[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
no doubt the result of exhaustion. You took me in at a time I desperately needed someone. And
you took me in despite the fact that I was leaving your son. You let me live here and took care of
me during those first couple of months until I felt well enough to find my own place. Not only
have you been a friend, but you ve been the mother I never had.
Oh, sweetheart, now you re going to make me cry. No one should lose their mother, especially
not at such a young, impressionable age. If I ve been able to fill in for her, even in the smallest
capacity, I m more than happy to do it. I just wish& She caught her lip between her teeth, her
expression one of intense guilt. I have a confession to make.
Let me guess. You weren t being altruistic when you took me in all those months ago? You did
it because you were hoping Gabe and I would eventually patch things up?
You knew?
Let s say I suspected.
I hope you re not offended.
Catherine shook her head. Not at all. With a small exclamation, she wrapped her arms around
the woman she d once thought would be her mother-in-law and gave her a fierce hug. Thank
you for everything. Just don t get your hopes up about me and Gabe. It s only temporary. After a
few months he ll realize that my leaving two years ago was inevitable. We simply aren t right for
each other.
I m sure that s precisely what you ll discover. And I m so sorry you ve been forced into this
predicament.
Dina?
Yes, dear?
You do realize that your kitchen cabinets have glass insets, don t you?
Yes. I chose them myself.
And you also realize that in this light, the glass acts like a mirror?
Does it?
I m afraid it does. I d have an easier time believing you felt badly about my moving back in
with Gabriel if I couldn t see you pumping your fist in the air.
I m not pumping my fist, Dina instantly denied. I m giving you a totally sympathetic, albeit
enthusiastic, air pat.
I can still see you. Now you re grinning like a maniac.
I m just trying to put a happy face on your moving back in with Gabriel. Inside, I m crying for
you.
Catherine pulled back. It s temporary, Dina. We re not back together again.
Dina s smile grew wicked. Try and tell Gabriel that and see how far it gets you.
Forty-five minutes later, Catherine swept off the elevator at Piretti s and headed for Gabe s
office. She d dressed carefully in a forest-green silk suit jacket and matching A-line skirt,
completing the ensemble with a pair of mile-high heels. It was one of her favorite outfits, mainly
because it served as a complementary foil to her hair and eyes. The formfitting style also made
the most of her subtle curves.
She d spent the drive into the city planning how best to handle the upcoming encounter with
Roxanne in the hopes it would take her mind off a far more serious issue her upcoming
encounter with Gabe. Though she d agreed to move in with him, she hadn t agreed to anything
beyond that. Before she packed a single bag, she intended to set a few ground rules, which put
her at a disadvantage right off the bat. Gabe, she reluctantly conceded, was one of the best
negotiators she d ever met and if she had any hope at all in gaining the upper hand, she d need
some leverage.
To her surprise, Roxanne was nowhere in sight. Considering how hard Gabe s assistant had
worked at turning the Marconi party into a grade-A disaster, perhaps she d taken the day off to
get some much-needed rest and restock on what must be a dwindling supply of venom and spite.
Well, they d have their little chat soon enough, Catherine decided. She d make certain of that. It
wouldn t matter all that much if it waited a day or two.
The door to Gabe s office was open, and Catherine paused on the threshold. He stood in profile
to her in front of a bank of windows overlooking Puget Sound and she drank in the sight while
heat exploded low in her belly and fanned outward to the most inconvenient places. For a split
second her vision tilted and she saw, not a captain of high finance and industry, but the captain of
a pirate ship.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]