To my surprise, he climbed out of the car and studied me, but the look on his face wasn’t that of an employee addressing his employer. His gaze was steady, as if taking a measure of me. I wasn't sure I liked it, but I waited to see what he planned to say.
“It will happen again,” he said bluntly. “As long as she’s dealing with sharks like Penelope Rittenour, it’s going to happen.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Vincent, you’d do well to remember your place.”
“I know my place, sir.” He nodded, stiffly. “But I care for Aleena.”
Not Miss Davison now. Not Miss Aleena.
I scowled, possessiveness washing through me. She was mine.
Vincent's stance stiffened. “She’s a friend, Mr. Snow. Nothing more. But she’s a sweet woman. A kind one. If all you’re doing is…” His face reddened. “There are plenty of woman who can offer you anything you need and they can handle the sharks. But Aleena…” His voice softened now. “Sir, she’s a tough girl. Solid and smart and strong. She might even have a skin thick enough to withstand the attacks. But she doesn't deserve it, sir. If she's going to have to deal with people like that, I hope it’s only because you plan on staying with her.”
There was only one reason I gave him the truth. Only one reason I didn’t fire him right there. It had nothing to do with the fact that he’d spent ten years working for me and it had everything to do with the fact that I could see the loyalty in his eyes. Loyalty to the woman I loved. Strange, I realized. That loyalty mattered to me now more than loyalty he should owe me.
“I love her,” I said softly. “Does that help, Vincent?”
After a moment, he nodded. “Yes. Yes, Mr. Snow, it does.” He gave me a stiff nod. “I’ve overstepped my bounds and I apologize.”
“No. You spoke your mind and shown me that you will always stand by her. That means a lot to me.” I brushed an imaginary speck of lint from my shirt. “I think I’ll reassign you, effective today. You’re her driver now. Permanently. I'll find another driver to cover opposite Maxwell, but I want you with Aleena.”
“Sir?” Vincent blinked, looking stunned.
“You’re not fired,” I said mildly. “Like you said, she’ll end up around a lot of sharks and I’m not always with her. You know those people well enough because you’ve been around them for years. I'll expect you to watch out for her when I’m not able to. Are we clear?”
The stunned look left his eyes and slowly, he nodded.
“Excellent.” I turned to look at the townhouse. “I want a list of names you think would be a good secondary driver for me. You’ve got seventy-two hours. Is it doable?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Excellent.” I started toward the townhouse. The brick walk way was patterned in a diamond design and my shoes rang on it hollowly as I strode up toward the door. The flowers were perfect, a brilliant spray of color and something in them made me want to sneeze. I stifled the urge and rang the doorbell. Only a few seconds passed before the door swung open.
The butler was young, polished and pretty. Exactly the way Penelope liked them.
“Hello. Is Penelope available?” I asked.
He gave me a polite nod. “May I asked whom is calling?”
She’d gone for a Frenchman this time. Last summer, it had been an Italian.
“Dominic Snow.” I checked my watch. “I’ve got ten minutes.”
“Of course. Please come in, Mr. Snow.”
As I stepped inside, a maid disappeared into a room, her head bowed so she wasn’t looking at me. She wasn’t young or pretty or polished—again, just as Penelope liked them. All the men were expected to be pictures of masculine perfection, but she deliberately hired women who were as physically flawed as she could find them. And then she spent a great deal of time mocking them. I’d seen it more than once. It had always been enough to turn my stomach, how cruel she could be, but it hadn't been until she'd started directing her barbs at Aleena that I'd felt compelled to say something.
I frowned. Had I really been any better than her or my mother? Just being silent? Well, that was over now. I was through just keeping my mouth shut. I was going to be a better man. For her.
“Ms. Rittenour needs a few moments, sir.” The young blond stood in the doorway, an apologetic smile on his face. “She would love to see you, if you can wait a bit.”
I checked my watch again. “Seven minutes.”
He paled slightly. Then disappeared.
Penelope waited another five minutes. It didn’t surprise me. She wouldn't risk me getting impatient and leaving early, but she'd want to make me wait as long as possible.
There were any number of outcomes to this encounter, and none of them were going to end with us on pleasant terms, but considering everything she'd done, I didn't care.
Her heels clacked on the stairs, deliberately slow.
I could count an intake of breath between each languorous step and I wondered if she was doing the same thing, taking a breath before she descended. I smiled at the thought and continued to stare into the fireplace. If she wanted to play games, who was I to ruin the fun for her?
I’d be doing that soon enough.
I didn't know what would piss her off more, telling her that she’s better back off with her digs at Aleena, or telling her that the services of Trouver L’Amour would no longer be available to her. She didn’t particularly need the company, but Penelope didn’t handle being dismissed well. As she'd proven more than once.
A delicate yawn behind me signified Penelope’s entrance. I deliberated the empty hearth a few moments longer and then slowly turned to face her.
She'd had taken the time to groom herself, giving the appearance of artful disarray. A silk robe open over one shoulder, as if she'd recklessly pulled it on. Long, blonde hair hung loose and tousled down her back as if she'd just climbed out of bed, though she was wearing make-up. Oddly enough, she seemed to have forgotten her clothes in her hurry to dress. All she wore was a silk robe and the heels I’d heard on the steps. A pair of fuck-me shoes were visible, thanks to the long slit in her robe that ran high on her thigh.
Typical Penelope.
I smiled to myself, amused at the absurdity of it.
The smile must have caught her off guard, because her own lips curved up and she started toward me, a hand outstretched, as if we were friends. “Dominic, how good to see you. You’ll have to excuse how I look. I wasn’t expecting company.”
I waved her comment off and effectively evaded having to respond to her outstretched fingers as I moved around the couch. “It’s not a problem. This won’t take long.”
I chose to sit down in a narrow, wingback chair near the entryway, watching as she draped herself across the settee.
The robe’s slit parted more. Much more and I’d be able to get an idea of her personal grooming habits. That was the last thing I wanted to see.
She rubbed one thigh against the other and chuckled. “Dominic, darling. You are always in a rush.” Now her gaze turned sly. “I hope your…what’s her name? Adriana? Leena? She’s probably so grateful for your attention that rushing doesn’t concern her. If she even notices.”
If she’d meant to annoy me, she needed to do better than that. I laughed and hooked one ankle over my knee.
The amusement in her eyes faded and she glared over her shoulder. “Andre!”
The blond appeared so fast, I knew he had to have been hovering just outside the door. “Mademoiselle?”
“Coffee, Andre. My head is pounding.” She rubbed at her temple while the boy gazed at her adoringly.
Cynical amusement welled inside me. I wondered if she was fucking him yet.
She slanted a look at me. “Would you care for some coffee, Dominic? Andre is a wonder with it.”
“No. I’m fine.” I gave the boy a smile, but he didn’t notice, eager to do his mistress' bidding. “How old is he, Penelope? Eighteen?”
“Nineteen, I think.” She shrugged. “What does it matter?”
“Since you’re fucking him, I’d hope he’s at least legal.”
The look on her face answered my unspoken question. “You’re so crude. But of course he’s legal.” She fussed with the cuffs on her robe. “I never imagined you’d be concerned about my personal life, Dominic.”
“I’m not.” Giving her a hard look, I leaned forward. “But concerned about a boy who looks like he just might be a boy? Yes. That does bother me. Perhaps you can imagine why.”
She straightened, swinging her legs around to the settee and giving me a cold look. “I don’t bring children into my bed. You’re the perverse one in the room, if you’d recall.”
She sniffed just as Andre came back, a heavy tray laden with a pot, a cup, cream, sugar and a small selection of pastries. His eyes lit up when Penelope smiled and even her casual dismissal didn’t dim that pleasure. I almost felt sorry for him.
Once we were alone, I leaned forward. She sipped at the coffee Andre had prepared for her and studied me. “I assume you’re here because your…Aleena…mentioned we’d bumped into each other,” she said.
The smugness in her tone rubbed me raw, but I didn’t let it show.
“Yes. It came up.”
Her smile faded, bit by bit and I waited for it to fade altogether before I spoke again.
“We need to discuss a few things.” I checked my watch, deliberately, before looking back at her. “First, I don’t believe Trouver L’Amour is a good fit for you. Personally.”
As her eyes narrowed and her mouth fell open, I continued to speak. “We will, of course, help you with finding a match for any engagements you’ve already prearranged, provided it’s documented in your file, but beyond that, I think it’s best that you find another company, should you still be searching for…true love.”
“You arrogant—”
I cut her off. “Additionally, you need to be aware of some…personal matters.”
Her jaw snapped shut and she crossed her arms, her expression childishly petulant.
“This cat and mouse game you're playing is going to stop. You will leave Aleena alone. If you don’t…” I let my voice trail away. Up until that point, I had been smiling. Now the smile was gone and I showed her what lay behind the mask I wore for the world. “Let's just say that you don't want to find out what I'm capable of.”
The nervous titter she gave raked down my back like nails across a chalkboard. “Really. Dominic, is all of this because your precious little secretary—”
“You damn well know her name is Aleena,” I interrupted. I held up a hand when she opened her mouth. “Now listen to me, because you need to understand something. I’m in love with her. Got it? I love her. She’s mine. And perhaps you haven’t heard about how protective I am when it comes to what, and who, I consider mine.”
Her scathing sneer twisted her face into something ugly. “In love? With that little bitch? She’s only using you.”
“Bitch? Really, Penelope?” I said, tossing her phrase back at her. “As to using me, that’s more your speed than hers.”
She came up from the settee, glaring at me. Her face was pale, two splotches of color riding high on her cheeks. Her eyes were wild.
“You are choosing that ni–that woman over me?!”
“There was never a choice.” I shrugged, choosing to ignore the word I knew she'd intended to say. “I wanted Aleena from the first minute I saw her. You and I might come from the same world, but that never meant that I wanted you.”
She shrieked and grabbed a small, crystal bowl from the table, hurling it at me. It went wide, so I didn’t even bother to duck. “Why? Because I won’t kneel if you say kneel? I won’t beg if you say beg? For fuck’s sake, Dominic, is she that good at playing your sick little games?”
“Watch it,” I said. Rising now, I caught her wrist before she could pick up the cup of coffee she’d barely touched. That might hurt. She wouldn’t have to hit me with the cup for the splatter to sting like a bitch. “It wasn’t that long ago when you wanted to be exactly where she is.”
“That was before I realized what a sick, twisted pervert you are,” she said, jerking back on her wrist.
I let her go.
Her gaze drifted down to my mouth and I saw the speculation, and the calculation, in her eyes. I wanted to laugh even as something cold twisted inside me. She wasn’t the first woman to call me perverse only to decide she wanted to see how perverse I really was, first hand.
It wasn’t a surprise when she lifted her hand and placed it on my chest. I caught her wrist and squeezed. It wasn’t enough to hurt her, but it caught her attention.
“Don’t.” I kept my voice cold and flat, putting enough warning in my voice that she couldn’t mistake what she heard.
“Oh,” she said, her voice husky. “Is this how we start then?”
“No, this is how we end.” I dropped her hand and scrubbed my palm against my pant leg. I stepped away from her. “I don’t want you. I never did. I’m never going to.”
She stared at me, uncertainty on her face. I wondered if this was the first time she'd ever been so thoroughly rejected.
“This is done,” I said. “I don’t give a damn what you say about me. I don’t give a damn what you try to do to me. We both know there’s only so much you can say and only so much you can do. You’re not going to do much harm, if any.”
Then I moved a little closer, watching with interest as she reached up and closed the neck of her robe. It looked like I was finally starting to get through to her.
“I can do a great deal of damage to you. To you, to your family, your business interest, to your charitable interests…to your reputation...” I let my voice trail off. “The damage you can do to me only goes so far. You care about what your high society friends think about you, but I stopped caring what people thought about me a long time ago. Strangely enough, people put down my eccentric ways to my traumatic youth.” With a soft laugh, I continued, “Even my little perversions, as some people call them, aren’t all that shocking to people. You'd be surprised at how many people you know share some of my little kinks.” I leaned closer and murmured directly into her ear, “I wonder if they'd be as understanding about your fondness for barely legal lovers.”
She flinched, then laughed, again, the sound nervous and frantic. “Dominic, you wouldn’t...”
“Don’t try to appeal to my sympathies. I don’t have any, and I certainly don’t have any when it comes to you.”
Her mouth trembled, then tightened as she looked at me and I had the feeling that for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, she really saw me. Penelope inclined her head and then asked woodenly, “What is it that you want?”
“I want you to leave Aleena alone. You are going to stay away from her. If you run into her shopping, you can say hi to her or you can look the other way. But you will not fuck with her.” I checked my watch again. This was taking too long. “You will not sit around at your little parties and make snide conversation about her. You will not spread lies about her and you will not gossip about her.” I waited a moment and then added, “Do we have an understanding?”
After a moment, she gave me a tight nod and I headed for the door.
“Dominic.”
Pausing, I looked back at her. She stood there, shoulders slumped under her pretty silk robe, her hair hiding her face. After a moment, she looked back up at me and I saw a flicker of vulnerability in her eyes.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“You said you loved her.” Penelope fussed with the sleeve of her robe. “Why do you love her? You never gave me the time of day, but you love her. What does she have that I don’t?”
Because it was the first time I’d ever seen anything remotely human in her, I forced myself to soften my voice as I replied, “She cares about people, Penelope. If you’ve ever cared about anybody but yourself, you have never let it show.”
Chapter Nine
Aleena
A
few days had passed and we still hadn’t gone to Olympus.
As predicted, Dominic was already getting bored with Trouver L’Amour and had been exploring his next venture. He hadn't shared it with me yet, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with diamonds. I hadn't seen him much as his schedule had been packed full and I'd eaten alone every night. I wasn't upset since I knew it wasn't because he didn't want to be with me, but I still missed him.
I'd been dreaming about him when I was suddenly pulled from sleep by the sensation of being picked up. I made a sound as I struggled to orient myself.
“Shh, baby. You're sleeping with me now,” he said softly. “Is that okay?”
I was too tired to make much of a response, but I did manage to nip at his neck and mumble, “What do you think?”
I thought he chuckled, but I wasn’t sure.
I was asleep before we reached his room.
* * *
The next morning dawned…differently.
I wasn’t in my bed.
And I was on my belly, facedown, with my hands bound behind me. The chill of metal and a faint clink when I went to move told me that Dominic had me handcuffed.
“There you are,” he said, a smile in his voice.
“Hmmm…?” I struggled to clear my head.
He drew me onto my knees, guiding me and steadying me, allowing my body a chance to wake up as he positioned me.
His hand tangled in my hair and drew me upright while the other stroked up my middle, dragging the silk nightshirt I’d slept in up with it. “I seem to recall you biting me last night, Aleena. Do you recall that?”
His fingers plucked at my left nipple.
A few more cobwebs fell away and I shivered. “No.”
Then I stopped and thought. Had I bitten him?
Suddenly, I was back on my hands and knees, gasping as he spanked me. Two hard, solid smacks to either cheek. I was definitely awake now.
He brought me back upright, slow, using his fist in my hair. Once he had me flush against his chest, he asked again. “Did you bite?”