Hope. I closed his door quietly and glanced up as Alba approached. I tried to look welcoming, because after all i did like her. She was just doing her job. “Are you ready to go up?” Alba asked with a smile. I sighed. “Honestly? I would like to smother Damian with the pillow he insists I rest on.” Alba tried to stifle her laughter, but a chuckle escaped. “Could I interest you in a cup of tea on the terrace instead?” she offered. I immediately brightened. “That sounds wonderful.” I fell into step beside Alba as the two of us headed towards the glass doors. A cool breeze, scented by the ocean, blew over my face when i stepped outside. “I hope you don’t mind if Dr. Karounis joins us.” i noticed the way Alba's cheeks turned pink as she spoke. “He and I take tea here every afternoon.” “Of course not,” i replied as i settled into one of the chairs surrounding the small table overlooking the gardens. When Alba ducked back inside to prepare the tea, i was left alone. I leaned back
Hope. Our days slowly began to settle into a routine much as our nights did. Once he was assured of my health, Damian made love to me every night, possessing me with passion that left me breathless. But in the mornings, he was always gone before i woke up. I had made it a habit to seek him out, bothered by the fact that he left our bed so early. More often than not, I will find him in the library, either on the phone, on his computer or poring over contracts and faxes. He would look up when I entered, and for a brief moment, I would see fire flare in his eyes before his expression became more controlled, and after murmuring a polite good morning, he would return to his work. And i was summarily dismissed. So i spent most mornings alone or in the company of Alba and Dr. Karounis who seemed quite content to spend their time together. At lunch, Damian would make his appearance as if he hadn’t just spent hours sequestered in work. To his credit, he devoted the afternoons to me. I had c
Hope That night, I was dressing for bed when Damian came up behind me and curled his arms around my waist. His hands rested over my stomach as he nuzzled a line from the top of my shoulder to the sensitive region just below my ear. Goose bumps danced and scattered along my skin, and i trembled against his chest. “I much prefer you naked, Hope,” he said as he slid one hand up to pluck at the string of the gown I had just slipped on. His words speared through my mind, sparking a distant remembrance. For a moment, i had an image of him standing before me, staring at me with glowing eyes, saying those exact words. I struggled to remember more, but it slipped away as fast as it had slipped in. I closed my eyes in frustration even as i gave way to the pleasure of his touch. He slid the strap over my shoulder, following it with his lips until it tumbled down my arm. Then he turned his attention to the other side, giving it the same down my arm. Then he turned his attention to the other s
Damian. I rose at dawn the next morning. I hadn’t slept since Hope had woken up with her nightmare. After I had soothed her, and she had fallen into a more peaceful rest, i lay awake, staring at the ceiling as i realized the impossibility of our situation. Careful not to wake her, i showered and dressed. After checking to make sure she hadn’t been disturbed, i went quietly down the stairs. I bypassed my office, though it was my custom to begin the day with business matters. This morning something drove me to the beach where Hope so often visited. The air was chilly blowing off the water, but i took no notice as I stood watching the waves break and slide into shore. Hope’s past, our past, threatened her in sleep. Her memories waged war at her most unguarded moments, and what would i do when it all came back? The terrible conflict that ate at me was wearing me down. I should be angry, and at times i was. But it was also easy to forget. Here on the island, safeguarded from the rest of
Damian "You or even me. I can’t figure you out, Damian, and I’m tired of trying. I’ve tried to be strong and undemanding, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m scared to death. I don’t know who I am. I wake up one day to find myself pregnant, and there’s a stranger by my bed who says he is my husband. One would think this would tell me that at least I was loved and cherished, but nothing you have done has made me feel anything but confusion. You run hot and cold, and I never know which one to expect. I can’t do this.” Coldness wrapped around my chest, squeezing until i couldn’t draw a breath. “What are you saying?” I demanded. She looked at me tiredly. “Why are you marrying me again? You could use this chance, my memory loss and get rid of me for good?” I frowned, not liking the corner she was backing me into. “You are tired and overwrought. We should go back in and continue this conversation where It’s warm” She cut me off with a furious hand. “I am not tired. I am not overwrought, and
Hope. I knelt in the cool soil of the garden and plucked the few weeds from around the flowers and greenery. With Damian ’s morning ritual of working,i had found other ways to occupy my time, much to the dismay of the gardener who flew out twice a week to tend the grounds. Ever since my outburst on the beach, Damian had ceased to push Alba and Dr. Karounis at me for every little health concern. Instead, they stayed firmly in the background on an as needed basis, and Damian had relented on my coming up and down the stairs alone. Despite the fact that he continued to work in the mornings, he came out to have breakfast with me before returning to his office. Then the fun began for me. Each day I found a new method of driving him insane. He would come looking for me when work was finished, and invariably i tried the restraint he had promised to exercise when it came to demanding that i rest. When Damian had found me in the garden on my hands and knees, ithought he was going to burst a
Hope. Not wanting to be entirely predictable, I forewent the garden the next day and opted instead for the heated pool. I had been eyeing it with longing since we had arrived, and thanks to boutiques only too willing to deliver to the island,i had a simply decadent swimsuit i was dying to try out. As i pulled the skimpy suit on, i realized that in essence i was trying to seduce Damian . Not that i hadn’t already, but i was attempting to make him fall in love with me. I frowned back at myself in the mirror. Wasn’t this backward? He was the one with the memory. Shouldn’t he be trying to make me fall in love with him? I knew i loved him but hadn’t said the words. Something had held me back, and now i pondered what it was that made me unwilling to take that jump. There was a hesitation about him that niggled at me, as though he wanted to keep a certain amount of distance between us. I didn’t want that. I wanted him to love me as i loved him. I sighed. If only i could remember. I w
Damian I entered my office, irritation replacing my earlier good mood. I stared hard at Rosie, who stood to the side. “I do not appreciate this intrusion,” i said crisply. “There was no call, no warning, no permission asked to come out here.” Rosie's face paled and her eyes widened. “This is my private living area, and as such, you do not have free rein as you do in my business settings. Are we understood?” “Yes, sir,” she said stiffly. “Now, what was so important that it didn’t warrant a phone call?” I demanded. “I have discovered that another design was stolen,” she said softly. “What?” Curses spilled from my lips, and it took a moment for me to realize I was speaking to myself, and Rose didn’t understand a word of it. I shook my head and put both hands down on my desk. “What design? Tell me everything.” Her expression hardened. “It is an older one, a design you discarded. It was the original plan for the Rio de Janeiro hotel. But still, she must have sold it to Marcelli wit
The doorman said. I don’t think it was the same one that had been here when I’d skulked out on Saturday morning…thank God. “Good afternoon,” I told him. “I was hoping that you could call up to Mr. Romo Romalatti’s penthouse and let him know that Alana is here to see him.” “Yes Miss, I can do that. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back with you.” I took a seat on one of the plush, off-white couches in the lobby. They were arranged around pretty glass tables with expensive looking vases full of flowers. I sat there and watched all the designer clothing clad people bustle back and forth while I waited. Suspiciously, I wondered how many of them were linked to the mob. “Miss?” The doorman brought me back to reality. “Yes?” “Mr. Romalatti asked me to send you up. He said that he’s in a meeting in the conference room next door but you should make yourself comfortable in the suite.” “Okay, thank you so much.” The doorman put me in an elevator that he said
He was a passive-aggressive son of a bitch. Shooting someone in the eyes meant, “I’m watching you,” in our world. I honestly had no idea who it could be that wanted to send me a message so desperately that they would kill my best friend to do it. “Sit down, Sammie.” Tony told me. I took a seat at the table with the others and Tony said, “Does anyone know of any beefs against us?” Everyone looked around the table and when no one said anything I asked, “Why are the Gambino’s absent?” “Carmine is still put off by the fact I won’t consider that fat fuck christopher for boss. He sent word that he couldn’t make it, made up some stupid fucking excuse so I couldn’t accuse him of disrespect, but we all know why he’s not here,” Tony said. Tony’s voice was getting raspier and he seemed like he had a lot harder time breathing every time I saw him. He was dying of throat cancer….but only he and I knew that. The Christopher he spoke so disdainfully of was the son of Carmine Gambino. Carmine ha
129. I wanted to punch him for calling me sweetheart. What was with all of these suddenly over-familiar men? I picked up the photo and underneath it was another…it was one of Sammie and I walking arm in arm into the Glass Towers. It was stamped with Friday night’s date. The elevator Nate and I were riding in stopped and the doors slid open on my floor. I felt like my heels were glued down and I couldn’t move. To my horror, Nate had to take me by the arm and lead me out of the elevator. I think I was in some kind of mini-shock state. I found myself standing in the hallway, still gaping at the photos in my hand. Feeling sick to my stomach, I picked up the next photo and the last one was the best. It was a photo of me in Friday night’s clothes and a flagrant case of bed-head, getting into the back seat of Sammie’s limousine. The photo was clearly stamped with Saturday morning’s date. “What—Where---Why are you having Sammie followed?” I finally spit out.
128. After about an hour of that, I made myself a pot of coffee…it was going to be a long day. It had been three days since Alana had walked out. I had made a grave mistake by allowing myself the pleasure of making love to her when she was too drunk to have the capacity to consent. I truly hadn’t meant for that to happen. I tried to tell myself that I was beyond the point of rational thought as well, but truthfully I wasn’t drunk, at least not from the alcohol. I was intoxicated by her. I’d been researching her and watching her for so long…every fantasy I’d had for the past year had been wrapped up in Alana. I had just completely lost my mind the moment I was actually allowed to touch her. The fact that she was allowing me to, and even encouraging it had really sent me over the edge. It was wrong though…I was wrong. I knew from the time I’d spent watching her that she wasn’t a big drinker, and she definitely didn’t sleep around. I should have had more respec
127. Sammie had stood there looking at me after I’d pulled back. I remember that he had this really sexy grin on his face and instead of being angry, I was turned on. I had smiled back….I think and then I’d put my hands around his neck again and pulled myself back up to continue the kiss. I slid my tongue back into his mouth and that time he sucked on it. It was erotic. His hands were all over me and as I washed my body and slid my palms along my sides and across my breasts I shuddered at the memory. We started stripping each other at that point, a little at a time while we kissed. I could feel his erection pressed up against my hip and I remember that when I moaned he had whispered in my ear so close that I felt his hot breath: “Just you wait, Bella. I’m going to make sure that it’s the best you ever had.” The sound of his voice and the feel of his breath against my ear sent me into another frenzy. In the shower, my hand drifte
126. “We would act as a couple so that no one wondered about my meetings with a reporter, and we could avoid the fear of getting caught if we tried to sneak around and communicate secretly. You could also be a part of “family” events and get to see and know the people that we’ll be “talking” about first hand. This won’t be a week-long process, Bella. This organization was hundreds of years in the making. It’ll take years to break it open.” I was glad I had finished my meal already…I would have choked on it. Years? This guy was nuts if he thought I would agree to be his fake fiancé for years. I stood up and picked up my purse. Sammie stood up as well. For a second, remembering where I was and who I was with, a dagger of fear stabbed me in my chest. He must have seen it on my face because he stepped to the side, clearing my path to the door. He wasn’t going to force me to do this. I was ashamed of myself for putting myself in a position where t
125. “With clothes on,” she said. I laughed and said, “Yes, I’m going right now to get dressed, then I’ll order breakfast.” She only nodded, but she hadn’t let go of the doorknob. I half expected her to be gone when I got back, but to my delight and relief, she wasn’t. I found her sitting on the sofa looking out the window. I sat down in the chair across from her and smiled. She shot me a look that should by all rights have set me on fire. “Was this all some big pick-up game to you?” she asked. “A pick-up game? No, Bella. We both had too much to drink. I’m not normally a heavy drinker and last night I was looking for some liquid courage. Once you report what I have to tell you, life as I know it is going to implode. I wouldn’t have had the audacity to expect that a woman like you would ever want to be with a man like me.” She raised an eyebrow, obviously not convinced. I wish she could see inside of my head because I meant every word. I know what I am. I’ve known sinc
124. I woke up in a strange place, in a strange bed, next to an extremely hot – and gloriously naked – strange man. …What happened last night? My mouth tasted like cotton and I had an icky sweet taste in my mouth that literally made me want to vomit. My stomach felt bloated, my head was pounding and I couldn’t hold my trembling hands still if I tried. There was light streaming in from the giant windows that surrounded the bed and it was doing nothing but making my head pound worse and darkening my already foul mood. I sat up slowly, not wanting to wake the strange bedfellow next to me. I tried to shake out my hair, but it was a tangled mess. The motion of sitting up had made me nauseated and once again I had the feeling that I was going to throw up. I looked around me, wondering where the bathroom was. I was humiliated enough just waking up here, the last thing I wanted to do was hurl all over hot guy. I needed to get the hell out of here. I slipped out of the bed and st
123. Even not knowing exactly what Shane had planned for her, Mia was still relieved to see him when he entered the basement two days after Wallace had taken her from the street. Her first thought was he looked like hell. His normally robust tanned skin was pale, and his face looked gaunt, though he couldn’t have lost much weight in the four days since she’d seen him, even with a gunshot wound. Her gaze darted to the sling encasing his left arm, where she could see the bulky bandage covering most of the left side of his chest and clavicle underneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt. It was insane, but she had to physically bite her tongue to keep from asking how he felt and fretting over him being out of the hospital already. The reality of her position and situation made it easier to rein in the concern. She lay on the cold concrete, naked as the day she was born, with her hands cuffed to her ankles, which were spread by a metal bar. It was an obscene, undignified pose, b