The Billionaire's Forbidden Desire (13 page)

Dane felt his mouth tighten. Josephine Martinez was the maid of honor, and not only did she have great taste, she was superbly organized to boot. “Still. If you do this for me, I’ll skip the wedding.”

This time there was a long pause. “Um…what?”

“It’s not like you want me at the ceremony.” He was well aware of how he ranked.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re family.”

Cynicism tugged at a corner of his mouth. “Don’t worry, I’ll still send a wedding gift.”

“Dane, you have to be at the wedding if I do this. That’s my price.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Good. I think I can keep her busy. Things always come up at the last minute with weddings.”

“Surprising.” Hilary was one of the most efficient people he knew. “I thought you had everything figured out.”

“I do. It’s other people who don’t.”

Of course
. Dane hesitated for a moment. “Thanks.”

Dane glanced at the clock. It was already three in the afternoon, and Sophia hadn’t been by since she’d left earlier to help Hilary. So his future sister-in-law was making good on her promise.

He poured himself a scotch and savored it. He’d be surprised if Sophia would last the day. On the other hand… She seemed like a fighter. So it might take two days before she cried uncle.

His mobile buzzed. Vanessa again. She should really call her husband if she found her life so unsatisfying. This was getting ridiculous. He ignored it.

A few minutes later Hilary called. Curious about how things had gone with Sophia, he answered. “Dane Pry—”

“
Oh my GOD! I cannot believe you gave her a JOB!
”

He jerked the phone away from his ear. Vanessa deserved her own Guinness record for her screeching. Wasn’t pregnancy supposed to mellow women out, making them all warm and fuzzy thinking about their babies? Apparently not…at least not with his sister.

“I give a lot of people jobs,” he said. “Got a problem with that? Sue me.”

“She’s not ‘people’!”

“Calm down, Vanessa,” came Mark’s voice. “Just so you know, we’re on speaker right now.”

Dane rolled his eyes. How many times had his siblings gathered to worry themselves sick over immaterial stuff? “Anyone else there?”

“Just me, Hilary and Vanessa. I got here right around the time your assistant left.”

“Good. Can you or some other rational human talk to me?” Dane said. “I’m tired of hysteria.”

“Vanessa’s upset because she’s driving Dad’s car.”

He scowled. “Who?”

“Sophia!” Vanessa said, breathing hard. “Your new ‘assistant’! She’s driving Dad’s 2HOT4U 1965 Aston Martin DB5 convertible, which he never lets anyone else even
sit in
, much less take out on the road.”

“What the hell?” Dane sat up straighter.

Salazar loved that convertible more than any of his children…or even his own mother. Shirley had often lamented about his ridiculous obsession with “that car.” Sophia had said there was nothing going on between her and Salazar. If that were true, she wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the vehicle.

Vanessa lowered her voice, but it was no less forceful. “By the way, she’s the one I saw at Éternité. He had his hands all over her. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went home together.” She made a gagging noise. “Mark my words, she’s aiming to be Dad’s next wife. Our stepmom.”

Dane breathed deeply, forcibly reining himself in. “I’m well aware of that. I saw them with my own eyes at Elizabeth’s function. Which, by the way, you skipped.”

“I wasn’t feeling well,” Vanessa said defensively. “Besides, I heard you spent half a million on her at the bachelorette auction.”

Elizabeth had wasted no time spreading that piece of gossip
. “I needed a bigger tax deduction for the year.”

“But you had to bid on
her?
”

“Dad was bidding too. Would you have preferred him to win?”

That shut Vanessa up for a moment, but then she started again. “I don’t understand why she bothered to get a job at your company. Every pretty thing that approaches Dad always has the same objective—to replace Mom.”

“She denies it,” Dane said, then paused. It was out of character for him to toss something like that out. But he’d wanted to voice Sophia’s point of view for some reason.

Probably because she wasn’t around to do it herself. He might be an asshole, but he wasn’t unfair.

“Wait, you believe her?” Vanessa asked, suddenly getting quiet. “Because if you do… I don’t know. I guess I’ll back off then.”

Dane poured himself another finger of scotch. “No, but I’ve half a mind to let him have her. It’d serve him right.”

But the image of Sophia, naked and moaning, on the pristine sheets on Salazar’s bed preyed on Dane’s mind. His skin suddenly felt too small, and he clenched his teeth to contain an uncharacteristic snarl.

“She might not want to marry Salazar,” Hilary said. “She seemed…uh…nice.”

“Your unflinching faith in humanity is admirable, but quite unfounded,” Dane said. “She’s my employee. I’ll deal with her.”

“Are you going to fire her?” Mark asked. “That doesn’t solve the problem of her being with Dad.”

“Amateur. My methods are far more effective than that.”

Dane hung up and turned off the phone before anybody could waste any more of his time. He leaned back in his seat and set the tips of his steepled hands against his lips.

Salazar had made it clear he was playing a game. Sophia had denied it, and very convincingly. Dane would’ve believed her, except there was too much evidence pointing the other way. First Shirley’s choker…and now the
Aston Martin?

If she honestly didn’t want to get sucked into the drama, she could’ve moved out of Salazar’s house. If she didn’t want to impose on Dane, she could’ve crashed with a friend. Everybody had a friend. Even Dane himself had one he could count on…despite his family thinking he was the biggest asshole in the universe.

The fact that Salazar was letting her drive the Aston Martin changed everything. Dane had assumed she’d have her own car or borrowed one of Salazar’s lesser cars, like a Mercedes. Or perhaps an Audi.

He’d underestimated the situation. It was about time he gave it the attention it deserved.

* * *

Sophia returned to the office a little before five. Helping Hilary had turned out to be much more complicated than she’d expected. But that wasn’t the bad part. The real difficulty had been the emotional strain of dealing with Vanessa, who was obviously unhappy. Sophia still wasn’t sure why the redhead was so upset, but she knew it had something to do with her.

Or to be specific, the car Salazar had lent her.

She should’ve told him it was too flashy and ostentatious. She didn’t know a thing about cars, but from the way people had stared at the Aston Martin, she knew it had to be very rare and expensive.

Sighing, she stretched her neck. She wanted to check in and make sure Dane didn’t need anything else before she went back home. No, not “home”. Salazar’s house. Dane seemed to think she enjoyed staying there, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was a grand place, but it wasn’t her home. She could never forget that she was just a guest there, a poor relative who had nowhere else to go.

A charity case.

She knocked on Dane’s door and poked her head in. “Do you need anything else for the evening before you head out?”

“Come in and shut the door.” He waited until she followed his instructions before saying, “Where have you been all this time?”

She looked puzzled. “Helping Hilary. She needed—”

“You do not work for Hilary. I said to assist her, not spend your entire working day with her. I still need the items on this list done.” He pushed a sheet of paper across the desk.

“I’ll get to them—”

“Today,” he added.

Her jaw slackened. “But you never said—”

“It’s your job to anticipate my needs, not vice versa. If that’s too much, you’re free to quit. I won’t even ask for two weeks’ notice.”

She clicked her mouth shut as anger knotted in her belly. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what was going on—he was setting her up to fail. Well, he’d picked the wrong victim. She’d suffered much worse in the form of unfair calls and biased judging when she was competing.

She curled her hands, itching to wipe that condescending look from his handsome face. His looks were the only evidence she needed to know the world was an unfair place. If it were, he would’ve been born ugly. “Understood. I’ll get them done.”

“Excellent.” He got up from his seat and walked past her.

They didn’t touch, but even so she could feel an electric charge pass between them, an inexplicable voltaic link that made her skin tingle like he’d run his hands over her. And she didn’t seem to be the only one sensing it. She followed him to the door; Dane’s shoulders were set in a tense line as he walked down the hall and into a waiting elevator that had been held by an office worker.

Sophia went to her desk and took a deep breath.

A few moments later, the same woman who had held the elevator stuck her head around the door and knocked softly. “Sorry about all that,” she said with a sympathetic cringe. “I’m Roxie Rodriguez, by the way. Mr. Pryce’s assistant.” Her gorgeous glossy black hair framed a friendly round face. She had dramatic makeup with little glittery highlights around her eyes that made her look like she was about to jump on a stage and start belting out a Broadway tune. However, her teal blue tunic and white skirt were conservative and office-appropriate.

Sophia forced a smile. “Do I look that bad?”

“You looked a bit shell-shocked when you walked out of his office. He’s been sort of moody recently. If he doesn’t change soon, it’s not going to be fun for you here.”

“Thanks for the warning. I’m sure I can manage.”

Even if it killed her. She wasn’t going to let Dane win.

As Dane pulled into the driveway of the Pryce family mansion, he spotted the green Aston Martin, parked in the shadows.

The infamous 2HOT4U.

The top was up, windows closed. Guess Sophia had finished her tasks faster than he’d expected. It wouldn’t have bothered him if she had to pull an all-nighter while he implemented his plan.

He got out quietly with a small suitcase. As he started toward the house, he caught something in his peripheral vision. He turned around and looked more carefully into the convertible.

Ah there. The unforgettable golden head, shining even in the dim light. The back of her skull was round and had fit perfectly into his hand as he’d kissed her. His right palm twitched as if it too remembered.

Sophia was still in the driver’s seat. She’d draped her arms around the steering wheel and was resting her face on them.

Placing his suitcase in front of the door, he went to the car. He started to knock on the window, then stopped. Her shoulders drooped, and her body seemed to have deflated like a day-old balloon. Something that felt suspiciously like sympathy stirred in his heart. Had he been too harsh with her earlier?

Don’t second-guess yourself
.

Salazar might think she was his pawn, but the reality wasn’t that simple. Sophia was also playing a game of her own. Dane wanted them both to lose.

His mouth set in a flat line, he knocked on the window.

She blinked, then stirred and got her purse. A bit of her hair had escaped the tidy bun, and it floated around her face like wisps of cloud. Dane kept his hands by his side, so he didn’t do something stupid, like pull the pins out to watch the chignon come undone.

He would have loved nothing more than to unravel her right there, right that moment.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, opening the door.

The sleepy husky tone sent heat straight to his cock. Damn it. “Fixing the situation you’ve created.”

“Which is…?”

“Your refusal to move out.”

She shook her head. “If you’re here to ask Salazar to make me leave, don’t bother. I’m going to do that as soon as I can find a place.”

When?
danced on the tip of his tongue, but he resisted saying it. “I’m not here to ask him to toss you out on the streets.” That would be pointless. Even if Salazar had thought about doing exactly that, he wouldn’t, just to spite Dane.

“Then what?”

“I’m moving in.”

Shock replaced fatigue in Sophia’s eyes. Her jaw dropped.

Dane shot her a triumphant smirk, then walked up the few steps to the main entrance to the house.

Within seconds of knocking, Al answered the door. “Sir?”

“Good evening, Al.”

“Good evening.” The butler frowned. “Is that a suitcase?”

“Very astute. In fact, it is.” Dane smiled. “I’m moving back.”

“Sir.” Al blinked twice, then opened his mouth and closed it. “You haven’t lived here since you turned sixteen.”

Shirley had gotten him an apartment in the city in addition to a car on his sixteenth birthday. Ceinlys had objected at first, but not many people could bend Shirley to their will. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“So…” Al cleared his throat. “I—”

Dane almost laughed. He’d never seen the family butler flustered before. “Where’s my father?”

“Resting in his room. I’ll let him know you’re planning to move back home.”

“Yes, you do that.”

“And I’ll take care of your bag. Will you be taking your old room?”

“No.” He hated that horrible place. There were no good memories. He pretended to consider, then said, “I’ll take the guest suite next to whichever one Sophia is using.”

Al’s gaze flickered behind Dane, and he could feel Sophia’s stare on his back.
Yes
,
my dear
,
take that!
It was about time he got involved even if he didn’t want to.

The butler nodded. “Of course, sir.” He pulled out a phone and spoke discreetly into it. “Please follow me.” He led Dane and Sophia up to the second floor, walking a bit more slowly than usual, probably to give the staff time to ready the room. Not that there would be much to do.

As they mounted the staircase, a maid passed them going down. Her eyebrows rose slightly when she saw Dane. “Oh! Good to see you, sir.”