The Billionaire's Forbidden Desire (23 page)

The ugly argument between Dane and Salazar still rang in her ears.

The moment you were conceived
.
It destroyed everything!

Not even her parents in their least paternal moments had said something that cruel.

“Miss,” Al said quietly. “It’s late.”

She looked at him sharply. How could he speak in such a dulcet voice? He’d been standing outside the door longer and had heard more of the harsh words.

Or was this sort of thing so commonplace that it didn’t bother him anymore?

“I need to borrow a car,” she said.

“If you need to run an errand—”

“I’m going to see Dane.”

“That would be unwise.”

“Al, don’t take this the wrong way. But I’m not asking for your approval.”

The butler merely looked down at her.

She waited. “Do I have to call a taxi?”

A small sigh escaped his lips. “Very well. There’s a Mercedes available for your use. I’ll program the GPS with the address.”

He led her to an enormous garage in the back. Dozens of valuable cars shone under the overhead lights.

“This one.” He opened the door to a black sedan. When she got in, he gave her the fob and key and pressed a few keys on the GPS. “Are you quite sure you want to go?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. Good luck, Miss. Do try to drive safely.”

She pulled away from the Pryce family mansion and followed the GPS directions to Dane’s place. With the hour being so late, traffic was light. She didn’t spot the red Lamborghini on the way even though she sped down the highway. On the other hand, there was a shiny silvery Aston Martin with a Washington state license tag…

George
, she thought.

Sweat beaded along her hairline as she pulled alongside the car…but the driver was an Asian man. She shook herself mentally. She was upset, and now she was getting paranoid. She had to calm down if she wanted to confront Dane.

She pulled up in front of the building and gave her key to the uniformed doorman, who recognized her.

“Is Dane Pryce in?” she asked.

“Yes, I think so. I saw him go up not too long ago.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I’ll be here for long, but feel free to move the car if you need to.”

“Will do.” He tipped his hat.

She took the elevator to Dane’s floor. As the digital display showed ever-rising numbers, her heart picked up its tempo. Sweat slickened her palms, and she wiped them on her skirt. She wasn’t backing down. He couldn’t shut her out over an argument he’d had with his father.

She knocked. When there was no answer, she said, “Dane, I know you’re in there.”

Still no answer. She banged her fists on the door. “Dane! Come on! We have to talk.”

Silence.

“Fine. I’m not leaving until you come out!” She leaned against the door, arms crossed. “You can’t stay inside forever.”

* * *

Dane abandoned his glass and took a long swig from the bottle. The scotch burned, but he needed it to burn even worse.

Sophia’s voice came from outside the door. “I’m not leaving until you come out! You can’t stay inside forever.”

He chuckled bitterly to himself. She was beyond naïve if she thought camping outside his door would give her what she wanted. He couldn’t see her right now. He didn’t deserve to see her, to be near her.

From a purely objective standpoint, five million dollars was acceptable compensation for what he’d done. She wasn’t disabled. She wasn’t scarred. She was still smart, brilliant and had her entire life ahead of her.

She’d marry some nice schmuck, have his babies and be disgustingly happy.

But this wasn’t an objective situation. The fact that it was Sophia’s dream he’d shattered with that careless decision in Paris made him want to vomit.

He dialed a private security firm he had on retainer for handling delicate situations.

“Mr. Pryce?” came a firm voice.

“I need a woman removed from outside my penthouse door. She refuses to go. You must show her every courtesy. Treat her the way you would’ve treated my grandmother,” Dane said. They knew how much he’d adored Shirley.

“Yes, sir. We’ll be there in ten.”

“Fine.” He hung up.

Shirley, Shirley, Shirley. She should’ve let Dane know the whole truth about the accident in Paris. Then perhaps he would’ve been more careful—even distanced himself from Sophia from the very beginning.

He shook his head.
No lying to yourself
. The truth was, he wouldn’t have been able to stay away. She’d enthralled him the moment he’d laid his eyes on her in Mexico.

Holding the bottle by the neck, he mounted the treadmill and started walking. The liquor did very little to dull the pain in his gut.

Some moments later, he heard low male voices. Then Sophia’s high-pitched yell pierced the silence on the floor. “Dane! Dane!”

He closed his eyes, willing himself to block it all out.

“Dane!”

The voice was cut abruptly.

Sophia was undoubtedly in the elevator now. The compulsion to go after her and hold her as tightly as he could throbbed in his head.

Go
.
It might not be too late
.
She doesn’t have to know
.

But
he
knew. And unlike some people he could name, he couldn’t laugh and smile and lie his way through a relationship.

“
Aaaarrgh!
”

He jumped off the treadmill and threw the scotch bottle at the wall. Air sawed in and out of his lungs. He squeezed his head between his hands and shut his eyes.

Salazar had been right all along. Dane should’ve never been born.

Sophia looked like hell the next morning, and felt worse. Thank god she was good with makeup. She covered the dark circles and unhappy lines around her eyes and mouth. When she forced herself to smile, she almost looked normal.

For once, Salazar wasn’t there for breakfast. She didn’t have much appetite, but forced a few bites down anyway. She refused to tragically waste away like some spurned gothic novel heroine. Injuries or no, she’d been a world champion and would be damned if she’d roll over.

Al appeared the moment she was finished. “Miss?”

“I’m going to work,” she announced.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” His voice was gentle. He’d probably learned what had happened at Dane’s penthouse the night before. For a man who never seemed to leave the mansion, he somehow knew an awful lot.

“No. But it’s the only idea. He can’t kick me out of the office.” Her chin trembled, but she firmed it with effort. “I work there.”

“If I may… I have never seen young Mr. Pryce react so strongly before. Whatever is driving him, it must be deeply personal.”

“I guess his veins aren’t full of ice water after all.”

“I would assume not. But he does have that reputation.”

She forced a smile. “Thank you, Al. I’ll be all right.”

The drive felt incredibly long, but Sophia used the time to think things through. Whatever was the reason behind Dane’s refusal to talk to her, it couldn’t be anger or hate. The men who’d come to remove her from outside his penthouse had been courteous and polite, even as they had been forced to physically remove her. They’d almost seemed apologetic.

Dane had had a chance to calm down. Surely he’d realized by now how ridiculous and unfair it was for him to shut her out like this.

She held on to that thought as she rode the elevator up to the office and took her seat behind her desk. When the morning deliveryman came by to drop off a bouquet of cheery daisies, she saw the card signed
D
and smiled, tension leaving her. See? Everything was fine now. A couple minutes later, Dane stepped in. She gasped. Dark puffy half-circles were under his bloodshot eyes, and deep lines bracketed his mouth. His usually neat hair stuck up. The only thing that said he hadn’t just rolled out of bed was his fresh suit.

His gaze sharpened at the sight of her, then at the daisies. He picked up the flowers and went inside his office.

Sophia followed him in and closed the door behind them.

“What are you doing here?” he said, not bothering to meet her gaze.

“I work here.”

“I told you not to come in.”

He tossed the bouquet in the trashcan with more force than necessary. Petals bruised and fell from the stems.

She dragged in a shaky breath. There went her theory that he wasn’t upset anymore. Her eyes prickled, but she composed herself. “Did I do something?”

He stilled in the middle of getting out of his jacket.

“If I did, just tell me. This kind of stuff”—she gestured at the daisies—“isn’t helping.”

“You did nothing wrong, Sophia.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Go home.” His voice was harder and colder than it had been when she’d first met him at Elizabeth’s function.

“No. I have a job to do here.”

“You’re wrong,” he said. “You have nothing to do here. You work for me, and I gave you an instruction. Unless you want to be fired, you’ll do as I say.”

She stiffened. “Isn’t that wrongful termination?”

“I don’t give a shit. Sue me if you don’t like it.”

There was no getting through to him. He wouldn’t even look at her, like he couldn’t bear the sight of her.

“Fine. I’ll go.” She pressed her trembling lips together. She couldn’t stop the bitter smile. “So this is what you mean by treating me fairly, huh? I should’ve known better than to trust that you’d keep your word if it involved some inconvenience for you.”

“It’s for your own good,” Dane said between clenched teeth. “So go.”

“For my own good.” She looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. “Of course. Excuse me.”

* * *

Sophia went to the garden and sat in the gazebo, staring at nothing in particular. She didn’t want to go inside the mansion. Al’s professionally reserved pity would be too much to bear, and in any case the thought of being around somebody right now was—

“There you are. Thought I saw your car.”

She tensed at Salazar’s voice. “I just want to be alone.”

“Nah. No one wants to be alone when there’s scotch.” She turned, and he raised an unopened bottle and two glasses.

Unlike Dane, he looked fresh and well-rested. His complexion was lightly tanned and clear, with only a few wrinkles fanning out from the corners of his eyes. The shirt and shorts he wore were freshly starched and pressed. It was unfair that he seemed fine while she and Dane weren’t. She couldn’t reconcile this nice Salazar, seen every morning, with the nasty one from the night before. She wanted to yell at him, but somehow she couldn’t.

He sat across from her and poured the amber liquor all the way to the rim.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how you serve scotch,” she said, looking away.

“Screw the rules. You look like you can use it.”

She took the glass and had a swallow. It burned, but this time she didn’t sputter.

“Good stuff, huh?” He sipped his.

She continued drinking without acknowledging him. A small smile curved his lips as he gazed at the pond beneath them.

Somehow she couldn’t hold it back. He didn’t get to smile after having played a part in the previous night’s disaster. “Why did you say it?” she asked.

“Say what?”

“Those horrible things about Dane. That he destroyed everything, and that you wished your wife had aborted him. Not even my mother ever said that, and she’s no candidate for sainthood.”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

“But it does. Ever since you two talked, Dane’s been treating me like he doesn’t even want to be in the same building with me.”

“Has he now?”

“Yeah. He sent me home from work today. Said there was nothing for me to do at the office.”

Salazar had another sip. “It’s more about him than you.”

“Sure doesn’t feel that way.”

He laughed softly. “Jesus, you like him.”

Was it that obvious? “Well…yes. I do.”

“Bad idea. You’ll only be miserable.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

Salazar lifted his glass like he was going to make a toast. “We seek out the things most likely to destroy us. Run to ’em, with open arms.” He sighed and lowered the glass. “You hear about my divorce?”

She nodded.

“Ceinlys wouldn’t have gotten a chance to divorce me if Dane hadn’t come along when he did. I was going to divorce her all those years ago, but how could I? She was my newly wedded wife—not even a year had passed since our ceremony—and she was carrying my first child in her womb.”

“
It wasn’t his fault
,” Sophia said, her voice tight.

“He’s been her pawn the moment he was conceived. All those things he did to make sure I’d approve of him and his mother. Do you know what being with a woman who only wants you for your money does to a man?” He paused for a moment to pour more scotch. “Of course you don’t, because you’re not a man. But that’s how it was in my family—every single one of our children was her pawn. So I did what I could to undermine their effect. I can play the game just as well as anybody.”

Sophia shook her head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“What doesn’t?”

“If that’s all you were arguing about, why would Dane push me away? None of that has anything to do with me.”

Salazar merely raised his eyebrows and drained his glass.

Sophia stood up. “He can’t do this. I won’t let him.”

“You got a plan?” he asked, placing the empty glass on the stone table between them.

She raised her chin. “I’m going to fight.”

“Nice sound bite, but it’s really not worth it.”

“He can’t start something and then end it without an explanation. I’m not some toy he can just…
toss aside
at will.” She’d already lost so much to the whims of fate. She wasn’t going to let it happen again because of the whims of some man.

“If he won’t even let you report for work—”

She raised a finger. “You asked me to come to the wedding with you and I said I’d think about it. Well, I’ve thought about it. I’ll go.”

He blinked. “As my date?”

“If that’s how it has to be, yes.”

A reluctant laugh tore from his chest. “God. You really know how to kill a man’s ego. I’ve never had a woman tell me she wanted to be with me to get to my son.”