Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOUR
Four years later...
H E WAS HERE . God help her, Dom Blackwood was attending this freaking wedding.
Which wouldn’t be such a nightmare if it had been a typical afternoon-evening affair, but no. This was a weeklong extravaganza in the Whitsunday Islands of Australia.
How many times had she considered calling off her agreement to come? Every day since she’d been asked. Eve didn’t even know the couple getting married. She was the plus-one for a man she’d only been seeing for two months.
Her date, Logan Offerman, was a handsome lawyer with political aspirations who came from a big family with old money. He liked dogs and hiking and supported right-to-vote legislation. He had gone to school with her middle brother, Jackson. His parents were friends of her own from the country club.
Eve’s mother, who had always told Eve to guard her virginity like it was the Hope diamond, wanted this marriage. Everyone did. Her father kept saying, “It’s a good match.” Her eldest brother, Nico, was starting to sound like a used car salesman, he was selling it so hard. Her youngest brother, Christopher, was indifferent, but happy that she was taking the heat of family attention so he could live his bohemian life in Hawaii unbothered.
Ginny had essentially poked a sword in Eve’s back to get her onto the plane.
“Spend some time with him. You’ll soon see how right this is for both of you.” Eve suspected her mother believed that if Eve finally slept with a man, she might actually marry him.
Eve had been finding fault with her mother’s suggested suitors for four years. Even she was tired of it. She really, really wanted to fall for Logan, if only to finally have some peace from this constant pressure to marry. Nevertheless, all she could think was that Logan reminded her of sunscreen. He offered important protection, but made her feel sticky and suffocated.
Logan was a groomsman in the wedding party so they’d been given a beautiful two-bedroom suite at the eco-resort where the guests without yachts were being housed. Eve knew that Logan was hoping they would start sleeping together while they were away. He didn’t take it for granted, though. He set her suitcase in the second bedroom without asking, only sending her a brief, hopeful look that resembled a puppy tapping its tail.
“I think I’ll nap before the welcome reception,” Eve said, closing herself into her room.
She was actually going to scream into her pillow because what else could she do?
While they’d been ferried across from the mainland with some of the other wedding guests, she’d overheard someone ask a very beautiful woman, “Isn’t Dom with you?”
“WBE just bought a hotel in Airlie Beach,” the woman had replied. “He’s staying there for meetings. I want time with my family and I’m a bridesmaid so...”
Eve had drifted away, ostensibly to enjoy the view, but mostly because she had feared she would lose her breakfast over the rail.
She had managed to avoid Domenico Blackwood for four years—mostly. She had compulsively learned far too much about him online from how many women he dated to the fact he was named for his mother’s favorite uncle. He lived in New York, but he had properties around the world and was very hands-on so he was rarely home.
Even when he was there, the chance of running into him was low. Her parents were very good about vetting guest lists. There had only been a handful of times that Eve had glimpsed Dom from across a restaurant. The one time she had walked into a Fourth of July party and noticed him, she had claimed a migraine and left immediately.
Each tiny encounter had left her unable to sleep for days, though, always wondering if he’d seen her and whether he would finally turn on her, exposing her behavior to her family and anyone else who would listen. Over the years, she had only grown more mortified by the way she had behaved with him in Budapest. The fact he’d been a stranger was embarrassing enough, but her father had genuinely hated Dom’s.
Romeo’s hostility toward Thomas Blackwood was understandable. The man had accused him of murder, but it had all been cleared up. Nevertheless, when Thomas had died, her father had rallied her brothers to attack WBE.
Eve had questioned her father on that. It seemed like a dirty move when Dom had been grieving and finding his feet as the head of the company.
“Michael Blackwood didn’t let up on me when my father died,” her father groused.
At that point, Eve had distanced herself, still unable to think of how uninhibited she’d been without cringing. Dom had both ignited and derailed her passion, making it impossible for her to feel anything with anyone else.
Eventually, her father had determined WBE was on its last legs. He had retired and handed the reins to Nico.
Eve should have seen an upward trajectory in her own career at that point, but Dom and WBE had quickly begun to rally, apparently not so beaten as they’d seemed. Nico spent all his time countering offensives while she was left to languish in the marketing division. In fact, the resort that Dom had just purchased here in Queensland had been targeted as the next Visconti property. Nico was furious that he had not only lost to Dom again , but had lost the significant time and money he’d put into his attempt to acquire it.
Eve couldn’t help wondering if Dom’s relentless attack was fueled by what had happened between them. She hadn’t told a soul about meeting him in Budapest and never would, but dreaded that Dom might. He could be waiting for exactly the right moment to slay her with a pithy revelation that would destroy her reputation, turn her family into a mockery and lower her family’s view of her.
She hated that he held that over her!
Her stomach churned as she dressed for the welcome reception two hours later. The schedule of mix-and-mingle activities through the week included day trips and shopping, sailing and diving and hiking, all culminating in the ceremony and reception five days from now. It was organized like an all-inclusive trade conference, which was the real reason she had accepted this invitation. Her middle brother, Jackson, had reminded her that there would be a lot of quality connections to be made.
“Bring value to the table,” he had advised her, well aware of how frustrated she was with their older brother’s reluctance to advance her in the company. “That’s the kind of thing Nico notices and appreciates.”
Nico did nothing but stonewall her. No matter how hard she worked, he treated her as though she was five, not twenty-five, but Eve was willing to try anything to get him to take her seriously.
Even face Dom again.
Or maybe not. Ugh. She was regretting everything about being here as she and Logan arrived at the outdoor dining room—including the fact that she’d left her hair down because there was just enough breeze and humidity to make tiny strands stick to her face and neck.
Running back to her suite for a scarf wasn’t an option. It would look like another retreat, not that Dom even noticed her, but she would know that she was being a coward.
After her first sweeping glance—and the painful awareness that sliced through her when she spotted him—she looked anywhere but where he stood with the tall brunette she’d overheard earlier. Was that woman his wife? His fiancée? He’d been engaged ages ago, before they’d met, but nothing of the sort had been reported lately.
Not that she cared.
Eve barely noticed what the other woman looked like. Dom’s image dominated her vision. She forced herself to smile as they began moving through the receiving line, but all she saw was Dom’s athletic frame in bone-colored trousers and a pale blue Henley in fine cotton. His jaw was shaved clean which made him look even tougher than when he’d worn stubble. Maybe it was the aviator glasses reflecting the sinking sun against the water that gave him such an air of remote arrogance. Maybe it was a stronger air of command that had developed in response to his takeover at WBE.
Maybe it was the same belly-deep loathing for an adversary that sat in her own stomach.
But who is your loathing really for? a sneering voice mocked deep inside her.
It was for herself. She had been so eager that morning in Budapest. So easy . It was the great irony of her life that she’d resorted to telling men she was waiting for marriage as an excuse for not sleeping with them. The truth was, the only man she’d ever wanted to have sex with was that man, the one she hated most on earth. The very last man she would ever touch.
Logan introduced her to the bride and groom and their parents.
Eve forced her bright smile to stay in place as the mother of the bride drew her aside. “I’m so sorry, dear. I was just informed of the bad blood between you and one of our guests.”
“What?” A wet sack of cement landed in her gut.
“The professional rivalry between the Viscontis and the Blackwoods. Dom is here as a guest of my niece.” The woman glanced over, but Eve refused to give in to the temptation to do the same. “I wouldn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable...” The woman meant her niece and her daughter, the bride.
“Are you referring to the court case between our fathers?” Eve asked with manufactured confusion. “Oh, that trademark dispute was settled ages ago. It’s old news.” She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “Besides, I understand there are more than seventy islands to explore here. I doubt we’ll even speak.” She leaned in to add with forced levity, “Maybe don’t seat us together, just to be sure.”
The woman chuckled with relief and went back to the receiving line.
Eve took a subtle, shaken breath, hoping her request would be taken seriously. She absolutely did not want to talk to Dom.
“Everything all right?” Logan appeared beside her to offer a glass of white wine.
“Mmm. She...um...warned me that Dom Blackwood is here. I’ve never met him.” She used the excuse to glance around, deliberately looking the wrong direction.
“Over my left shoulder. Your brother won’t be happy,” Logan said ruefully.
Eve did her best to appear disinterested, sipping and glancing past Logan.
Dom’s attention seemed angled her way, but with his mirrored sunglasses it was impossible to tell if he was looking at her. Her heart rattled in her chest anyway. Hot coals of yearning glowed brighter in her midsection. It was shameful to react this way. It took all of her control to hide her response behind a blank expression.
You mean nothing to me, she transmitted, before looking to Logan with a sweet smile.
“What do you want to do tomorrow?”
She really did hate Dom, she decided, as Logan’s voice turned into a drone that was as pesky as a mosquito’s whine while the rest of her senses were amplified with proprioception.
Dom had broken her with their early-morning dalliance in Budapest. No one had ever made her feel so much want. For the first time, she had let herself go with what she was feeling. She had let him see her at her most vulnerable, in the throes of passion. She had been in a state of shock, half-naked, the rest of her clothing askew, when he had ordered her to leave.
She had felt rejected and dirty and mortified as she hurried to pack. She hadn’t wanted to stay another second. She had texted Hailey on her way to the airport that something had come up and she’d waited with trepidation for Dom to say something to the press or leak something on a grapevine. She had been sure he would use her behavior against her.
He hadn’t. Which was no consolation. She only felt beneath his notice, which was somehow worse. He seemed to have wiped her from his mind and she ought to be able to do the same. It was her deepest shame that she still fantasized about him.
Did he touch that woman’s arm? A barb of envy pierced her chest. Now her ears strained for his voice, hearing him order a drink with, “Extra ice.”
“What do you think?” Logan asked.
She bit back a bewildered, What? He’d been saying something about snorkeling off the groom’s yacht, but she hadn’t been paying attention.
“That sounds fun.” She kept her smile on her face even though Dom moved closer, to speak to a couple nearby.
Her back felt his presence like a tropical sun was radiating a third-degree burn into her skin.
Logan, bless him, said, “Darling, come meet my friend Dave and his wife.”
The whole evening was like that, drifting into striking distance of a deadly viper, trying not to draw Dom’s attention while gripped by tension, waiting for him to say something to her or about her or force her to speak to him.
Most disgraceful of all, when she and Logan were on their way to her room, all she could wonder was whether that cousin of the bride would be screaming Dom’s name later.
“He’s staying at his property on the mainland,” Logan said as the door to their suite closed behind them.
“Pardon?” Good God. She hadn’t spoken her thoughts aloud, had she?
“Blackwood. I checked. And I texted your brother, letting him know I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you, so you can relax.”
Eve blinked, wondering if she was supposed to be flattered that Logan was acting so proprietary, as though she couldn’t make her own decisions or look after herself.
“I would have thought all of that rivalry had died with his father,” Logan continued as he casually kicked off his shoes and left them in the middle of the floor. “Your brother sounded pretty agitated, though, asking whether WBE was expanding elsewhere in Australia, beyond that resort he just bought. I said I’d ask around.”
“Boys will be boys,” Eve said blithely. “I don’t pay much attention.”
That was another huge lie. She wished she could ignore Dom and what her brother did to antagonize him, but she couldn’t. She should probably be grateful she was still being held at arm’s length from the top-level decisions or she might betray her excess interest, but she was mostly indignant at being relegated to branding and décor, never included in big decisions or given real responsibilities.
A light hand slid along her arm. She tensed in something that felt a lot like repulsion.
“Darling? I respect that you want to wait until your wedding night, but... We could do other things,” Logan persuaded. “Perhaps get in the hot tub and see what happens?” He nodded toward the terrace.
“I have a headache.” Not a lie. “Can we talk about that tomorrow?”
“Of course. But if you’re going to bed, I’ll change and pop down for a nightcap.” At least he didn’t pout about it. Maybe marriage to him would be okay.
“Sleep well.” He kissed her cheek, leaving her cold.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns...”
Dom had thought those grim words more times than Bogart himself had said them. Why that night, in that bar, in that rabbit warren of a playground in Budapest? Why her ? A Visconti?
And why was he still fascinated by her four years after he had resolved to erase her from his mind?
Because he still carried a sense of something unfinished. It was no mystery why. He hadn’t slept with anyone since. No matter how sexually frustrated he got, no matter how beautiful and receptive his date might be, they all left him unmoved.
Yet all Eve Visconti had to do was lift her hair off the back of her neck and he was hard as a rock, barely able to restrain himself.
Aside from one haughty glance past her lover’s ear, she had avoided looking at him during the welcome reception last night. Yes, he had noticed, even though he’d done his best to ignore her, too. It was a skill he’d perfected the handful of times he’d seen her in New York. It didn’t matter if he looked at her or not, though. His inner radar always tracked her when she was in the vicinity. He knew where she was and which man she spoke to and how she sounded when she climaxed.
When she’d left the party last night, Dom’s blood had turned to acid as he wondered whether that stick puppet of an attorney was making her shatter. He hadn’t slept and blamed her for that, too.
Now he’d arrived for a buffet brunch and beach activities. He was pretending not to notice Eve as she came out of the pool. Her wide-brimmed hat and retro sunglasses hid most of her face, but her lithe figure was on full display in a red one-piece with waist cutouts. Her nipples hardened despite the full sun of midmorning. Water beaded against her golden skin. Her legs were still a mile and a half each way, accentuated by the high cut of her suit and the heeled sandals she stepped into. She accepted a towel from that toothpaste ad of a boyfriend.
“—need a special permit because they limit access. If we want to see it, we have to go tomorrow.”
Dom dragged his gaze off the pert cheeks of Evie’s ass where the V of her suit left a portion of the pale globes bare and looked to the pretty face tilted up to his.
“They’re expecting a storm, though,” Cat continued. “We have to be off the island by two. My brother will take us on his sailboat.”
“Okay.” Dom wished he’d brought his own yacht or at least rented one. He had a speedboat operator at his beck and call, but anything larger had seemed superfluous when he had the penthouse in his new, five-star hotel on the mainland—the one he’d scooped away from Eve’s brother.
Dom’s battle with Nico for key properties was coming out in his favor almost exclusively these days. When he’d taken over WBE, it had been struggling, but he’d shored up its cash position and had a sizable cushion these days, one that allowed him to enter bidding wars that forced Visconti Group to either back off or pay through the nose for what they wanted.
Dom had a strong feeling that financial pressure was the reason Eve was here with Logan Offerman, second son of a multimedia tycoon.
“The kids will be aboard,” Cat added with an appealing expression.
Dom made himself pay attention to what she was saying. Spending time with Cat and her family was the point of his being here. His middle sister had set him up with Cat, urging him to be her date to this wedding since he was planning a trip to Australia anyway.
Dom was trying, genuinely trying, to like her. Cat was everything he ought to look for in a life partner—well-mannered, well-connected and well-off. Children liked her. So did his sister and, seemingly, everyone else.
“Oh!”
The startled pitch in Eve’s voice snapped Dom’s head around while his muscles bunched in readiness to attack.
She wasn’t being assaulted, though. Her hat had blown off. It rolled toward him and fetched up against his feet.
She chased it with long strides of those forever legs and halted when he straightened to offer it to her.
They both wore sunglasses, but he knew they looked straight into each other’s eyes. He felt the clash all the way into his chest. Lower.
She had shrugged on a cover-up of eyelet lace. Belting it had probably been the reason she’d failed to catch her hat.
“Thank you.” She swallowed as she took it, then pressed something that looked like a natural smile onto her face as she said to Cat, “I apologize for interrupting.”
“No problem. I’m Catherine. Cat.” She offered her hand. “Have you met Dom?”
“I haven’t. Eve. Nice to meet you both.” She briefly shook Cat’s hand, aimed a polite smile vaguely but not quite in his direction and said, “I won’t keep you. Excuse me.”
Dom bit back a hoot of laughter. They hadn’t met? Wow.
Eve set her hat on her head and walked away with long, unhurried strides that made his blood itch.
“The animosity is real,” Cat said in an undertone of amusement. “She didn’t even shake your hand.”
He had noticed. His palm felt scorched yet empty.
“Shall we get out on the Jet Skis before they’re gone?” Dom suggested. He was too much of a workaholic to get much pleasure from such a pointless activity, but the greater goal was to get to know Cat. He was testing the waters, so to speak, considering whether to pursue a more formal arrangement.
He followed Cat toward the rental shack on the wharf, fighting the urge to look back at Eve.
He lost.