Grapes of Wrath (Billionaires' Secrets Book 2) (9 page)

Susannah exhaled. “You’re right. I did it to keep my job. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t.”

He turned his profile to her and stared out at the mountains. Sun glittered off the icy peaks. “It’s better the truth is out.”

“Better? How is it better? Your family is in chaos.” She glanced behind her, to where muffled sobs could still be heard through the door into the living room.

“Secrets are like poison in the system. They can hide for some time, but sooner or later, they’ll weaken and destroy it.” He turned to her, eyes narrowed. “Better to flush them out and face the consequences.”

Despite his brave words, she could see the strain in every line of his body from the hard jut of his chin to the aggressive stance of his feet. He stood like someone trying to keep his balance in a world that had been upended.

“It’s a different era now. There’s no shame in being illegitimate.”

“Doesn’t bother me. I’m still the same person.” His voice remained steady but a muscle tightened in his neck.

Was he?
How could you be the same person after learning that the people you were closest to had lied to you throughout your whole life?

“You should come to New York. I know you’ve spoken to your sister Fiona on the phone...” She cringed, wondering exactly how Fiona had botched the phone call. Tarrant’s spoiled daughter was so used to having everything her way, she didn’t function all that well in the real world. Susannah couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. How could you grow up to be a normal person with Tarrant Hardcastle as your role model? “You have a brother too. Dominic was abandoned, like you, but they found him and he’s part of the family now.”

Amado stared at her, as if the thought was sinking in. “A brother.” He looked past her, out to the mountains.

Susannah swallowed. “There might be many of you. So far, Dominic’s the only other one they’ve tracked down. He was raised by his mother. He’s a year or so older than you.”

His eyes locked onto hers. “I’d like to meet him.”

“You’d like him. I work closely with him choosing wine for the restaurants.”

“He works for Hardcastle Enterprises?” He looked appalled.

“Yes. He owns his own chain of food stores, too, but Tarrant convinced him to take over leadership of the company. It took some persuading to hear Dominic tell it. His attitude was similar to yours, but I guess Tarrant won him over in the end.”

Amado’s face hardened. “I have no interest in meeting the man who left my mother to die.” Then, he inhaled, thoughtful. “But I do want to know my brother and sister.”

“They’d like to meet you, too.” She hadn’t seen Dominic and Fiona since the results. How could she look them in the eye when she’d slept with their brother?

What on earth had she been thinking?

She swallowed hard.

The sun glinted off Amado’s proud profile. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal his tanned and muscled forearms. He was gorgeous.

Still, that was no excuse. Her behavior was beyond unprofessional. She’d have to do her best to stay far away from him while he was in New York. Then he’d go back to Argentina and hopefully no one would be the wiser.

“Why are you backing away from me?” He glanced down at her feet.

She froze, unaware that her body had been putting a safe distance between them. “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” He tilted his head. Humor glinted in the coffee-brown depths of his eyes. “Little did I know what I was getting into when I invited you in for wine and
alfajores.
I thought my parents were so rude to try to get rid of you. Now, I see, they wanted to protect me. To protect us all.”

He took a step toward her. Desire throbbed in her veins as her body responded to the raw aggression of his gesture.

“Don’t think you can walk away now.”

Susannah stood rigid on the veranda of his house, her slim body shivering with tension.

In spite of everything, Amado wanted to take her in his arms.

Her prim carriage and her clipped, businesslike speech were only one side of Susannah Clarke. He’d enjoyed the delicious privilege of seeing the other side.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about her since she left. About her serious and thoughtful expressions. About the arch of her body under his. The way she had clung to him, her limbs taut with arousal. How she’d writhed beneath him as their passion built to exquisite agony, followed by an explosive exhale of sweet relief.

It was a night he’d never forget, with a woman he couldn’t get out of his mind.

Especially now that she’d turned his life upside down.

Her elegant chin tilted as she defied his challenge. He took another step forward. Uninvited, he slid his hand under her jacket and ran his palm over her breast.

She gasped. Her nipple tightened under his palm. And she didn’t step back.

Desire spiked through him as he cupped her breast. Peered into her mysterious dark eyes. Her mouth closed, then opened again. A silent protest? Her lips were naturally dark, the color of smashed berries, and he longed to crush his mouth over them and drink deep.

One more step brought his chest within inches of hers. His hand still on her breast, testing, teasing, he inhaled the scent of her in the hot afternoon air.

He could already taste her desire on his tongue, smell it on the wind. Also her fear.

He slid his hands around her back, pulling her close. She stood like a statue, the air between them thick with tension.

He laid his palms over the dip of her waist, enjoyed the curve of her backside. He could hear her breathing, feel her arousal swelling like a bud thickening and preparing to open.

Against her will.

If he lifted her dress he’d bet her panties were already damp with longing. His erection strained against his zipper.

Maybe he’d take her here, on the hard stone of the patio, under the unforgiving sun. With the mountains watching in stern silence.

Her lips parted and a shaky breath escaped. Her eyes slid closed for a second as her insides quivered under his fingers. He felt her muscles contract under her neat dress.

Waiting for him.

Hoping.

Their tongues clashed as he kissed her, hot and hard. The taste of her was intoxicating, a drug he’d craved.

Her body crashed against his, lithe with passion as she kissed him back, clutching his face to hers with eager hands.

A low, guttural moan escaped her as he lifted her dress and tested her slick heat with his fingers.

He slid a finger into her silky depths and she rocked against him. He held her steady with one hand behind her back as he brought her swiftly to climax with his finger and thumb.

His power over her was absolute at this moment. Eyes closed, she gave herself over to the fierce magic of the moment.

The tremor raged through her and he caught her as she almost lost her footing. Panting, she rested against him for a second.

Then she must have realized he’d stopped and was just standing there.

Staring at her.

Prim and proper Susannah Clarke’s eyes were black with passion. A dark flush heightened her proud cheekbones and her long dark hair hung about her shoulders, wild from his caresses.

He let her dress fall back to her calves.

Didn’t say a word.

Her glaze of passion lessened and confusion flickered in her eyes.

Good.

She smoothed the front of her dress, suddenly self-conscious. He could see her nipples, still peaked under the soft fabric.

“You don’t find it easy to say no to me, do you?”

His cruel question made her blink.

Why should he be the one lying awake, tormented by memories of that night? Let her suffer. So cool and calm and collected, as she delivered her life-shattering news.

She checked the buttons on the front of her dress.

“Don’t worry, you still look virginal.”

His mocking tone made her blink again.

“Though, of course, we both know better.” He tilted his head. Contemplated the possibility of touching her firm breasts again. “What would your big boss say, if he knew?”

Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t?”

“How do you know? I’m a virtual stranger. We spent one day together.” He licked his lips. “And one night.”

She backed away. This time he let her.

“You know me as Amado Alvarez, of Tierra de Oro.” He snorted. “Or at least that’s who I used to be until you showed up.” He hesitated. Watching her squirm. “He would have kept your sexy secrets. Amado Alvarez was a man of honor.”

He inhaled, then let out a long, slow exhale. “But apparently, I’m not the man I thought I was. I’m the son of this
...Tarrant Hardcastle.”
He spat the name like a bad taste. “Who knows what I’m truly capable of?”

The patio doors flung open and Ignacio crashed out onto the terrace. “What the hell is she doing back here?” he raged, eyes bulging.

Amado froze. He’d never seen his father like this. Ignacio could express strong feelings in an argument, or when his favorite football team was losing, but Amado had never seen him yell at a woman.

Since Susannah showed up, bringing the ugly truth about his parentage, everything had changed. He didn’t know who he or anyone else was anymore.

Susannah shrank away, tugging her jacket over her dress as if covering her nakedness.

Ignacio moved toward her. “Get out, now! I’ve never laid a hand on a woman, but by God, I’ll throw you out myself if you don’t—”

“C
alm
yourself.” Amado stepped forward and grabbed his father’s arm. “Susannah is here on
business.
He shot her a dark look.

She made a vain attempt to tuck her gorgeous wild hair behind her shoulders.

“She has no business here but to disrupt our lives.” Susannah stepped back. Amado couldn’t resist a powerful urge to defend her. “She brought the truth, didn’t she?”

His father frowned.

“The truth that you planned to keep from me. Don’t I have a right to know the circumstances of my own birth? To know who brought me into this world?”

The force in his own voice surprised him. But suddenly he did feel strongly about it.

“It was for the best.” His father rubbed his temples. “I thought it was for the best.”

Anger heated Amado’s blood as long-buried resentments rose to the surface. Nagging doubts he’d silenced for years now crept out of the darkness. He was beginning to suspect he had every reason to despise Ignacio for his lies. “Is that why you drove away Valentina?”

He still remembered the heated shouting matches he’d had with his father when he was nineteen and desperately in love. Ignacio had point-blank forbidden the marriage, saying she was unsuitable as an Alvarez bride.

He’d wondered at the time if Ignacio was secretly behind her sudden change of heart. Now Amado saw the ugly truth unfold in front of his eyes. “You wouldn’t accept her as my wife, not because
she
was illegitimate, but because you didn’t want anyone to find out that I am, too?” Ignacio hesitated. Rubbed a hand over his face. “If you’d married as a minor, they would have seen your birth certificate.”

The confession chilled his blood. He’d suspected the truth all along, but never been sure. Her change of heart had been too sudden, too final.

Now, he knew. The man who called himself his own father had driven away the woman he loved. “You chose your lie over my life.”

Amado shoved a hand through his hair. The injustice burned him. Years of lies that had warped his existence. His comfortable life here at Tierra de Oro came at a harsh cost, especially to the two woman who should have been closest to him.

“All this time, Marisa has been a silent shadow. She was the sister I never knew and who I knew
nothing
about. It’s not right. She was a real person.”

He realized his fist was clenched, but he couldn’t seem to unlock it. “She was my mother and you shouldn’t have swept her story out the door with yesterday’s dust.” His voice trembled with rage.

“She died so young.” His father shook his head. Amado resisted the urge to step forward and put a hand on his shoulder. “She never had a chance to become a woman.”

“She
was
a woman. You may not have wanted to accept it, but your little girl grew up. She bore a child.”

“I don’t—I
don’t—” his
father spluttered.

“You don’t want to think about that.” Amado’s words shattered the stunned quiet. “You never did. You just wanted her to be your little girl forever, which is probably why she ran away to New York in the first place. You can’t keep everything the same as it was in the nineteenth century. Like the estate, we must change and grow in order to keep living.”

“If only she’d never met that Tarrant Hardcastle.” The words dripped from his father’s tongue like acid.

“But she did. And now I must meet him, too.” The resolve formed in Amado’s mind as he said the words. This family was done with ignoring unpleasant realities. He wanted to face them head on.