right?’
‘Let’s not go down the tortuous route of moral ethics, Chase. However non-existent you think mine are, you’re not exactly in a position to point fingers.’
Chase chewed her lip and glared impotently at him. ‘I’ll make you some coffee.’ She shrugged and turned away. He was here now, in her house, smug and self-satisfied at the awkward position into which he had shoved her; sooner or later they would have to talk, so why not make it sooner? She couldn’t see herself getting to sleep in a hurry.
She returned with two mugs of coffee to find him ensconced in one of the deep chairs, the very picture of a man totally relaxed in his surroundings.
‘You gave me your word that I would have forty-eight hours.’
‘And nothing’s changed on that front,’ Alessandro said smoothly. ‘You still do. I’ve just thrown an extra something into the mix.’
‘And that wasn’t fair.’
‘Between us, the gloves are off. You’re as scheming as I am, so don’t even bother to try and play the wounded party with me.’ He had not been able to get her out of his head and, the more he thought about her, the more urgent his need to have her became. The sooner he had her, sated this voracious lust, the faster he would be rid of her. He couldn’t wait.
Nudging the back of his mind was the uncomfortable truth that he was not a vengeful man by nature, that this sort of revenge was born from emotions which he had handed over to her eight years ago only to find them thrown back in his face. She had shown him his vulnerability and the force of his reactions now lay in that one, unmentioned reality. It was something he could hardly stand to admit even to himself and it lay there, buried like a pernicious weed, even when he had told himself over the years that he had had a narrow escape; that getting involved with a woman such as she had turned out to be would have been an unmitigated disaster.
‘You think you know me,’ Chase muttered bitterly, and Alessandro narrowed his eyes to look at her.
‘By which you mean... Tell me.’
‘Nothing,’ she said in a harried undertone. ‘This is an impossible situation.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s the sound of the wheel turning full circle.’
‘You don’t like me, you don’t respect me, so why on earth would you want to sleep with me? You must be able to snap your fingers and have a thousand women standing to attention and saluting. Why bother with the one who doesn’t want to fall in line?’
Chase projected into the future. So she turned him down and the shelter became a shopping mall with her friend retreating to the seaside, where she would live out the rest of her days, bored, grumbling and dissatisfied. Furthermore, what would happen to their friendship? Alessandro had put her in an invidious position, for would her friend ever forgive her for being the one who failed to ‘iron out the crease’ that would have enabled her to hang on to what she loved?
She would never be able to tell Beth what that particular creasewas and eventually the wonderful friendship they had would wither and die under the weight of Beth’s misunderstanding and simmering resentment. How could it not?
‘I’ve always considered myself a man to rise to the challenge,’ Alessandro said coolly.
‘And I’m your challenge.’ There was no point moaning about the unfairness of fate. He had seriously upped the ante by involving Beth and now she had to step up to the plate one way or another. He might well consider himself a guy who couldn’t resist a challenge, but when had she ever been the sort of woman to back down? Her days of doing that had been put behind her.
And he talked about unfinished business... Wasn’t it the same for her? Over the years, through everything that had happened, hadn’t he been the burr under her skin? Hadn’t she had broken nights dreaming of him? Hadn’t she replayed scenarios in her head during which what they had had came to fruition?
More to the
‘Let’s not go down the tortuous route of moral ethics, Chase. However non-existent you think mine are, you’re not exactly in a position to point fingers.’
Chase chewed her lip and glared impotently at him. ‘I’ll make you some coffee.’ She shrugged and turned away. He was here now, in her house, smug and self-satisfied at the awkward position into which he had shoved her; sooner or later they would have to talk, so why not make it sooner? She couldn’t see herself getting to sleep in a hurry.
She returned with two mugs of coffee to find him ensconced in one of the deep chairs, the very picture of a man totally relaxed in his surroundings.
‘You gave me your word that I would have forty-eight hours.’
‘And nothing’s changed on that front,’ Alessandro said smoothly. ‘You still do. I’ve just thrown an extra something into the mix.’
‘And that wasn’t fair.’
‘Between us, the gloves are off. You’re as scheming as I am, so don’t even bother to try and play the wounded party with me.’ He had not been able to get her out of his head and, the more he thought about her, the more urgent his need to have her became. The sooner he had her, sated this voracious lust, the faster he would be rid of her. He couldn’t wait.
Nudging the back of his mind was the uncomfortable truth that he was not a vengeful man by nature, that this sort of revenge was born from emotions which he had handed over to her eight years ago only to find them thrown back in his face. She had shown him his vulnerability and the force of his reactions now lay in that one, unmentioned reality. It was something he could hardly stand to admit even to himself and it lay there, buried like a pernicious weed, even when he had told himself over the years that he had had a narrow escape; that getting involved with a woman such as she had turned out to be would have been an unmitigated disaster.
‘You think you know me,’ Chase muttered bitterly, and Alessandro narrowed his eyes to look at her.
‘By which you mean... Tell me.’
‘Nothing,’ she said in a harried undertone. ‘This is an impossible situation.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s the sound of the wheel turning full circle.’
‘You don’t like me, you don’t respect me, so why on earth would you want to sleep with me? You must be able to snap your fingers and have a thousand women standing to attention and saluting. Why bother with the one who doesn’t want to fall in line?’
Chase projected into the future. So she turned him down and the shelter became a shopping mall with her friend retreating to the seaside, where she would live out the rest of her days, bored, grumbling and dissatisfied. Furthermore, what would happen to their friendship? Alessandro had put her in an invidious position, for would her friend ever forgive her for being the one who failed to ‘iron out the crease’ that would have enabled her to hang on to what she loved?
She would never be able to tell Beth what that particular creasewas and eventually the wonderful friendship they had would wither and die under the weight of Beth’s misunderstanding and simmering resentment. How could it not?
‘I’ve always considered myself a man to rise to the challenge,’ Alessandro said coolly.
‘And I’m your challenge.’ There was no point moaning about the unfairness of fate. He had seriously upped the ante by involving Beth and now she had to step up to the plate one way or another. He might well consider himself a guy who couldn’t resist a challenge, but when had she ever been the sort of woman to back down? Her days of doing that had been put behind her.
And he talked about unfinished business... Wasn’t it the same for her? Over the years, through everything that had happened, hadn’t he been the burr under her skin? Hadn’t she had broken nights dreaming of him? Hadn’t she replayed scenarios in her head during which what they had had came to fruition?
More to the
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