He jerked the phone away from his ear. Vanessa deserved her own Guinness record for her screeching. Wasn’t pregnancy supposed to mellow women out, making them all warm and fuzzy thinking about their babies? Apparently not…at least not with his sister.
“I give a lot of people jobs,” he said. “Got a problem with that? Sue me.”
“She’s not ‘people’!”
“Calm down, Vanessa,” came Mark’s voice. “Just so you know, we’re on speaker right now.”
Dane rolled his eyes. How many times had his siblings gathered to worry themselves sick over immaterial stuff? “Anyone else there?”
“Just me, Hilary and Vanessa. I got here right around the time your assistant left.”
“Good. Can you or some other rational human talk to me?” Dane said. “I’m tired of hysteria.”
“Vanessa’s upset because she’s driving Dad’s car.”
He scowled. “Who?”
“Sophia!” Vanessa said, breathing hard. “Your new ‘assistant’! She’s driving Dad’s 2HOT4U 1965 Aston Martin DB5 convertible, which he never lets anyone else even sit in, much less take out on the road.”
“What the hell?” Dane sat up straighter.
Salazar loved that convertible more than any of his children…or even his own mother. Shirley had often lamented about his ridiculous obsession with “that car.” Sophia had said there was nothing going on between her and Salazar. If that were true, she wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the vehicle.
Vanessa lowered her voice, but it was no less forceful. “By the way, she’s the one I saw at Éternité. He had his hands all over her. It wouldn’t surprise me if they went home together.” She made a gagging noise. “Mark my words, she’s aiming to be Dad’s next wife. Our stepmom.”
Dane breathed deeply, forcibly reining himself in. “I’m well aware of that. I saw them with my own eyes at Elizabeth’s function. Which, by the way, you skipped.”
“I wasn’t feeling well,” Vanessa said defensively. “Besides, I heard you spent half a million on her at the bachelorette auction.”
Elizabeth had wasted no time spreading that piece of gossip. “I needed a bigger tax deduction for the year.”
“But you had to bid on her?”
“Dad was bidding too. Would you have preferred him to win?”
That shut Vanessa up for a moment, but then she started again. “I don’t understand why she bothered to get a job at your company. Every pretty thing that approaches Dad always has the same objective—to replace Mom.”
“She denies it,” Dane said, then paused. It was out of character for him to toss something like that out. But he’d wanted to voice Sophia’s point of view for some reason.
Probably because she wasn’t around to do it herself. He might be an asshole, but he wasn’t unfair.
“Wait, you believe her?” Vanessa asked, suddenly getting quiet. “Because if you do… I don’t know. I guess I’ll back off then.”
Dane poured himself another finger of scotch. “No, but I’ve half a mind to let him have her. It’d serve him right.”
But the image of Sophia, naked and moaning, on the pristine sheets on Salazar’s bed preyed on Dane’s mind. His skin suddenly felt too small, and he clenched his teeth to contain an uncharacteristic snarl.
“She might not want to marry Salazar,” Hilary said. “She seemed…uh…nice.”
“Your unflinching faith in humanity is admirable, but quite unfounded,” Dane said. “She’s my employee. I’ll deal with her.”
“Are you going to fire her?” Mark asked. “That doesn’t solve the problem of her being with Dad.”
“Amateur. My methods are far more effective than that.”
Dane hung up and turned off the phone before anybody could waste any more of his time. He leaned back in his seat and set the tips of his steepled hands against his lips.
Salazar had made it clear he was playing a game. Sophia had denied it, and very convincingly. Dane would’ve believed her, except there was too much evidence pointing the other way. First Shirley’s choker…and now the Aston Martin?
If she honestly didn’t want to get sucked into the drama, she could’ve moved out of Salazar’s house. If she didn’t want to impose on Dane, she could’ve crashed with a friend. Everybody had a friend. Even Dane himself had one he could count on…despite his family thinking he was the biggest asshole in the universe.
The fact that Salazar was letting her drive the Aston Martin changed everything. Dane had assumed she’d have her own car or borrowed one of Salazar’s lesser cars, like a Mercedes. Or perhaps an Audi.