A Touch of Temptation(20)
Everything in him that was barely restrained roared at the silky feel of her skin.
Desire was a hard knot in his belly, messing with his thinking. As it had been in the limo. It was hard enough to resist her when she dressed in trousers and jackets, even though they didn’t hide the sensuality of the woman beneath.
At least he had never been able to buy into the frosty business façade. Maybe because he knew the passion that lurked beneath her composed, perfect exterior.
But dressed as she was now, every curve and dip delineated so sexily, her long legs in those heels... He had a better chance of stopping breathing than controlling his hunger for her.
Her wrap slipped and a creamy shoulder glistened in the camera flashlights. A simple chain with a teardrop diamond pendant glittered at the juncture of her breasts. He swallowed, heat flexing in his muscles, pumping him for action, and pulled his gaze away.
A roar erupted around them as they turned together and mounted the carpeted steps. Flashes exploded in their faces, a frenzy of questions in the air around them.
Her press statement about a new investor for her company, against all the odds, had been sensational enough. The fact that it was him hadn’t gone unnoticed by the media.
But of course she hadn’t answered their questions. Which meant the task was left to him. More fool him that he had believed even for a minute she would do the right thing. That she would give him what he deserved without him having to fight for it.
It was good that he’d fought his whole life for every little thing—from the roof over his head, to every single morsel of food.
He had fought for his mother, he had fought for himself, and now he would fight for his unborn child.
He tightened his grip around Kim as she faltered, her mouth stiff with the smile she’d pasted on, her chin tilted high. It was but a momentary fracture in her perfection, not noticed by anyone but him.
The media were like bloodhounds after her, rejoicing in even a little crack in the pedestal of perfection that Kimberly Stanton stood on.
Nothing would give him more satisfaction than fracturing that pedestal, breaking the woman, so that all of her was undone at his hands. Except it would require a price from him, too, a piece of his soul, and he was damned if he’d let her take anything more from him.
“Ms. Stanton, is it true that you were still married when you were engaged to your twin’s husband?”
“Who is the father of your child?”
“Are you seeing Mr. Pereira now?”
Diego heard her startled gasp amidst the rumble and forced her to stop beside him. Had she not expected this? Had she no idea how hungry the media was for a story—any story—about her?
He leaned over the thick rope that contained the press, toward the microphones thrust into his face. “It is Mrs. Pereira,” he said, and paused, waiting for his words to sink in. He turned toward Kim and smiled. He bent and kissed her cheek. The shock in her gaze was visible only to him. The softness of her skin burned an imprint on his mouth and he turned toward the flashing cameras again. “And we’re very happy to begin our life together again, with our baby on the way.”
The crowd went ballistic. He hadn’t expected any less.
“You guys are married?”
“Reunited after six years.”
He pulled her tighter toward him, every action hungrily raked over by the crowd. She felt like a ticking bomb that could go off at any minute.
“My wife realized her mistake and came back to me on the eve of her wedding.”
“You are happy to be together?”
“Incredibly happy,” he said, tongue in cheek. “Like we’ve never been apart.”
Kim turned to him, her face devoid of any color. “You bastard,” she hissed at him.
He deftly pulled her away from the uproar his statement had caused, dark satisfaction heating his blood. His arms around her slender waist were literally keeping her upright as he and his wife climbed the stairs.
An incredible high buzzed through his veins. Possessive triumph sang in his blood.
His wife.
He had waited for this moment for a long time. To be able to shout to the world that Kim was his wife and have her accept it.
The fact that he had arrived at it through foul means and six years late didn’t diminish his victory one bit.
He’d learned a long time ago that playing fair would give him nothing but a bruised body and a broken heart.
CHAPTER FIVE
IT WAS THE worst evening of Kim’s life.
It shouldn’t have been.
The awards ceremony was being held in the huge banquet hall at the Plaza, the food was delicious and she was rubbing shoulders with great business minds.
Yet in between avoiding Liv’s curious gaze, fielding congratulations from her peers, which were not over her being chosen for the prestigious award, Kim had never wanted to escape more.