by Nadia Lee
Alex started to deny it but then stopped. Ethan knew him too well. “A ruby necklace. But she didn’t like it. Threw it back in my face, actually. Would someone who wanted money do that?”
“Maybe not. Then again, maybe she’s getting enough from the Rodales that she can afford her own rubies now.”
Alex felt himself start to come to a boil. “If you’ve got proof, give it to me. If not, stop wasting my time.”
“Alex, I’m sure about this. All we’ve got is circumstantial evidence so far, but it’s starting to add up.”
“But you’re sure?”
Ethan nodded. “If I’m wrong, I’ll resign from the company.”
Alex swore. Had he missed something because he was too close to her? Was he making the mistake his father had made when he’d trusted the wrong woman?
“I thought you might feel this way,” Ethan continued. “So I had Natalie work on some numbers for the NSA contract. Only I didn’t give her the real numbers.” He paused a moment to let that sink in. “No one else has seen those numbers. I made sure of that.” Ethan paused again, giving Alex a sympathetic look that nonetheless was full of resolve. “When Rodale International makes its bid, you’ll have your proof.”
Chapter Fourteen
HOW COULD EMILY know about my biological parents?
Natalie asked herself the question for the thousandth time as she jogged down the neighborhood running trail. No matter how she looked at it, it made no sense. It was unthinkable that Brian—even if he knew something about Natalie’s biological parents—would have told Emily and not Louise. And if he really did have some information, and for some unimaginable reason couldn’t share it with Louise, why not just tell Natalie herself?
The easiest explanation was that Emily had simply been lying, that she really didn’t know anything except that Natalie might well be susceptible to the lure of finding out about her biological parents when she wouldn’t be tempted by money. But that didn’t ring true, either. She knew Emily well, and the older woman hadn’t seemed like she was lying.
You help me, Natalie, and I will help you. The look in Emily’s eyes had been absolutely steady.
One thing was for sure: lying or not, Emily had to be desperate. Otherwise she wouldn’t have come up with a proposition like that.
Natalie slowed to a walk two blocks away from her condo, inhaling deeply and trying to catch her breath. She was coming up the sidewalk when she saw a familiar figure.
“Charlie. What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you. I figured you’d be back soon.” He pushed away from the tree he’d been leaning against. He was dressed in a dark blue silk shirt and a pair of khakis—a typical casual weekend outfit that set off his blond looks to good advantage.
“If Emily sent you…”
“Sent me? About what?”
The surprise in his tone was enough. She relaxed. “Want to come in?”
“Sure.”
She led the way and unlocked her condo. Alex hadn’t returned since he’d left that morning. Thank God she’d straightened the living room. At least Charlie wouldn’t know what she’d been up to the night before. Although he probably suspected she wasn’t living a nun’s life, she didn’t want to provide confirmation for anything.
“Something to drink?”
He shook his head and sat on the couch while she got herself a tall glass of water. Matto trotted out, glanced at him and then disappeared. Her cat had never cared for Charlie one way or the other.
Charlie rubbed his temples. As Natalie took a seat, she noticed for the first time that there was a little gray in his hair.
“Are you okay?” Natalie said.
“Yeah.” When she raised an eyebrow, he let out a dry laugh. “Ha… Who am I kidding? No. I feel like hell.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything. God, I hate that company.”
“That company” could only mean Rodale International. He’d let her know several years ago how he really felt about having to be in charge of the corporation. Besides, if he’d wanted to mention DDE or any other business rival, he would’ve said “those bastards.”
“Mother’s driving me insane. We think Damon may be trying to take us over, but she’d rather die than let anyone else have it. Or bankrupt it herself. Either way, it’s going to be ugly.”
“Well…you have to do what’s right for you and the shareholders.”
“You mean Mother?” The Rodales were their own largest shareholders, although they were unable to control the company as tightly as Emily would’ve liked. “Nothing seems to satisfy her.”
“Could you take some time off? Go on vacation?”
“Can’t. I need to find a buyer or a partner or something. I haven’t told her, but the company’s not doing well. She doesn’t know how bad, though. Otherwise she would go berserk.”
The lines bracketing Charlie’s mouth seemed deeper than before. Natalie knew he wasn’t interested in running the company. He’d wanted to be a painter. Of course that hadn’t gone over very well with Emily, and he’d had to give up on his dreams when she had conveniently collapsed, claiming some dire illness.
“Charlie…”
Elbows on knees, head held in his hands, he looked at her from under his eyebrows. “You have to help me, Nat. Please.”
Natalie’s insides turned cold. “If you’re asking me to give you confidential information from DDE, the answer is no.”
“Just this once. We have to win this defense contract. I know Damon’s bidding too. And you know the details of the bid, don’t you?”
“Obviously, Emily did send you here. Get out.”
“Come on. How long have we been friends?”
Natalie began to tremble. “Friends? I don’t know. A friend wouldn’t ask me to give up my self-respect and compromise my ethics.” She pointed at the door. “Get out. Now!”
Charlie stood up suddenly and came toward her. Natalie started to get to her feet as well, but he crossed the distance between them, grabbed her arms, and began shaking her. “Goddamn it, Nat!”
She pushed against him, trying to get away, and instead tipped her chair over. It fell with a loud crash. “Charlie! Let me go!”
“No! I need to know the—”
“Take your hands off her, Rodale.”
Oh my God. Alex.
His eyes were blazing, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. The custom-tailored suit he was wearing seemed a size too small, and his normally erect posture had deteriorated into a feral crouch.
Charlie turned his head. “And if I don’t?”
Alex gave him a very tough grin. “I’ll break your face with your leg.”
Charlie shoved her behind him, making her stumble and fall onto the couch. “Oh good.”
They launched themselves at each other. “Stop it!” she yelled, but she might as well have been a mosquito for all the attention they paid her. Fists connected with flesh, skin broke, blood oozed. Her first impression of Alex had been right. The veneer of civilization was exactly that: a façade. He was savage in his violence, and she flinched as he landed blow after blow on Charlie’s body.
Charlie kneed Alex’s thigh, and she suddenly remembered that Charlie had studied Muay Thai for over ten years. Alex landed a retaliatory elbow on Charlie’s jaw.
Out of options, she tried to get between them. “I said stop!”
Something hit her in the temple, and she pitched forward. A large hand caught her before she fell to the floor. Stars flashed before her eyes; she felt like a truck had run into her.
“Good God, Nat! Why did you get in the way?” Charlie said, his voice hoarse.
Alex’s body shook. “You moth—!”
She moaned and tightened her grip on the hand, which she now realized was Alex’s. “Just stop,” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” Alex said.
“I…think so.”
That was a lie. She felt nauseous, shaken. Why hadn’t she let the
se two testosterone-laden idiots bash each other to a pulp?
“Charlie…leave,” she said. “Please.”
He hesitated but walked out when she gestured weakly at the door. She sagged against Alex.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Alex said harshly. “You almost got yourself killed.”
She tried to laugh, but she ended up sounding like a moaning hyena instead. “I don’t think a punch is going to kill me. Anyway, at least my furniture’s safe now.” Her upper lip was swollen, and she touched it lightly. Then she looked at Alex, inspecting his damage. “You’re bleeding.”
“Yeah, but Rodale’s going to have a hell of a shiner tomorrow.” Alex looked pleased with himself.
She rolled her eyes and tried to stand straight, but her legs wouldn’t support her. Alex carried her to the couch and laid her there.
“If he touches you again, I’ll kill him, and no one’s going to stop me. Not even you.”
“Yes, Og,” she muttered. “What are you doing back so early? I thought you weren’t coming until dinner.”
“I thought we’d spend some time together before going out. What was he doing here?”
Natalie didn’t want to talk about her conversations with Emily or Charlie with anyone, most especially Alex. In his current mood, he would probably go after Charlie if she told him everything. She didn’t want to think about the consequences.
“He was in the neighborhood.”
“Obviously. My question is why.”
“It’s not important.”
“Isn’t it?” He shook his head, his eyes hard. “I don’t want you seeing the Rodales anymore.”
“What?” Natalie jackknifed into a sitting position, then immediately put a hand to her temple and moaned. “Of all the foolish, arrogant…” Her lips tightened. “In case you don’t know, Emily’s my godmother, and Charlie’s a good friend of mine.”
“Funny way of showing his friendship.”
“That was a mistake.”
Her stubborn defense of Charlie Rodale was irritating enough, but Alex went cold as Ethan’s words came back to him: If I’m wrong, I’ll resign.
Damn it. He couldn’t dwell on what Ethan said. Ethan had to be wrong.
“Mistake or not, I don’t want you seeing them anymore.”
“Alex. We may have slept together, but that doesn’t give you property rights. You don’t get to tell me who I can or can’t see.”
Why was she making it more difficult than it had to be? If she stopped seeing the Rodales, Ethan would back off, and everything would be fine.
“Just do it,” he said, his voice sharper than he intended. “Besides, it’s a conflict of interest for you to see them. Rodale International is DDE’s rival.”
Her jaw dropped. “Don’t be ridiculous. I had friends in other investment banks when I worked for Goldreich.”
He hated this. He couldn’t tell her the real reason and felt like a fraud. “Okay. Then just do it for me. Please.”
“Alex,” she said softly. “No. You either trust me or you don’t, but you don’t own me.”
Wasn’t that the truth. He didn’t own her. And seeing her with Rodale…and how she’d defended him even though the bastard had manhandled her…
Alex’s hands tightened. He should’ve ripped Rodale into pieces.
Was Ethan right? Was he repeating the same mistake his father had made decades ago?
Alex wouldn’t be able to stand it if Natalie turned out to be like Emily. God, he couldn’t bear to look at her right now, not when he was wondering if Charlie and Natalie were more than the friends she claimed they were and whether she was working for Emily.
He had to leave before he did something stupid, like telling her how crazy he was about her and that he would forgive her for anything as long as she confided in him. His weakness and obsession with her was making him sick to his stomach. It made him feel stupid to think he might be making exactly the same mistake as his father. And he didn’t like feeling stupid. Not at all.
He released her and stepped back a pace.
“Put some ice on your…injury. It’s probably going to bruise and swell up. I’ll see you on Monday.”
He left.
Chapter Fifteen
NATALIE WALKED TO the small conference room listed on Ethan’s meeting invitation. The bright morning sun streamed through the frosted glass and lit the hallway. Despite his parting remark, Natalie hadn’t seen Alex since the fight, and it had been almost a week. She didn’t know what to make of his mood. Was he avoiding her? She understood he’d been upset about her getting hit, but Charlie hadn’t done it on purpose. To demand that she not see the Rodales over something so relatively trivial was unreasonable. Surely, Alex would have realized that by now.
His attempt to dictate who she could see brought back unwelcome memories of Marcus, who’d always tried to control her social life to make sure she was surrounded by people he approved of. He was ambitious, with political aspirations of his own, and that had been the reason for everything he’d done. She could understand the impulse, even if it seemed somewhat silly. But what was Alex’s reason? That line about a conflict of interest between DDE and Rodale International didn’t ring true. And Natalie was starting to get the feeling that Alex had known about her connection to the Rodales before they’d met in person.
Well, whatever the reason, she wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake where men were concerned. What had her spineless compliance with Marcus’s demands gotten her? Not a single real friend, just casual acquaintances from the right families.
Charlie had been the only one in her original social circle to pass Marcus’s litmus test: the right pedigree. Charles Montgomery Rodale the Third. And hadn’t he always been a good friend to her? Maybe that was why she was so disappointed by his request on Saturday.
Sighing, she brushed her hair back from her face as she walked. As she did so, her thumb skimmed over her right temple, which still hurt a little.
She got to the conference room and paused when she saw Alex in it. Ethan hadn’t said anything about Alex coming to the meeting.
He made her breath catch in her throat, sitting there like a god who owned the world, but his unreadable expression almost made her falter. “Good morning,” she said, flashing an uncertain smile.
“Good morning.” His voice was pleasant, but his face was barren. “Please have a seat.”
Natalie swallowed and took a chair across from him. She noticed with surprise that her hands were trembling and placed them on her lap. “So how are—”
Ethan’s entrance interrupted her, and their meeting began. She could barely concentrate. This was one of the few rooms that had real walls instead of frosted glass, and she began to feel suffocated as the minutes ticked by. There was some kind of odd tension—and understanding?—between the two men, and she felt left out. It didn’t help that Alex was abrupt and Ethan bored. Maybe they had argued. Or maybe Alex was taking his frustration with her out on everyone.
Finally the meeting ended, and Ethan walked out, leaving Natalie alone with Alex. When Alex rose from his seat, Natalie said, “Wait!”
“Yes?”
“We need to talk.”
He remained standing. “Do we?”
“I know you’re upset about what happened on Saturday, but Charlie didn’t mean to hurt me, and I’m fine.”
That wasn’t one hundred percent true. It still required a little makeup to hide the bruise, but Alex didn’t need to know that.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“So…are we all right?”
He raised an eyebrow. “All right?”
She nodded. There was something awful in his eyes, but she couldn’t tell what it was. She wanted him to look at her with warmth and heat, the way he had before. Natalie wished she could erase Saturday from his memory.
The silence stretched. Two heartbeats turned to three…then four…
“Is that all you had to say?” Alex’s voice held no inflecti
on.
She bit her lower lip. What more did he want? A promise never to see the Rodales again?
He glanced at his watch. “I’m sorry, but I have another meeting. Excuse me.”
* * *
So…are we all right?
No, Alex thought savagely. He wasn’t all right. Not since Saturday. Not since Ethan had reported her meeting with Emily.
He’d told himself he wasn’t like his father, that he was too smart, too careful, to be conned by a beautiful woman. But when Natalie walked in, his mind just…stopped somehow, and all that existed was an image of how good she looked, a feeling of how much he wanted her, and a wish that she wasn’t who she was.
He paused in the hallway and gazed sightlessly through the hazy glass panes. Why couldn’t he purge her from his mind?
His father had told him something once, on his way down. It had been as much an apology for the failure that ruined him as passing advice from one generation to the next. The truly important decisions are made somewhere beyond logic and reason.
Alex, whose favorite game was chess, hadn’t believed it when he was younger. But now… Thinking things through didn’t seem to help. It was as if there was a huge elastic band around his chest, and the other end was attached to Natalie. The farther he got from her, the greater the pressure, and the more difficult it was to breathe.
The more it hurt.
The truly important decisions…
His legs carried him back to the conference room of their own volition. Natalie was just gathering her documents. Her eyes widened when she saw him, but he didn’t give a damn as he kicked the door shut. A primal instinct to mark her as his overwhelmed him, stripping away all restraint. He grabbed her and covered her mouth with his before she could protest. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted her unconditional surrender.
Total acceptance.
She tensed, her lips refusing to part and let him in. That only made him more determined. She finally yielded, shuddering as his hands caressed every inch of her body, bringing out the sensuality buried deep inside her core. He tunneled into her chignon with his fingers until her hair came loose and swept around her head. He pushed her skirt up and almost lost control when he saw the racy garter belt holding her thigh-highs. He ripped her panties off and went down on her, drinking in the heady scent of her desire.