Dante's Temporary Fiancée

“Then in the morning I got swept off by Elia and Nonna. I really didn’t want to make the announcement in front of them.” She captured her lower lip between her teeth and a line of anxiety appeared between her brows. “But I shouldn’t have let them spend any money on me. That was totally wrong, and if it’s the last thing I do I’ll repay every dime.”

“Would you forget about the damn money?” Rafe broke off and scrubbed his hands across his face. What the hell was he saying? Money was the reason she was here. She just had a different routine than Leigh, a far more effective one, as it turned out. “You had ample opportunity to tell me in the time we’ve been together. Why didn’t you?”

She squared her shoulders. In her halter-top bathing suit they looked breathtakingly delicate and feminine—a fact he couldn’t help but notice despite all that stood between them. “You’re right. I should have told you. My only excuse is that I knew it would change everything between us.” Her chin quivered before she brought it under ruthless control. “And I didn’t want our relationship to change.”

He did his best to ignore the chin. She might look like a helpless stray, but he didn’t doubt she was every bit as conniving as her sister. Blood will tell, as Primo always said. Of course, he’d been referring to The Inferno. But maybe greed and deceit and a lack of honor ran in some families the way The Inferno ran in his. Like mother, like daughter.

“You want Leigh’s bracelet? Fine. You’ll have it first thing tomorrow. After that, I expect you to clear out.”

His final comment kept her from replying for a moment. Her distress shouldn’t affect him. Not anymore. But for some reason it did. “Then you have it?” she asked in a low voice. “I wasn’t sure whether it had been lost when Leigh’s plane went down.”

“It was at Dantes at the time, having the catch repaired. Right now it’s in my office safe.” He whistled for Kiko, then inclined his head toward the lake house. “Come on. We’re leaving. I’ll tell everyone there’s been an unexpected emergency.”

She didn’t argue. “Of course.” Her tone turned formal. “I’ll find somewhere else to stay as soon as we get back to the city.”

The comment only served to spin his anger to an all-time high. “As much as I’d love to have you gone, it’ll be far too late to find a place for both you and Kiko tonight. Tomorrow I’ll get your damn bracelet and find you a hotel or apartment willing to house you both.” He cut her off before she could argue. “Enough, Larkin. This discussion is over. From now on, we do things my way. And my way means you’re out of my life as soon as I can arrange it.”

Rafe didn’t waste any time putting his plan into action. Nor did he give his family the chance to do more than express confused concern before he had the two of them and Kiko packed and loaded and flying down the road toward San Francisco.

The instant they arrived home, Larkin made a beeline for her bedroom. Rafe followed. It wasn’t the smartest move, but he had some final questions he wanted answered. He paused in the doorway, struggling to see through the pretense to the woman she’d revealed herself to be—a woman ruled by greed and avarice and dishonesty.

It was as though she read his mind. “I’m nothing like Leigh.” She threw the comment over her shoulder.

“No? Time will tell.” He stared at her, broodingly. “Once I slipped a ring on your sister’s finger she went from sweet and innocent—like you—to cold and calculating. I have to hand it to her, she put on a great act leading up to our wedding. I guess I’m an easy mark when it comes to the helpless waif type of woman. Leigh was a more sophisticated version, granted, but that changed soon enough. It didn’t take long to realize she wanted what every other woman wants from a Dante, the good life and everything my money could provide. I suppose I could have lived with that. For a while.”

“Then what went wrong?”

“It was the adultery that I refused to tolerate.”

The fluid lines of Larkin’s body stiffened and she slowly turned to face him. “She cheated on you? You?”