The Billionaire’s Forbidden Desire(68)

Still no answer. She banged her fists on the door. “Dane! Come on! We have to talk.”

Silence.

“Fine. I’m not leaving until you come out!” She leaned against the door, arms crossed. “You can’t stay inside forever.”

* * *

Dane abandoned his glass and took a long swig from the bottle. The scotch burned, but he needed it to burn even worse.

Sophia’s voice came from outside the door. “I’m not leaving until you come out! You can’t stay inside forever.”

He chuckled bitterly to himself. She was beyond naïve if she thought camping outside his door would give her what she wanted. He couldn’t see her right now. He didn’t deserve to see her, to be near her.

From a purely objective standpoint, five million dollars was acceptable compensation for what he’d done. She wasn’t disabled. She wasn’t scarred. She was still smart, brilliant and had her entire life ahead of her.

She’d marry some nice schmuck, have his babies and be disgustingly happy.

But this wasn’t an objective situation. The fact that it was Sophia’s dream he’d shattered with that careless decision in Paris made him want to vomit.

He dialed a private security firm he had on retainer for handling delicate situations.

“Mr. Pryce?” came a firm voice.

“I need a woman removed from outside my penthouse door. She refuses to go. You must show her every courtesy. Treat her the way you would’ve treated my grandmother,” Dane said. They knew how much he’d adored Shirley.

“Yes, sir. We’ll be there in ten.”

“Fine.” He hung up.

Shirley, Shirley, Shirley. She should’ve let Dane know the whole truth about the accident in Paris. Then perhaps he would’ve been more careful—even distanced himself from Sophia from the very beginning.

He shook his head. No lying to yourself. The truth was, he wouldn’t have been able to stay away. She’d enthralled him the moment he’d laid his eyes on her in Mexico.

Holding the bottle by the neck, he mounted the treadmill and started walking. The liquor did very little to dull the pain in his gut.

Some moments later, he heard low male voices. Then Sophia’s high-pitched yell pierced the silence on the floor. “Dane! Dane!”

He closed his eyes, willing himself to block it all out.

“Dane!”

The voice was cut abruptly.

Sophia was undoubtedly in the elevator now. The compulsion to go after her and hold her as tightly as he could throbbed in his head.

Go. It might not be too late. She doesn’t have to know.

But he knew. And unlike some people he could name, he couldn’t laugh and smile and lie his way through a relationship.

“Aaaarrgh!”

He jumped off the treadmill and threw the scotch bottle at the wall. Air sawed in and out of his lungs. He squeezed his head between his hands and shut his eyes.

Salazar had been right all along. Dane should’ve never been born.





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Sophia looked like hell the next morning, and felt worse. Thank god she was good with makeup. She covered the dark circles and unhappy lines around her eyes and mouth. When she forced herself to smile, she almost looked normal.

For once, Salazar wasn’t there for breakfast. She didn’t have much appetite, but forced a few bites down anyway. She refused to tragically waste away like some spurned gothic novel heroine. Injuries or no, she’d been a world champion and would be damned if she’d roll over.

Al appeared the moment she was finished. “Miss?”

“I’m going to work,” she announced.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” His voice was gentle. He’d probably learned what had happened at Dane’s penthouse the night before. For a man who never seemed to leave the mansion, he somehow knew an awful lot.

“No. But it’s the only idea. He can’t kick me out of the office.” Her chin trembled, but she firmed it with effort. “I work there.”

“If I may… I have never seen young Mr. Pryce react so strongly before. Whatever is driving him, it must be deeply personal.”

“I guess his veins aren’t full of ice water after all.”

“I would assume not. But he does have that reputation.”

She forced a smile. “Thank you, Al. I’ll be all right.”

The drive felt incredibly long, but Sophia used the time to think things through. Whatever was the reason behind Dane’s refusal to talk to her, it couldn’t be anger or hate. The men who’d come to remove her from outside his penthouse had been courteous and polite, even as they had been forced to physically remove her. They’d almost seemed apologetic.

Dane had had a chance to calm down. Surely he’d realized by now how ridiculous and unfair it was for him to shut her out like this.