Authors: Kit Tunstall
PunishingPhoebe (10 page)
Anya sounded like an excited teenager,
which made her smile. “His name is Brad. We met at the program.”
“Is he blind too?”
“He has some vision. The clinical trial was
more successful for him, but he won’t get any better.”
She held her tongue, resisting the urge to
point out how difficult a relationship with another visually impaired person
could be. Their parents had instilled good values in both of them and she had
done her best to continue raising her sister with those same ideals. It was
time to believe she had done a good job and trust Anya to make the right
choices.
“There’s something else—”
Phoebe cut her off. “Sorry, kiddo, but
you’ll have to tell me when I arrive. I need to get the driver to change
directions. I love you.” She hung up and directed the driver to the new
destination.
Her eyes burned with moisture when she
realized her little sister truly was grown up. It was akin to losing her. Their
relationship would never be exactly the same. Anya would probably come to her
for advice from time to time, but she would never really need Phoebe to fill
the mother role again.
Just don’t ask me for relationship
advice, kiddo.
She exhaled roughly, her mind once
more returning to Luca’s betrayal.
How melodramatic,
she chided herself.
It might feel like he’d betrayed her, but he hadn’t. There had never been a
promise of love or fidelity between them. There was nothing but a huge mess
linking them.
The headache had grown in intensity by the
time the cab dropped her at Honeywell House. The temptation of pain reliever and
a nap beckoned, and she hoped there was a vacancy.
Mrs. Honeywell greeted her with a smile.
“Hello again, dear.”
She smiled. “Hello. Do you have a room?”
“It’s all taken care of.” She passed over
an old-fashioned key labeled Honeymoon. She recognized it from her previous
stay, when Luca had so highhandedly dragged her back to New York City—after
thoroughly fucking her. With a grimace, she turned toward the stairs. Anya must
have gotten her a room. The only reason she would book the Honeymoon Suite was
because there was nothing else. Her little sister had no clue just how much she
wanted to avoid ever returning to that room.
Still, there was no choice, short of
trolling the city for another room. She didn’t want to be far away from Anya.
It was silly to refuse the room just because it would stir memories of Luca.
The key turned smoothly in the lock and she
opened the door. Phoebe closed it with her foot, engaging the deadbolt, and
dropped her purse on the closest chair. She stretched, rubbing her neck.
“Headache?” asked a familiar voice.
Phoebe whipped her head up so quickly it
popped. “What are you doing here?” She shook her head. “You know what? I don’t
care why you’re here. I just want you to leave.”
Luca shook his head. “You’re not getting
rid of me that easily.”
She snorted. “Easily? Do you have any idea
of the hell you’ve put me through since you decided you own me?”
His answer was a surprise. “Yes.”
“See, you…” She trailed off when the word
penetrated. With narrowed eyes, she asked, “What?”
Luca stood up from the loveseat and walked
toward her. She resisted the urge to back away.
“I had an illuminating conversation with
your sister.” Luca hesitated at arm’s length away. “It explained a lot,
mia
tesoro
.”
Phoebe licked her lips, uncertain how to
respond. “Oh.”
One side of his mouth quirked. “I’m sorry.”
She frowned. “For what?”
For lying about
your engagement?
The question remained unuttered.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I made it
impossible for you to tell me why you took the money from my father.” Luca
shook his head. “It really didn’t seem right that you were like that, and I
should have listened to my instincts.”
Phoebe shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”
His eyes widened. “I think it matters a
lot. We have to settle some things before we can move forward.”
She sat on a chair near the loveseat.
“What’s the point? This…thing…between us is over. Why rehash all that?”
He flinched. “It isn’t over, Phoebe.”
“I don’t care what you do to me, Luca. It
doesn’t matter if you give me a bad reference, or make sure I never work in
this industry again. I will not be your mistress.” Her hands trembled, and she
squeezed them together. “Regardless of the story you might have heard, I do not
have relationships with married men.”
“About Danny Seaton—”
Phoebe interrupted him. “I never had a
relationship with him. I worked for Danny and his wife. When Danny made his
interest known, I resigned. Tonya walked in on us when he was trying to undress
me without my consent. She offered me a year’s salary not to press charges of sexual
harassment. I agreed, not wanting to deal with it.”
His lips were thin when he asked, “Why did
he try to kill himself?”
“I’ve asked myself that several times.”
Phoebe shook her head. “He came to me, thankfully in public, begging me to be
with him. I refused and left him on the subway platform. When I turned on the
news later that night, I discovered he’d tried to jump in front of a train, but
the conductor stopped in time. He was banged up and admitted to a mental
hospital.”
She shifted, uncomfortable with the topic
and eager to depose it. “Tonya called me a few days later to let me know he’d
been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His doctor thought he’d been having symptoms
for a while. For whatever reason, he fixated on me—not because he really wanted
me, but because of his latent mental illness.”
Luca walked from where he’d been standing
to her chair. When he knelt down, she tried to resist him taking her hands in
his. “I’m sorry you went through that. I understand why you left that job off
your résumé.” He sighed deeply. “I wish I had been more approachable, that you
could have told me the truth—about your sister, Danny Seaton, everything.”
Phoebe succeeded in tugging free one hand.
“Speaking of truth, why didn’t you tell me you were marrying Caprice? I can’t
believe you lied to me when I asked you.”
“I didn’t lie to you,” he said severely.
“At no point will I ever take her as my wife.”
That he continued to lie renewed her hurt
and anger. Did she even know him at all? His character had seemed better than that.
Why continue the charade? “Just admit it. I know about the ring.”
“Yes, about that…” Luca released her hand
to fumble in his pocket.
She regarded him quizzically as he removed
a small jeweler’s box. Surely he didn’t plan to show her Caprice’s ring? Wasn’t
he done torturing her? Phoebe looked away when he opened the box, but not
before catching a glimpse of the sparkling diamond. “I don’t want to see that.”
“You have to. I need to know if you like
it.”
Shocked, she turned her head to glare at
him. “Who cares if I like your fiancée’s ring? Caprice’s opinion is the only
one that matters.”
“Wrong.” He picked up her left hand,
ignoring her resistance. “The woman meant to wear the ring needs to approve of
it.”
Phoebe froze when he slipped the ring on
her finger. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to marry me, in a very
awkward way,” he said with a sheepish grin.
She shook her head. “Why are you doing
this? I don’t want her ring.” With an angry motion, she tried to tug it off,
but his hand settled over hers, preventing her from removing it.
“This ring was never for Caprice, Phoebe. I
selected it for you last week.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re joking.”
Luca lifted her left hand, pressing a
tender kiss to the palm. “No,
mia cara
. My love. At some point in the past
few months, I’ve fallen in love with you. The epiphany that I didn’t care why
you’d done the things you had done, and that I never wanted to let you go, sent
me to the jewelry store. I planned to make you my wife, and I wasn’t going to
take no for an answer.” He kissed her hand again. “I’m not going to accept a
refusal. You will become my wife.”
He had planned to marry her before he knew
her reasons for taking the money or the truth about her so-called sordid affair
with Danny Seaton. Luca had loved her when he had every reason to hate her.
Overwhelmed, she said, “Why should I?”
“Because I own you.” He put a finger to her
lips when she opened her mouth in outrage. “Just as you own me. We belong with
each other. We will marry, have many babies, and be the envy of everyone
because we are so happy together.”
The reality was sinking in. She regarded
the diamond, surrounded by rubies, deciding she could accept everything it
stood for, and gladly. Happiness made her giddy. “You sure are bossy, Luca,”
she teased. With a smile, she added, “I guess I’ll have to marry you. You’ve
left me no choice.”
“Not in that,
mia cara
.” He leaned
forward to kiss her, and she met him halfway. “You may do as you wish in any
other matter, so long as you don’t leave me.”
“Never,” she said in a choked voice. Why
would she leave the man she loved, who loved her in return? It amazed her that
something so beautiful could come from the ugly beginning of their affair. She
was going to marry him. It was more than she’d ever dreamed could happen. Her
gaze fixed on the ring again, and she sighed with pleasure. “This is so
beautiful.” Phoebe tilted her head. “This ring seems so familiar.”
He nodded. “It is from the same designer
who made the necklace I gave you the night we went to my father’s home.”
Phoebe’s eyes widened. “You picked it out?
You said a salesgirl had included it,” she said accusingly.
Luca grimaced. “After your cool reception
of the dress I’d chosen, I assumed it would be safer for you not to know I had
gotten the necklace.”
She blushed. “It never occurred to me that
you personally selected the dress. I thought you’d given it to me to wear in
order to irritate Salvatore that you’d brought someone of my ilk into his
social circle.” With a smile, she added, “I loved that dress.”
He leered. “So did I, especially when it
was on the floor.”
“You know, the dress made sense, but buying
a necklace for me really wasn’t the act of an angry boss demanding I repay him
with my virtue.” She grinned when his cheeks darkened. “Are you embarrassed?”
“No,” he said a gruff voice. “I will admit
the action wasn’t logical, but I saw the necklace and thought of you,
remembering that red robe you were wearing the first night we made love. I
wasn’t your boss when I bought that. I wasn’t even an angry man who’d been
cheated. I was a lovesick fool, unable to admit my true feelings, or just why I
was so devastated about your actions.”
“What are you now?” she asked in a whisper.
“The happiest I’ve ever been.” He took her
mouth in a deep kiss. There was a twinkle in his eyes when he lifted his head.
“However, I am also still your boss.”
Impulsively, Phoebe pushed him backward,
sliding off the chair to sit across his thighs. “I think it’s my turn to be the
boss.”
Luca’s wicked grin showed his interest in
the idea. “Whatever you say, Phoebe.”
About the Author
Kit Tunstall lives in Idaho with her
husband, son and dog-children. She started reading at the age of three and
hasn’t stopped since. Love of the written word, and a smart marriage to a
supportive man, led her to a full-time career in writing. Romances have always
intrigued her, and erotic romance is a natural extension because it more
completely explores the emotions between the hero and heroine. That, and it
sure is fun to write.
Kit welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website
and email address on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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