"Five years go by and do you ask me to help with your sister? No! You threatened my job and pressed on my loyalty to your family. And now, after all of that, I'm supposed to fall down with gratitude that the great Ramon Sauveterre has decided I'm physically attractive enough that he's inviting me to have an affair? Thanks a bunch."
This time, her hostility didn't grate. That vilification clawed past his thick skin to the center of his soul, which he suddenly feared was a vacant space. She'd pulled back the curtain, pointed and made him feel small. Dishonorable.
"So that's a no, then?" He took refuge behind sarcasm because no one was supposed to be able to hurt him. Not this badly. Not by holding him up to the light and finding such an ugly angle.
He feared the rasp in his voice gave away what a direct hit she'd scored, but she only widened her gray eyes in disbelief. Then she shook her head like she should have expected his callousness.
"When I was young, I used to think your past made you afraid of being hurt. I told myself that's why you wouldn't love me back. It made the rejection easier. But you're actually just a self-important, unfeeling bastard, aren't you? Here's news. Some people react to life's tragedies by being nice. They try to make the world a better place. They don't ruin it for everyone else. I will never forgive you for forcibly dragging me back to your side so you could teach me again that you're not worth my time."
She turned toward the bedroom, one wrist coming up so she could use her sleeve against her cheek.
"Isidora."
"Really?" she cried. "I have to spell it out?" She kept her back to him. "That was a hard no, Ramon. Step outside if you want sex. I'm sure you can flag some down with that charm of yours. I'm going to have a bath and sleep on the sofa."
"Take the bed. I have some calls to make."
"So noble."
As he heard the tub faucet start, he moved to the cabinet in the lounge and poured himself a strong start on a terrible hangover.
They both wore sunglasses the next morning. Isidora was trying to hide that she had cried-yes, again-over that stupid man.
She didn't know what was up with Ramon, though. She didn't think he'd had that much to drink at the party, but he informed her flatly that he had called in their regrets for a brunch they were supposed to attend. He had a tall cup of the coffee she'd made, but didn't touch any of the pastries she had sent up.
That suggested an unsteady stomach. She noted a near-empty bottle of Scotch on the end table in the lounge as he moved into the shower she'd vacated, but she didn't ask.
She wouldn't spare one word in his direction if she didn't have to.
And she personally wouldn't touch alcohol again for a long time. She was still writhing internally at how she had behaved. The part where she had climaxed on his lap was bad enough, but then she had bared her soul and he had only scoffed at her history of unrequited love like it was a skinned knee.
The next few months were going to be interminable.
As if to prove it, they met Kiergen in the lobby as they were leaving. Apparently he had a flat in the building, too.
"Where did you two get off to? As if I didn't know," he said with a playful leer.
Before Isidora could smile weakly through her squirming blush, Ramon said bluntly, "A personal matter came up."
Kiergen's smile gave way to concern. "I hope everything is all right? Are you still coming to the brunch?"
"No. Excuse us. The car is waiting." He hurried her out, leaving Kiergen sounding worried as he called out a wish that they travel safe.
As they settled into the cool leather seats and the car pulled way, she glanced briefly at Ramon. He really was a master class in manipulating his own image. Now Kiergen would go to the brunch with genuine concern over this "personal matter." Speculation would abound, and no one would be aware it was pure red herring.
Was she supposed to thank him for covering up her lunacy?
She churlishly chose to read emails instead, doing her best to ignore him while feeling slighted that he did the same.
They had a milk run of business engagements for the next few days, crisscrossing to Italy and Germany before coming back to France. She was mostly arm candy at luncheons and cocktail parties as he shook hands and took photos with newly promoted executives.
It was nice to see a mix of women taking management positions and the conglomerate wasn't named Sauveterre International for nothing. At least it gave her a broad range of people to chat with as a buffer against him.
They were able to avoid all but the bare minimum of physical contact, too. If they kissed, it was a perfunctory performance-not unlike the kiss she had exchanged with his brother, if distinctly less warm. And while they smiled at each other when they had to, they spoke as little as possible.
It was a delicate balance on the edge of a razor blade, cutting into her relentlessly as they crawled along with this charade.
So, even though she was loath to be without external distractions to keep them apart, it was a relief to board his yacht to sail across the Mediterranean to Málaga, Spain, where their official engagement party would be held.
To the long-lens cameras spying on them from afar, they appeared to be on a prehoneymoon. In reality, Ramon worked tirelessly from his onboard office. She answered emails and wrote press releases while sunbathing in her bikini. They saw each other over meals and confined conversation to work-related topics.
One day, she kept promising herself, she would be over Ramon and would fall for a man who adored her. Their passion would overshadow that bit of petting she had shared with Ramon. They would marry in a dream wedding, have a handful of children and this gnawing ache inside her would subside.
But that was many days away. She still had half of this day to get through.
She gave the purser a brief thank-you smile as she took her seat across from Ramon at lunch. He wore a collared short-sleeved shirt and casual shorts with deck shoes. She had shrugged on a simple red sundress over her bathing suit since they were eating poolside.
"Did you see that email about-"
"Yes. I told them not to bother."
It was exactly the minimum exchange they had been keeping to for days. Was he sulking because she had refused to sleep with him? She might think so if he wasn't so completely unmoved.
He was back to ignoring her the way he had most of her life. It stung. She didn't expect an apology. He was hardly the type to go that far, but she would prefer anger, if that's what he felt. Some kind of emotion. This stiff politeness was horrible. And why did it make her feel like she was at fault? Was it a woman thing?
She bit back a sigh and declined a glass of wine.
Taking her cue from him, she picked up the phone she had set aside. It was pinging with a notification anyway. Before she could read it, Ramon let loose a string of sharp curses.
"What?" she prompted, sensing disaster and hurrying to unlock her screen.
Ramon saved her the trouble by turning his phone so she could read the alert Etienne had just sent.
This English translation just hit. It's been circulating in Arabic for an hour. The queen mother of Zhamair is quoted as stating her future daughter-in-law was not the twin in the photo kissing the Prince of Elazar last spring. True? How do I respond?
Trella still hadn't publicly confirmed or denied her pregnancy. Now she was exposed as having been with one of the most sought-after bachelors in Europe, one who was rumored to be on the brink of an engagement to someone else. Isidora had been doing her job, keeping up with online gossip about the prince. She'd been secretly worried for her friend. If he married while he already had a child coming with Trella, that would be disastrous!
She blew out a dismayed breath. "There's no pretending Kasim's mother is not a creditable source, is there? I mean, I've always wondered why Kasim allowed people to think Angelique had been with both him and the Elazar prince, but why would his mother go on record with such an inflammatory statement?"
"Kasim kept quiet because Gili asked him to. That smudge on her reputation is the reason they haven't announced their engagement. His highest-ranking advisors made it clear they wouldn't accept her as queen. My guess is that his mother chose to repair Gili's reputation by annihilating Trella's. I've met her. She takes things into her own hands without a sense of consequence." He was furious. She could hear it in his voice.
"I'll tell Etienne we're handling it." She began texting.
Ramon's phone buzzed and he swore again, then hitched his chair around to her side of the table, so they sat side by side and could both see his screen. She tingled with awareness at how close he suddenly was, but the message coming through from his sister was so shocking, it demanded her complete attention.
Apparently I'm married.