Chapter 16 #2
Deciding not to argue, he said, “Then you can help me load the dishwasher.”
It had been hard as hell sitting across the table from her and holding a conversation while so many naughty thoughts had been going through his mind.
Whenever she smiled at him, a deep, primitive force tempted him to put his fork down and lean over to kiss her.
Of course, he didn’t. After all, he had assured her that he could control his urges.
However, the restraint he’d been struggling to hold on to during dinner was slowly giving way.
Sexual tension had been a constant undercurrent between them during the meal. Even now, the air seemed to shimmer around them. Cobra shook his head. He had to get a grip; otherwise, he would be whisking her up the stairs to his bedroom. Something he swore he’d never do. Not now. Not here.
“Have you heard from Richard?” he asked, prewashing the plates, and she loaded them.
“Yes, he’s texted me twice now. The last one said he’s adding an additional week to his trip.”
Cobra nodded. He had gotten a similar text and was glad Richard was enjoying himself with Lolita.
“You know what I think, Cobra?”
“No, what do you think?”
“He’s extending his business trip because of me.”
Cobra’s hand went still as he gazed at her. He knew that was as far from the truth as it could get. “What makes you think that?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know you and my granddad have a close relationship, so I’m sure he’s told you about my mom.”
“What about her?”
“He blames her for my father’s death.”
“Richard has never said anything like that to me, Desiree. He told me they were out on a boat, drinking, and your mother fell overboard. Your father, who was equally drunk, jumped into the water to save her, and they both drowned. Is that not what happened?”
“Yes, that’s right. But still, he blames her for forcing my dad to live that kind of lifestyle. And because I look so much like her, he indirectly blames me.”
“What are you talking about, Desiree?”
***
Desiree heard the hardness in Cobra’s voice and knew she had to tread lightly. After all, he was close to her grandfather and, in his eyes, Richard Sharpe could do no wrong. “My paternal grandparents never thought Mom was good enough for my dad.”
“Who told you that?”
“My aunt Margot.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“Mom was a party girl. She loved going out and having fun. In fact, she and my dad first met at a pub in Paris, where she often hung out. She had just finished college and was working as a journalist for Le Monde, France’s leading newspaper.”
She paused, thinking. “I was told that they were immediately smitten with each other and in less than three months, they ran off and got married. I remember how much they adored each other. I knew they loved me because I was a product of their love, but they also liked traveling and spending time alone together. That’s how I got to spend so much time with my aunt, my mom’s older sister, who was unmarried and had no kids of her own.
They would leave me with Aunt Margot while they traveled all over Europe, having fun and socializing. ”
She took a deep breath. “According to Aunt Margot, my paternal grandparents blamed Mom when Dad started slacking at his job at the Sharpe Corporation’s Paris office. They thought it was all her fault.”
She saw the skepticism in his features. “I’m just telling you what I was told, Cobra.”
He leaned back against the sink when she closed the dishwasher. “Even if that’s true, which I seriously doubt it is, I─”
“Are you saying my aunt lied?”
“No. I’m just saying that there are two sides to every story. Even if what your aunt told you is remotely true, what does that have to do with Richard extending his trip abroad because of you?”
“I am my mother’s daughter. He didn’t like her, and he doesn’t like me either.
He only took me in because he felt he had to.
After all, I was his granddaughter. But right after I came to the States, just weeks after my parents’ deaths, he shipped me off to boarding school.
He thinks I am my mother’s clone and that I spent most of my college days partying instead of studying. And that’s not true.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you saying you didn’t take off a semester in college to zig-zag across the country, having a good time, without letting Richard know where you were or that you were okay?”
“Yes and no.”
He rolled his eyes. “It has to be one or the other, Desiree.”
She gave him a frustrating look. “Yes, I took off a semester in college to zigzag across the country, but I needed that time, Cobra. My aunt had died the year before, and the day I took off was her birthday. I needed to do something to forget. I was hurting really badly,” she said softly.
“Aunt Margot and I always did things together on our birthdays.”
She drew a deep breath. “The part about me not telling my grandfather isn’t true.
I called the office and left a message, asking him to call me because it was really important.
I was going to tell him then what I was going through and what I planned to do about school.
My first desire was to come home for a semester.
When he didn’t return my call—something he seldom did anyway—I assumed he couldn’t be bothered.
So, I took off anyway, thinking he didn’t care. ”
“Why didn’t you contact his cell phone? I’m sure you had his number.”
“The boarding school I attended had a strict cell phone and social media policy. Both were banned to deter distractions. Of course, in college, things were different, but by then, Granddad had blocked my number.”
“Blocked your number?”
“Yes?”
“What makes you think he did that?”
“Because whenever I called him, my phone would immediately go to voicemail. So, I got the message that he didn’t want to be bothered at home, and assumed he preferred being contacted at the office.”
“Are you saying he never called to check on you?”
“If he did, I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t allowed to have a cell phone at boarding school. In college, after I found out that he had blocked my number, I blocked his.”
She paused, then shook her head slowly. “I only found out that he had been looking for me when I saw him at Colton’s wedding, and he told you about that time. From what he said, I knew then that he never got my message.”
“What could have happened? Who didn’t give your grandfather the message?”
“His administrative assistant, Eloise Markam. In fact, I confronted her about it on my first day at the office when I was scheduled to meet with him. I told her I had recently discovered that Granddad had never received that particular message. She claimed she didn’t remember me calling, but I assured her that I had called, and remembered talking to her.
You should have seen how the blood drained from her face.
That made me wonder how many other messages she never passed along to him, and if that’s why he never returned any of my calls.
Not once did she ever connect me directly to him.
She always took a message, as if she was his guard dog or something. ”
***
Cobra couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. He knew Desiree and Richard had issues, but damn… It sounded like those issues were deeper than he’d thought.
She honestly believed her grandfather didn’t love her, and Cobra knew for a fact that was wrong.
As for Richard not getting any of her messages, well, Cobra could believe that.
Last year, Richard had told him that he’d had to have a serious talk with Ms. Markam after he began dating Lolita.
Just like with Desiree, the administrative assistant had deliberately not passed Lolita’s messages to him, giving Lolita the impression he had been avoiding her.
Richard had threatened to fire his assistant if it ever happened again.
If only Richard had known what the woman was putting his granddaughter through…
That was Richard’s story to tell, but there was something he needed to share with her. “Come with me, will you? We need to talk about something.”
She gave him a questioning look, but followed when he took her hand and led her to the living room. “What is it, Cobra?”
He sat on the sofa beside her. “We admitted tonight that we were wrong in our assumptions about each other’s motives regarding Richard, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, when I wasn’t sure of yours. I needed to understand why you had returned here after all this time.”
“I told you. Granddad sent for me,” she said
“Yes, and I believe you. But just because he summoned you, that didn’t mean you had to come. I felt something wasn’t right about your actions.”
She frowned. “Something not right, how?”
“There was too much about you that didn’t add up.
I felt you had to have another motive for coming back, something other than Richard’s request.” He paused a moment and caught her gaze.
“That hunch pushed me to order an investigation on you, to see what you were doing in Paris before you came here.”
He opened the drawer under the coffee table, pulled out the packet that had been delivered last week, and placed it on the table.
***
Desiree picked up the packet, stared at it, then tossed it back on the table.
She stood, her eyes blazing in anger. “How dare you have me investigated. What I did in Paris is my business. So why did you invite me over tonight? It’s not like you need to find out anything.
You already know everything about me—more than you have a right to know. ”
“That’s not true, Desiree,” he said, standing as well. “If you would notice, that packet is still sealed. I did not read it.”
“But you planned to. Otherwise, why order it?” she snapped.
“I told you why I did it, and you’re right. I had planned to read it, but I couldn’t. I wanted you to be the one to tell me what’s in there. It’s your story, and you should tell it. I want you to be the one to share what your life was like in Paris with me.”
“It’s a little late for that now. Since you paid for the report, go ahead and read it for yourself. I’m leaving.”
When she turned to leave, he grabbed hold of her wrist and brought her back closer to him. She glared at him. “Let go of me, Cobra. Nothing you can say or do will change my mind. Please call a car for me, or I’ll call an Uber on my own. Release me!”
He let go of her wrist. “That packet will remain sealed, Desiree. I promise I won’t read it. But I want you to share what’s in it with me, and I can wait until you’re ready. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, and her glare deepened.
“No secrets? Really? So, when were you going to tell me about the bet you made with your brothers? And that you’ve deliberately gotten me hot and bothered all those times, even though you never intended to take things further. You’re nothing but a big tease.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “How do you know about that bet?”
“I overheard two women talking about you in the ladies’ room.”
“When was this?” he snapped.
“My first day at the Sharpe Corporation,” she snapped back.
He took a step toward her, anger narrowing his eyes. “And you never mentioned it.”
Desiree couldn’t stop the fury that spread in her stomach. “I was waiting for you to say something to me. I didn’t care if you wanted to be celibate. Hell, nearly three years ago, I decided to go the celibacy route myself. I doubt that information is in your investigator’s report,” she lashed out.
“That’s beside the point,” he growled.
“For us, there is no point, Cobra.” Turning, she grabbed her purse off the table and headed for the door.
Over her shoulder, she called out, “Don’t bother calling for a car. I’ll take a taxi home.” The door then slammed shut behind her.