late. He drummed his fingers impatiently on his desk. Madeline had provided three
possible apartments, all in good areas and in close proximity to the Imperial Park Hotel.
She hadn’t as of yet provided a list of eligible men.
No matter. The first order of business was to see her settled. The sooner, the
better. Then he’d worry about marrying her off.
When he heard his door open, he looked up, startled. Then he frowned when he
saw Isabella stride inside. On cue, his intercom buzzed, and Madeline’s voice announced
somewhat dryly that Isabella was on her way in.
“Good morning,” Isabella sang out as she stopped in front of his desk.
He swallowed and then his gaze narrowed as he took in her attire. It wasn’t
exactly immodest, and as such he couldn’t offer a complaint. It covered her. Sort of.
His mouth went dry when she put her hands on his desk and leaned forward. Her
breasts spilled precariously close to the neckline of her T-shirt, and he could see the lacy
cups of her bra as they pushed the soft mounds upward.
He cursed under his breath and directed his gaze upward. “Good morning,
Isabella.”
“Bella, please, unless you have an aversion to the name?”
He didn’t, though it somehow seemed more intimate, particularly when he took
the meaning of the Italian form of her name. Beautiful. That she was. Stunningly so.
Different from the usual sophisticated type of women he gravitated toward, but beautiful
nonetheless. There was something wild and unrestrained about her.
He ground his teeth together and shifted his position. Where his groin had
remained stoic when thinking of Alannis, it had flared to life, painfully so, as soon as
Isabella had walked into his office.
He was her guardian, someone to look after her welfare, and here he sat
fantasizing about her. Disgust filled him. Not only was it disrespectful to Isabella but it
was disrespectful to Alannis. No woman should have to put up with her soon-to-be fiancé
lusting after another woman.
“Bella,” he echoed, taking her invitation to use her nickname. It suited her. Light
and beautiful.
He rose from his seat and walked around the front of his desk. She eyed him
curiously, and he found himself asking her why.
She laughed. “You’re dressed so casually today. I’m so used to seeing you in
nothing but suits and ties.”
“When have you seen me?” he asked in surprise. He thought back to the times
when she would have seen him, and while he probably was wearing a suit, it was hardly a
basis for her supposition.
She flushed, and he watched in fascination as color stained her cheeks. She
ducked away, her hair sliding over her shoulder.
“Pictures,” she mumbled. “There are always pictures of you in the papers.”
“And you get these papers all the way out in California?” he asked.
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THE TYCOON’S REBEL BRIDE
13
MAYA BANKS
SILHOUETTE DESIRE 1944
THE ANETAKIS TYCOONS
“Yes. I like to keep up with the people looking after my financial well-being,” she
said evenly.
“As you should,” he said approvingly. “Are you ready to go? I have a list of
potential apartments. I took the liberty of scaling down the possibilities to a few more
suitable to a young woman living alone.”
And then he realized he’d made a huge assumption. There was certainly no reason
to believe that a woman as beautiful and vibrant as Isabella would be living alone. He
refused to retract the statement or ask her if she was currently involved with anyone. But
he’d need to know because if she was involved, seriously, then he could forego the whole
process of introducing her to prospective husbands.
“I’m ready if you are,” she said as she smiled warmly at him.
As they walked from the building that housed the Anetakis headquarters, Theron
put his hand to the small of Isabella’s back. She felt the touch through her shirt. It seared
her skin, and she was sure that if she could look, there would be a visible print from his
fingers, burned into her flesh.
After loving him from afar for so many years, she’d been prepared for
disappointment, that maybe the man he’d become wouldn’t live up to the dream. She’d
been so far removed from the truth that reality overwhelmed her. He was more, so much
more than she could have imagined. Her feelings hadn’t gone away when she’d seen him
again. They’d cemented.
She sat next to him in the back of the limousine. In addition to the driver, Henry,
there was one additional member of his security detail that rode up front. When they