Trust (25 page)

“Time to go, angel. You have to get up early tomorrow.” Sophia faced him, “Alistair, thank you again. For everything.”

He rose from the ground in a single beautiful movement and extended his hand to run his knuckles lightly over her bruised face. “You take care.” His long fingers cupped the other side of her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.

“I will. You too.”

His fingers tightened gently and he bent his head and kissed her on the lips, startling her. She blinked and breathed unevenly when he broke the light kiss.

Taking her carry-on from his hand, she put Gabriela’s bag on her shoulder. She looked up again at him, confused by his fingers still on her face.

An unreadable emotion appeared in her eyes as she freed herself from his grasp and whirled around toward home.

He stood there looking at the two of them walking hand in hand, until they entered the house, with a final small wave from Sophia and an eager one from Gabriela.

Kensington. Galewick Townhouse.

Saturday, February 20
^th
, 2010.

2.07 p.m.

Alistair picked up his iPhone, stared at it for a long time, and shoved it back into his jeans pocket.

“Are you going to call her or not?” Leonard sounded amused.

“I beg your pardon?”

Leonard chuckled. “Sophia. Are you going to call her? If I had known she was ‘the lawyer,’ I would have pulled the strings sooner.”

“She’s trouble.”

“Just because she gave you a hard time? She is not like the others, Alistair. She’s a special woman. I wonder why she fascinates you so much since she’s not your usual type. It’s intriguing, to say the least.”

“Pray tell me, what is my usual type?” he said sardonically. “Gorgeous? Check. Amazing body? Check. Blonde? Well, I think I can make an exception.”

“Debauched women,” was the straightforward answer.

Jesus Christ
. Alistair shook his head and thinned his lips.
Does everyone know how far I have gone? How low I have fallen?

Leonard chuckled. “It has been fairly interesting to see you squirming under pressure. The mighty Alistair Connor MacCraig,” he smirked. “Not in all the time I’ve known you, have I witnessed this weird way of acting toward a woman. And you have had many.”

“In all honesty, Leo, I’ve been exercising strict control over my desires.” He rose and paced the room.

“Your ego’s wounded. You’re not seeing things straight. She was with Ethan.” Leonard raised an eyebrow. “Do you want another unfaithful woman?”

“She kissed me in the car, dammit.” He raked a hand through his hair. “That woman has fire burning under that controlled surface. She hasn’t fooled me.”

“Maybe she has fire. So what?” Leonard tilted his head to the side, thoughtfully. “Who initiated the kiss? She did?”

Alistair shook his head vehemently, his gorgeous hair swinging softly around his face. “I did. She had a fuck-me-now look on her face. She was begging for it.”

Leonard laughed. “Sophia doesn’t beg. She goes for it. I have seen her destroying older and more experienced lawyers without mercy, without apologizing. She ran me over when discussing an agreement as if I were one of her babbling students.”

“She did the same with me while negotiating a loan,” he grinned. “Christ, it was a huge turn on. Thing is, Leo, some women that have a strong personality for business need a different kind of release.”
I want to shatter her control and have her in my own way
.

Leonard’s smile vanished from his face and he frowned, “I don’t like this, Alistair.”

“Haven’t you had enough, Alistair Connor?” Alice’s voice came from behind and he pivoted on his heels. His sister leaned on the threshold, scowling at him.

Enough of what, Alice? What do you know?
Alistair flung himself on the sofa and huffed, crossing his muscular arms over his broad chest.

“Sophia is not like Heather,” Leonard pointed out.

“Leave that bitch out of this,” he growled.

“Would you like it if someone said the same thing about me? ‘She had a fuck-me-now look on her face. She was begging for it,’” she mimicked Alistair’s voice in a derisive way, stepping into the room. “You haven’t asked for my advice, but here it goes anyway. Don’t throw away the second chances God sends you.”

“Tell me, Alistair,” Leonard’s suddenly eerie voice sent chills down Alistair’s spine, “would you rip off the wings of an angel just to prove Lucifer fell?”

“No, never.” Alistair shuddered visibly.
Oh, please. I have no desire to destroy her. Why does everyone think this is all there is?

Sophia had him spellbound.

I don’t care if she’s an angel or a goddess. I want her. I cannot forget that beautiful, lovely face. Or the way her feelings transpired in her eyes. How she carried herself. She will be mine
.

She was a witch and he was bewitched.

Kensington Palace Gardens. Atwood House.

5. 01 p.m.

When Sophia’s iPhone vibrated, she didn’t recognize the number. “Sophia Santo speaking.”

“Hello, Sophia. Alistair Connor.”

His deep, raspy voice made Sophia’s heart pound fiercely. He had something special, which had dragged her to him from the very first minute they met. She had committed to memory his powerful body and the way he had embraced her that day at the pool. Lean and sinewy muscles of a swimmer or a fighter. His towering height. The way he carried himself with the assurance of a man entirely at ease with himself. The way he kissed.

Sophia melted.

“Alistair, how are you?” She asked in a breathless voice.
Oh, please, Sophia. Don’t be ridiculous
.

“I’m well. And you? Are you recovered?”

“Almost. A little yellow around the eye. A reddish scar above my eyebrow. As expected.”

He could see her shrugging and dismissing the whole incident. “The plastic surgeon left a scar?”

“He said it’s going to fade completely within five to six months.”

“I’m sorry, Sophia.”

“Oh, no big deal. And you? What have you been doing?”

“Working too much. That’s why I phoned you.”
Ach, I’m losing my touch. I have phoned her because I’m working too much? Come on, Alistair Connor, you can do better than that
. “I bought tickets for the opera on March fifth,
Tamerlano
with Placido Domingo. Would you like to go with me?”

“Why sure, thank you.”

“And what about today? Are you up for something lighter? Perhaps dinner?”

“Ah… I…” she paused.
Are you daft, Sophia? Don’t you know how to talk anymore?
“Yes, I guess.”
You guess? YOU GUESS?

“You guess?” he chuckled, “This is a yes or a no?”

“Yes, this is a yes,” she whispered.

“What about Hélène Darroze at The Connaught?”

“I’ve never been,” she answered softly.

“So, it’s settled. Eight o’clock okay?”

“Yes, yes, it is. Okay, I mean,”
So, so idiotic, Sophia
. She heard him chuckle. “So, I will see you then.”

“See you later, Sophia.”

7.59 p.m.

Sophia waited for Alistair at the garden gates. She had covered her bruises with concealing makeup. She wore a dark-brown Chanel overcoat, which partially covered a knee-length, burnt-red, heavy lace dress with a deep décolletage from Valentino with a brown belt. She opted for sheer tights and chocolate leather platform high heels.

Gabriela waited with her, dressed in her bunny pajamas and sneakers. Maria stood ready to return the child to bed.

Although wary, Sophia didn’t have the heart to impede her daughter. Gabriela wanted to see Alistair.
I hope he doesn’t mind
.

She heard a purring motor outside. Her stomach did a somersault and she drew in a deep breath.
That must be him
.

Steven and Devon opened the gates for her. Stepping outside, a vision of sheer masculinity dressed in a black blazer and a light gray turtleneck sweater with dark gray jeans that enhanced his legs rewarded Sophia. Alistair noticed her and flashed a grin of even, white teeth.

Gabriela passed under her mother’s arm and ran in Alistair’s direction with Steven close behind her. Alistair picked her up and whirled her in the air to Gabriela’s delighted squeals. Sophia looked over her shoulder to Maria. The Brazilian nanny smiled.

“She likes him a lot, Mrs. Leibowitz, and I think he does, too,” Maria told Sophia, in Portuguese.

“So it seems, Maria.” She strolled up to them as Gabriela whispered something in Alistair’s ear and he nodded to the little girl. “How are you, Alistair?”

“Not bad.” He smiled at her. “Not bad at all. And you?”

Typical English answer
. “I’m fine, thanks. Gabriela, angel, go straight to bed, all right?”

“Ah, Sophia…” He winked at Gabriela and they looked sheepishly at her, “Gabriela just told me you’ve never taken her to the zoo.” As she shook her head, he continued. “Would you like to go tomorrow?”

“Please, Mama, please,” Gabriela begged.

“You two!” Sophia cocked her head, studying the man and the girl.
Don’t get too involved. But, Sophia, she will like the zoo. Very well, then. For Gabriela
. “Okay. The zoo. Tomorrow.”

Gabriela threw her arms around Alistair’s neck, hugging and kissing him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” His deep laughter sounded in the night.

Sophia took her from his arms and kissed her. “Bed. Now, angel.”

The little girl ran into the house, giggling and waving.

Alistair grinned and waved back. “She is a dear.” He opened the door to his navy BMW Z4 35i for her.

“Yes, she is,” she answered looking back at the gates and waving, observing as Steven locked them behind him.

“The Z4 is the right size for someone like you.” She smiled at him as he eased his long body behind the steering wheel.

“Aye. It’s quite difficult for me to fit inside sports cars. It is very rare to find
the
car I desire.”

She smiled eyeing his long legs and broad shoulders. “I can imagine. Do you fit in a McLaren?”

“The Mercedes?” His eyes sparkled. “I do, but it’s more comfortable for me in the passenger’s seat.”

“Up for a ride?” She grinned mischievously at him.

“Good grief! You don’t drive one of those beasts!” He looked at her, startled.

“Why not? I told you I was a hell of a driver. It is powerful. It gives a spectacular sensation of having control and being controlled.”

Uh?
“Come again?” he frowned.
How do you manage that? Dominate and submit at the same time? Is this a new sexual game?

She unlaced her fingers and splayed them. “It’s like riding a stallion or a still untamed horse. You have to control it but you have to allow it to control you too. It’s like a dance, a precise balance between giving and taking. But…” Her hands snapped shut and, in a flash, opened wide again. “You can lose everything with the wrong movement. An hour driving at high speed on a windy road? It’s one of the most satisfying experiences you can have. And it wears you out. It’s orgasmic.”

His desire was running rampant.
So, you like controlling, too, don’t you, Sophia?
“And you drive it to work?”

“No. It turns too many heads. Sometimes, at night, when I need to unwind I go for a drive. Alone.”

“You
unwind
driving? Every day?”

She laughed. “No. I run, workout, swim, fence-”

“And drive alone at night through windy roads…” He leaned in, causing the muscles of his arms and shoulders to bulge and stretch his blazer.

Sophia’s mouth went dry. He was so much bigger and wider than she was.
So powerful
. Unbidden, her eyes moved over his frame and came back to meet his.

He gave her a knowing smile.

You are too arrogant, Mr. I’m-so-handsome-and-I-know-it. Not good. Not good at all
.

“There is no need to
unwind alone
behind the wheel of a car to have an orgasm, Sophia,” he murmured, sensually and leaned in further, “I can help with that.”

“An org-” she gasped. The car suddenly became smaller. “No, I said it was orgasmic.”

“Same thing.” His green eyes were burning her and he raised his hand to caress her face with his knuckles. “How long are you going to run and hide from the experiences I can provide you? Remember what I told you that afternoon in your apartment?”

“What? I don’t…” She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

A blast from a horn startled him. The light had turned green.

Christ! Alistair Connor, pay attention
. Alistair pumped the gas and Sophia changed the subject.

“So, Mr. President of Scotland,” she mocked, he smiled, “you were born there, weren’t you?”

“Aye, in the Highlands, Inverness. My father is a Highlander and my mother was English, so we used to travel a lot to London with her. That’s why I don’t have such a strong accent.”

“Do you go there often?”

“I have to. Not only because of the bank but also because I have a stable there.”

They arrived at the restaurant and a liveried doorman opened the door for Sophia, momentarily interrupting the conversation.

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught.

8.19 p.m.

“We’ll have some champagne,” Alistair informed the sommelier, who handed him the champagne list. He surveyed the list quickly and smiled to himself.
Sophia, I’ll have you by the end of this evening
. “Krug. Clos D’Ambonnay, please.”

Sophia waited for the sommelier to step away and turned on the sofa to look at Alistair, “What a coincidence. That’s my favorite champagne.”

“You have good taste. It’s mine, too,” he answered with a smile, putting his arm over the back of the sofa, his fingers brushing her hair.

Sophia stiffened a bit, but it didn’t deter Alistair from delving his fingers in her silky black tresses, the tip of his fingers caressing her nape.

Sophia shifted on the sofa, getting away from his hand and he let his fingers fall from her neck.

“When did you move?”

“Last week. But I can’t say I have really moved. I should say that I’m camping,” she smiled. “But I couldn’t wait anymore. I was impatient and it’s easier to supervise everything from there. It’s almost finished, it just needs a few final touches.”