Chapter One #2
“While I appreciate the vote of my confidence in my professional abilities,” I say with as much calm as I can muster, “I’m not just referencing your and my personal history. Will your brother’s and my breakup be a problem?”
The anger evaporates so quickly I wonder if I imagined it. Ari contemplates me with an almost bored expression.
“Your relationship with Liam, and its recent demise, are none of my concern. Neither does it affect your purpose here.”
My heart drops. This is what I was afraid of that morning in his hotel room.
Of how much I felt for a man so quickly, a man who made me feel me strong and beautiful, even as he cherished me.
Not just with drugging kisses and mind-blowing sex, but with intimate words and devotion that had stripped me bare, left me aching to share more of myself with him.
He’d seduced me long before he’d ever touched me.
Whereas he, I think bitterly, felt nothing more than old-fashioned lust. Easily sated by a quick fling, the kind he probably has every time he travels internationally. He didn’t feel anything for me that night. The only thing he feels right now is anger because I lied.
He doesn’t even know half of the lies I spun. Lies, I remind myself as guilt tries to creep in, necessary to honor Liam’s request and protect someone we both loved, even if she wants nothing to do with us.
“You’re right, Mr. Valdasson. It is none of your concern.” I nod to him. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
He turns and walks to the curb where a sleek black car is waiting. A young man in a black suit is standing next to the passenger door, dark brown hair combed back from a broad face dominated by a strong nose and a deep dimple in one cheek.
He steps forward. “Welcome to Iceland, Miss North. I’m Viktor, one of the chauffeurs for AuraGeothermal.”
“Diana, please.” I smile at him. “Thank you.”
He glances at my backpack and messenger bag. “Do you have more luggage?”
“No, this is it.”
Seven. That’s how many times I moved between the ages of four and seventeen, bouncing from one foster care home to another.
Each time I packed up my belongings—donated clothes, a couple notebooks, a toothbrush, a comb, and a ratty stuffed dog—and moved on.
For the first two, everything went into a pillowcase.
By the third, I was fortunate enough to get a donated pink backpack.
It didn’t make the moves any less painful.
But it was slightly less humiliating. I learned to pack light in those years. A habit I can’t break.
Viktor takes my bags and heads to the trunk. Ari opens the door for me. Suddenly tired—from the flight, from my interaction with him, from my own foolish feelings—I don’t even look at him as I get in.
“Thank you, Mr. Valdasson.”
“I’ll see you at two, Miss North.”
He closes the door. I stare ahead, breathing out a sigh of relief when Viktor gets in and pulls away from the airport. I don’t turn my head, don’t look back to see if Ari is watching. Partly out of pride, but partly because I need to establish that boundary for myself. He’s my boss, not my lover.
As we move away from the airport, Viktor rattles off the features of the limo, giving me something else to focus on.
The interior is dimly lit with glowing blue lights, adjustable with a touchscreen.
With a tap of my finger, I can turn on the built-in hot-stone massage or adjust the settings of the roof so I can view the sky as if I were standing outside instead of being whisked down a winding highway toward Reykjavik to the headquarters of one of Iceland’s most well-regarded geothermal energy companies.
The car is nicer than some of the hotels I’ve stayed in.
Viktor meets my eyes in the mirror. “Is there any scent you’d like?”
“Scent?” I repeat with a slight laugh. “You’re joking.”
His grin is infectious, a welcome change from the granite-faced man we left behind.
“No, ma’am. Built-in aromatherapy.”
“I’ll pass for now, but that’s incredible.” Wind slams against the door of the car. I wince. “I read Iceland is famous for its windstorms.”
“We are. Right now it’s ten meters per second, or just over twenty miles an hour. Still safe for us to drive in this vehicle.”
“Good to know.”
Liam would have been quietly amused by the spa-like touches.
Aislinn would have been touching everything and anything.
Or at least the Aislinn I knew before this whole mess would have.
The old Aislinn was bright, bubbly, able to see the good in everyone.
Some might have mistaken her kindness for weakness.
But on one of the darkest days of my life, she was there.
She never wavered. Never shied away from my tears, my nightmares, the pain that wracked my body.
She was one of two constants in my life.
Until she wasn’t.
My chest tightens, bands of tension pulling on my lungs until it hurts to breathe. Ten months. Ten months since Aislinn started to pull away. Nine months since we found out she was dating a man nearly twice her age, eight since the wedding.
And three months since Aislinn’s husband, Dexter, accused Liam of being in love with her, threatened to destroy Aislinn’s father, Liam, even me, if there was even the slightest hint of an affair.
Enter one fake engagement. It had cooled Dexter’s jealousy and directed his attention away from us, giving Liam and I time to dig deeper into how such a selfish, creepy bastard ended up married to our best friend.
Except four weeks ago, Dexter dropped dead of a heart attack. We’d gone to the funeral, hoping his death would be the end of it. Cold, yes, but the man had been a brute. Yet aside from thanking us for coming and congratulating us on our engagement, Aislinn had been frosty, distant.
Nothing had changed. Liam and I quietly ended our so-called engagement.
He’s still convinced there’s something going on.
I know he’s still digging into Dexter’s past, into Aislinn’s life the past ten months.
But he’s withdrawn, too, fixated on either his research or his decision to open his own firm.
My fingers brush the silver heart dangling from my wrist. The one engraved with Lucy’s name.
Liam had bought an emerald green collar, and Aislinn had purchased the dog tag.
I’d seen it for the first time when Liam and Aislinn snuck Lucy into the hospital to see me after the attack.
I’d lain there with a dog snuggled against my side, Aislinn’s hand in mine and Liam standing guard by my bed.
For the first time in years, I’d felt safe. Loved.
My eyes burn as I wrap my fingers around the heart.
Most of the time I can grasp on to logic, remind myself this isn’t like Aislinn.
That Liam’s right and something’s wrong.
But every now and then, doubt slithers in through the cracks and stirs up old fears.
Fear that I will never truly be able to trust, to depend on anyone.
That somewhere along the line I did something I wasn’t supposed to, or didn’t do enough, and Aislinn pulled away because of me.
I know that’s not it. But God, it’s hard to keep those intrusive thoughts at bay.
Especially when I’ve just had a run-in with the man who’s been haunting my dreams for the past three months.
A man who’s just reminded me why it’s best to keep people at a distance.
I’ve lost Aislinn. If Liam finds out I slept with his brother, will he feel angry? Betrayed?
Will he leave, too?
Another gust of wind buffets the car. I stare out over the surreal landscape of dark craggy rock and swirling mist, the wind shrieking across the lunarlike terrain.
It’s strange but beautiful, unlike any other place I’ve ever been to.
If negotiations go smoothly, I’ll extend my stay for at least a few days and explore a bit before I return to New York.
A part of me wants to tell Ari everything before I leave.
Our night together may not mean anything to him.
I want him to know I didn’t lie. But he isn’t worth risking that answer.
No matter how attractive I find him, my feelings will fade with time.
Loyalty, commitment, love, the things I have with Liam—and hopefully with Aislinn, too—are far more important.
I settle back in my seat and close my eyes.
I have five hours until my meeting with Ari.
Five hours to shower, eat, get dressed, and brush up on some research.
He caught me off guard at the airport. But when I walk into his office this afternoon, I’ll be ready.
Ready to tackle the challenge of negotiations between Hellas Global Shipping and AuraGeothermal.
And ready to close the door on my interest in Ari Valdasson once and for all.