The Italian's Bedroom Deal (16 page)

Brushing it off, she shook her head. “Nothing,” she said and moved closer to him.

He leaned back slightly, his hands running up and down her back but he stopped when she didn’t go on. “What’s wrong Clarissa. What are you afraid to ask me?”

She stepped out of his arms and turned to face the mirror once again. “Nothing, I promise. My father arranged to have some of my friends throw a belated bridal shower for me, since there wasn’t enough time between when you finally convinced me to marry you and when the ceremony was performed.”

He chuckled and put his hands on her shoulders, looking at her in the mirror. “Ask me anything,” he said softly, placing a gentle kiss in her hair. “You smell good, by the way.”

Clarissa smiled and her heart swelled with pride and love for Max. She knew she was being silly. Max was honest. He didn’t marry her for any other reason other than his own sense of propriety. He had nothing to gain financially or socially from their relationship and when could he possibly have time for an affair? He traveled, but would he have the energy to make love to her the way he did every night they were together and still have the strength for a mistress? She doubted it.

“You need to change or we’ll be late,” she admonished, her eyes locking with his in the mirror.”

“So?” he asked, his hand moving from her shoulders to her waist, then lower.

Clarissa closed her eyes as she started shivering, her body already melting but she tried to fight it. “Max, we can’t,” she said but then inhaled sharply when he pulled the red silk higher, his hands running over her legs and bottom, pulling her against his erection.

“We can,” he challenged.

“You’ll wrinkle my dress,” she said but already she was leaning back against him, her body melting into his.

“I’ll buy you another one,” he said.

Clarissa couldn’t argue with him any longer. Not when his hand slid the zipper down her back. She didn’t want to argue anyway. After the conversations this afternoon, all she wanted was to feel this, to experience Max’s version of magic once again.

They were late for the dinner party that night. And Clarissa wore a blue dress and not the red silk. They arrived just as the other guests were moving into the dining room and the hostess was so pleased that Max actually showed up that she didn’t care that they’d missed the cocktail hour.

Chapter 14

Clarissa walked through Max’s penthouse, forgetting her own work as a need to connect with him wheedled its way through her brain. He’d been gone for almost a week and would probably be gone for another day or two. She was able to talk to him on the phone each night but it wasn’t the same, she though as she sat down in his large leather chair. She loved this place but Max had said they should move to a house. She didn’t care where they lived but she didn’t like these long periods of separation.

She looked down and smiled when she noticed a note pad with his strong scrawl on it. Her fingers moved over the bold words. She didn’t even read them, not able to understand even half of the financial aspect of his work. She couldn’t believe how smart he was and how he could find business opportunities in the most varied areas. He’d even created a company that invested in small businesses since that was how he’d started out. He said he wanted to give others the opportunities he had. Once a week, he would go thorough several business proposals, sifting through the ones that could work, even offering advice to some of the proposals that seemed feasible but not quite ready for investment yet.

His secretary had sent over a package of mail to him yesterday and the stack sat on the side of his desk. Apparently Max wasn’t going to stop by the office when he arrived which excited her. She wanted to talk to him, be with him, have him hold her in his arms and make her feel the wild desire they shared.

Sighing, she knew she had to get back to her own work. The translation she was working on though was boring and tedious. It was a technical manual and she had to struggle each day to get through the material.

She stood up, preparing to head back to the room she’d converted into her own office when the top envelope on his desk caught her eye. It was a thick package but that wasn’t what made her look twice. The return address was from her father’s company. Why was her father sending Max something? Was it actually supposed to be for her and his secretary had just co-mingled their mail? She’d always thought the woman was ultra efficient but everyone was human.

Looking inside, she felt as if she were intruding on something but was concerned about her father. Why would he be sending something to Max?

The phone rang and she jumped. She immediately felt as if she were intruding and stepped back.

Walking quickly out of the office, she waited for Beatrice to tell her who had called.

“Ms. Diatre?” Beatrice called out. “Mr. Diatre’s secretary is on the phone for you. She has an urgent request.”

She picked up the extension in Max’s office. “Nancy?” she called out a greeting. “How can I help you?” Max’s secretary was a wonderful woman in her late fifties who wore ultra conservative suits and flat shoes, with her graying hair piled up on her head. She reminded Clarissa more of a librarian than an executive assistant.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re there. I’m so sorry to bother you but would it be too much to ask if you can hand an envelope to the delivery person who should be arriving? I sent him over about fifteen minutes ago. He’s going to race the package back to me. I would do it myself but I have to cover a meeting for Max.”

“Don’t worry about it at all. What does the package look like?” Clarissa asked, walking back into Max’s office and standing at the corner of his desk. “I’m standing next to his chair. Where did you put it earlier?”

It’s under the stack of mail in the corner. It’s a white envelope with a contract from Stantech Corporation.”

Clarissa tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder and searched through the large stack of papers. “Goodness there’s a lot here. Max is definitely a popular guy, isn’t he?”

Nancy chuckled over the phone. “Absolutely. I don’t know how he sifts through all the information.”

“I don’t either,” Clarissa said. “Got it,” she replied, pulling out the large envelope from the middle of the stack. “Oops,” she gasped. “Some of the files fell onto the floor. The delivery person is on the way?” she asked.

“Yes. Should be there any moment.”

The intercom rang at that moment. “I think he’s here now. I’ll bring this to him. I hope I haven’t messed up your stack by dumping it over. I’ll try and make sure it’s in the same order.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll stop by tomorrow to bring him more and will re-sort it. Thank you so much for saving me this time. I’m just not used to Max working from home so often so I don’t have my processes in place yet. But believe me, I enjoy it. I’m actually getting home to see my grandchildren once in a while,” she laughed and rung off.

Clarissa walked to the front door and handed the carrier the envelope. When he was on his way back to the office, she went back to Max’s study to clean up the papers.

Bending down, she saw the envelope from her father’s office and the contents had spilled out. She was curious but just stacked up the papers. Until one of the words caught her eye. When she read a few more, her legs gave out on her and she simply sat down on the floor, reading through the papers and not even caring that they weren’t hers.

As she read, the words started to blur and she realized that she was crying. The aching in her heart was a new experience as well. The documents were inheritance papers. Her father’s will. He was leaving everything to Max on the condition that he remain married to Clarissa. As she read through the legalese, she gathered that any children formed from their marriage would be beneficiaries, all accounts to be held in trust by Max. Clarissa would receive a large cash amount but she didn’t care about the money. She’d always resented the money that had kept her father working the long hours and she actually hated it right at this moment.

Her marriage was a sham. She’d fallen in love with a man who had married her solely to gain her father’s company!

Oh the humiliation, she thought, wiping more of the tears away. She didn’t even care that some of her tears fell onto the documents. She continued to read, wanting to know every painful detail. It took her several hours but by the time she turned to the last page, she was crumbling the papers in her fists.

She’d been bought, she thought as she leaned her head against the desk and closing her eyes. She’d been completely bow tied and bought by Max but she’d come cheap. He hadn’t had to pay out a dime. All he had to do was marry the daughter, take her off the old man’s hands and Max would get a multi-billion dollar company. Of course, her father’s company wasn’t quite the size of Max’s but in the end, Max would make out okay. His company would expand and Max would be in charge of everything while little wifey stayed home taking care of the kids, remaining oblivious.

Her head fell into her hands and she shivered with the horror of what she’d done. She’d pursued him, she knew. She’d practically handed Max the keys to the company.

It hadn’t been Max’s sense of propriety that had demanded she marry him before they slept together. He had only used her sexual inexperience to ensure the increase of his financial empire. Max didn’t love her. He’d never love her. He had what he wanted and now he could move on to the next acquisition.

Standing up, she walked into their bedroom and pulled out one of her suitcases. She didn’t bother with any of the clothes Max had bought her. She didn’t want any reminders of what they’d shared. Besides, the clothes were probably his only way to appear in public and not be ashamed of her. He’d done such a good job of making her feel beautiful. Would she ever get over this latest humiliation? Would she ever forgive him for what he’d done?

Would he even care about her forgiveness? She’d done exactly what he needed to do so all was well in his world. Why would he even care about a silly wife that had qualms about being bought and sold as if she were a piece of furniture, or, more appropriately, a caveat on a contractual document.

The pain was ripping her heart open and letting it bleed all over her self-esteem. She wanted to just lay down but that would mean that the pain would win, and Max would find her looking so pathetic and hurt. She shoved things into her suitcase, uncaring about the way things were folded. She just needed to hurry and leave, desperate to get out of here before anything horrible happened. Like Max coming home early.

That thought spurred her on faster. She couldn’t run into Max. He’d always had the ability to control her and he’d definitely try and persuade her that the contract meant nothing. He’d tell her more lies and, because she loved him so desperately, she’d believe him. She couldn’t let him do that to her anymore. When the first bag was full, she didn’t even bother with another one. She shoved it closed, zipping the sides and then lugged it out to the hallway, only stopping to pick up her purse and keys which she’d laid on the foyer table when she’d come in earlier that day.

The memory of how excited she’d been only an hour earlier almost made her double over in pain. She’d been deliriously happy, eager to see him and be with him, hear about his day and let him commiserate with her on how boring her current work was turning out to be. He would have made her laugh and then she knew they would end up in bed for the rest of the night. Now her dreams were completely shattered and all she wanted to do was find a small place to hide and lick her wounds.

She made it to the garage level without seeing anyone or alerting the security staff she suspected Max had put on her. The men she’d seen around town were different than the men her father had assigned to her so she wasn’t absolutely positive, but she wasn’t taking any chances that they might stop her, or follow her and tell Max where she’d gone. Slipping out like this meant they wouldn’t know where she was going and she didn’t want to be followed. She had to get out. She had to leave and make sure he never found her. He was a liar and a cheat and she couldn’t trust him. Ever.

Shoving her suitcase into the back of her mini, she jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine, grateful that it still worked after not being used for so long. Backing out of the garage, she hurried, seeing the body guards rushing after her. One was speaking into a walkie talkie so she knew she’d have to hurry. Stepping on the accelerator, she drove swiftly out of the parking garage, turning right, then left, and right again and again just like she’d seen the people on television do when they wanted to escape being followed. She would not be found!

After an hour of turns and side streets with her eyes on her rear view mirror, she felt it was finally safe to get out of the city without being followed. She turned right and was instantly on the highway, heading north. Where she would go, she had no idea, but she was determined to find a place to hide and work out the details, figure out what she was going to do and how she was going to do it. After she had a good, long cry, that is.

She drove for hours, not caring where she was headed, only stopping for gas once. She didn’t eat at all, too upset to even consider food. She didn’t really see the road or the beautiful scenery around her. All she saw were the words to the document that showed her what her life was really about. She was a pawn and she’d been had. There was no way she could get around that reality. All her love for Max, all the dreams and hopes for what their life would be like were shattered.