Reaching His Heart: The Sartoris Book Three

by Tressie Lockwood

  * * *

  Solette leaned forward as she pushed against the bottom of Cason’s foot. He winced, and she eased off for a minute. An angry blue gaze flew to hers. “You’re trying to break it.”

  “I would never.”

  For an instant, she saw a slight smile.

  “You enjoy complaining, Mr. Cason.”

  “I’m trying to think of a way to have you drop the Mr. Shall I let you massage my leg?”

  She resisted rolling her eyes, feeling amused. “I give you a massage every day.”

  “Yes, but it’s so impersonal. I’ll let you go higher on my thigh.”

  “You’re very confident for a man who lost ‘everything.’”

  He tensed, and she kicked herself for teasing him. Reminding him of his accident wasn’t the way to bring him out of his misery. All kinds of emotions flitted across his face before he spoke.

  “I see I’ve been a bad influence on you. You’re cruel.”

  “I apologize. I never meant—” He moved swifter than she had seen him do since she met him, and she lost the hold on his foot and fell forward. She landed on top of him as he lay on the bed, and his arms came up around her.

  Solette had never been so aware of a man’s body as she was lying on top of him. Their legs tangled together as she tried to regain her balance. Her feet kept slipping so she couldn’t get a firm grip on the floor in order to push herself up. Cason wasn’t making it any easier since he held her in a firm embrace.

  She stopped struggling and looked up at him. His eyes were narrowed, and she realized he hadn’t spoken a word since she fell. He just watched her in silence.

  “Mr. Cason…”

  “Cason.” The word was clipped. She tensed. Was he angry about her clumsiness?

  “You have to let me go. I didn’t mean to lose my balance. I’m so sorry…”

  She tried to get up again. He shifted a bit under her, bringing all kinds of terrible thoughts to mind as their forms melded together. In that second, Solette couldn’t be happier about her rich cocoa skin because he couldn’t see her blush.

  Oh, wow, he’s definitely still a man. He didn’t lose everything at all!

  She swallowed and tried to pull her thoughts out of the gutter.

  “I thought you were plain, but up close you’re pretty, especially when you smile.”

  She ducked her head. Nobody knew better than Solette that she was plain. Joe Sr. had told her plenty of times what he thought of her looks—whenever he was angry. She clenched her teeth.

  “It’s a good thing I don’t have to be a beauty to take care of you, Mr. Cason. Please let me go.”

  “I’ve hurt your feelings.” He said it without emotion.

  “I’m fine. Trust me. I’ve had plenty of patients who called me out of my name whenever the exercises got to be too much or they were having a bad day. Also—” She clamped her mouth shut.

  “Also what?”

  “Please,” she begged.

  His voice dropped low. “Cason.”

  Her breath caught in her throat at the deep timbre of his voice. A normal woman wouldn’t still be attracted to a man who basically admitted he thought she was ugly. Solette had no doubt he kept saying she was almost pretty to drive the point home.

  “C-Cason.”

  “Good girl.”

  He released her and raised his hands above his head as if she were the one who had tackled him in his weakness. Solette prepared to climb off him when the bedroom door banged the wall, making them both jump.

  “Mind telling me what in the world is going on here?” An icy wind blew off Ezio’s words, leaving Solette chilled to the bone.

  Chapter 4

  Ezio slammed a fist on the desk and glared at Cason. “You’re telling me it was just an accident? Somehow I doubt that, and even if it was, what kind of nurse falls on her patient? You could have been injured.”

  Cason rubbed his right shoulder and stared at the ceiling. He yawned. “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, fratello.”

  “A mole—” Ezio swore in Italian.

  Romy spoke up. “Calm down, Ezio. She’s been doing a good job so far. None of us were able to get Cason out of his room before Solette came, and he looks like he’s put on some weight.”

  Cason cut his eyes to Romy. “You’re saying I’m getting fat?”

  Romy ignored him. “She’s been good with him, and I agree with Cason. We shouldn’t make this situation bigger than it needs to be.”

  “We do if she’s decided to seduce him! You know we’ve had more than our fair share of that, Romy. And Cason’s head isn’t where it should be. He might not notice the signs.” Ezio shoved fingers through his hair and began to pace. “I hired her in the first place because she’s not his type and never will be. Yet, the first chance she gets she’s on his lap.”

  “Exaggerate much?” Cason said.

  Romy winced. “Don’t pick up Sonya’s way of speaking.

  Cason examined him. “Thought you were on the way to marrying her.”

  Romy’s countenance closed. “We’re not talking about me.”

  “Now there’s a subject,” Cason insisted. He planned to rib Romy as soon as possible. Then he came to himself. Ribbing his brothers was a thing of the past, back when he didn’t have a care in the world. He wasn’t that guy anymore. Releasing a sigh, he stared up the ceiling with his one good eye. The other he kept patched because the shadows seen through the other and the distortion freaked him out. “Whatever. If you want to fire her, do it. I couldn’t care less. I can go back to living the way I want.”

  Ezio growled. “You’d like that, but you can forget it. You’re going to have a nurse. Period. If Solette’s not right for you, then I’ll find another one. Maybe a male nurse…”

  Cason couldn’t keep the horrified look off his face. “No man is touching me!”

  Ezio shrugged and looked toward Romy rather than Cason. “That might be a good idea. A man won’t get ideas.”

  “That’s what you think.” Cason tried to figure out if Ezio was serious. His older brother didn’t usually kid around when it came to staff, which could mean a nightmare for Cason. He’d never felt so powerless. He had worked for Ezio for years, but for the most part he called his own shots. Ezio never got in his way, especially since Cason knew his stuff when it came to people and numbers. No one was better. Cason had single-handedly made the family several million. Since his accident, he didn’t so much as read a stock report or even check on the weather forecast.

  Cason had caused Solette to fall on top of him, and the accident hurt in places he had no wish to admit. On the hand, her soft curves had fit amazingly well, and he recalled what it was like to hold a woman in his arms. He had no serious designs on her, but he enjoyed seeing the shock on her face when certain of their parts connected. Maybe I should get a new nurse after all. It wouldn’t be good if he started getting ideas about Solette. Regardless, he didn’t want her to go.

  Cason turned his wheelchair toward the office door. “Get someone else if you want, but if it’s a man, I’m going to get rid of him before he can say his name. Try me and see.”

  The door bumped Cason’s leg when he tried to get it open, and he clenched his jaw in pain. He still wasn’t that great a maneuvering. Romy sprang from the seat he occupied toward the door and helped get it open. Cason glared at him.

  “I can handle it,” he snapped.

  “Of course you can, but it doesn’t change the fact that I want to help.” Romy’s gentle smile grated on Cason’s nerves. He recalled seeing the worry and fear in his oldest brother’s eyes. At the time, he’d hated being the one to cause Romy to feel that way.

  Cason made it outside the office but stopped as Romy was shutting the door. He listened at the panels with no shame.

  “You know he likes her,” Romy said.

  “I don’t care if he likes her! That’s not my criteria for hiring a nurse. If she’s already—”

  “Cason,” Romy began.r />
  “Fratello, he doesn’t need the distraction of a woman trying to seduce him.”

  “I disagree.”

  Cason considered going back in and demanding they stop talking about him as if he was so special he couldn’t make these decisions for himself. Unfortunately, that would show Ezio he gave a rip about it all. He wrestled back and forth, grinding his teeth.

  “Let her stay,” Romy said in a calm tone.”

  “I don’t—” Ezio began.

  He stopped talking, which made Cason think Romy was pulling the oldest brother card with just a look. He didn’t use it often.

  “Fine,” Ezio said after a few minutes, “but I’m going to have a talk with her. I thought I had made myself clear when I hired her.”

  Romy chuckled. “Nothing is ever clear when it comes to Cason. You and I both know it.”

  The conversation came to a close, and Cason beat a hasty retreat down the hall. He hesitated outside the elevator shaft and directed the wheelchair toward the kitchen instead. A quick bellow to open the door produced the scrawny kid he’d seen earlier. Cason took him in as he held the door. Small for his age, Joseph had those same eyes his mama looked out from. Yet, instead of the little mouse he saw in Solette, this one was a lion, bold and curious.

  “Hey, Mr. Cason,” the boy said as if he belonged there.

  “Joe!” Solette popped up from the table and clutched her hands together.

  Cason rolled by the boy but paused for a second. “Joseph.”

  The boy beamed.

  Cason reached Solette and crooked a finger at her. She bent toward him, and he spoke in a lowered tone. “I saved your job. You can make it up to me.”

  Her eyes widened, and she stuttered. For a moment Cason wondered if she’d actually go for it. Would she do anything to keep her job? Did he give her ideas after that little stunt he pulled? He didn’t mind letting her think he was interested and entertaining himself for a while. Nothing else about his life made sense, so why not?

  A loud boom and a flash of light drew his attention to the window. Perfect. He looked at Solette again. “Stay the night,” he said.

  She gaped. “Mr. Cason, I couldn’t possibly—”

  “You’d like to spend the night in a mansion, wouldn’t you, Joseph?” he called to the boy.

  “Oh, wow, would I! Do I get my own room? Can I tour the mansion?”

  “Joseph, if you don’t behave yourself right now…! We are not staying. That storm has all day to blow over, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Cason gazed at Solette. She bristled with indignation, but she never raised her voice very loud. He wondered if he could make her mad enough to do it. She seemed more interesting than he first gave her credit for. Maybe she could even alleviate some of the boredom he had started to feel in the last couple of weeks. Then again, he had to consider what made him bored. Before Solette came to work in their home, he didn’t care if one day slipped into the next.

  “The room next to mine is empty.” He lied just to gauge her reaction.

  She blushed. “Mr. Cason, please stop giving my son ideas.”

  Cason tilted his head to look up at her. “You’re whispering. Tell me. Do you ever raise your voice?”

  She swung away from him, but he reached out and caught her wrist. Her forward movement jerked his shoulder, and he winced. She rushed back to his side and began massaging the area. “Don’t do that, Mr. Cason. You’ll hurt yourself.”

  He ground his teeth and turned his head so that his cheek was just inches away from hers. “I’d like ‘Mr. Cason’ a lot better if we were role-playing in the bedroom, but it does give me ideas every time you say it.”

  “Mi—” She froze, eyes wide. He had her. She couldn’t say it again without thinking he was having dirty thoughts about her and him. Cason was starting to have a little fun. A spark appeared in her eyes, but then it was gone. She concentrated on making his shoulder feel better. The truth was he didn’t hurt himself this time, but he’d learned convenient times to use his condition to his advantage.

  Cason whipped his chair around to face the boy. “Joseph, you’ll stay in the room next to my niece Catarina. You’ll like her. She’ll be in from school in the afternoon. You two can stay the entire weekend.” He rolled toward the hall with Joseph cheering and Solette grumbling. “In fact, I’ll get Ezio to pay you extra, Solette. I feel like all this damp weather will cause me a lot more pain. I might not be able to sleep at night.”

  “I’m sure I can get a prescription for sleeping pills from your doctor,” she said drily, leaving out his name, he noticed.

  Cason stopped in the hall and looked back at her. “Hold on. Is there a husband I should be concerned about? I could call him and clear everything with him.”

  She started to speak, but her eager son cut her off. “Mom’s not married. She and my dad broke up a long time ago. Dad is trying to get her back, but she didn’t say yes yet.”

  “Joe, close your mouth.” Her tone held a warning, and her son ducked his head, looking sheepish.

  “Good to know.” Cason wheeled his chair toward the elevator. “Ever used an elevator in a house, Joseph?”

  “No way! You’ve got an elevator? Cool.” Joseph beat Cason onto the elevator and jabbed the button. He waved his hand. “Hurry up or I’ll leave you behind, Mr. Cason.”

  Cason cracked a grin before he caught himself. He liked how Joseph didn’t show him any kind of undo reverence just because he was in a wheelchair, and he wondered if it was something he learned being around his mother who was a nurse or if it was just because of his own special personality.

  “Left behind in my own house? What are you teaching your son, Solette?” Cason spoke in a tone that sounded like he’d taken offense. He cut a look in her direction to find her shooting daggers at her son.

  “I apologize. I’ll ring his neck later.”

  “I doubt that.”

  She drew herself up to her full height, giving him a thought for the first time to see what it would be like to stand above her and look down as he was meant to do. She was small, and there was a touch of strength in her but also something fragile. He was curious as to why she gave such a contrasting impression. Her son’s father had let her get away, but he was trying to get her back. The man’s desires didn’t enter into Cason’s scheming at all. If she was special to him, he shouldn’t have let her get away in the first place, and if he loved her, he wouldn’t let a broken man like Cason mess it up.

  “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t throw slurs on my parenting skills,” Solette said, indignant. “My private life has nothing to do with my job. And I’m not staying here this weekend. Neither is Joseph.”

  The elevator door slid open just as she made this announcement, and Ezio stood in the opening. “I thought you were back in your room. What’s this about her staying?”

  Cason turned his good eye away from his brother and focused on the wall and spoke through a clenched jaw. “The wet weather always makes everything hurt a lot more.”

  “You’ll stay,” Ezio barked. “Whatever it costs.”

  “Mr. Ezio—” She fell silent, and a sigh escaped her.

  Ezio marched to a phone on the wall and picked up the receiver. He barked a few clipped commands over the line, arranging for the bedrooms. Afterward, he retreated down the hall toward his and Shakarri’s wing of the mansion. Joseph wandered after him, and Cason and Solette took their time. Cason knew she wanted to put space between his older brother and her son and the two of them.

  When they were out of earshot of anyone, she crossed in front of the wheelchair, forcing him to let up off the button. Cason raised his eyebrows as if he had no idea what she was up to. Eyes full of censure narrowed on him. “Cason, you did that on purpose. You knew your brother would feel sorry for you.”

  He bit back the look of triumph. “I don’t know what you mean. What I told my brother is true.”

  She dropped a hand on her hip. “It was the way you said it.”

>   “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. So you’re staying?”

  She sighed again. “I don’t have much of a choice because something tells me fighting with him is pointless. But know this, I will keep things on a professional level from now on, and I’m leaving bright and early Monday morning.”

  She whirled away and marched down the hall. Cason stayed where he was and took in the sight of her swishing hips. Not a bad sight at all. As to professionalism? He’d see about that.

  Chapter 5

  Solette ran her hands along Cason’s bare thigh. All of a sudden she couldn’t keep her mind on the task at hand. Or rather, she couldn’t get it off the task. His taut skin heated to her touch, and she reacted internally to every contraction of his muscles. Not at all in a professional way either.

  This was Cason’s fault for teasing her. She didn’t think for one minute that he was interested in her. He’d made it plain what he thought of her looks, and it wasn’t anything new. Men didn’t flock to give her attention. Plus, she knew she had a warped image of herself because of Joe Sr.

  All those years ago, when she was a young girl in school, Joe Sr. had played with her head. He manipulated her. He controlled her, and when she dared to fall for him, he began to hurt her. His form of abuse was all she knew when it came to relationships. So nothing Cason did surprised her.

  The problem was, even with all his scars and physical challenges he was the hottest man she had ever laid eyes on. Cason was a big guy with hypnotizing blue eyes. What made it worse was he had this singy-songy accent when he spoke. It did things to her insides. Solette had always kept patients at a distance, even when they were attractive or made advances toward her. She kept her head, and always kept the situation in firm control. If she ever thought things were getting out of hand, she would drop the patient off her list of clients. Cason was different.