but already Louis thought it was the most outrageous place he’d ever seen.
“When I first showed up, Bella called Security to get me thrown out,” Dominic said with a grin.
“And now you guys are married?” Louis was still trying to wrap his mind around the relationships between the dynamic and intriguing people who were now his family.
“It’s a long story,” said Bella with a wink. “But the path of true love never did run smooth, isn’t that what they say?”
“That’s what they say.” Louis glanced behind him, hoping to see Sam.
Amado and his wife, Susannah, were there, arms looped around each other’s waists, but there was no sign of Sam. She’d slipped away as they’d left Dominic’s office, murmuring something about caterers for the party that night.
Since the moment he’d shown up, he’d wanted to take her in his arms. But every time he looked at her, something in her gaze warned him to keep his distance.
“How did you react when Sam first found you?” Fiona picked a clear glass container off one of the polished counters and swirled an imaginary liquid. “Was it a big shock?”
In more ways than you know.
“She’d sent me letters telling me about Tarrant, but I’d ignored them. I guess I wasn’t ready. But you can’t ignore Sam in person.” A grin spread across his mouth.
“Dad sure couldn’t.” Fiona lifted a brow. “But I can’t complain. As wicked stepmothers go, she’s a pretty nice one. How does it feel to have a new, instant stepmom?”
Something in Louis’s chest tightened. “I can’t think of her that way. She’s too young.”
Fiona laughed. “That’s what I said when she married Dad.” She set the glass container down on the counter with a thunk. “But everything’s a little different around the Hardcastles, in case you hadn’t figured that out already.”
Louis could
see that Fiona didn’t set out to make life easy for Sam. It touched him that Sam was so concerned about building a relationship with the outspoken redhead. His sister. Fiona had been Tarrant’s only child until recently, and the adjustment must be hard for her. Louis fought the urge to take her in his arms and give her a hug. “Hey, Fiona, how do you feel about suddenly having all these big brothers?”
A wry smile slid across her face. “I always heard that big brothers are great for hooking you up with hot guys. I’m still waiting.”
They all laughed. Louis glanced at his brothers, Dominic and Amado. The resemblance between them was striking, unmistakable. There could be no doubt they were flesh of the same flesh. Something hot and hard welled up inside him, and emotion threatened to get the better of him.
Brothers.
As a kid he’d sometimes longed for siblings. Someone to share life’s dramas and joys with. Suddenly they’d appeared in his life overnight.
“Come on, guys, we’ve got a lot more to see.” Dominic clapped a hand on Louis’s back. “I’m sure Susannah wants to show you the wine cellars she’s so painstakingly stocked with the best wine in the world, including her husband’s.”
“Is that how you two met?” Louis knew that Amado and Susannah were recently married. Romance was apparently thick in the air at Hardcastle Enterprises.
“Susannah came to my estancia in Argentina bearing the news that I might be Tarrant Hardcastle’s son.”
“Which came as a big shock to him.” Susannah shot him a mischievous glance. “Since Amado had been raised to believe his grandparents were his parents. He had no idea his long-dead sister was actually his mother.”
“I wasn’t all that happy about it, either.” Amado gave Louis a wry look. “But Susannah showed me that sometimes having your life turned upside down can be a good thing.”
“I agree.” Louis looked around at his new family, affection—love—swelling in his heart. “I’m still feeling a little upside down right now. But it’s a real good feeling.”
Music throbbed over the high-tech sound system and bodies gyrated on the round dance floor cleared in the center of the circular space.
“Fiona,” Louis grabbed Fiona as she whirled past him. “Have you seen Sam?”
The pretty redhead glanced around the crowded restaurant. The party at The Moon, on the top floor of Hardcastle Enterprises’ Fifth Avenue headquarters, was supposed to be an intimate gathering of family and close friends. Somehow it had turned into the event of the year, with people jetting in from all over to join the festivities.
Louis wasn’t complaining. He loved a good party. Didn’t mind being the guest of honor and center of attention, either.
But he was beginning to worry Sam had snuck off to avoid him.
No kiss hello. Not even a polite handshake. Now, wasn’t that downright rude?
“I saw her about half an hour ago, fussing over some crusty old friend of Tarrant’s who showed up. She’s here somewhere, though. She’d never leave a family party.”
True. Sam was not the kind of hostess who’d abandon her guests.
Even if she was trying very hard to avoid one of them.
A flash of fine blond hair caught his eye on the far side of the room. Louis excused himself and dived through the elegant crowd. She was chatting with an older woman, and he kept his eyes locked onto her back, zipped into a fitted black dress, until he was so close he could smell her expensive scent. “Sam.” He laid his hand on her arm.
She spun around. “Hi, Louis.” Her cheery tone was undermined by the panic in her eyes. “Are you enjoying the party?”
“I’m having a wonderful time. There’s just one thing missing.”
She licked her lips, nervous. “What?”
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “You.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve been very busy with all the guests.” She excused herself from her conversation and the older woman smiled and disappeared into the crowd.
Louis cocked his head. “I’m a guest.”
“I asked Dom and Amado to take care of you.”
“They did, but now they’re both dancing with their wives.” He indicated the dance floor with a nod of his head. Dominic swayed to the music, his hands resting on Bella’s shapely hips, and Susannah and Amado were locked in a romantic embrace. “I see what you mean.”
“And I don’t have a dance partner.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “I can’t... Many of these people are Tarrant’s personal friends.”
“I’m not asking you to strip naked with me here. Just a friendly dance, that’s all.”
She stared at him, frozen. Her eyes fell to where his hand still held her arm in its firm but gentle grip. “I guess one dance wouldn’t hurt.”
“You won’t even feel a pinch.”
A smile crept across his mouth. Without asking, he slid his arm through hers and guided her onto the dance floor.
An inventive DJ was mixing old-school house beats and North African folk music into a pulsing and sultry brew. Dancers swayed and writhed in a fog of sensual heat.
When they reached the center of the crowd, Louis leaned in until his lips almost brushed Sam’s ear. “Can you blame me for being hurt that you tracked me down, roped me into a new family, then abandoned me?”
“I’m sure you understand.” She started to sway stiffly to the music, standing a good foot away from him.
She looked so nervous and tight. Breathing in shallow gulps and barely able to look at him.
His muscles ached with the desire to take her in his arms. That’s what she needed. What they both needed.
But he could see her point. “I do understand. The family you’ve created here is beautiful. It’s powerful, and I can see how you’d do anything to protect it.”
She bit her lip again and her eyes welled with tears. “Thank you. It does mean so much to me that you’re part of it.”
“Me, too.” He was surprised by how much emotion he felt meeting his half brothers and half sister. He’d spent the day with them and already felt closer to them than some people he’d known for years. “I feel blessed to have met all of you, no matter how it happened.”
Sam’s lovely face brightened with a smile that lit the room like rays of sun. Or maybe like the rays of moonlight pouring through the circular skylight open to the stars above.
Then her smile wobbled. “I just wish things had started out differently.”
“Maybe you should take the fatalistic approach—that things happen the way they do for a reason.”
She frowned, thoughtful. Her body moved more naturally to the music as she got lost in her thoughts, and he tried to keep his eyes from wandering to her breasts or her hips.
“Do you really believe that?”
He sucked in a breath. She deserved his honesty. “Nope. To tell you the truth I think things just happen and you have to deal with them the best you can. I can’t think of one single good reason for the city I love to be ravaged by a hurricane.” He shrugged. “On the other hand, if it hadn’t happened, I’d still be living in Paris. I moved there after high school to study cooking and I was getting pretty comfortable over there.”
“You moved back after Katrina?”
“Yes. At first I came to help my grandparents. They were elderly, and the disaster took a big toll on both their health and spirits. Their house had pretty minimal damage since the Quarter stayed dry, so they invited friends to come live with them. I helped sort out meals and beds and all that stuff, and then I got sucked into the magic of the place and its people.” Her blue gaze fixed on his, inviting and encouraging.
“When things settled down, I helped my granddad rebuild his old boathouse and fishing cabin. By then I knew New Orleans was my home now, not Paris. I’ve lived there ever since.”
Sam had edged closer, probably to hear him over the steady throb of the music. “It hurt when you didn’t respond to our calls or letters.”
A prick of guilt stuck him. He’d dismi
ssed the letters as time-wasting foolishness.
Or had he?
Maybe he’d been afraid of what they might mean.
“I was busy, but perhaps the real reason I didn’t respond is that I lost my grandparents last year. They died within a month of each other, and I guess I didn’t want to hear or think about any other family right then.”
“I’m sorry.”
The compassion in her eyes made emotion gather in his chest. Dancing had warmed Sam’s skin, releasing her scent into the air around them. Her closeness was a delicious torment. All this talk about what he’d lost only made him want to cleave closer to what he’d found. “You know how it feels to lose someone close.”
She looked up. “Like you’ve lost a part of your own body. It hurts.”
“And from what I can see, we both have the same strategy for dealing with the pain. Keep busy.”
Sam laughed. A sound that made his heart beat faster. “You’re right. I’ve been like a windup toy since Tarrant died. I try to keep moving every minute of the day.”
“You’re afraid that if you stop you might fall apart.”
Her eyes widened. “Exactly.” Then she frowned. “And I don’t want to fall apart. I’ve had enough drama and crisis in my life over the last decade. I’d rather lift my chin up and keep dancing. Does that sound crazy?”
Sympathy swelled in his heart. “Not at all. It sounds brave.” Her strength of spirit moved him, and the desire to take her in his arms became a steady ache, throbbing in time to the lilting and sensual music that filled the air around them.
“We’re a lot alike, you and I, Sam,” he whispered into her ear, leaning close. “I think we’re both most comfortable in a crowd, surrounded by laughter and chatter and people having a good time. Or even people pretending to have a good time.”
She looked up at him, blue eyes sparkling. “We’re people people.”
He chuckled. “Yes. And sometimes it’s easier for us to spend our time greasing the social wheels so we don’t have to think about what we truly want.”
A Taste of Heaven (Billionaires' Secrets Book 3) Page 9
