The Cinderella Scandal (Dynasties: The Danforths Book 1)

by Barbara Mccauley

  Laughing, Ian rocked back on his heels. “Whatever you say, bro.”

  Keeping his gaze on Tina, Reid shoved his glass of wine into Ian’s hand and made his way through the crowd.

  “Tina, for heaven’s sake—” Yana slipped an arm through her niece’s “—if you don’t breathe, you’re going to pass out.”

  “I am going to pass out.” Tina clung to her aunt’s arm, turned them both and made an attempt to drag Yana back to the door they’d just come through. “Please, I can’t do this. I know I told you and everyone else I was over Reid, but I lied.”

  “I know, Katina.” Yana patted Tina’s arm and turned them back around again. “We all know. We lied when we told you we believed you.”

  “You did? They did?” So much for her acting abilities.

  “Of course, dear.”

  “Then you know I can’t do this.” Tina felt the panic rise as her aunt pulled her into the crowd of people. “If I see him, I’ll melt into a puddle.”

  “Don’t be silly. Alexander women do not melt into puddles at men’s feet.” And then she added with a wink, “At least, not in public.”

  Walking with Yana was like the parting of the Red Sea, Tina thought. One look at how beautiful her aunt was, and people just naturally stepped aside. But tonight, Tina also felt that there were eyes on her, as well. Several of the men smiled and nodded as she passed, and the look in their eyes was clearly one of appreciation. She nodded back politely, but without interest.

  There was only one man she was interested in, and he was the one man she couldn’t have.

  “Smile, Tina,” Yana whispered. “I didn’t spend the past two hours fitting this dress to you and fixing your hair for nothing. You are too stunning not to show off.”

  “What’s the point?” Tina asked quietly. “What does it matter what I look like now? You know Reid and I can’t be together. I might as well have come here wearing a sweatsuit, for all that it matters to me.”

  “Reid will be the one wearing a sweatsuit,” Yana said with a smile. “Believe me, once he takes a look at you, he’ll need a nice, long, cold shower.”

  “I’ll be the one needing a shower,” she muttered, and let her aunt lead her to the bar and order them both white wine. Since she knew she was going to have to face Reid tonight sooner or later, it just might help take the edge off her nerves.

  When a hand closed around her arm, she turned.

  Looks like it was going to be sooner, she thought, staring into Reid’s deep-blue gaze.

  “Buy you a drink?” he said softly.

  Her heart was too busy doing somersaults to listen to her brain telling her not to fall into his arms. “Okay,” she said, more than a little breathless at his touch.

  “Don’t be impressed, Katina.” Yana stepped between them and gently removed Reid’s hand from Tina’s arm. “The drinks are free. Hello, Reid.”

  Without taking his eyes off Tina, Reid nodded. “Yana.”

  Torn between distress and relief at her aunt’s interference, Tina barely managed a smile. “It’s a lovely party.”

  “It is now.” He took Tina’s arm again. “Why don’t I show you around?”

  “I believe you’ve already done that, dear,” Yana said firmly. “And smile for the camera, would you?”

  The hard line on Reid’s mouth curved into a smile, and he let go of Tina’s arm at the same moment the photographer stepped in front of them. Smiling, Yana moved in closer to Reid, blocking Tina just as the flash of the camera went off. When the photographer moved on, Reid reached for Tina again.

  But Yana was too quick. She slipped her arm into Reid’s and smiled at him. “Why don’t you take both of us on a tour?”

  He glanced from Yana to Tina. “Sure.”

  Trying not to chew off her lipstick, Tina followed hesitantly behind her aunt and Reid. What she should do was run, but she was too weak. Too foolish.

  Too much in love.

  She half listened while Reid gave a brief history of Crofthaven, that it was built over a hundred years ago by his great-grandfather, Hiram Danforth, and was considered a historical landmark. The chandeliers and marble were imported from Europe, the grounds meticulously cared for by an army of gardeners. As they walked through the main entry, Tina marveled at the high ceilings and white columns, the spectacular staircase, the glossy hardwood floors and beautiful furnishings.

  But mostly she marveled at the pleasure of simply being with Reid.

  Pulling her gaze back to the tour, Tina followed Reid and her aunt down a hall off the main entry. They glanced into the music room, which held an elegant baby grand, then moved on to the library. The floor-to-ceiling shelves were mahogany, he explained, the books an ever-growing collection of classic, contemporary and reference.

  Being so close and not being able to touch him, to stand close and breathe in the familiar scent of him was driving her insane. To distract herself she moved to the opposite side of the library and examined a leather-bound collection of twentieth-century Southern poets. When she heard the click of the library door, she turned and realized that Yana had left.

  Alone. She and Reid were alone.

  Her hand shook as she carefully slid the book back into its place on the shelf, then turned to face him. He watched her, his gaze so intense it took her breath away.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said evenly.

  She glanced away. “Reid—”

  He started toward her. She took a step back.

  “This isn’t over.” He kept moving, making her pulse skip, then race. “We aren’t over.”

  If only she knew what to do with her hands, maybe she wouldn’t want so badly to reach out to him, to tell him she missed him, too, that she didn’t want it to be over. All she could do was shake her head.

  “I’ve made a decision, Tina.”

  He never once took his eyes off her, just kept coming. This time when she moved away from him, she ended up in a corner. With nowhere to go, she pressed her back to the shelves and held her breath.

  “Tina.” He said her name again so softly, so longingly, she wanted to cry. “I love you.”

  Her breath shuddered from her lungs. Had she heard him right? “You…you love me?”

  “Yes.”

  When he touched her cheek, she closed her eyes, knew she was trembling, but couldn’t stop. How was it possible to feel so wonderful, when she felt so awful at the same time?

  Dear God, help me. For this one moment she couldn’t lie, couldn’t hold back. Just this one moment.

  “I love you, too.”

  “Good.” He moved in so close his thighs were touching hers. “It helps when people get married if they love each other.”

  Married! Her eyes flew open. He wanted to marry her?

  Her heart soared, then immediately took a nosedive and she looked away. “You know that’s not possible.”

  “I won’t be without you.” He tucked a finger under her chin and brought her face back to his, gazed down at her with a determination that almost had her hoping, almost had her believing. “I can’t be without you,” he added softly.

  “Nothing has changed,” she said, struggling against the moisture burning her eyes.

  “Then we’ll make the change. We’ll go to Europe.” He placed a hand on the wall on either side of her head and leaned in. “It would take months for anyone to track us down there, if ever. We’ll live in a villa off the coast of Spain. It’s beautiful there. Let me take you. Let me marry you.” His mouth brushed hers. “Let me love you.”

  How wonderful it sounded. She felt herself sway against him, felt her lips soften against his.

  Then she pulled back, shook her head.

  “How long could we be happy like that?” she said, even as she pictured how beautiful it would be. “How long before you resented me or we missed our lives here?”

  She slipped under his arm, wasn’t certain that her knees would carry her to the door. “I’m sorry, Reid. I want to marry you, more than you can
imagine. But not like this.”

  At the sound of a deep voice clearing his throat, Tina spun around, gasped when she saw Abraham Danforth and her parents standing in the doorway.

  “Dad.” Jaw tight, Reid looked at his father, then Mariska and Ivan. “Mariska, Ivan. Would you excuse us, please?”

  They all looked at each other, then stepped into the room. Abraham closed the door behind them.

  “I’m afraid this concerns all of us, son.” Abraham locked the door. “We simply can’t let this happen.”

  “For God’s sake, Dad.” Reid blew out a breath, then shook his head. “I love this woman. I want to marry her. I’m going to marry her, dammit.”

  “How romantic.” Tears in her eyes, Mariska stepped to Tina and cupped her face in her hands. “So strong, he is. What fine children you will have.”

  “Mom, Dad, Mr. Danforth, I know that you all—” Tina snapped her gaze back to her mother. “What did you say?”

  “I said what fine children you will have, edes szivemn,” Mariska repeated, this time adding the endearment. “We did not come to tell you that we object, but to give our blessing.”

  “But, Dad—” She looked at her father, then at Abraham. “I can’t, we can’t…”

  “Did you really think I would stand by and do nothing?” Ivan said with as much irritation in his voice as love. “That I would let you sacrifice yourself for me?”

  With the way her head was spinning, she couldn’t think at all. “Everyone gets hurt,” she insisted. “Our family, the Danforths. How can Reid and I—” she looked at him, felt her throat thicken with tears “—how could we possibly have any kind of happiness if we’ve hurt the people we love?”

  “And what kind of happiness could we have—” Mariska said, shaking her head “—if we stole yours?”

  When Reid stepped beside her and slipped an arm around her, Tina let herself lean into him, wondered how she could ever leave the safety and strength she felt there.

  But they were still caught in a vicious circle, and she saw no escape.

  “It did seem like quite the challenge when Ivan and Mariska called me this morning,” Abraham said, moving into the room. “Until I learned one interesting bit of information. Does the name Maximilian strike a cord?”

  Not to Tina it didn’t, but from the expression on Reid’s face, the name meant something to him.

  “Johann Maximilian?” Reid asked.

  Abraham glanced at Tina. “Johann Maximilian is one of our largest shipping clients in Austria. I’ve known the man for twenty years.”

  “I handle his accounts,” Reid explained to Tina, though clearly he was as confused as she was by the direction of the conversation. “I’ve been talking with his office almost every day for over a week, trying to straighten out a mistake with a docking number.”

  “Which Johann was very apologetic about when I spoke with him a little while ago,” Abraham said.

  “I don’t understand.” Tina desperately wished someone would get to the point. “What does this man have to do with any of this?”

  “My mother was a Maximilian before she married my father,” Mariska said. “Johann is my cousin.”

  “You—we—have other family, too?” Tina asked. “Other than your father?”

  Mariska nodded. “We left our past behind us, so that we could have a future.”

  “But what does all this have to do with Wilheim?” Reid asked.

  “My father was always an unhappy man,” Mariska said sadly. “From what I have been told by my family, when my father married my mother and went to work at Castle Marcel, he became obsessed with his own importance. He was a tyrant, in his work and at home. This I know from my own life. He kept my mother and me separated from friends and family, but he also used her family name to elevate his own reputation. When my mother died, he cut all ties to the Maximilians but still retained his status in our town. He was so furious with me when I wanted to marry your father that he would have done anything to stop me.”

  “So we left.” Ivan stepped beside Mariska and took her hand. “Once we were settled in America, we contacted Yana. She came to the states two years later and took the name Alexander, as well. I am not proud that I did not face Wilheim,” he said, looking at his wife, “but I did what I needed to do for my Mariska.”

  Tina put her hand to her chest, struggling to absorb everything she’d just heard. There were too many emotions coming at her at once, and her head literally reeled. Only the strong pair of arms wrapped around her kept her knees from giving out.

  She glanced at Reid, then her parents and Abraham.

  “And now?” she asked carefully. “What now?”

  “Now nothing.” Abraham shrugged. “If anyone should happen to discover that Ivan Alexander was once Ivan Savar, the records will show a clerical error. A thirty-year-old arrest warrant no longer is in force, and there is no record of any complaint ever filed.” Abraham smiled. “Johann is a very thorough man.”

  “I talked to Johann this morning,” Mariska said. “He will make sure that no one listens to the incoherent ramblings of an old man.”

  Still holding on to Tina with one arm, Reid held his other hand out to his father. “Thank you.”

  When he shook his father’s hand, Reid felt something pass between them, an awareness of each other that he’d never felt before. An understanding that they faced each other man to man, not just father to son. Strange that it had taken thirty-two years to come to this moment and this place. It felt good, he realized.

  It felt right.

  Just as it felt right to be here with Tina at his side, and even Ivan and Mariska. He turned to Tina’s parents and offered his hand to Ivan. “Sir.”

  Ivan’s grip was like a bear’s, filled with emotion. Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, Mariska leaned forward and kissed Reid’s cheek. “I wish you all the happiness that my Ivan and I have shared.” Dabbing at her tears, she kissed Tina, then stepped back. “My baby,” she mumbled, then turned and hurried from the room.

  Abraham turned to Ivan. “I have a full bottle of Palinka on ice. Would you care to join me?”

  “How could I refuse such an offer?” Ivan bowed and gestured for Abraham to go first.

  And then, once again, they were wonderfully, blissfully alone.

  Reid turned Tina in his arms and gazed down at her. “You okay?”

  “I…I think so.” Then she smiled slowly. “Yes, I am. Better than okay, I’d say. More like wonderful.”

  Smiling back at her, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissed her lightly. “Do you know that I fell in love with you before I even met you?”

  Surprise widened her eyes. “Before you met me?”

  “Yep.” He brushed his lips against hers again. “I was standing outside your office door at the bakery and I heard your voice. And then, when you turned me down for a job, well, that cinched it.”

  “So are you saying—” her hands slid to his chest and she ran a fingertip along the edge of his tie “—that I have to turn you down to keep your interest?”

  “Too late for that, sweetheart.” He grinned at her. “I’ve got you now, and I’m not letting go.”

  He kissed her again. Long and deep. A kiss of promise and love. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

  “Will you marry me?” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingertips. “Our parents are expecting it, you know. You have to say yes.”

  “I suppose we shouldn’t disappoint them, should we?” she murmured. “They did go to quite a bit of trouble.”

  “Yes, they did.” He nibbled on her wrist now, couldn’t wait to get her alone and nibble on other areas. “I think we should invite Johann to the wedding, too.”

  “Absolutely.” She drew in a breath when he touched his tongue to the pulse at her wrist. “I love you, Reid. I don’t know how I would have ever lived without you.”

  “I wouldn’t have let you.” He lifted his head and smiled down at her. “P
lease don’t make me wait too long, sweetheart. I want to give you my name, make love to you every night, wake up beside you every morning.”

  “I don’t want to wait, either,” she said softly. “It’s just all so overwhelming. To think I have family I never knew. And now Rachel is married and expecting a baby, too. Sophia will never forgive me.”

  He furrowed his brow. “For getting married?”

  “For making her the last one. With Rachel and me both married, our mother will completely and wholeheartedly focus on Sophia now.”

  Chuckling, Reid pulled Tina close again. “I want you to have your restaurant, too,” he said. “When the campaign is over and the headquarters are shut down, I’ll help you any way I can.”

  “That’s a year away.” She slid her arms around his neck. “It seems like a lifetime.”

  “A lifetime is what we’re going to have, sweetheart. Babies. A home. Grandbabies, great-grandbabies. That’s a lifetime. God, how I love you, Katina Alexander.”

  “And I love you, Reid Danforth.”

  He leaned down to press his mouth to hers; she reached up. The kiss was sweet. Tender.

  Timeless.

  “What do you say we go announce it now?” he said when he finally lifted his head. “While the press is here. They’re gonna love having the scoop on this one.”

  “The press?” She bit her lip. “Now?”

  “Better get used to it, darling,” he said with a grin. “You’re going to be a Danforth.”

  “That,” she said, smiling back as she pressed her mouth to his, “I can get used to.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5736-2

  THE CINDERELLA SCANDAL

  Copyright © 2004 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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