No Ordinary Billionaire (The Sinclairs) (R) (15 page)

Sarah flushed with pleasure. “You make me feel like a woman, Dante.” Actually, he made her feel like a sexual goddess. It was a strange feeling for a woman who had never felt . . . well . . . anything.

He turned his head and grinned wolfishly at her. “Last time I checked, you were a woman. And I examined you pretty carefully.”

She punched him in his muscular upper arm playfully. “That’s not what I meant.”

“What, then?” he asked curiously.

“I’ve always felt like a geek, almost asexual.” She’d never had a fierce attraction to any man except Dante, and her reaction to him was confounding her.

He rolled her beneath him and hovered over her, his expression troubled. “I guarantee you’re not asexual, and you’re beautiful and responsive. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I have no idea why you’ve never wanted to explore your sexuality before, but I’m greedy and selfish. I want you to do it with me. Only me.”

I’ve never wanted to do it with anyone else.

After her one bad experience, she’d never met a man who moved her to explore the sensual side of herself. And after she’d become scarred, she’d put the thought out of her mind altogether.

Dante was definitely an inspiration, but he’d had no business doing the things he’d done in his condition. “No more fooling around until you’re healed. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer. You need to completely heal,” she lectured, knowing that if he touched her again, she’d cave in. The man was like a highly addictive drug.

“I told you that you’re not my doctor anymore,” he reminded her ferociously.

“I’m still a doctor, and I know what you did tonight could have set back your recovery,” she told him sternly.

“Baby, I guarantee it didn’t hurt a bit.” He shot her a shit-eating grin that nearly melted her.

Stay strong. You know he was hurting earlier. You could see it. He’s trying to charm you into forgetting that you saw him in pain.

“No,” she told him adamantly.

Flopping onto his back again, he groaned. “It will kill me.”

Sarah bit back a smile. Honestly, his ferocious appetite for her delighted her as much as it concerned her. “You lived without my body for thirty-one years,” she reminded him.

“Yeah. And it sucked,” he told her sulkily.

Sarah had to bite her lower lip to keep from smiling. At the moment, he resembled a pouty boy. “I want to be with you, too. But not if I have to wonder every minute if you’re hurting yourself.” Really, he was the most stubborn man alive. He should still be down and resting with his injuries, and he was already trying to pretend they didn’t exist anymore. “It has to stop.” She was already afraid he was going to get hurt protecting her. She intentionally changed the subject. “Will I be able to get into my house for some of my personal belongings? My clothes and stuff like that?”

“No.” His low voice was hesitant and reluctant. “Sarah, there’s nothing there anymore. Even your clothing was hacked up. I’m sorry.”

Sarah shuddered. “He really does want me dead.”

“We’ll catch him, sweetheart. I swear.”

She didn’t doubt Dante. She’d never seen a man who was more dedicated to righting a wrong, which made him an excellent detective. With his determined stubbornness, Sarah knew he’d do everything in his power to finally apprehend John Thompson.

“Seeing Trey die was hard. I was a new doctor, and I got too close. I guess learning how to lose a patient wasn’t something I was really going to understand in medical school. It was like losing a friend. I guess John never came to terms with losing both his wife and only child, and really did go over the edge. I don’t know if he was psychotic before this happened, or if it really was the accident that caused his radical behavior.”

Dante wrapped his arm around her and pulled her flush against his side. “If a man or woman has the capability to murder, it’s already there. What happened was just the excuse he needed to play out his rage. This isn’t your fault, Sarah.”

“I was hoping he’d just go away, find another life somewhere, and get over his grief, since he was never caught. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized that he could end up coming after me. But I never really looked at it as a reality. I thought it was over.” She’d wanted to start over again, forget the past. But the past had finally caught up to her with a vengeance.

“Once we find him, you can really start over again. You’ll never have that niggling doubt or have to live with the fear that he’ll find you. Judging by the brutal job he did on your personal possessions, his rage has just increased over the last year,” Dante said soberly.

“It looks like it has,” Sarah agreed, snuggling into the warmth of Dante’s body.

“He’s still here somewhere. Joe seems like a competent chief, and I’m sure he’s making this a top priority.”

“He’s a good man,” Sarah agreed. “He’s really devoted to his family and his job.”

“Do you still have the panic attacks?” Dante reached for her hand and rested their entwined fingers on his hip.

“No. Not unless I get near a hospital. I’ve tried to desensitize myself, but I can’t seem to even get close to the entrance of a hospital without getting palpitations and dizziness.” Sarah hated it. It was a weakness she couldn’t overcome.

“You’ve managed to practice medicine anyway,” he observed, his fingers tightening on hers. “You’re a brave woman, sweetheart.”

She didn’t always feel very brave. She was just a survivor. “I’m an internal medicine doctor. Not being able to admit a patient to the hospital and follow their care doesn’t feel right to me.”

“I understand. It would be a little like me developing a fear of guns or something. I’d be screwed,” he answered hoarsely. “But you’ve made the best out of it.” He paused before asking, “How often do you talk to your mother? Did she take good care of you while you were injured?”

It seemed important to Dante that she’d been well cared for, that someone had been there to understand her mental state and comfort her. Sarah sighed. “She tried. I guess you have to know her. Her world revolves around education. When I was injured and anxious, she didn’t really understand. I think she expected me to revert back to the same daughter I’d been before. But I couldn’t please her anymore. She wanted to pick me the perfect man and see me married someday to another academic and have brilliant kids. She’s still trying. We don’t talk very often. She’s usually too busy. When she does call, it’s usually because she’s found me a man with a similar gene pool.”

Dante stretched his arm out and turned off the lamp on the bedside table, plunging the room into darkness except for the faint moonlight shining through his window. “You do realize the way you were raised wasn’t normal.”

“I do now. I don’t think I ever really knew what normal was when I was younger. My mother was all I had, and I wasn’t exactly a normal kid.” She yawned, her body starting to feel relaxed and lethargic.

“You need sleep,” Dante observed.

“Do you want me to go back to my own bedroom?” Maybe Dante liked his space when he slept, but she was hoping he didn’t. She wanted to stay with him tonight.

“Hell, no. I wouldn’t sleep all night, even if you were just next door. I want you to stay here with me.”

He let go of her hand after a final squeeze, then turned on his side and wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned and let him spoon with her. “I’d feel better staying here. I guess I’m a little spooked after what happened.”

“You have every right to be. And I want you in my bed.”

Right at that moment, that was exactly where she wanted to be, too. She felt . . . safe. With Dante’s arms wrapped protectively around her, she slept.

CHAPTER 10

“I’ve never owned this many clothes in my life.” Sarah stared at the seemingly mile-high stack of clothing that occupied every inch of the bed in Dante’s guest room. “What was he thinking?”

“Hey, I picked you out some very nice stuff,” Emily Sinclair protested, picking up another hanger from a stack on the floor. She cut off the tags from a brand-new pair of jeans before she hung them in the closet. “I had a very large budget to work with,” she told Sarah in an amused tone.

Randi sighed as she folded some sinfully soft lingerie and put it in the dresser drawer. “I think I want a Sinclair brother,” she whined jokingly.

“Take Jared. Please,” Emily cajoled, taking another garment from the pile. “Maybe he’ll settle down and date a woman more than once.”

Randi wrinkled her nose. “Not my type.”

Sarah started putting shoes away, dismayed by the designer brands. She might be a doctor, but she was on a strict budget, paying off student loans her first priority. Randi and Emily had arrived at Dante’s home with several teenage boys, all of them carrying boxes and bags. Having canceled their get-together at Brew Magic, Emily and Randi decided to just move the location of the party to Sarah, bringing along a new wardrobe Dante had asked Emily to select, and lattes from Brew Magic. Sarah had wanted to go meet Randi and Emily, but Dante had refused. Adamantly. Even though they hadn’t seen any signs of John still being in the area in the last several days, he was being cautious.

“Do I even want to know how much he allotted for the clothing?” Sarah asked hesitantly. She was going to have to pay him back. They’d stopped at a discount store the day after the incident—one of the few places Dante had allowed her to be in public—and she’d picked up some essentials and a few outfits before he’d hurried her out the door. He’d mentioned that he’d have Emily pick her up some more clothing, but this was ridiculous. It looked like her friend had bought out several stores.

“Probably not,” Emily replied with a mischievous smile. “He’s clueless, and threw me the same kind of budget Grady would. In fact, I’m wondering if the two of them consulted.”

Sarah’s head started to spin, knowing exactly how generous Grady Sinclair could be. If Emily wanted anything, Grady was likely to give her a small fortune for a new pair of shoes. “Was it a lot?” Sarah squeaked, not quite certain that her friend wasn’t drunk or on latte overload. How much could it cost for some new clothes? Her knees got weak, and she sat down in the chair beside the dresser. “Please tell me you didn’t spend everything he gave you. I’ll have a hard time paying it back.”

“You’re not paying it back. Dante didn’t even want me to tell you how much I spent. It’s a gift from him. He wanted to do it. And believe me, he’s loaded. He won’t even miss the money,” Emily said conspiratorially.

“Oh, God,” Sarah groaned. “Tell me you didn’t spend everything he gave you.”

“I didn’t.”

Sarah released a sigh of relief.

“She had enough left to buy the coffees tonight. It was Dante’s treat,” Randi added chirpily.

“You spent a small fortune on clothes?” Sarah was having palpitations. How anyone could spend that much on something to cover their body, she definitely didn’t understand.

“I told you it was nice stuff,” Emily replied, the grin on her face growing larger. “Sarah, stop stressing. Dante and his brothers are incredibly rich. I didn’t live in that kind of world, either, but I’m getting used to it. I still don’t go out buying anything I want, but after what happened to you, you deserve this.” Emily put her hands on her hips and stared at Sarah. “He insisted that I spend every penny, and I did. The only other thing he insisted on was that there is at least one beautiful red dress in the wardrobe. I didn’t quite get that. But I got a lot of red. I know you like it, and it will look gorgeous on you.”

“He knows red is my favorite color,” Sarah answered shakily. “God, he’s driving me insane. I suppose you two didn’t even notice the piano.”

Emily and Randi shook their heads silently.

“Well, he decided that he might want to learn to play someday, so he bought one of the most expensive grand pianos on the market. It’s in the far corner of his living room. And of course I can play it anytime I want.” Sarah expelled a frustrated breath. “He has no intention of learning to play. He bought it so
I
could play. His excuse was totally contrived just so I didn’t miss being able to play.”

“Oh . . . that’s so sweet,” Randi gushed.

“It’s very pricey,” Sarah retorted, but she thought it was pretty damn sweet, too. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the point. “And it doesn’t make any sense. What is he going to do with the piano when I go back home? I think he’s trying to make up for the fact that I had an atypical childhood. And now this . . .” Sarah motioned to the monster pile of clothing and accessories. “He has to stop. I can’t ever pay him back for all of this.” Sarah was feeling almost distraught. She appreciated Dante and his kindness. But she was an independent woman who wasn’t used to getting gifts of any kind. She really felt like she needed to pay him back, regardless of how much money he had. Just looking at the new wardrobe almost made her nauseous. How much had he spent, and how many decades was it going to take her to repay him?

“He doesn’t expect you to pay him back,” Emily answered, her voice now low and comforting. “The Sinclair brothers were raised with wealth. I know Dante hasn’t really spent much money because he was so involved in his job, but he has it just like the rest of the Sinclairs. I think giving gifts is in their DNA. Grady is the same way.” Emily waded through a pile of clothing to kneel at Sarah’s feet. “Don’t chastise him, Sarah. Dante is trying to right something he perceives as wrong. All of the Sinclair men are that way, even Jared. It’s one of the wonderful traits every one of them has. They’re protective and giving with people they care about.”