him without words to get the fuck moving and stop gawking.
God, she wanted Rian more than she had ever wanted another man. But if he cared for her as much as she thought he did, as much as she saw in his face as he looked at her, could she really live in this kind of lifestyle?
24
Rian wanted to go with her, to follow Sorcha out and talk to her. He had seen part of the altercation between Beatrice and Sorcha, but Beatrice was lucky Sorcha hadn’t kicked her ass, because his woman could have taken her easily.
He fumed that Beatrice had confronted her, and hit her, and he wasn’t going to stand by and let this slide.
Of course he had known Beatrice would be here, because her family ran in the same circles as he did. But to think she’d stoop this low, actually hit Sorcha because of her jealousy, pissed Rian off.
“Excuse me.” Rian excused himself from the stockbrokers he spoke to and made his way toward Beatrice, who was now speaking with another socialite. He stopped behind her, so angry he was squeezing the champagne glass so tightly he thought he might shatter it. The woman Beatrice was speaking with straightened and looked at him, clearly sensing his rage, and excused herself.
Beatrice turned around and stared at him with this bored expression on her face. “Rian, I take it you saw that little show?” she said and glanced around, clearly not caring how shit went down.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he said in a low voice, and took hold of her arm to lead her away from the crowd that was making their way toward them. He pulled her toward a secluded corner, and didn’t hide his anger for her.
“Rian, calm down. I did you a favor. I know she is your secretary, and that you have a hard-on for your staff, but she is nothing but trash.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve told you before, and will tell you again, being with me will make our families strong, Rian.”
“Just shut the fuck up, Beatrice.” His hands shook with his rage. “How dare you think you can put your hands on anyone, especially Sorcha, all because you have this dramatized fantasy in your head that what we did for a couple of weeks was more than just fucking.”
Her cheeks turned red, and she pursed her lips. “I’m not a fool to think it wasn’t just about sex for you, and honestly it was for me, too.” She took a step closer to him. “But after those couple of weeks I started to feel more for you, and although it certainly isn’t love, it is enough to start something.”
“There is nothing between us, and even if I had entertained the thought, your little act of assault sealed the deal that I don’t want you.”
The anger faded from her face, and she exhaled. “I’m not apologizing for what I did, but you have to know that I cared about you, and then you just discarded me like I was nothing.”
Although he was angry with her and wanted nothing more to do with her, he couldn’t deny that her words reminded him of what Sorcha had told him in the car when they had gone shopping in the city.
He sighed, ran a hand over his hair, and tried to get his annoyance under control. “I’m sorry that I made you feel that way, I really am. That wasn’t my intention, Beatrice, but nothing is going to change who and what I am.” He said those words, and although he meant them, he also knew that he had hurt her. “I’m sorry I made you feel like that, but I never led you on, Beatrice. I told you up front what it was we were doing, and you thought the same. You only wanted the sex, but then you turned into this crazy woman that hits women that are innocent in all of this. Because you’re jealous, Beatrice, and that is low.”
She didn’t respond for several seconds, but then narrowed her eyes, and he knew she was gearing up to throw one hell of a hissy fit. “You would rather spend your time with a low class employee than a woman like me?”
Rian had apologized for making her feel like she wasn’t worth his time, but she kept stepping over the line. “You’re acting like a snob.” He