The Letter (17 page)

Elegant and opulent would be words that fell short to describe his grand palace, sitting on a hill with a glorious view of the city and the Bay beyond.

The house boasted four stories with each level a stage of open marble hallways lined with elegantly appointed rooms, each decorated with its own distinctive elegant style that still harmonized with the entire house.

Victoria discovered three separate dining rooms, two kitchens and at least one washroom with plumbing on each floor, all with hot running water, no less.

The gardens of the house matched the house’s splendor. The lush, compact, city gardens impressed as much larger than they were and included delicate bubbling water fountains, a small secluded gazebo and pathways surrounded by bright blooming flora.

Apparently, William nearly owned the world and she had a glimpse this opulent fantasy in his home.

What could a man who lived in such a beautiful world possibly want with her?

A more important question was how could she … Victoria possibly please such a man in the ways of a mistress?

Had she truly considered all of her options? What if she lay with him only to discover that he had used her, found her not to his liking and abandoned her without her virtue, dignity, or the store? Should she have had him sign a document to memorialize their agreement and to protect herself?

That mercenary thought sent a shudder through her. The whole business of his proposition was shameful. She wouldn’t make it any more mortifying by putting it in writing.

She would have to find a way to please him, no matter what it took. Surely she could accomplish this task, couldn’t she?

*****

Most all of the bank employees watched as William Worthington, with his signature purposeful stride of elegant manliness, carried him with a compelling mixture of grace and power through the lobby of the bank and out the ornate, beveled glass doors.

As always, William nodded and said a polite “hello” to those he passed. But the employees knew despite his keeping with routine that today was different from other days because Mr. Worthington never left before 5:30 p.m., especially after coming in late in the morning. And amazingly, yesterday he hadn’t come in at all.

Something was afoot.

Whatever the reason for Worthington’s early departure, it was a pleasure to see the man who had long since been dubbed a workaholic acting a little more humanly.

William was annoyingly aware of his employees’ natural curious speculation dogging his footsteps as he left the bank.

There was no help for his obvious distraction. Moving Victoria in the direction of his bed was not a matter to take lightly. She was positioning herself to merely be a receptacle of his sexual advances while holding her own feelings from him in the cold cloak of a business transaction. This was not a situation he envisioned nor would he permit. He was not a man to simply throw her onto the bed and have his way with her in return for a simple business transaction. To get what he truly desired, which was her complete and utter sensual surrender, would take finesse, charm and time.

When she came to him he would be certain it was with desire equal to his own.

When he arrived at his house fifteen minutes later he didn’t wait for Chester to get down from the driver’s seat and open the carriage door before he bolted out. Blood pounding through his veins he opened the front door on his gaping butler Carter standing frozen in the foyer, who had not had time to get to the front door of the house let alone open it for him.

“
Sir, you are home early,” Carter’s surprised voice followed him, as he bounded past him and up the steps, turning toward Victoria’s bedroom.

“
Indeed I am,” William called back to Carter offering nothing else in the way of explanation.

Victoria’s bedroom door was open, and Victoria heard Carter calling up the steps to William.

He was home.

Victoria’s heart slammed against her ribs when she heard William’s footsteps on the polished wooden floor advancing quickly closer to her room.

His presence filled the doorway and her eyes lifted from the letter she was composing to Mandy to meet his. Emotions sizzled in the air between them like some tangible live thing.

Leaning on the door jam with his arms crossed, William regarded her with half lowered lids that could not conceal the predator’s sensual glitter in his eyes.

Victoria was motionless, her eyes swimming in his silver regard.

“
How was your day?” he asked, straightening from the door jam and moving into the room like a panther stalking its prey.

“
It was fine,” she answered, breathlessly. “Your house is beautiful.”

“
Thank you,” he said smiling. “And I hope you will like the house I am going to give to you,” William said. “I plan to give you every possible luxury.”

“
Really it isn’t necessary,” she demurred, her eyes sliding away while a pink flush touched her cheeks.

“
You have become an obsession do you know that?” he said quietly. “And it is deeply troubling.”

“
I am sorry,” Victoria whispered a hotter flush advancing across her face.

“
There is no need to be sorry, and I am pleased to see that you fit into my cousin’s gown quite beautifully.”

“
Yes, it was very kind of you.”

“
It is nothing compared to what I will give to you.”

“
I do not know what to say. It is a little too much I think.”

“
Nothing is too much for you.”

He paused, smiled and asked, “What are you writing?”

“
A letter to my sister, Mandy,” she replied, moving the paper away from his probing gaze. The ink still had to dry so Victoria slipped the page into the top drawer of the desk.

“
Would it be impolite to ask what you will tell your sister? Perhaps you could indulge my curiosity.”

“
As a matter of fact, I need a few questions answered myself so that I might tell my sister an accurate accounting of our … arrangement,” she said quietly as her gaze slipped away from his. Her own lack of sophistication was annoying. This was more embarrassing than she could have imagined, but a good business woman should be able to talk about the terms of an agreement.

Mina arrived with a glass of scotch and a tea service. William waved her inside and she quickly and deftly laid out the refreshments with practiced efficiency, then left the room.

“
Of course, you need to know the details of our agreement,” he said, lifting the glass and taking a long swallow of his drink.

With a slight tremble, Victoria stirred the sugar cube into her tea, taking care to make not a sound, just as her mother had taught her.

“
Well, yes, of course I have to tell her,” Victoria answered, settling the small tea spoon beside her saucer with an unintentional but notable clatter. Her mother certainly had not taught her that.

But then, her mother had never told her anything about what to do with a man like William Worthington in a situation like this.

“
I can’t very well lie about something that will keep me away for an indefinite amount of time. Besides, we are very close.”

“
Watching you is fascinating,” William said, his eyes moving over her.

“
What do you mean?” She asked, breathless.

“
Between your blushes and missish ways you will give mistresses a new name,” William said, “However I admit that your trembling does make me feel a complete bastard.”

“
Please, William, do not say such things to me.”

“
Alright, tell your sister you will be here for a long time. Tell her that she can go to the bank where there is an account set up in her name and she may draw from it what she likes. If you want, she can come visit you, I am more than happy to pay for her trip expenses, of course,” he said quietly.

“
Oh no, she can’t come here,” Victoria hastily declared.

Good gracious, she had thought of a thousand lies she could tell Mandy, but had discarded them all. She just never lied to Mandy. That was not the way things were between them. Mandy would know she was lying. And if Mandy knew she was lying she would most certainly come here to San Francisco to get to the bottom of what was really going on.

It was bad enough that she had to tell Mandy what she was going to do, but she could still never let Mandy see her like this.

“
No, of course, I understand, you would not want her to meet me.”

“
It isn’t that, of course, she would love to meet you. But surely you understand that it is the circumstances and she is my sister,
my younger sister
and she doesn’t need to see me in this...”

“
Situation,” he finished for her. “You are right, of course. Tell her the store will be turned over to someone else, I have a buyer,” he stated briskly, taking another drink and mentally punching out an inexplicable notion of guilt.

“
A buyer?” Victoria jumped to her feet upsetting her teacup. “What are you talking about...there will be no buyer for the store. The store was part of our bargain, surely you have not forgotten that.

“
Sit down, Victoria,” he commanded in a low voice, righting the tea cup and placing a napkin over the small spill on the tablecloth. “I didn’t think it would matter that much.”

“
How can you say that, when you know that store means everything to me?” she declared, slowly taking her seat again, her eyes fixed on him. “It was the most important part of our deal.”

“
I thought you needed the store to be economically independent. You will not need to work anymore. I thought you understood that.”

“
For now perhaps I will not need to work, but eventually I will go back home,” she reminded him, as panic continued to rush through her. In the span of a few days he had taken over her whole life. Trapped and suffocating and she was powerless to do anything about it. “You knew how I felt, I told you about all of my plans,” she accused.

“
Don’t be so upset, Victoria. I guess I didn’t entirely understand how you felt about the store. I was focused on the economic aspects. If you would like, I will turn the deed over to you, but Mandy will still have to run it for you, at least for a while. Do you think she can manage on her own?”

“
Of course she can manage on her own and she has Johnny to help her.”

“
I am sorry Victoria, I think I have pushed you a little too far and a little too fast. The store means a great deal to you and I know that. But darling, you aren’t going to need the money, so I hate to see you toiling unnecessarily,” he said, his voice low and husky and filled with so many promises ... promises to give her everything she wanted and promises of endless sultry nights in his arms.

“
I know, but I have always worked at the store. I love that place. It’s, well . . . it’s like part of my family,” she explained, mentally considering that they had never settled on any exact amount of money for their bargain. The only thing Victoria had been interested in was having the store. She hadn’t stopped to consider that there might be more than that as his words now clearly implied.

“
And that was our deal,” she whispered the reminder.

“
Indeed, it was our deal... and now that I understand your position completely I will honor our deal to your satisfaction. Do you really believe your sister can manage the store? I could send someone to help.”

“
Johnny and Mandy can manage on their own,” she stated still suspicious, searching his eyes for the slightest indication of deception.

What more would he want in return for all of this? Just to share her bed?

In that instant staring into his glowing, silver eyes that penetrated her very soul, Victoria knew he wanted more. He would not settle only for sexual gratification. She knew with certainty that he wanted all of her, to command to demand, body and soul.

And for him to have such power would mean certain destruction for her.

William’s lips curled up in a sensual smile in response to her stubborn stance.

Then, he pinched her chin in a playful gesture. “Now, get that stubborn look off of your exquisite face, and tell me what you did today.”

Victoria smiled into his twinkling eyes, dizzy with relief and reeling from his touch, then nervously launched into a list of things she had done during the day.

“
The fresh bloom is back in your face which means that the drug does not appear to have caused you any lasting damage,” he said at length, when she had run out of words to cover her nervous anticipation.

Victoria felt the heat rise higher in her face. “I do feel much better.”

“
You are so beautiful,” he said in a husky voice. “I am more pleased than you could possibly imagine that you have agreed to be mine.”

His shocking words causing a pausing tremor to dash through her.

“
You may not be so pleased with your choice...after....after…it is done.”

“
You could not be more wrong. I am certain it will be a remarkable experience.”

“
Oh my...” Victoria choked, heat simmering in her cheeks.

William’s intense gaze captured and held her. “However, I am curious and concerned...does the prospect of our intimate relationship make you afraid? I do not want you to be afraid of me.”