Resisting The Tycoon's Seduction (The Berutelli Escape) (16 page)

Zeke’s driver pulled up outside Zeke’s home building and Marissa w
earily stepped out onto the pavement.  She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, feeling like a fraud because she didn’t feel married to Zeke.  She didn’t even feel like a significant girlfriend.  Should she really be here?  Shouldn’t she be trying to figure out where to live? 

She walked inside, not sure if she had an alternative at the moment.  When she stepped into his penthouse, the first thing she noticed was her laptop and monitor, plus all of her other hardware, was set up by the window of his massive great room.  She looked around, not sure how her equipment had come to be here, but
she was thrilled to sit down at the very comfortable desk and chair that he’d arranged for her to use and sift through her e-mail.  By late afternoon, she’d gone through all of her messages, responded to anything urgent, put the finishing touches on several of her current projects and even printed out apartment listings that she wanted to visit the next day.  She’d worked up a budget, estimating some of her expenses and her business income history to show to the rental agents.  She didn’t want anything standing in her way of moving on with her life.

As she worked, thoughts filtered through her mind.  She wasn’t sure what the future would hold, but she knew that she couldn’t go back to her old life. 

Should she stay here with Zeke until he grew tired of her?  Or should she move on, coming back to him when they both had the time?  Isn’t that was lovers did?  Would he be satisfied with that kind of a relationship?  Would she? 

It was so complicated since she wasn’t sure where he stood on the issue of their relationship. 
He might claim that they were married, but she didn’t feel married.  And this wedding ceremony just really boggled her mind with the implications.  Surely it had just been a means to an end and he didn’t meant to have a real marriage with her.  That was crazy since they’d known each other for such a short period of time. 

By the time Zeke walked into his penthouse later that evening, she still wasn’t sure what she was going to do.  The expression on his face when he saw her warmed her heart though.  Sliding the rental properties under some other files, she stood up, eager to greet him and finish the discussion they’d started earlier this morning.

Zeke walked through the doors, eager to check on Marissa, wanting to know that she was still safe.  Or at least that’s what he told himself until he spotted her by the window, her beautiful features lighting up when she saw him walking towards her.  At that moment, he tossed out all the other excuses he’d been building up in his mind.  He just wanted to see her, he accepted.  He’d acknowledged that he’d fallen head over heels for her that very first afternoon he’d seen her in the lingerie shop, as outlandish as it seems.  No one falls in love with someone at first sight, but here he was.  Every time he saw her, there was something more about her that fascinated him, something more he wanted to learn.  He couldn’t get enough of her and the more he was around her, the more intense his feelings grew.  And even not being around her, he found himself thinking about her all day, wondering if she was safe, hoping she’d like the office setup he’d told his housekeeper to create, thinking of other things he could do to help her business or make her smile.  He’d thought about stopping to get some flowers, wanting to show her exactly how much he liked having her in his home and being there when he arrived, but in the end, he didn’t want to take the time to stop and get the flowers.  He just wanted to hold her, feel her in his arms once again.

And here she was, smiling up at him while his hands reached out to pull her closer. 

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said before he bent to gently kiss her soft, pink lips.  “Did you have a nice day, dear?”

Marissa laughed, just as he’d
intended.  “It was wonderful.  I love the office setup, but how did you get all my equipment out of my father’s house?”

Zeke smiled.  “Dave went over and asked
for all of it, explaining the situation.”

She knew that wasn’t all of it, but the idea of someone going over to her father’s house made her nervous.  “And what happened?”

Zeke hesitated and Marissa knew that he was going to try and distract her once again.  She pulled out of his arms, moving to stand behind one of the overstuffed chairs.  “Zeke, you can’t keep things like that from me.  I don’t really understand what you want from this relationship…”

“Stop right there!” he snapped, whipping his tie off from around his neck and leaning against the chair.  “That’s the second time you’ve alluded to the fact that we’re not
genuinely married and I want to get that idea out of your mind.  We’re married.  You’re my wife.  We’re going to stay married.”

Her whole body heated with delight at his words, but until he said the right ones, she wouldn’t feel completely sure of him.  And she couldn’t ask, afraid he might tell her what she wanted to hear just to appease her.  He was a sweet, kind gentleman and she didn’t want to force anything from him that he didn’t feel.  He’d been too generous already, she didn’t want to take that away from him.  “I appreciate that.  And it sounds…wonderful,” she finally said, afraid to reveal too much about how she was feeling.  “But in the end,
how are we going to make a marriage work if you’re not willing to be honest with me?”

He
pushed away from the chair, hands on his hips.  “What the hell do you mean by that?  I’ve been honest with you and I’ll always be honest with you.”

“No, you’ve been keeping things from me.  There’s something going on with my father.  You think you’re protecting me, but the lack of whatever information you’re hiding from me is terrifying me.”  She waited to see his reaction before continuing.  “I know my father.  I don’t know the details, but I know what he’s capable of.  He’s a horrible, brutal man and I wish there was some way I could put him in prison for the rest of his life.  But he doesn’t trust anyone.  Not his family, not his lieutenants, no one.  That’s the one way he’s
stayed out of prison for so many years, doing what he does.”

Once again, Zeke ran his fingers through his hair, feeling trapped.  He knew she was right, but every instinct in his body told him to protect her from what her father had said.  He didn’t want to hurt her and anyone who had to hear that their father wanted to kill her if she didn’t comply with his commands would
feel betrayed. 

He turned back to her.  “Will
you promise to talk to me about what you’re thinking?” he asked, walking around the chair, approaching her with a stern look on his features. 

She backed up slightly, not wanting to muddy the conversation with the passion that seemed to take over whenever he touched her.  “Zeke, stop right there and finish this conversation,” she commanded. 

He chuckled, relieved that he could still do this to her.  Every time he touched her, they both seemed to ignite.  “Why would I do that?  I don’t want to talk about this.  I want to make love to you until we both can’t speak any longer.”  He started to reach for her, his intent clear in his eyes. 

She twisted around
, deftly able to avoid his hands but laughing herself at his look that somehow just struck her as funny.  “Zeke, this issue is not going away.  So let’s just have this out and tell me what you’re keeping from me.”

He raised an eyebrow, continuing to follow her but he let her get slightly farther away this time.  He knew he could easily catch her whenever he wanted to.  He’d never let her get too far from him, either physically or figuratively.  “Marissa, we’re going to make love, so let’s just get that out of the way and we can talk later.”

She couldn’t help but laugh again at his logic.  “Zeke, stop doing this.  Sit down in that chair and tell me what you know.”

Zeke halted and looked down at the chair, examining it from various angles.  When he sat down, actually following her command, she was so surprised that she took the seat across from him.  “Thank you,” she said with a sigh, smothering her
amusement when his eyebrow went up higher. 

“Okay, so now that we’re talking like two normal people,” she said and pushed her hair out of her eyes, “would you please tell me what is going on?  What was the rush before Puerto Rico and why the rush to get married?”

Zeke leaned back in his chair, one finger rubbing his lips as he looked across at her.  But his eyes weren’t watching her face.  They looked down at her breasts covered in the silk shirt she’d worn that day.  When he noticed her nipples tighten so he could see them through the thin, delicate fabric, he smiled slightly and looked at her eyes.  “Your father’s an ass, Marissa.”

She was having trouble breathing after that visual caress.  He definitely knew what he was doing. 
He was trying to distract her but she wouldn’t let it work.  She focused on his words, pushing the image of what he had on his mind out of her imagination.  Taking a deep breath, she said, “I know that.  Tell me what he threatened.”

Zeke paused
and noted the determined expression in her eyes.  He thought about taking her hand and showing her exactly what he could do in this chair.  But in the end, he knew she would persist until she had the whole story.  Accepting that he had to tell her everything, he sighed and leaned forward, his hands clasping in front of him while his elbows rested on his knees.  As carefully as possible, he said, “Dave heard through the grapevine that, if you didn’t get pregnant by me, he’d send someone to do the job for me.  Someone who was more able to accomplish the mission.”

All the blood drained from her features and the sexual tension that had been building since Zeke had walked into the penthouse vanished.  “He was going to get someone to rape me?”  She shivered and wanted to hide in shame.  But instead, she stood up and walked over to Zeke, sitting down in his lap without asking.  When his arms tightened around her body, cradling her with his strength, she immediately felt better.  “What a bastard,” she whispered but she wasn’t sure if he heard her since she’d buried her nose against his neck, needing
to smell his wonderful, masculine scent.  “What did you do to get him to back off?”

“Dave explained
firmly that I was working diligently on the project and it would be detrimental for his business survival to interfere.”  Again, he hesitated, wondering how much to tell her.  But he wanted it all out there for her to understand and maybe it would make her feel safer.  “Marissa, I’m a very powerful man.  I’m not the police, but there are many ways I can manipulate outcomes, legally, that the police can’t do.  I pointed out several problems that could crop up if he were to interfere with either you or Sierra again.”

Marissa froze and pulled back.  “What do you mean?”

He shook his head.  “Marissa, this is where you need to trust me.  You’re looking at me as if I might fall into your father’s disgusting plans but there’s absolutely no chance that your father will have any contact with any of our children.”  When he felt her relax against him, he started to feel better.  But it wasn’t enough.  He wanted to know that she trusted him completely and without the hesitation that would require him to explain himself.  “Why didn’t you trust me?”

She relaxed back against him, knowing she was probably too heavy to stay
like this for long.  But it felt perfect with his arms around her and his body almost protectively holding her.  “Because I don’t trust men at all.  You’re the exception so far.”

“So far?”

She shrugged slightly.  “Zeke, I don’t understand what you want from this relationship.  It’s hard to trust a man that’s as confusing as you are.”

“What’s confusing about me?  I love you.  I want you to bear my children and grow old with me and never speak to your father again.  I want to protect you with every fiber of my being and make sure that you’re deliriously happy every moment from now on.”

She listened to his words, surprised at how delicious they sounded to her tentative heart. “You love me?” she asked softly, almost reverently.  “How?  How can you love me after so little time together?”

Zeke squeezed her slightly.  “Marissa, I think I fell in love with you when you picked up the rose colored bra.”

She shook her head, not letting him get away with such a trivial explanation.  “That’s just lust.”

He threw back his head and laughed.  “You think so?  Do you know how many women would have immediately picked up the black lace after I suggested it?  You ignored me.  It was love at first sight.”

She sat up and looked down at him.  “You’re kidding me,” she laughed, rolling her eyes.

“No joke.  And every moment since then I’ve been more fascinated by everything you do.”

“I don’t really do anything,” she replied, wary of this declaration from him.  The words were too sweet, too wonderful. 

“You protect your sister, you start
ed your own business and hid it right under your father’s nose.  There aren’t many people who have the courage to stand up to your father, but you do it every moment of your life.  You challenge my beliefs, argue with me every step of any conversation, sometimes just to annoy me.”

She laughed softly.  “You like it when I annoy you?”

“I love it when you show me you have your own opinions and a spine.”

“That’s just respect.  That isn’t love,” she countered, afraid of believing him.

He looked down at her blouse once again.  “I want to rip your clothes off of you just about any time you’re in the room.  That’s not respect.”