“I will.” He moved to the other side of the bench and watched as she ate, returning his attention to his own food. “I like your house. It’s an extension of you. Stylish. Everything in its place.” He cut his toast and egg. “We’ll have to go through Dad’s things today. I’m not looking forward to it.”
“It’s a difficult time for you.”
“It is.” He paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. “What is it, O’Connor?”
“I’m thinking of resigning.”
“Resigning? You don’t need to do that. Not on my account. I don’t want you to resign. I want us to work together. I love your competent lawyer-mode. It’s incredibly sexy.”
“You want the promotion.”
“Of course, I do. So do you. I didn’t peg you as a quitter.”
“I’m not sure the cost is worth it.”
“What cost? Work is work. After work is after work. I don’t have a problem with that. If you get the promotion, then you earned it. If I get the promotion, then I earned it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It should be.”
“You’re right. It should be.” She lifted her coffee to her mouth and speared him with her gaze over the rim.
His eyes snapped to her wrist. “What does the PS19 stand for?”
Scarlet glanced down and the ink swam before her eyes. “Pissed and Stupid at nineteen. I don’t drink. I don’t go to office parties. I thought I’d learned my lesson.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong. We can manage this. I don’t want this to go away. This is the best thing that’s happened to me… ever.” His blue gaze blazed and he reached out to take her hand in his.
“It isn’t right.”
“Oh, trust me. It’s more than right.” He squeezed her hand, then lifted it to his mouth. His kiss was slow and sexy and if she hadn’t seen the photos she would have fallen for it.
“Thanks for breakfast.” She stood up. Took her hand back. Broke the connection. “I need to get ready for work.”
“I had your car towed to the local repair shop. They said you’d already booked it in for today.” He threw her a set of keys. “And I organised a hire car for you. It’s out front. Would you like me to drop you off or would you rather go in alone?”
“I’d rather go in alone if that’s okay.”
“No problem. I’ll take my bike. It’s out front, too.”
“Oh.” Geoffrey would know he’d stayed the night. Her skin prickled and her breakfast shifted in her stomach… if it was Geoffrey and not a random stalker.
“What’s wrong, O’Connor? We promised each other honesty. Bald, bad-as-you-like honesty.” His gaze seared her and where her skin had prickled with something akin to reading a Stephen King novel, it now prickled with something else.
Inside, she oscillated. Trust him. Don’t trust him. Trust him. Don’t trust him.
He lowered his fork and strode over to her, taking her into his arms. She resisted. Part of her resisted. The rest of her melted like butter on hot toast. He held her. Tight. Close. Like he’d never let her go. And the tears started. Hot, scalding on her cheek. Hot, scalding on his shirt. Yesterday’s shirt? It smelt of him. Musky. Sweet. Salty. Perfect. Which made the tears fall faster.
He tipped her chin up to study her and she raised herself up onto her toes to press her lips to his, to taste, to lose herself in his warmth. His hands ran over her back, bringing her closer, fitting her against his hard ridges and planes. Her body reacted like a flame to a fuse, hungry, hurried, hopeful. Home. He felt like home.
When he pushed her back, his gaze hurt, and his blue eyes seeking the truth, she had no choice. She had to tell him.
“I received an email with photos… of us… in the ocean. Demanding my resignation by ten o’clock today or they’d be sent to all of the equity partners.”
He reeled back as if she’d slapped him, his eyes turning to ice.
“What?”
“I know.” She took a deep breath. Steadied the shaking in her limbs. “I think Geoffrey might be responsible, but I don’t know.”
“When?”
“Yesterday. The stress of it triggered my migraine.”
“When were you planning to tell me?” He glared at her. “You weren’t planning to tell me? You were going to resign? You were going to walk away from everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Because of a threat? Without telling me why. We had a pact, O’Connor.”
Pain shone in his eyes. He was right. She hadn’t trusted him. What hope did they have? He’d been kind. Honest. Caring. She’d been blind and now, the clear blue depths of his eyes harboured icebergs. Giant, shadowy conglomerates that threatened to fracture the fragile connection that remained between them, frayed and fraught. “I’m sorry. My head was in a spin. Literally. I panicked. I couldn’t think. I still can’t.”
“I’m sorry, too. Show me.”
“Okay.” She walked over to the soft pink wingback chair in her study where she’d dumped her handbag and fished out the USB. With shaking hands, she waited for her white laptop to boot up. Her gaze leapt from the white marble fireplace mantle to the silk lilies in their vase, to the dark timber floor and back to her wild reflection in the giant gilt mirror above the mantle. Tony stood behind her, dark and livid like a thundercloud, his jaw tight, his eyes glued to the screen. She logged in, slipped the USB into place and opened the document.
Rigid was too tame a term for the anger that petrified the man beside her.
Bile rose in her throat as she scrolled through the photos.
The only sounds were the harsh intake and exhale of Tony’s breath, the dull thud of her pulse.
“You thought I might have something to do with this?”
Scarlet grappled with her thoughts. Honesty. They’d promised honesty. “At first, the possibility crossed my mind. Later, no. It didn’t make sense, despite the benefits to you if I was out of the running for partnership next year.”
He held her shoulders and turned her towards him, his gaze scathing. “I had nothing to do with this. Nothing. It’s stalking. It’s perverted. It’s wrong at so many levels.”
“I don’t see how I can fight this. I don’t want to show this to Dan. I couldn’t bear the innuendo. I would lose all credibility. However this unfolds… I lose. You lose. Geoffrey wins. It’s about revenge.”
“And I’m Geoffrey’s brother.” He looked at her with despair in his eyes. “I understand now. Yet you kissed me. You trusted me enough to show me these.”
“Yes.”
“I think I might love you, O’Connor.” His gaze smouldered and her heart expanded until her chest ached.
“I think I could love you, too, Radcliff, but I don’t see how…”
“Phone into work and tell them you’re sick.”
Her eyes widened. “Why.”
“We’re going to see Geoffrey. Together.”
“What if it is a random stalker? An unhappy client? A disgruntled employee at work?”
“Then it’s a train wreck we can’t stop. I’ll stand by you. We face this together. Both of us are in those photos. Both of us have been violated.” He took her into his arms. Held her close and his warmth soaked into her, soothing her frazzled nerves, setting her heart to flame.
“I like you. A lot,” she murmured, the soft sateen cotton of his shirt against her cheek. The hard curve of his chest, the rhythmic thump of his heart right there. Solid. Safe.
“I like you, too. We’ve got this.” He sealed the vow with a kiss that stole her breath.
* * *
Given the right set of circumstances, any man was capable of murder. The thought flashed into his mind along with the sensation of his hands clenched tightly around his brother’s throat.
Given the right set of circumstances, blood between brothers could turn bad. Jealousy? Envy? Lust? The thought of his brother touching Scarlet against her will razed him to ashes. Injustice added to insult added to injury. It wasn’t possible to hate his brothe
r any more than he did right now. His tongue reeked with the bitterness of it.
Given the right set of circumstances, any man could want revenge.
The fury that whipped his body and broiled his flesh blew out like a pilot flame before a gust of wind. Geoffrey was a sad human being. They’d lost their father. It was like stumbling in the dark. His father had been a strong beacon for what was right, what to look out for, when to beware. He’d dictated his brother’s path, even more so than his own. If he felt lost? How did Geoffrey feel? Hurt. Deeply hurt. His MO was to blame someone else. To take it out on them. Tony’s grip on Scarlet’s hand tightened.
Geoffrey lived in East Melbourne in an expensive townhouse and it was a blessing they’d been caught in traffic along Flinders Street. It had given him time to soar to an indignant height of angry before the storm blasted itself out. His brother was alone. His wife left him. Years ago. His kids hated him. He’d reaped what he’d sown. Lonely wealth.
Tony’s eyes stung with tears. Men don’t cry, Anthony. Men toughen up and get on with it.
* * *
Tony stood at Geoffrey’s door, his hand raised, Scarlet beside him. The door flew open before he could knock.
“How could you bring her here?”
“She is the woman I’m going to marry one day and if you ever… ever… call her a slut again, I will kill you with my bare hands.”
Geoffrey reeled as if he’d been slapped and stepped back.
“You’re a despicable human being to do what you did. If you send those photos to Dan, I will never speak to you again. You will never meet our children and the legal community will know what you did. I’ll make sure of it. You will lose the respect of your peers and we’ll sue you for defamation. Stalking. Blackmail.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll report you to the police. You’ll lose your practicing certificate. Your choice. Now.”
“You always were pathetic,” his brother said, his lip curling, his face distorted. “You’re the one who wanted to be partner by thirty and prove you were better than me. I was just making it easier for you. Two birds. One stone. You should be thanking me.”
“No, Dad wanted me to be partner by thirty. I wanted Dad’s respect. I wanted your respect. Not your devious help to cheat someone I admire. A lot.” A laugh started deep in his gut. “I couldn’t care less about the partnership position and I couldn’t care less about what you think of me because I don’t think much of you. You’re lonely and miserable because of your choices. Your actions. Until you appreciate that, no one can help you. The only person you have to blame is yourself. Not Scarlet. You’ve been the best possible role model in the worst possible way.”
His brother’s scowl deepened and the sun shone from his bare scalp. His cheeks, ruddy with broken capillaries, flushed a deeper shade of red. His eyes, bloodshot and red-rimmed, squinted against the light. His breath reeked of alcohol and he was in the same clothes he’d worn when he took Tony to the hospital to say goodbye to their father.
“Don’t you see. Dad’s death was a blessing. A reprieve from a disease that would have stolen his dignity—slowly—before it mercilessly took his life. He’s with mum. He’s better off there. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. Nor does it mean I don’t miss him. I do.” Emotion snaked into his throat and he swallowed against it. “But it’s selfish not to be relieved for him.”
“You went straight to her.”
“Scarlet made it bearable. Better than seeking solace in a bottle.”
“Geoffrey...”
Scarlet’s voice was quiet and kind and strong, and it was like a release valve to his temper. There was more at stake here than his own hurt feelings.
“You’re hurting. I can see that and I’m sorry for your loss.” Tony squeezed her hand and she lifted her chin. “But, I don’t deserve your animosity. I didn’t deserve it when I was nineteen. I don’t deserve it now. I’m a good lawyer. A good person. I want my car fixed and I want your word those photos will never see the light of day. I want your apology.”
His brother reached out for the door handle and Tony thought he planned to slam it in their faces, but instead, his overweight body slumped and he cried, his big body racked by sobs, loud and soul-wrenching.
Scarlet stepped forward and rested her hand on his shoulder. Tony’s eyes stung and his throat closed with the pain of seeing the woman he wanted most in his life console the man who’d taken so much from hers.
He moved forward and wrapped his arms around Scarlet, his nose breathing in the sweetness of her silky, smooth hair, his lips lowering to kiss the glossy golden strands before he moved to comfort his brother, their embrace one of mutual loss. Raw and intense. For the first time, he allowed himself the freedom to feel it. To cry. To sob. Not to lessen it. Not to ignore it. Not to dull it with something or someone else.
I’ll miss you, dad. I loved you. Not enough. Not nearly enough. But I loved you. I admired you. I respected you. In the beginning. In the end. If not in the middle.
“I’ll make tea.” Scarlet’s voice came to him from a distance.
He caught her gaze over his brother’s head and nodded. “Thank you.” Geoffrey shook in his arms, his cries high pitched like a child’s. Tony rubbed Geoffrey’s back and he held on like a man drowning. “It’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.” Scarlet lowered a pot of tea and cups onto the glass coffee table and he invited distance between them.
She poured them each a cup and his heart swelled, her calm efficiency a balm to the havoc of his emotions. She handed them each a cup and settled with hers on the edge of the leather sofa, her legs crossed, her expression controlled.
Geoffrey’s gaze was watery. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. I am. For all of it. For following you both. For taking the photos. For using them against you. For the car.” He looked down, his face reddening. “But, it’s too late.”
“What do you mean, it’s too late?” Tony growled.
“I’ve already sent the photos.”
Scarlet nodded and held her tea with a shaking hand, her face pale, her eyes wet.
“You said ten o’clock.” Tony’s eyes narrowed. “You sent them anyway. When? When did you send them?”
“Last night.”
“You wanted to ruin her reputation. To take her down because, in your own small mind, that’s what she did to you. This was about revenge?”
“I wanted her to blame you. You were the one with the most to gain. I wanted her to reject you the way she rejected me. I’m not proud of it.”
Tony bit his lip, his mind whirring. How the hell did he fix this? He watched as Scarlet took a sip of tea, her movements eerily calm. Her cheeks were wet and her gaze was glued to the carpeted floor. His brother had hurt her again and it was his fault. He’d brought Geoffrey back into her life. “This was my fault, Scarlet. This was about me. Not about you.”
She lowered her cup to the glass table in front of her seat and her violet eyes stormed. “I’m a woman, Tony. I’m held to a different standard of behaviour. This won’t hurt you the way it will hurt me.” She stood, wiping her eyes. “I need to go to the office and deal with this.”
“I’ll drive you.” Tony jumped to his feet, digging into his pocket for the hire car key. “We’ll face Dan together. I don’t expect you to care a whit about me after this, but I want you to know I’m in it for the long haul if you’ll have me.”
“Wait.” Geoffrey rose from the couch. “Give me five minutes, Scarlet. I need a shower. I’ll tell Dan what happened and who was responsible. I’ll fix this.”
“You could lose your practicing certificate if he takes it to the authorities,” Tony said.
“I could.” Geoffrey grimaced. “But, I was wrong and I’m ashamed of myself. Dad would be ashamed of me, too. I apologise, Scarlet, I do. And I apologise for my behaviour all those years ago. I took advantage of your kindness and your naivety and worse, I blamed you when it all went wrong.”
Scarlet nodded, her back strong. Her power suit… powerful. Seductive. Sexy. To
ny salivated. His body heated. His hunger rose. And he saw it there, reflected in her eyes. She felt it, too. This connection. This need. He didn’t see Geoffrey step away, his back curved. He didn’t see the excessive wealth around him. He didn’t see partnership in his near future. He saw it in Scarlet’s eyes. Her watery smile. Her violet gaze. Her soul shining through like the sun on a rare, precious flower.
“You’re seduction in a suit, O’Connor.”
“You’re pretty sexy yourself, Radcliff.”
“Let’s wait in the garden. The open space is calling me.”
“I’m kind of partial to it myself,” she said and her palm slid against his. Who would have thought that holding hands could be so evocative?
“Thank you,” he murmured, his lips close to hers, the scent of gardenias strong in the warm air. “I’m sorry my dad didn’t get to meet you. He would have liked you.”
“I don’t know how I’d breathe if my dad passed away.”
“With me. Holding you. Making it bearable. The same way you’re making it bearable for me.” He closed the gap, savouring the feel of her lips against his. Petal soft. And sweet. Deliciously sweet. The kiss was deep. Deep and long and hypnotic and he didn’t know how he’d breathe without her.
“Thank you.”
He lifted his head, his gaze falling into the violet magic of hers. “For what?”
“Helping me to put the past to rest. Helping me to breathe in a lift. Helping me to see that what’s important is not how much you earn or whether others look up to you because you’re more powerful than they are, but rather how you feel about yourself and how you appear through the eyes of those you love, those who love you.”
“Are you saying you love me, O’Connor?”
“That would be premature after two days, Radcliff.”
“Two days, two minutes, two decades… makes no difference to me. My heart knows already that you’re the only woman I want. A partnership with you is the only partnership that matters to me.”
Seduction in a Suit: An Office Romance Collection Page 120
