legal ramifications.
“You said you were done, but I could see in those eyes of yours that you wanted more.” She moved closer, shuffled really, on those ridiculously high stilettos of hers, and rested a hand on the center of his chest. “I know we had one hell of a time, Rian.” She looked at his face, and he could see that although she was drunk her make-up was still impeccably perfect. Most likely she had touched it up before coming here unannounced. “Did we have a good time, a wild time?” She smiled, trying to be seductive, but it made him slightly nauseated. “I was open to whatever you wanted to do, Rian.” She started moving her hand lower down his chest. “And even after you kicked me out of your life only a couple of weeks later, I didn’t run to the press about the type of things you were into.” Right before she reached his belt he grabbed her wrist and moved away from her.
“You wouldn’t go to the press because your precious reputation, as well as your family’s, would have been tarnished.” He was tired and bored of this conversation. “I think it’s time for you to leave. Do you need a ride home?”
She grinned again. “Why yes, Mr. Hartford, I do need a ride.”
“Theodore?” Rian called out.
“Yes, sir?”
“Please have the car send Miss Marshall home.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Rian, why you insist on playing these games is beyond me. If we were to be together our families’ fortunes combined could very well control the real estate and overseas exportation business in the United States.” She had to brace a hand on the wall to steady herself.
“Go home, sleep it off, and please don’t call or come over here again, Beatrice.”
She pouted. “You play hard to get, but you’re a smart man, and I know you’ll come around.”
“Miss Marshall, I’ll escort you out to the car waiting below,” Theodore said and moved toward the door.
“I don’t need a car. I have my limo waiting for me,” she said to Theodore in a snappy, snarky voice, as if she were better than he was.
Rian might have wealth, might be a bastard and known as such by anyone that met him, but when it came to people he considered family—Theodore being one of them—he was no better than they were, and wouldn’t let anyone talk down to them.
“Goodbye, Beatrice.” He took her arm in his hand, turned her around, and opened the front door. He all but pushed her out, but gently enough that she wouldn’t fall on her stuck-up face. “And I meant it when I said we’re done. I have no interest in your family’s money, getting into business with them, or going any further with you.”
This dark snarl covered her face, and he knew the alcohol was wearing off, and the bitch that lay beneath the sophisticated and primped up veneer she displayed was coming out.
“I might not be available when you finally get your head out of your ass and see that being with me is the right thing for both of us.” She turned and left, but he didn’t bother watching her leave.
The thing with Beatrice was that she wasn’t interested in being with him, but was somehow thinking that combining their two families by being together, they would somehow become this powerhouse of wealth and control. She had these delusions, and because she wasn’t the type of woman to be denied anything, being with her was probably the worst choice he had made. But with a couple of cocktails, and a willing woman that was all but rubbing her pussy and tits on him in front of everyone, Rian had never been one to deny himself.
Maybe he was the same as Beatrice, but because of that having anything more to do with her was toxic, and he was smart enough to steer clear. Besides, he had more important things to concentrate on, like one that had to do with Sorcha Case and her agreeing to be his.
9
Sundays should have been relaxing, comforting, and spent not worrying about anything. At least that was how Sorcha saw those days. Instead, she was sitting at her two-seater kitchen table staring at the spread of bills. She had gotten three just yesterday, and the ones that she had already pushed to the side because she hadn’t been able to pay them now loomed like this massive elephant in the room.
“What are you going to do?” Cora asked from across the