Dante's Temporary Fiancée (13 page)

“I don't belong to any woman. And I never will.”

“A lone wolf to the end?” she whispered.

“It's better than the alternative.”

With that he turned and left. And all the while his palm burned in protest.

L
arkin spent the night curled up in the middle of the bed counting the minutes until dawn.

Rafe was right about one thing. She should have told him she was Leigh's sister—
half
sister—right from the start. That had been the plan all along. If only she hadn't gotten distracted. No, time to face the truth. She hadn't been all that distracted. She hadn't wanted to reveal her identity to him because living the lie had filled her with more joy than she'd ever before experienced.

She swiped at her cheeks, despising the fact that they were damp with tears. She'd discovered at an early age that feeling sorry for herself didn't help. Nor did it change anything. Not that she had much to feel sorry about. She'd had Gran, who'd been a wonderful substitute parent.

Even so, she'd be kidding herself if she didn't acknowledge that some small part of her felt as though she
were always on the outside looking in. That she'd never quite measured up. More than anything, she'd wanted to be loved by her mother. To belong. To have known the love of a father, as well. Instead, what had Leigh called her? A Mistake. Capital
A.
Capital
M.
Underlined and italicized. As a result, Larkin had held men at a distance, determined not to visit upon a new generation the same mistakes of her parents. If you didn't fall in love, you couldn't create A Mistake.

But her lack of a real family, a “normal” family, one that consisted of more than a loving grandmother, had filled her with an intense restlessness, a need to belong. Somewhere. To someone. To find the elusive dream of hearth and home and family. To finally fit in. But how did you find that when you were too wary to let people approach? Beside her, Kiko whimpered and bellied in closer.

“I know I wasn't a mistake, any more than you were,” she told the dog. “We just don't quite fit in anywhere. We're unique. Special. Caught between two worlds, neither of our own making.”

But no matter how hard her grandmother had tried to convince her of that fact and fill her life with love, there'd always been a part of her that had conceded there was a certain element of truth to Leigh's words. Bottom line… She wasn't good enough for her mother to keep. She'd been thrown away. Dispensable.

Until Rafe.

For a brief shining time she'd discovered what it meant to belong to a family, one who'd welcomed her with open arms. Until she'd ruined it. “I should have told him.” Kiko whined in what Larkin took as agreement.
“But then he'd never have made love to me. And I'd never have fallen in love with him.”

Tears escaped no matter how hard she tried to prevent them. It was worth it, she kept repeating to herself. No matter how badly it ended, the days she'd had with Rafe were worth the agony to come. If she had to do it all over again, she would.

Without a minute's hesitation.

 

Dawn finally arrived, giving Rafe the excuse he needed to give up on pretending to sleep and dress for work. He would have skipped breakfast, but Kiko padded out to join him, and well, damn it. He couldn't let the poor girl starve, could he?

He didn't see or hear any sign of Larkin, which was fine by him. The sooner he concluded their remaining business, the sooner he could get his life onto an even keel again. Go back to the way things had been before Larkin had stormed into his life and ripped it to shreds. Avoid further emotional entanglements and just be left the hell alone.

“It's what I've always wanted,” he informed Kiko.

She gave his comment the attention it deserved, which was none at all. Aware he didn't have a hope in hell of gaining any support from that quarter, he downed the last of his coffee and rinsed the mug. Then, refusing to consider the whys and wherefores of his actions, he started up a fresh pot before heading out the door.

He wasn't expected at the office, since the entire Dante family was still officially on vacation. He'd also given his assistant the time off, which provided him complete privacy to closet himself in his office, undisturbed. He wasted a couple of hours taking care
of business emails and paperwork, knowing full well they were his way of avoiding the inevitable. Finally he shoved back his chair and stared at the display rack that concealed his office safe.

He sighed.
Just get it over with!

It took him only minutes to punch in the appropriate code and verify his thumbprint. The door swung open and he sorted through the various gemstones and jewelry samples stored there until he found the plain rectangular box he'd stashed in the farthest recesses.

Removing it, he relocked the safe and carried the box to his desk. Flipping open the lid, he stared down at the bracelet. It was a stunning piece. The setting gave the impression of spun gold, delicate filigree links that appeared to be straight out of a fairy tale. The original stones had been a lovely mixture of modest diamonds of a decent quality, and amethysts that weren't bad, if a shade on the pink side. Not good enough for Leigh, of course, but then few things were.

She'd insisted he replace the amethysts with emeralds because they were her birthstone, and the smaller diamonds with oversize fire diamonds because they were more impressive, not to mention expensive. He'd never felt either complemented the setting. But since he'd still been in the throes of lust, he'd agreed to her demands. She'd even wanted to have the setting altered, but there he'd drawn the line. It was perfect as is. Instead, she'd gone behind his back and made the adjustments without his knowledge. It wouldn't take much to return it to its original form, he decided, studying the bracelet. Sev's wife, Francesca, could do it in her sleep.

A knock sounded at the door and his sister, Gia, poked her head into his office. “Hey, you. Larkin said I could find you here.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Did she, now.”

“Yes, she did.”

Gia entered the room and closed the door behind her. He and his sister had always been dubbed the “pretty” Dantes, identical in coloring, with matching jade-green eyes. While he'd despised the moniker, Gia had simply shrugged it off, neither impressed nor dismayed by the description. He, on the other hand, had been offended on her behalf, since his sister wasn't merely pretty. She was flat-out gorgeous.

“To be honest, I'm relieved Larkin's still at your place,” she continued. “When the two of you left the lake I was a little worried you were on the verge of breaking up.”

“So you followed us home?” Her shrug spoke volumes. “It's none of your business, Gianna.”

“Then you
are
on the verge of breaking up. Oh, Rafe.” She approached and slid a slim hip onto the edge of his desk. Leaning in, she examined the bracelet. A delaying tactic, no doubt. “Huh. Definitely not Francesca's work. Almost beautiful. Or it would be if it weren't so—” she made a fluttering gesture with her hands “—over the top. It also needs softer stones.”

“Amethysts.”

“Exactly.” She nodded, impressed. “Good eye. Whose is it?”

“Leigh's.” He corrected himself. “Larkin's, I guess.”

Confusion lined Gia's brow. “Come again?”

“Leigh and Larkin are sisters.
Half
sisters.” Though why he bothered to make the distinction he couldn't say.

Gia's mouth dropped open. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“I wish.” He gave her the short version. “Now she wants her bracelet. Once she has it, she'll be on her way. She can use it to try to find her father, or sell it, or do whatever the hell she wants with it.” He flipped the case closed with a loud snap. “And that brings to an end my very brief Inferno engagement.”

“I don't understand. Why does any of that put an end to your engagement?”

He glared at his sister. “What do you mean, why? Because she's Leigh's sister.” He grimaced. “Half sister.”

“So? It's not like she's Leigh. You only have to talk to her for five minutes to realize that much.”

“She lied to me.”

“Did she? She claimed she wasn't Leigh's sister?”

“Half sister,” he muttered.

“I'll take that as a no.” She waited for him to say more, blowing out her breath in exasperation when he remained stubbornly silent. “Fine. Be that way. But you can tell Larkin that if she needs somewhere to stay while she searches for her father—”

“Assuming there is a father and she's actually searching for him.”

Gia inclined her head. “Assuming all that. She's welcome to crash at my place.” She slipped off the desk. “Larkin loves you, you know.”

He stilled. “She used me.”

Gia shrugged. “It happens. But I'll tell you one
thing…” She paused on her way out the door. For some reason she wouldn't look at him. “I'd give anything to have what you're throwing away.”

 

Rafe returned home to find Larkin perched on the edge of a chair in his living room, dressed in one of her old outfits. Kiko lay at her feet, the dog's graying muzzle resting on her paws. Her brilliant gold eyes shifted in Rafe's direction and she watched him with unnerving intensity. He caught a similar expression in Larkin's gaze. Beside the dog sat her backpack. It didn't take much thought to add two and two and come up with…Larkin was running. At least she'd done him the courtesy of waiting until he returned home. But then, it wasn't likely she'd leave without her bracelet.

She drew in a deep breath and blew it out. Rising, she gathered up her backpack, shifting it nervously from hand to hand. “Do you have it?”

He removed the box from his suit-jacket pocket and held it out to her. Without a word she accepted it and turned her back on him, her spine rigid and unrelenting.

“That's it?” he asked, though he didn't know what more he expected.

“Thanks.” She threw the words over her shoulder. “But if it's all the same with you, Kiko and I will be on our way now.”

He let her go. It was better this way. Easier. Cleaner. Safer.

An instant later she slammed her backpack to the ground. Whirling around, she came charging toward him. “Rafaelo Dante, what the
hell
have you done to my bracelet?” She shook the box he'd given her under his
nose. “What are you trying to pull? You were supposed to give me
my
bracelet. Not this…this…
thing.
”

“That is your bracelet.”

Larkin popped open the top and held out the glittering spill of gold and gems. “Look at it, Rafe. What happened to it? It's ruined!”

How was it possible that she could put him on the defensive with such ease? “Leigh had me switch out the stones. Don't worry—it's even more valuable than it was before.”

“Valuable?
Valuable!
” She stared at him as though he'd grown two heads. “What has that got to do with anything?”

“I just thought—”

Larkin's eyes hardened, filling with a cynicism he'd never seen there before. And something else. Something that twisted him into knots and filled him with shame. It was disillusionment he read in her gaze. It was as though he'd told her there was no Santa Claus. No Easter Bunny. No magic or fairies or wishing on stars. As though he'd taken every last hope and dream and crushed it beneath his heel.

“I know what you thought,” she stated in a raw, husky voice. “You assumed I'm like Leigh. That it's the dollar-and-cent worth of an item that's important.”

It hit him then. She wasn't Leigh. How could he ever have thought she was? It was like comparing an angel to a viper. Where Leigh had demanded and taken, Larkin had given him the most precious possession she owned—herself. And he'd thrown that gift back in her face. Accused her of the worst possible crime—being the same as her sister.
Half
sister. She'd given him her
heart and he'd tossed it aside as though it were worthless, just as her mother had done.

“Don't you get it?” she whispered. Pain carved deep lines in her expression. “This bracelet is my only connection to my father. How am I supposed to use it to find him when it looks nothing like he remembers?”

Face it, Dante, you screwed up.

And now he had a choice, a choice that was vanishing with each passing moment. One path led back the way he'd come. Returned him to where he'd been just weeks ago. The other option… Well, if he chose that one, he'd have to risk everything he'd always considered most precious. His independence. His need to control his world and everything within it. The barriers he'd spent a lifetime erecting to protect himself.

But the potential reward…

He looked at Larkin. Truly looked at her. That's all it took. He burrowed the thumb of his left hand into the throbbing center of his right palm and surrendered to the inevitable. He'd risk it all. Risk anything to have her back in his life. And just like that, a plan fell into place. It would take days to accomplish, possibly weeks. It would take extreme delicacy and exquisite timing. But it just might work.

Now for step one. “I can put the bracelet back the way it was,” he offered.

Tears welled up and she brushed at them with a short, angry motion. “Forget it. I don't want anything from you.”

She turned to leave, whistling to Kiko. Instead of following her, the dog darted forward, snatched the backpack in her jaws and took off at a dead run up the steps to the second story.

“Kiko!” she and Rafe called in unison.

Together they raced after her, finding her crouched in the center of his bed, guarding the backpack. She barked at the pair of them.

“Looks like she doesn't want you to leave,” Rafe said.

“She'll get over it.” Larkin approached the bed and picked up the backpack. “Let's go, Kiko.”

Though the dog allowed Larkin to take the backpack, she hunkered down on the bed in a position that clearly stated she wasn't planning to budge anytime soon. Okay, this could work to his advantage.