Reclaimed by the Tycoon - Chapter 4

Oh, yes. She remembered. The way their steamy, spicy arguments would quickly ramp up to tearing their clothes off, their passion swiftly converted from anger and rage to something else entirely. As far as foreplay went, it was the most explosive and satisfying kind Isabella had ever known.

‘Are you ready?’

‘If you just lift me to standing, I’ll be—’ the end of her sentence died swiftly on her lips, at the feeling of Salvador lifting her as though she weighed absolutely nothing, then cradling her against his broad, warm chest.

It was such a total invasion of her senses, she almost cried out.

How many nights had she fantasized about this? About being held by him again, just for a moment. Being close enough to smell his cologne and masculinity, to hear his breathing, to feel his chest moving, to the know the tantalizing strength of his arms holding her. Making her feel safe, wanted, and loved.

But it had all been a lie. He hadn’t loved her, and in realizing that, she’d come to accept a horrible truth she’d suspected since birth, and the way her parents had left her at the care home without so much as a note: she was unlovable. Even her parents, the two people who should have been hardwired to want to care for her, had walked away. Was it any surprise that everything with Salvador had been an illusion? She’d been so desperate to believe it was a fairytale—how silly.

‘Don’t you worry your wife will find out about this?’

For a second, his jaw seemed to tense, and she wondered if she’d hit a nerve. But then he looked down at her with an expression that was almost mocking, so her tummy knotted. ‘Charlotte would want me to help you.’

Charlotte.

The other woman’s name was burned into Isabella’s brain, but she’d never heard him say it aloud. How enraging it was. Worse was the discovery that she hated the other woman—his wife—even when she knew none of this was her fault. It was all Salvador’s disgusting mess—he’d just dragged her and Charlotte into it.

‘What an understanding wife she sounds.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did she ever learn about us?’

He looked down at her then, one brow lifted, as he began to walk, long strides confident, as though he wasn’t holding a fully grown woman in his arms. ‘Do you really want to have this conversation?’

‘Why not? Let’s think of it as closure.’

‘Do you want closure?’

‘Why won’t you answer the question?’

His lips flattened and she knew she’d found a sore spot—because she’d spent several weeks of her life provoking him, seeing where she could hit to get a response.

‘Yes, she knew about us.’

That caught Isabella totally off guard. She’d presumed she’d been a dirty little secret, presumably like all his other affairs. It also took the wind out of her sails. ‘I don’t particularly like that you told her.’

‘Then why did you ask?’

‘It’s a natural thing to wonder.’

‘Would you prefer I had kept you a secret?’

‘That’s how affairs generally work, isn’t it?’

‘Is there a firm rule about it?’

‘Not last time I checked. But did it ever occur to you that I wouldn’t want to be the dumb mistress? To have some woman making voodoo dolls of me and stabbing me in the back every night before bed? For all we know, she’s the reason I fell and twisted my ankle.’

He laughed then. ‘You think Charlotte has cursed you?’

‘I would, if someone else was sleeping with my husband.’

His step faltered, so she glanced around, wondering if a child had run in their path. ‘You’re married?’

She heard the tone in his voice, and understood it. And really, really wished she didn’t. Because as clear as the day was long, it was obvious that Salvador was jealous. Not just jealous, but totally flooded with envy. He looked down at her as though his whole survival hinged on her reply.

How bloody dare he?

‘That’s none of your business, is it?’

‘You do not wear a ring,’ he said, glancing at her hands that were cradled in front of her.

‘Nor did you. Or was that just when you were having your affairs, Salvador? Would you slip it off and hide it away in your pocket, until you walked out of my apartment and went home to your devoted wife?’

‘Now who’s evading the question?’

‘I’m not evading the question; I’m flat out refusing to answer.’

‘You’re impossible.’

‘Then it’s just as well I’m not your problem, isn’t it?’ They’d reached a busier road. ‘Put me down here and I’ll catch a cab.’

‘I have a car.’

Something sank in her stomach. The feeling of being sucked back into his world, pulled back into his life, even when she knew the dangers of being close to him.

‘No,’ she said, shaking her head quickly. ‘I can’t. Just—’

‘Stop it, Isabella. Just stop.’ He kept walking. ‘I understand what you are feeling, because I feel it, too. In all my life, I have never known anyone who can make me want with a single look. A single smile. Whose damn voice is enough to make me hard. It has been two years since we saw each other, but it might as well have been yesterday, for all that’s changed between us.’

Shock cut through her at the honesty of his admission.

‘I feel everything you feel, but there is not a hope in hell of doing anything about it. I am not taking you to the hospital because I want to get you back in my bed, but because I cannot leave until I know you are well. Comprendido?’

All her breath seemed to puff out of her body. She stared at him, wishing she felt reassured by his speech when the opposite was true. How could she still want him like this, even knowing what he was capable of?

‘So, the sooner we get you checked out, and a doctor tells me you’re okay, the sooner we can get out of each other’s lives again. Okay?’

How could she argue with that? He was being honest. And it was clearly the last thing he wanted to do, given the complications of their mutual attraction.

‘Yes,’ she said, wondering if she should aim for just a hint more gratitude. But truly, this was, at the most, an act of penance. ‘Let’s just get this over with, then.’