The Legacy Collection Box Set

by Ruth Cardello

  Yes, I do, she had answered.

  Everything she loved, everyone she loved, depended on getting Stephan to agree to her outrageous request. She couldn’t fail today.

  “I’m okay,” Nicole said even while her body betrayed her by threatening to increase the tears she kept blinking away. No, her mind screamed. I’m not okay. Nothing is okay. Nothing had been in a very long time and, if this didn’t work, nothing ever would be again.

  “I know this is none of my business, but I just want you to know I’m out here if you need me.”

  Oh, God, I’m such a wreck that a pregnant woman is worried about me now? Taking a deep breath, Nicole willed her feet to carry her through the door and into Stephan’s office.

  Stephan Andrade, ex-spoiled rich kid, now corporate shark and owner of enough diversified computer software companies that no one was quite sure how his empire wasn’t considered a monopoly, rocked back in his sleek office chair and steepled his fingers in a mockery of contemplation. Light from the immense window behind him cast a shadow across his face, concealing any emotion that might have shown in his eyes. Manhattan’s skyline cut a ragged silhouette across the horizon, as harsh and unforgiving as the man who had not bothered to stand when Nicole had entered his domain. An oversight and slight breach of etiquette for some, this lack of movement was nothing short of a slap in the face from a man who prided himself on his traditional old-world upbringing.

  It didn’t help that he was still gorgeous.

  If life were fair at all, Stephan would have been rounder in the middle with a receding hairline. Several inches above six feet, he was a striking mixture of his Scandinavian mother and his Italian father: thick blond hair, eyes so blue they caught one’s attention from across a room, and a natural muscular physique that most men spent hours in gyms trying to emulate. But life wasn’t fair, and his good looks were just as necessary to ignore this time around as they had been seven years ago.

  “Thank you for seeing me,” Nicole said, the words catching in her throat. Nothing about his expression or his mannerisms implied that he would entertain her request. She wasn’t about to turn tail and run, though, just because he was looking her over like she’d tracked mud across his priceless rug.

  “I am flying out of town in less than an hour. What do you want, Nicole?” His voice implied that whatever it was, the likelihood that she was going to get it was close to zero.

  Ever so carefully, Nicole sat on the unforgiving white chair before Stephan’s desk. She smoothed the knee of her navy pantsuit and crossed her ankles to one side, hoping she didn’t look as anxious as she felt. “Can’t you at least try to be civil, Stephan?”

  The jaded man who sized her up now bore little resemblance to the young man who had visited his father’s company frequently over several months for no other reason than to saunter through her office, looking like he’d just returned from surfing, and ask her if she’d go out with him. She’d always said no, and he’d always smiled as if her refusal had just made him like her more.

  He wasn’t smiling now.

  He stood and walked to the front of his glass desk. “We both know this isn’t a social visit. I’ll admit I’m surprised your brother stooped to sending you. His deal must be in worse shape than I thought.”

  Nicole clutched the purse on her lap. “Dominic didn’t send me.”

  Stephan leaned back, crossing his arms across his wide chest. Despite his expensive tailored suit and silk tie, he looked anything but tame. He had clawed his way back from near bankruptcy to the front page of financial magazines, and the experience had hardened him. “Right . . .” he drawled.

  It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me. “I need your help,” she said.

  His eyes narrowed while he weighed her statement. “You needed something and you thought of me? How touching. Did you consider the time we haven’t spoken and the circumstances of our last conversation before you came here?”

  “You know I had nothing to do with what happened.”

  A careless shrug of his shoulder volleyed that he knew no such thing.

  “Stephan. I don’t even talk to my brother. I hate him. If I had known that he was going to buy—”

  “Steal,” Stephan interjected.

  “If I had known anything about what was going to happen, I would have tried to stop him.”

  “Easy to say now.”

  “What do you want me to say, Stephan? I went to him when it happened. He wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to apologize to your family. What more do you want from me?”

  “I guess the real question is, what do you want from me?”

  Nicole shut the door on the response welling within her. He wasn’t asking her what she had once wanted, what she’d spent many lonely nights dreaming could happen between them. He didn’t want to hear about that foolishness any more than she wanted to resurrect it. No, today was about something much more concrete, and the only thing she still allowed herself to care about. “My father left me his company, but he named Dominic the acting CEO for a year.”

  Stephan barked out a laugh. “Genius. Dominic was the one sabotaging your father’s company; it makes sense he’s the one to turn it around.”

  “Do you know what Dominic will do with the company as soon as he gets his hands on it? He’s going to fire everyone at the top and put his own people in there.”

  “And?”

  “And I can’t let that happen.”

  “Because you need to be in control.”

  Does it matter? He wouldn’t believe her. He’d made up his mind about her a long time ago. “I just need to know if you can put the past aside long enough to help me.”

  No didn’t require vocalization; it shone in his ice-cold eyes and the stiff set of his shoulders.

  “I can make it worth your while,” she added quickly, playing her last card in this game.

  He pushed off from the desk, suddenly interested. “Now this I have to hear.”

  It would slow the rebound of the company, but if Stephan didn’t agree to help her, she was going to lose it all anyway. “I own the patent to a new conversion software. I could sign it over to you.”

  He leaned closer. Close enough that she could smell the light scent of his aftershave. Close enough to block out her view of everything but him.

  “Disappointing,” he said.

  “What is?” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Beneath her modest navy jacket and silk blouse, her body was having some very immodest reactions to his nearness. She didn’t want to remember how those lips, the ones that were so close she could lean forward and taste them, had felt on her neck, on other parts that were now straining against lace, begging for his attention.

  She met his eyes and realized that he was watching her reaction intently, testing something—something they both knew was there, something that was better left unsaid.

  She steeled herself against her need for him. Hadn’t she learned years ago how giving in to a whim, even if only for one evening, could have devastating emotional consequences? Losing him would never have hurt as much if she hadn’t allowed herself that one day of believing she could actually have someone like him in her life.

  “Your offer. I thought you had something a little more personal in mind,” he said. One corner of his mouth curled at the thought.

  Calm. Breathe. Stephan would pounce on any weakness. Not that she hadn’t imagined that pouncing—in glorious, tantalizing detail—but not here, not like this. “Trust me, nothing personal is being offered.”

  “What a shame. I would have almost been tempted.” His suggestive smile was a flash from the past that elicited an instant, completely unexpected playful response from her.

  “Who are you kidding? You would have been panting at my feet,” she said. And regretted the words as soon as they were uttered.

  His eyes lit with a spark of interest so intense that Nicole had to look away before she completely forgot all the reasons they could not give in to that attraction. He la
id a hand on either arm of her chair, suggesting her escape relied on revealing what she was trying very hard to deny. “See, that is what always intrigued me. Which one is the real you? The cool bitch who talks about her recently deceased father only in terms of his will or the much more tempting tease who just threw down a challenge? What would you do if I took you up on it?”

  His words gained the reaction he’d likely desired. Her head whipped back around, only to find he was closer, much closer than she was comfortable with. He might want her, but he’d wanted many women over the past seven years. The tabloids were full of pictures of him with some heiress or starlet on his arm. No one held his interest for long, and Nicole couldn’t risk the pain of losing him a second time.

  He leaned in just a fraction closer.

  “I don’t know why I said that,” she said, backpedaling.

  “You said it for the same reason I’m fighting to keep my hands off you. There is something between us, something we should have resolved years ago.”

  “I can’t go there, Stephan.” Her voice was huskier than she’d intended.

  “I can’t either, so you’re safe.” He straightened. “Go back and tell your brother however tempting the offer is, I’m not going to call off my plans—not even for a romp with you.”

  And the truth rears its ugly head.

  He didn’t want her.

  He’d only wanted to see how far she’d let him go.

  Nicole, her hands curling into angry fists, said, “You know, I’ll never understand why you and my brother aren’t the best of friends—you’re both complete assholes.”

  “Tsk, tsk. Your mask is slipping. It’ll be hard to explain to Dominic how his plan involved slugging me.”

  Nicole stood, chest heaving, and said, “This is all a game to you, isn’t it? You just want to see if you can get to me.” She hated that her eyes blurred with tears when she wanted to show him how little his jabs affected her.

  What’s the use? Why hide it? In a moment she was going to walk out that door and never see him again anyway. “Guess what? You won.” One tear escaped down her cheek. “I was an idiot to think there was a shred of humanity in you.”

  She turned to leave.

  “Nicole . . .” he said softly.

  She turned back, her composure returning with icy calm. He wasn’t going to seriously pretend to care, was he? Or had he just thought of another witty slam he couldn’t resist imparting before she left? “What, Stephan? Have you thought of another insult? Do you think after the week I’ve had I really care what you think of me?”

  Slowly, as if the words were wrung from him, he said, “You shouldn’t have come here.”

  “That much is obvious, thanks,” she said, turning away and walking toward the door only to stumble over nothing. Dammit, can’t I at least hold it together until I get out of here?

  He caught her by the arm near the door, stepping in front of her and waiting until she looked up at him. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was concerned.

  “What did you think would happen when you walked through the door? Did you think I’d be overcome by old emotions and forget about everything else?”

  She wasn’t surprised his words held some bite. Looking at him holding her arm, all of her anger left her. Really, what had she expected? “No. It’s pretty obvious whatever you felt for me is gone. I wouldn’t have come if my lawyers had been able to find any other way.”

  “A way to what?”

  Nicole met his eyes. “To break the will. A year ago, you made a bid for Corisi Ltd. My father initiated, but never completed, his acceptance of your offer so it still falls under unfinished business and therefore provides the only loophole my lawyers could find.”

  His hand tightened. “So, this is about money after all.”

  Nicole shrugged sadly. “Does it matter? You won’t help me.”

  His face tightened and his blue eyes raged with emotion she hadn’t expected to see. No, she chastised herself. Now was not the time to imagine that he was unwilling to let her leave for the same reason she wished she could stay. Life didn’t work that way. Not hers, anyway.

  “What did your lawyers come up with?” he asked.

  What do I have to lose? she thought. She said, “If you bought Corisi Ltd. and sold it back to me, the company would be outside the control of the stipulations of the will.”

  He shook his head as if he’d heard her wrong. “Buy it? Buy a thirty-million-dollar company for you?”

  If there was even the slightest glimmer of hope he would help her, she couldn’t leave yet. “It would just be on paper. It wouldn’t end up costing you anything.”

  “Just my standing as my board and investors begin to doubt my sanity.”

  He hadn’t said no—yet.

  “I thought about that, too. No one would be surprised if . . .”

  “If?”

  She spoke quickly, getting her plan out before she had a chance to reconsider the wisdom of it. “If you and I were engaged, this would all make sense. When families merge, their companies do, too. It’s natural. Then, when we call off the engagement, you sign the company back to me for the same price and you’ve lost nothing.”

  His expression was unreadable. “You’ve thought of everything except why I would do it.”

  “That patent. Stephan, it shows real promise. It could make you millions.”

  For a moment, he looked like he was tempted, but then he said, “Even if I wanted to help you, no one would ever believe it. No one would believe we’re engaged.”

  “They would if you said we’d been secretly dating.”

  “No.”

  “Engagements happen all the time. Tell people I’m pregnant. I don’t care.”

  He raised his voice, “My family would lose their minds if they thought we’d been secretly dating—never mind engaged because you’re pregnant. No.”

  Did he have to sound disgusted?

  A knock on the door. Maddy poked her head in. “Stephan, my car is here so I’m leaving.”

  Stephan checked his watch and swore. “Maddy, do me a favor and double-check that mine is coming. It was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. I’m on a tight timetable.”

  Maddy looked back and forth between Stephan and Nicole. “Will do.” She closed the door as if reluctant to do so.

  Lost in his thoughts for a moment, Stephan stared after his departing secretary.

  “Stephan,” Nicole said.

  “Hmm?”

  “Let go of my arm.”

  He dropped it. “I don’t hate you, Nicole. If you were asking me for a reference or . . . hell, even a loan, I might be able to help you, but this is too much.”

  “I understand,” she said, composing herself and stepping back from him.

  His phone vibrated in his breast pocket. He checked it quickly then said, “That’s my car downstairs. I wish I could help you, but I can’t. You’re going to have to live with your father’s will.”

  Chapter Two

  Well, that went worse than expected, Nicole thought as she exited the elevator and entered the main foyer of Stephan’s office building. The click of her Louis Vuitton heels caught the attention of the men at the security desk. They both looked up and, in unison, dismissed her with insulting speed.

  Was there a flavor of ice cream that would make this day tolerable? Probably not, but Nicole had plans to test out a carton or two that evening.

  Her inability to gain weight was a gift and a curse. In her teen years, she’d sprouted to a couple inches shy of six feet, and without much padding she’d looked like an awkward scarecrow for years, all arms and legs. Not someone men looked at twice. Age had softened the angles of her face, but the real curves she’d hoped for had never come. No need to buy sexy clothing when you don’t have the assets to support them.

  Not that the general lack of male attention bothered her. She’d poured herself into her studies and various internships over the years with one single goal in mind: sa
ving her father’s company. A goal that had never seemed further from her reach than it did today.

  Dominic wouldn’t care that the top executives had worked at Corisi Ltd. for almost twenty years. The private company had survived a failing economy and deliberate sabotaging because of the loyalty and integrity of those very people. They were more than long-term employees—they were the only family Nicole had ever known.

  And she’d failed them.

  “Are you okay?” Stephan’s secretary asked as she stepped away from the lounge area and into the main foyer. Even pregnant, or maybe because it, she held the attention of the security guards. Nicole envied the woman’s natural confidence. Her ruched, plum maternity dress accentuated her delicate form and clearly celebrated her temporary figure.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” Nicole answered automatically.

  “You don’t look okay,” the woman persisted.

  Despite their difference in color, the woman’s eyes reminded Nicole of Stephan. He didn’t have a sister. Was she a cousin? Victor Andrade had always advocated employing family. Stephan might have kept up that practice. “Maddy, right? I appreciate your concern, but I’ve had a really rough week and I’d rather not talk about it.”

  Relief! Her limo was at the curb waiting for her. Nicole excused herself and headed out the glass doors.

  Maddy followed her out onto the street as if she had something more she wanted to say. Nicole watched her struggle to catch up and reluctantly waited for her. She said, “I thought you were leaving a few minutes ago.”

  “I gave my ride to Stephan.” Maddy grimaced. “Don’t tell him. This trip is important to him and I thought I could wait for the service to send another car.”

  “But?” Please don’t have a reason I can’t leave you here on the curb. Oh, God. Do you go to hell for thinking that about a pregnant woman? Nicole looked around, hoping that an extra limo had miraculously appeared.

  “But I’m not feeling so good.” Maddy put one hand behind her to support her back.