Surrender (15 page)

“You do like to push buttons, don’t you, Ari?” he asked as he signaled his staff to bring in the next course. “And don’t you think it’s time you called me Rafe? After all, I’ve had my tongue circling your nipples while you begged me for more.”

He smiled as her face flamed red while soup was being place in front of her. She looked down at her plate in horror, too embarrassed to meet his
employees eyes. She needed to learn she couldn’t win in a battle against him. He wouldn’t allow it.

“What’s the matter, Ari? You don’t have any more witty come-backs?”

“Oh, I have plenty,
Mr. Palazzo
. I’m just not such a brash bastard like you,” she answered between clenched teeth.

He was suddenly moving around the table and lifting her from her chair before she even had time to blink. She looked at him with startled eyes as he felt her pulse quicken beneath his touch.

“I’ve warned you to be careful, Ari. I mean it. Do
not
call me names. I don’t act so vulgar with you, and I expect the same courtesy,” he threatened as his fingers gripped her hair and he held her head back, forcing her to look into his eyes.

“You don’t act so vulgar?
Ha!
You just announced in front of your staff that you were upstairs with your mouth all over my body. That’s as vulgar as it gets! Now, get your hands
off
of me. I thought you said you didn’t hurt women,” she said, her bravado in place, but he could sense the fear just beneath.

“I don’t hurt women, Ari. Am I causing you pain?”

He looked into her eyes as she struggled against him. He had her held securely against him with her head incapable of moving, but he knew he wasn’t hurting her. She couldn’t honestly answer that he was.

“You’re holding me against my will,” she finally answered as she moved her hips against his.

“All you’re doing in your struggles is rubbing that delectable body against mine, making me want to throw you over my shoulder and take you back to that nice comfortable bed. Is that what you want?”

“If you enjoy rape!”

“I’ve never had to force a woman, Ari, and I never will,” he hummed as his mouth descended and he sucked on her neck, feeling her pulse. He felt her internal battle as she stiffened against him.

Knowing he could make her submit was enough of a victory that he released her. Slowly, he walked back to his seat, watching with satisfaction as she dropped back into her chair as if her knees were incapable of holding her up.

“You think you’ve won some small victory, but you haven’t won anything. Obviously, you can cause a strange reaction in my body, but you have zero of my respect,” she said with a determination he was impressed with.

“I never asked for your respect, Ari. All I want is your body,” he quickly responded, fascinated by the fire leaping to life in her eyes.

“Well, you can’t have either,” she muttered as she picked up her spoon and swirled it around her soup bowl.

The rest of the meal was fairly quiet as he polished off most of his dinner, having a ravenous appetite all of a sudden, and she simply picked at hers. He watched as she continuously glanced at the clock, knowing she wanted nothing more than to run away from him. He simply drew out the time, making her squirm in her seat.

After an hour, they sipped coffee and he debated seducing her again. He wouldn’t mind taking her once more that night. He just didn’t know if it was the smartest move for him to make in their little game.

“Mr. Palazzo, your mother is on line two.”

Well, that ended his debate. His family always came before any woman he was with or his own pleasure.

“Thank you. Take Ms. Harlow back to her room, please.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I don’t need taken back to my room. I’m ready to go home,” Ari said as she stood.

“I’ve grown tired of arguing with you for the night. You’ll stay here as the doctor ordered. Don’t worry. I won’t bother you any further this evening,” he said, letting her know the matter was closed to further discussion.

As he walked from the room, he heard her frustrated sigh, but he knew his staff would ensure she went upstairs and didn’t make any escape attempts.

*****

Ari woke the next morning to find a note on the nightstand. Relief flooded her when she read the words, releasing her from her luxurious prison. Rafe was allowing his driver to take her home.

She didn’t dare use his bathing facilities again, not wanting to get too used to the deluxe bath or shower. She knew she needed to get as far from Rafe as she possibly could before she did something stupid like agree to be his mistress.

With the feelings he inspired in her, she was afraid it would be entirely too easy to say
yes
to him. That would be suicide for her. She had a feeling women were never the same after being with Rafe for any amount of time.

The man inspired too much emotion – whether it was lust or hate. She couldn’t imagine how a woman felt who was stupid enough to fall in love with him. One thing she realized, though, was the fact that sex wasn’t a horrible thing.

Rafe had made her feel things she definitely wanted to feel again and again. She would have to allow herself some time to date, because now that those doors had been opened, she didn’t know if it was possible to shut them again. She really didn’t think she
wanted
to shut them.

She gathered her purse and walked down the stairs, taking her time to look around his home on her way out. The curiosity irritated her, but she couldn’t seem to stem it. Rafe had good taste in decorations and furniture, using bright colors and deep, rich-toned wood.

Not wanting to learn anything else about the man, Ari forced herself to head straight for the front door where she was pleased to find a car waiting.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ms. Harlow.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kinsor. I appreciate all the staff taking such good care of me. I’ve never felt so pampered,” she replied. She genuinely liked Rafe’s right hand man, even if the guy knew exactly what Rafe had wanted to hire her for and hadn’t warned her. She wouldn’t expect him to sell out his employer.

“Do you need to make any stops before going home?”

Ari thought for a moment as he held open her door. She wouldn’t feel up to leaving her house the rest of the day and her head was already starting to throb a little. Why not take advantage of having a driver for a little while?

“If you’re not in a huge hurry and wouldn’t mind, could we stop by a drug store?”

“Of course. I’m yours for as long as you need me. Mr. Palazzo was explicit to give you whatever you needed today,” he answered happily as he shut the door and quickly went around to the driver’s side.

Ari’s confusion grew at Mr. Kinsor’s words. Why did Rafe have to be so accommodating and kind one minute and then such a brute the next? Why couldn’t he have been just a regular guy she’d met on her college campus? She hated to have any thoughts of Rafe, wanting to wipe him from her mind, but the more she ran into him, the more she wanted to know about this mysterious man who offered so much, but demanded more than she could bear to give.

“Just the drug store will be fine. I need to get home and take care of things so I can be well enough to go to work tomorrow,” she said when she realized she’d never responded to his last comment.

“Okay. If you do change your mind, just let me know. Would you like to listen to music?”

“No thank you. I’ve got a headache. I’ll just rest my eyes while we’re driving. I’ll feel better after taking a couple
Advil’s
.”

Mr. Kinsor was silent as they pulled onto the road. At least they were in a comfortable car that cruised along quietly and without many bumps. It didn’t take them long to stop by the drug
store and then reach her home. Ari would miss the presence of other people around her. As she stepped into her apartment she realized how truly alone she was most of the time now.

“Rafe!”

Rafe braced for impact as his sister threw herself into his arms. A rare smile spread across his face as she jumped up and wrapped herself around him.

“How are you, Rachel?”

“I’ve missed you. It seems like years since I saw you last.”

Rafe laughed at his baby sister’s enthusiasm. She was eight years younger than him and full of life, certainly the most vibrant young woman he’d ever known, and also one of the few females he had complete respect for. He adored both of his sisters.

“I saw you two months ago. Are you going to let me go now?”

“If you insist,” she pouted as she released him. “Two months may as well be two years. Mom’s a tyrant who never lets me do anything.”

“You get away with far more than I’d let you get away with. You’re too beautiful to be allowed out in public,” he said only half-teasing. He would slaughter any man who dared even look at his sister wrong. He knew it was slightly ironic how protective he was of his sisters when he had zero respect for other women.

“You drive your poor father and I crazy. I am hardly a tyrant, peste” his mother, Rosabella, said, calling Rachel a brat in Italian before she approached and planted a kiss on his cheek. “How are you, son? You have darker circles beneath your eyes than you had last time I saw you,” she scolded.

“I’m wonderful, mother, even better now that you’re here. What do I owe this surprise visit to?”

“You sounded more stressed than usual the last time we spoke, so I told your father we must come and visit you immediately. It was about time for us to come back to California for a while, anyway. Your father grows restless in Italy if he’s there for too long. I think he just misses working, though he’s promised me he’s retired.”

“I’m all grown up now, Mom. You don’t have to worry so much about me. To tell you the truth, I think dad sneaks off to work when you’re in the States. I do notice a lot of secret phone calls, and I don’t think any woman is stupid enough to embark in an affair with the man.”

“No, your father knows I would kill him if he ever tried something so foolish as seeing another woman. Now, as to your comment, obviously, you’re not a parent or you’d never say something so ridiculous. A mother never stops worrying about her child, no matter how grown-up he insists he is. If only you would settle down and start a famiglia, all of your stress would disappear and I’d get to see laugh lines around your beautiful eyes instead of worry lines over your brow.”

“Mother,” he warned, though his tone wasn’t harsh.

“Don’t you dare try and use your bossy tone with me,” she scolded, before shifting into Italian and calling him a few choice names. He immediately backed down to show her respect. He wouldn’t fight his mother.

“If you start harassing our only boy, he’ll change out his locks
the next time he gets even a wisp of a hint that we're flying in to visit him – and he'll travel to another country far from here.”

“Dad.
It’s great to see you.” Rafe gave his father a hug, grateful for the rescue. They had been outnumbered from the day Rachel was borne, giving his mother her second daughter. He’d been hoping for a little brother, but he’d been Rachel’s slave from the very first time she’d gripped his finger in her infant hand. He adored Lia, as well, but he’d been older when Rachel was born and more protective of her.

“Not that I want to join sides with your mother and sisters, but you do look a bit more ragged than normal, Rafe.
Is everything okay?”

“Don’t lump me in with Rachel. I think Rafe looks terrific,” Lia jumped into the conversation. He turned a grateful smile his sister’s way. Lia was a stunning woman, only five years younger than him.

She’d been turning heads from the moment she’d hit puberty and he’d thrown more punches over her than he could count. His friends had been told in no uncertain terms that they were to keep their hands off.

Times had been really tough when Shane had come home with him from college one Thanksgiving, and Lia had decided she liked what she saw. Poor Shane had been between a rock and a hard place because he knew he couldn’t
come anywhere near Lia, and the girl had been determined.

Luckily, Shane had kept his hands to himself, and therefore their friendship remained intact. Lia had made Shane sweat a few times when she’d come out to the pool in a skimpy bikini. Rafe still saw red when he thought about that. She was too naïve and trusting of men. She didn’t realize how easily she could be taken advantage of. Rafe should know – he played with women more than most men.

“You know, you’ve always been my favorite, Lia,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“That was just mean, Rafe,” Rachel pouted, her silver eyes sparkling as she punched him in the arm.

“Let me call the office and cancel my afternoon appointments. I’d much rather spend the day with you,” Rafe said before turning toward the door.

“You don’t need to do that, Rafe. We can entertain ourselves while you finish work,” his dad insisted.

“The nice thing about being the boss is that I can do what I want,” Rafe said with a wink before leaving the room.