Her body was a treasure trove of hills and valleys. Her lush breasts swelled over the top of her dress, promising more riches hiding beneath the shimmering red satin. And God, those curvy hips and the ass he had already admired had his erection beating at his trouser flap. She was taller than he remembered, until he realized that her shoes added several inches to her height. It was then that he appreciated her dress. Damn, in all the fashionable salons in Europe, he had never seen a dress with… with a fucking slit up the front! A slit that revealed slim, toned legs he would kill to spread apart. And hell, those bright red high-heeled slippers were as outrageous as her dress. The harsh gasp from the annoying woman who had attached herself to him from the moment he arrived indicated she was as surprised by the shocking ensemble as he was.
Seeing the horrified look on Ana’s face when she recognized him, Gabe almost laughed out loud. Shoving aside the urge to charge across the room and capture her in his arms, he gave her a slight bow and didn’t hide his grin. When she flushed and stumbled back, the tall young Chinese man hovering next to her frowned and tightened his protective grip on her elbow. Ah, hell, a jealous suitor, Gabe thought when the hostile young man followed Ana’s glance and saw Gabe. His frown turned to a ferocious scowl when Gabe flicked his wrist in a challenging salute.
At that moment, Chao Li also saw Gabe. A wide smile lit his normally stern face as Chao moved toward him, his reluctant daughter in tow. Amused by the identical scowls on Ana’s face and that of her fierce suitor, Gabe stepped forward, an aggressive move matched by the glowering young man.
Unaware of the drama unfolding beside him, Chao Li bowed to Gabe and said in a voice rich with pride, “Ah, Gabriel, I want you to meet my daughter, Ana Ming, and my son, Kai Quan. Ana, Kai, this is my friend and business partner, Gabriel McKenna.”
Gabe nodded to Kai, ignoring his deepening scowl, and turned to Ana. Holding her gaze, he bowed and at the same time reached for her hand. Ana’s eyes flashed an angry warning and she clamped her hand behind her back. Kai gave a low growl and moved several inches forward — only to be stopped by an angry hiss from the older woman now next to him.
All but forgotten by her family, Penelope had stepped into their midst, her pinched face marked by ugly red splotches. Ignoring the three men, she pounced on Ana. Grabbing Ana’s wrist she twisted it hard. Her voice was low, harsh.
“How dare you?” she hissed, the splotches on her face deepening to an ominous shade of purple.
Ana started, then snatched her arm back, rubbing at the marks left by her aunt’s fierce grip.
Tossing her head, Ana’s voice was bored, dismissive. “What have I done now to annoy you, Auntie?”
Massive tremors shook Penelope’s body. It was a wonder her scrawny body didn’t shake apart. She struggled to speak, then shoving her face inches away from Ana’s, she spit out, “How dare you come to my party dressed like this?”
Chao Li’s stern face hardened. His voice was low, careful. Nodding toward Gabe, he cautioned, “Penelope, we have guests.”
Penelope’s intense anger didn’t allow her to stand on protocol. Glaring first at Ana and then turning her rage on Chao, she sputtered. “Look at her! She… she cut up her dress, Chao. Cut up her dress to show off her body. Her bare legs! Don’t you care that she looks like a whore?”
Ana raised her chin and met her aunt’s glare, defiance radiating from every tense pore. “Really, Auntie, you are making a scene. I merely made it easier to walk in my dress. You know I dislike restrictions.”
Chao stepped between the furious woman and his errant daughter. Nodding over his shoulder at Ana, he said, “Yes, Penelope, I noticed that Ana altered her dress. I am confident she did it to ease her movements, not to annoy you, correct Ana?”
Ana gave a soft snort and a slight toss of her head. “Of course, Father. Why would I
ever
want to annoy Auntie?”
Her father frowned, his darkening gaze a warning that Ana promptly ignored with a thrust of her chin.
As much as he enjoyed the drama, Gabe saw that other guests were aware of the altercation. Attempting to help his host defuse the situation between the angry women, Gabe moved closer to Ana. Putting a light restraining hand on Ana’s arm, he turned to Penelope and said in a pleasant voice, “Actually, madam, your niece has unusual fashion sense, although I will grant you she is a little ahead of her time. Many of the European designers I meet in my travels are beginning to see the advantage of less restrictive clothing for women.”
Before her aunt could respond, Ana knocked Gabe’s hand off her arm and glared up at him. The nearness of him, the slight touch on her arm, scalded her sensitive nerve endings, ramping up sensations she thought she had buried in the barn. Her lips trembled and her dark eyes flashed ominously, but her voice was cool, with just a hint of the intense anger racking her. “This isn’t any of your business, sir. What you have learned in your various exploits is of no interest to me, and certainly not pertinent to this family conversation.”
Chao reached out for her, his voice soft. “Ana, please, dear—”
Ana brushed aside her father’s plea, and turned to her brother, “Kai will you please bring me a glass of champagne?” Then thinking better of it, she stamped her foot and added, “Oh never mind, I’ll get it myself.” Glaring at her aunt, she added with a slight sneer, “Whores should be self–sufficient; don’t you agree, Auntie?” Throwing a piercing glare at Gabe, she added, “Or unscrupulous men might try to take advantage of them.”
She turned on her heel and strode across the room toward a servant balancing a large tray of wine glasses and a bottle of champagne. Kai trailed in her wake.
Penelope stood for a moment staring at her retreating niece, then whirled on Chao. “This is your fault, Chao. You and Sarah spoiled her from the minute she was born. I should have insisted she stay in Boston with me. I would have seen that she developed manners, and learned to act like a proper young lady, not a disgraceful hoyden or worse, a… a heathen. As it stands now, she is wild, unruly, unteachable!”
Seeming to remember her important guest, she made a visible effort to smooth her grim expression and turned to Gabe. “I regret that you were a party to this conversation, Mr. McKenna. I hope you understand that this is only the California branch of my family. The Boston branch is much more refined, more… pure.”
Plastering an artificial smile on her angry visage, she squared her thin shoulders like a general marching to battle and moved away, toward her other guests.
Gabe watched Ana snatch a glass of champagne from the startled servant. She tipped the glass up to her lips and drained it. Putting the empty glass back on the tray, she took another and moved next to Kai. Like bees to a honey pot, within seconds, her protective brother was joined by an onslaught of eligible young men — as well as some older, less eligible men. Soon the room was divided in two camps. One camp contained a bevy of twittering, gossiping women. The common element among them was their obvious disapproval of the stunning woman in red anchoring the other camp — a group of openly lusting men. Neither group seemed aware of the amusing picture they presented to an unaffiliated observer.
Gabe dragged his attention away from Ana to respond to Chao. The older man’s stern face was tight with a mix of emotions, the muscles in his neck tense, straining. “I apologize, Gabriel. I am sorry you were witness to this disagreement in my family. As you can see, there is much anger between my sister-in-law and my children, especially my daughter.”
Gabe kept his voice even, attempting to allay his friend’s upset. “Family dynamics can be challenging, Chao. Of all people, I understand those challenges.”
Chao nodded in agreement. “I know you do, Gabriel. But my daughter was unnecessarily rude to you. She… she doesn’t get out much. By her own choice, she refuses most company, especially her aunt’s. She is strong willed, determined… perhaps a little wild.” His voice trailed off as if he didn’t want to reveal more of his beloved daughter’s foibles.
Gabe quirked a brow, an ironic grin tugging at his mouth. “No need to go on, Chao. I can see you have your hands full with that young woman.”
“That I do, Gabriel, that I do.” A soft smile spread over the older man’s face when he added, “It is a task that has brought me a lifetime of happiness.”
“I can understand that, Chao,” Gabe said with a noncommittal shrug. To himself he thought: a little discipline along the way wouldn’t have hurt. Watching the striking young woman in her outrageous dress surrounded by men who were having difficulty keeping their tongues in their mouths, Gabe swallowed a primal grunt, not wanting to add to the growing arousal straining his trousers. Staring across the room at Ana, his hands twitched in anticipation. Oh yeah! Discipline is clearly in order for that little hellcat — by someone who knows how to wield it.
Chapter 5
Ana felt Gabe’s gaze from across the room. The skin on her neck tingled. Her palms were sweaty. Heat and cold tormented her simultaneously. One minute she was shivering, the next she needed fresh air. She was angry with her aunt for causing the ugly scene, and furious that Gabe had observed it. Why was he here? How could he possibly be working with her father? Did her father know the kind of man he was? What would he say, if he knew what had happened in the barn?
“Ana, excuse me. Did you hear me? I asked if I could have the pleasure of escorting you to dinner.”
Ana looked up at the large blond-haired man standing beside her, peering at her as if she was deaf.
“I… I’m sorry, Alex, I’m a little distracted. What did you say about dinner?’
The young man took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his brow. “I was hoping you might sit beside me at dinner? Is… is that possible?”
Ana did her best to collect her wits. This is what she hated about these parties. All these men — God, there had to be at least six of them hovering like horseflies next to her — waiting to hear her response.
“I don’t know, Alex. Usually my aunt has some grand scheme about these kinds of things. You know, it is her fondest wish that someday she will be appointed to run the world.”
Ana laughed lightly when she said it. Instantly, six grown men roared in response, as though she had uttered history’s most amusing witticism. Ana choked down her annoyance, wondering how she could escape. She had to get away from these tiresome men. How could all six men surrounding her be so boring? So insipid? Oh God. What could she do? If she left these men, she was certain
he
would confront her. She could feel him, sense him. Peeking over her shoulder, she saw him less than twenty feet away. He was sipping on a glass of champagne, and no fewer than eight women were hanging on every word he said.
She cast a longing glance at the doorway, wondering if she dared make a dash for it. She could run up the stairs, lock the door to her chambers, and never come out again. Contemplating her narrow options, she heard her father’s welcome request and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ana, your aunt has summoned us to dinner. May I escort you to the table?”
Relieved that her father didn’t seem angry with her, she cast him a grateful glance and surged toward him.
He smiled and pulled her close, whispering in her ear.
“I’m not too old, my dear, to recognize a maiden who needs rescuing.”
Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids as she gazed up at her father.
“Thank you, Father. Even though you are not wearing chainmail, and I don’t see a white horse, you most certainly are my knight in shining armor. And, yes, I do need to be rescued.”
Her father laughed softly as he guided her away from the pack of hungry wolves jostling one another for a favored spot.
“You know, Ana, that I will always protect you.”
“Even from my aunt?”
He smiled at her. “Especially from your aunt. Now, come, my dear. If I know you, you haven’t eaten since morning and you will need your strength to keep this pack at bay,” he added with an amused glance over his shoulder, at the crowd of men who were elbowing one another out of the way to come closer.
~~~
Penelope batted her eyes up at Gabe and said in a simpering tone, “Would you do me the honor of sitting beside me at dinner, Mr. McKenna?”
Gabe forced himself to look away from Chao and Ana and focus on the annoying woman who had latched on to him. He bowed slightly.
“It will be my pleasure, Mrs. Hamilton.”
Gazing at him with her cold, colorless eyes, she pursed her lips as though aggrieved. “Please, dear boy, call me Penelope.”
He nodded forcing himself not to grimace. “But, of course, Penelope.”
“May I call you Gabriel?’”
Yanking his gaze away from the negotiations taking place between Chao and the men lined up behind Ana, he turned back to his diminutive tormentor.
“What… I mean,
of course
, you may call me Gabriel.”
Now that it was clear he would not have the opportunity to sit by Ana, Gabe burned to know who would win that prize. He was grateful when Kai elbowed Ana’s blond-haired lapdog out of the way and plunked himself down next to his sister. Gabe was mildly comforted when Chao allowed the dullest-looking of the crowd of men who had been circling her to sit at her left. Even though Gabe was stuck with Penelope, at least from this distance he could see and hear most of the conversation involving Ana.
Gabe pulled out Penelope’s chair, helping her to sit, pretending not to see her attempt at a flirtatious smile. Turning to the plump blonde woman on his left, he realized she was waiting for him to seat her as well. As he pulled out her chair then settled in his own, Gabe was reminded of how much he despised these rituals. Gazing around the table at the well-dressed, wealthy crowd, his gut clenched at the familiar sight. From experience, he knew the conversation would be a competition among the men to see who was the richest, who had pulled off the biggest deal, and who had stepped on the most people in the process. And the women, God yes, if the giggly blonde next to him was an example, the distaff side of the conversation would be more subtle than the one among their mates, but even more vicious in the attempt to outdo one another. He nodded to the grey-haired, sharp-eyed woman across the table, agreeing that it was a pity he missed the Broadcrest dance, as it was no doubt the event of the season. Gabe didn’t mention that the event coincided with his biggest night yet at the Shoe Horn brothel, where he won a record $200,000 in a fifteen-hour poker game.