More Than a Mistress (Latin Men Book 5)

by Delaney Diamond

  “I haven’t worked in the business for a while.”

  “You don’t have to, I suppose. Not with a man like Esteban paying you a salary.”

  Her head jerked up. “Excuse me?” The nature of their relationship was private. They’d agreed not to tell anyone about their monetary arrangement.

  A slow, slick smile lifted each corner of Craig’s lips. “I’ve heard things.”

  Sonia’s eyes flicked to the open doorway of the kitchen. The women were down the hall, and everyone else was on the balcony, and she recognized how very alone she was with Craig.

  “You should go back to the living room.” Sonia reached into the cabinet for a decanter.

  Craig came close behind her, so close she felt the heat from his body and his breath on the back of her neck. “There was a time Esteban and I shared everything. Did he tell you that? Everything.”

  Sonia swallowed, a sick feeling sliding into her stomach.

  “But it’s different with you. A lot of things are different with you. I’ve never known him to stay with a woman this long. I’m accustomed to seeing him date on a heavier rotation. And what’s really peculiar is that he invited you here, to his house in Argentina. That’s definitely new. I’ve never known him to do that with any of the other women he’s been involved with.”

  Sonia’s grip on the neck of the bottle tightened. She hadn’t moved the entire time Craig was speaking.

  “Lucky, lucky Esteban. Tell me, what does it cost to keep a woman like you in his bed, on his arm, and in his home to entertain? Can’t be cheap.” He trailed his fingertips down the length of her arm, and she moved away.

  “Stop it,” she whispered, scanning the counter for a weapon.

  “Come on. Name your price.” Snaking a hand around her waist, Craig tugged her back into his erection.

  Sonia snatched a knife from the stand on the counter and turned quickly, pressing the tip of the blade against his throat. He froze, and his eyes went wide. The knife shifted as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

  “Take your hands off me.”

  He lifted his hands up and away from her and slowly backed away.

  “Don’t you ever touch me again,” Sonia said through her teeth. She kept the blade to his throat. “Are we clear?”

  “Crystal.” His jaw hardened.

  She lowered the knife, and he closed his eyes briefly, letting out a relieved breath. Sonia kept her hand clenched around the handle of the knife.

  Craig continued to back away, and when he was at a safe distance, he smirked, allowing his gaze to travel over her figure in a way that made her skin crawl. “What a lucky son of a bitch my friend is. He has a firecracker in his bed. But I wonder, how much longer will your relationship last before you’re looking for a new sponsor?”

  “Whenever that happens, I promise, I won’t come looking for you.”

  “Don’t burn your bridges. You never know what the future will bring, and I can be a very generous man.”

  “Generous with your wife’s money?” Sonia asked.

  He walked out, his robust laugh trailing behind him.

  Shaking, Sonia slumped against the counter, and the knife dropped with a clatter from her hand.

  That encounter with Craig was jarring and a rude, unexpected intrusion of reality. She’d been enjoying herself so much, all but forgetting the true nature of her relationship with Esteban. Craig did an excellent job of reminding her, and it took a few minutes to recover.

  Taking a deep breath, she wondered who else knew. Did the Alesinis know? His other friends? The staff? Business associates?

  She didn’t want to go back out there, but she couldn’t ignore their guests.

  His guests.

  Chapter 26

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Esteban said.

  The guests were all gone, and Sonia and Esteban were in the kitchen. She busied herself cleaning up while he watched.

  “I’m glad everyone’s gone.” She carefully placed dishes in the dishwasher.

  “I thought you were having a good time.”

  “I was. I’m just tired.”

  She saw him nod from the corner of her eye.

  “It’s been a long night. Come to bed. Marta can take care of all that in the morning.”

  That was typical of Esteban. It never occurred to him that she didn’t want to leave all these dishes for his housekeeper. He may not have been born into wealth, but he certainly appreciated it.

  Shrugging, Sonia said, “I don’t mind, and I hate to leave a mess for her to see first thing in the morning.”

  She added the final dish and snapped the machine closed. Pressing the buttons on the console, she said, “Craig and Ivana are an interesting couple.”

  “They are,” Esteban agreed. He sipped from a glass of water with lemon that she’d set out for him. Like everything else, he was very particular about the way he liked his water. Twelve ounces and half a lemon. He laughed. “To be honest, I was surprised when they married.”

  She glanced up. “Oh?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve known Craig for a long time, and I never saw him as the marrying kind.”

  Sort of like you, Sonia thought.

  “You’re close to Craig, aren’t you?”

  “Not as close as we used to be, but we’ve remained in touch mainly because Ivana is my go-to designer for my restaurants. She and I have a good relationship.”

  “So your relationship with them is mainly business now?”

  “For the most part.” He drank more water and then set the glass on the counter. Folding his arms, he asked, “Why are you asking me these questions?”

  Sonia shrugged, uncomfortable about the conversation she knew she needed to have about Craig. If they were no longer close, it would be easier. She continued moving around the kitchen, straightening the stools around the island and tossing paper napkins and other trash in the bin.

  “He and I were talking, and he made it sound as if the two of you were a lot closer. According to him, there was a time you shared everything.”

  “There was a time…”

  Sonia was at the other end of the kitchen, and she turned when his voice trailed off. “Is it true?”

  “We were young.”

  “You shared women?”

  “Sonia—”

  “Did you?” She stared at him in dismay.

  “It was after a particularly painful breakup, and I was in a bad place. Some women will do anything for money.”

  Her face burned.

  “That came out wrong.”

  “Of course it did.” She swallowed back the foul taste in her mouth.

  “We were all young once and made mistakes.” He ran a hand over his hair. “I have a hard time understanding why Craig would say something like that you,” Esteban said slowly. “When did the two of you have this conversation?”

  “He mentioned it when we were in here,” Sonia said, feeling numb.

  His body became unnaturally still. “The two of you were in the kitchen alone?”

  “Yes, earlier.”

  Esteban’s face hardened. “When I went out to the balcony?”

  “Yes,” Sonia answered slowly.

  “He came in here after you?” His face darkened with anger.

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  A pause. He watched her closely. “Did he touch you?”

  Sonia swallowed again and saw the anger in the hard set of Esteban’s jaw. While that was the type of reaction she’d wanted, she suddenly worried his fury would bubble up to a dangerous level. Then she remembered her first impression of him, that of ruthlessness beneath the polished exterior.

  Her heart kick-started to a faster pace. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. He said some things I didn’t like, but I handled it.”

  “And one of the things he said to you was that we share everything?” he asked tersely.

  He prowled closer, his footsteps measured and the sharpness of his penetrating gaze boring into he
r as he searched for the truth. He stopped directly in front of her and asked again, “Did he touch you?”

  There was no mistaking the rage now. It practically seeped from his pores, barely restrained as he spoke through gritted teeth.

  “He… What he did was—”

  Esteban swung away with such quickness that it took Sonia by surprise. He was halfway to the door before she thought to run after him.

  “Wait!” She grabbed his arm, but he jerked away.

  “He had no right to put his hands on you. You should have told me immediately!” His brown eyes flashed with anger.

  “I didn’t want to cause a scene with guests here. I’m telling you now, and I’m telling you that I’m fine. There’s no reason for you to go after him.”

  “That’s where you’re mistaken. I can’t let him get away with that. Yes, there was a time when we did share everything, but that time is long gone, and it certainly does not apply to you. I need to make it clear he has no claim to you at all.”

  “So you’re only going to talk to him?”

  His mouth twisted into a caustic smile. “I can’t promise you that all I’ll do is talk.”

  He charged out of the kitchen, and Sonia followed, watching helplessly as he slammed the door and hopped into a white Jaguar XKR-S GT. The electronic gate opened, and the car tires squealed on his way out.

  Esteban was on his way to confront Craig, and she was worried about what the ramifications of that confrontation would be.

  Over an hour later, Esteban entered the house and went to the kitchen.

  He sensed her presence before he saw her, and turned. She’d changed into a white silk negligée, one that he had given her over a month ago. She looked particularly lovely in it this evening, but she looked lovely in everything that she wore. Perhaps that was part of the problem. She was so beautiful, so desirable, that it was no wonder other men found her attractive and would try to take her away from him.

  He thought about it constantly. How to keep her happy; how to keep her satisfied. Knowing that someone who had come into his house and disrespected him in that way enraged him. But what had also enraged him was his own lack of control.

  It was inexplicable the power she had over him. He’d lost it. Lost his goddamn control over this woman. All he’d wanted to do was fight—what his younger self hadn’t done when another man had stolen away his woman.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “We talked,” he said.

  “That looks like you did more than talk.” Her gaze lowered to his bruised knuckles.

  He clenched and unclenched the fingers of his right hand to relieve the ache. “I’m beginning to wonder why you’re so concerned about him,” he said in a hard tone.

  “I’m not concerned about him, Esteban. I’m concerned about you and what you did.”

  She walked to the refrigerator and dropped ice into a plastic bag. “Your knuckles are swelling.”

  “I don’t care.” He examined the throbbing, inflamed skin. “He deserved every blow.”

  Sonia came over and took his hand. She placed the icy bag atop his knuckles, but Esteban tossed it in the sink and backed her against the counter.

  “Esteban—”

  “He had no right to touch you,” he grated. “No one gets to put their fucking hands on you but me.” His voice sounded harsh even to his own ears, as if he were angry with her. But in reality, he was angry at Craig and angry at himself for his lack of control. He and Craig had shared women in the past, treating them like objects, mere possessions to his lifestyle that he discarded when he finished.

  Normally that didn’t take very long, but here he was, eight months later and unable to shake the obsessive, out-of-control need for Sonia. And while he’d fully expected to be getting tired of her by now, the opposite had occurred.

  This thing between them had started out purely physical, solely a convenience for him. But he felt it evolving into something more. Something uncontrollable that he hadn’t seen coming.

  He insisted she travel everywhere with him. At first he told himself it was to keep an eye on her, but as time wore on it became clear that he wanted to keep her close—needed to. She’d become a necessity. He needed to hear her voice every day and know she lay beside him in bed every night. He needed to wake up next to her in the morning to get his day started.

  While he craved her like oxygen, she was with him because he delivered a five-figure sum into her bank account every month.

  He hoisted the hem of the negligée.

  “You’re hurting, Esteban.” Sonia looked up at him.

  “I’m fine.”

  She wore nothing under her clothes, and he groaned at her nakedness. He smoothed his hands over the soft skin of her thighs, sliding between her legs to stroke the dampness already emerging between them.

  Her breathing became labored and she moaned, tilting back her head.

  Esteban kissed her neck gently and then nibbled with more vigor. Her arms climbed around his neck and held on. Gripping her bottom, he lifted her onto the counter. His kisses became more ardent as they traveled over her collarbone and down to her silk-covered breasts.

  His mouth moved up her chin to her lower lip, and he sucked on it. Capturing the back of her head, he slid his tongue between her lips and kissed her properly.

  She grasped his neck, sinking her fingers into his hair and allowing him to kiss her even deeper.

  Her hand slid between them to the front of his pants. He swelled against her palm, and soon they were both moaning as they kissed and sucked on each other’s lips.

  She easily unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, and he entered her with a deep groan. Her body was so wet and warm that he shuddered at the pleasure of it. That anyone would try to take this—take her—from him was out of the question.

  Her arms and legs tightened around him, and with each thrust he staked his claim. Burying his face in her neck, he breathed in the scent of her skin. Still thrusting. Making sure that she knew that she was his.

  They orgasmed within seconds of each other, and afterward breathed heavily in an effort to catch their breaths.

  Esteban pulled up his pants and helped Sonia from the counter. They climbed the stairs to the bedroom, where she got into bed and fell asleep right away. He, on the other hand, remained wide awake and restless.

  He lit a cigar and stood in the open doorway that led onto the balcony, staring out into the darkness. His hand throbbed, but he ignored the pain. He’d taken great pleasure in slamming his fist repeatedly into his ex-friend’s face.

  Sonia moaned, and he twisted his head to watch her sleep. The ambient light coming from the lamps embedded in the walls cast a yellow haze over her golden skin and the white sheets. She was an enigma. A woman who’d agreed to be his mistress while at the same time not quite adhering to the role. She’d taken over aspects of his life no other woman had been involved in, and while she took whatever he offered, she never asked for anything extra.

  He stared at her for a long time, letting the cigar burn down.

  How well do you know her? Craig had taunted as Esteban walked away. The words had been unintelligible at first, garbled because of his busted, bleeding mouth. How well do you know your precious Sonia? You’re not the first man she’s done pay for play with.

  Had he said that to mess with him, or did Craig know something Esteban didn’t?

  Chapter 27

  Jackie’s male housekeeper led Sonia into the great room. Traditional antiques, floral patterns, and staid, solid furniture filled the decor. The furnishings were in complete contrast to Jackie’s personality, because her parents had paid for the house and interior design.

  “What was so important that you needed me to come over right away?” Sonia asked by way of greeting.

  Jackie bounced up and down with a broad smile on her face. All of a sudden, she thrust her hand forward and splayed her fingers for Sonia to see the emerald-cut diamond.

  Sonia’s mouth fell ope
n. “You’re…you’re engaged?”

  “Yes!” Jackie squealed.

  “Ohmigod! Congratulations!” Sonia pulled her in for a hug.

  At the same moment she became excited, Sonia realized Jackie was now engaged to a man she’d been dating for approximately the same length of time Sonia had been involved with Esteban. Unexpected envy snatched at her chest and squeezed, but she brushed it aside.

  “Of course I want you to be my maid of honor. Will you?” Jackie asked.

  “Absolutely! I’d be hurt if you asked anyone else.”

  She pulled Sonia down onto the settee. “I must warn you, though, you’ll have your work cut out for you. I talked to Mother, and she mentioned we must have two of everything.” She rolled her eyes. “Two engagement parties and two wedding ceremonies. My parents want to do the traditional Chinese thing.” She rolled her eyes again.

  “Why do you always make your parents sound like tyrants?” Sonia laughed.

  “Because they are.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Sonia had met Jackie’s parents once and found them to be polite.

  Jackie was silent, staring down at her hands.

  “What’s wrong?” Sonia asked.

  “My parents think it’s time for me to come home and participate in the business.”

  Sonia gasped. “So you’re moving back to London?”

  “I will have to. Eventually. I’ve had a spot of fun the past few years, but now I suppose it’s time to act like a grown-up. I am getting married, after all, and my parents won’t be around forever.”

  “Is that what you want to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been away from the company for so long, I’m not sure. But I do feel a bit as if…I need to do something besides fritter my days away.” Jackie shrugged.

  They sat in silence for a while. Jackie was Sonia’s best friend, and had been for the entire time she lived in Miami. She’d miss her terribly. “Whenever you decide to leave, we’ll still keep in touch.”

  “Of course! You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Jackie grinned, looking more like her typical lively self.

  “Okay, now tell me everything. How did he ask?”