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Though my eyes were directly on Joe, I was ever aware of Reeve in my periphery, ready for his protest. Part of me wanted that – wanted him to fight for me to stay, even though I’d told him not to.But if he didn’t, if he planned to just let me go, it would break my heart a little.It would break my heart a lot.Joe didn’t answer me. Instead, he looked to Reeve as if asking for guidance. Reeve responded by shooting a look at Amber, a look that I knew and understood as though it spoke in a language that had been scratched on my bones at birth. The look told Amber to do something – something that they must have previously discussed. And the look she gave him in return was the one I was most familiar with – it was a look of acquiescence.“I need to make arrangements,” Reeve said. He stood and left the room with Brent in tow.Exhaustion fell over me like a curtain. I knew what was coming and, in some hidden remote place inside where I was still capable of strong emotions, I was outraged an
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Her grin was coy, saying she was both proud and a touch embarrassed to be called out on her reputation as a diva. “You know how to play the game,” she said. “Sometimes when you’re trying to win the guy, you have to forget who you are for a minute and be who he wants you to be.”I sat with her statement, unsure how to let it settle. Somehow I’d forgotten that about her – forgotten that, even though she was a natural princess, she could play submissive when she needed to.And what a time for her to remind me.She was honest, at least. I was grateful for that, and, if I had any inkling to begrudge her for taking that position, I knew I had to swallow it. Because flexibility had been one of the most basic rules of our man-hunting. I’d focused on that very idea when I’d prepared myself to go after Reeve – be who he wants you to be. And I had been.But then I’d fallen for him, and when I had, it had been genuine and the ways I’d won him had been honest. It bothered me that she had to preten
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When I went back into the house, my luggage was missing from the hall. Presumably, it had been returned to my room for me. It pissed me off. Wasn’t it enough that I’d stayed? Reeve had to rub it in that he’d known all along that I would?As if to further gloat, Reeve was standing at the top of the stairs when I climbed up.“Congratulations,” I said before he could speak. “Looks like you succeeded in ‘keeping’ me too.”I stomped off to my room before he could respond, and shut the door behind me, leaving him to stand in the hall alone for once.CHAPTER 17It took three days to prepare to leave for the island. There were all sorts of arrangements to be made. The compound house had to be opened and the kitchen needed to be stocked. Clothes were an issue. Amber had been sharing my clothing since she’d returned to the ranch, and neither of us had anything that would be suitable for wearing on a beach in the South Pacific. Reeve didn’t allow us to leave the ranch to shop, and even if he had
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I lifted my head, slowly, afraid that if I moved too quickly, I’d interrupt the spell. It was the first time he’d admitted his connection to Michelis. The first time he’d volunteered information without me prodding.His eyes grazed mine, but he quickly shifted his focus out the window. “My mother, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, was born Elena Vilanakis. Her grandfather was… a don, of sorts. Powerful. His children and their children were practically royalty. Crime was their birthright. It’s a patriarchal system, but women do have their places and their duties. My mother was the oldest of her siblings so her role was significant. Whoever she married would be adopted into the family business. It was expected that she would wed someone with economic or political strength. Someone like Daniel Sallis, who had built a fortune and name in luxury resorts. Their union was blessed and encouraged by her parents.”“But your mother wanted to leave.” It came out before I could stop it, and h
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“I guess I’m the exception.”He was quiet while I sunk back in my chair and processed. One of the reasons I’d always been attracted to Reeve was because he’d seemed dangerous. He’d always suggested that I wouldn’t want to find out that he actually was. I wasn’t sure that he’d been correct. I wasn’t sure that he hadn’t been.“You aren’t part of the family business? Not at all?”He leveled my stare. “What do you want the answer to be, Emily?”No. Of course the answer was no.I swallowed the ball in my throat. “You said you weren’t. You said you left.”He nodded ever so slightly.Propping his elbow on the armrest, he leaned his chin in his hand. “But I was in it. Really in it. I didn’t even realize it in the beginning. First, it was just running errands for my uncle Nikki with my cousins. Then it was accompanying him on what he called ‘negotiation visits.’ After a few of those, I retitled them ‘scare jobs.’ I’m sure you can guess the nature of what those entailed.”If those TV shows I wa
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I shrugged. I was more surprised at my reaction but wasn’t about to admit that.“Let me rephrase then – does it disappoint you?” He seemed more than just curious about my answer. He seemed desperate.No. I’m not disappointed. I’m still very much interested.But I couldn’t tell him that either.I redirected, instead. “What did the letter say? It had to reveal something significant.”“Yes. And no. She told me everything. Her life story, how she’d fallen for my father, why she’d left Athens. Everything. I already knew all of it now, but not from her point of view. Before that, I hadn’t gotten a clear picture of why she’d left. It was biased information, pieced together from her family, and I didn’t have any understanding of all the trouble my father had gone to in order to change her life. Or why. Until I read that letter.”I nodded, trying not to think about how charming he must have been. This young mobster with a natural knack for danger and lawlessness and, also, a sentimental streak
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The warmth that had bloomed during the last hour of conversation began to fade away, and my body stepped back into familiar heartache.“Who have you told about all of this?” I asked, a bitter edge to my question.“Almost no one.” He wanted me to realize his candidness was a gift.I wouldn’t accept it. “Did you tell Amber? Did she know all of this before she went to him?”A beat passed. “Yes.”“Why didn’t you just tell me too?” My pain was apparent and raw. If he’d just told me the truth from the beginning…“Do you think it’s some sort of validation of my affection? To have heard this story?” He kept his voice low, but it was thick and full of emotion. “Every time I’ve brought someone into that part of my life, things have ended badly. Look at Amber. Missy. Chris!”“We can’t be sure about Chris.” It was a lie – we were sure. But I was looking to poke holes in his excuses, because there was no excuse he could give for why he hadn’t told me things he’d told Amber that would satisfy me. “
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I didn’t think it was an accident the way his arm grazed against my breast as he leaned across me to point it out. I held my breath, pissed at how aroused I was and how he had to know by the way my nipples stood up, reaching for the brush of his limb. And if I hadn’t been sure before, I was certain now that we might be in paradise, but being here with Reeve, whose touch was torturous and hot – was the closest thing to hell I’d ever known.Reeve’s private compound wasn’t beachfront property as I’d imagined it would be. Instead, it was on the mountain, inaccessible except through a secured gate and a tree-lined driveway that wound up the cliffside. At the top, the canopy broke into a clearing with the house on one side of us, and on the other side, a view so spectacular I couldn’t believe that there were any more incredible on the island.The positioning of the house was brilliant as well. It had been built on an outcrop of land so the ocean could be seen on three sides. It was grander
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