Sweet on You (17 page)

"I—"

"He doesn't even see you," Brian continued. "You're so far off his radar, it's not even funny. I don't even know that you really like him. He's just a substitute for the father you never had. Any idiot could see that."

Tony, the father she never had? The idea was preposterous—and kind of true. But she wasn't going to think on that now. She had to focus on what was important here. "I didn't come to talk about Tony. I came to talk about you."

Brian stuck his hands in his pockets. "There's nothing to talk about. You made your feelings clear."

"No, I haven't. I've barely gotten a word in edgewise."

"So what do you want, Marley? Because it seems to me you don't know. Or, at the very least, what you want isn't what I was offering."

"What were you offering?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"A friend and partner in crime. Someone who understands you, who likes you even when you're not at your best." He got in her face. "I wanted
you
, not some ideal that existed only in my head but the true package. All funny, snarky, quirky parts of it."

"You wanted?" She swallowed. "Past tense?"

"I'd be a fool to chase someone who doesn't want me to catch her, wouldn't I?"

That was the thing. Maybe she did want him to catch her. She thought about the way she felt when he kissed her, the tingly excitement. She thought about how happy she felt after she'd been with him. She'd never felt that way with anyone.

But she was scared. What if she told Brian all that she he walked away? He was already halfway out the metaphorical door.

Maybe she
was
really screwed up.

"I'll go," she said softly, bowing her head.

She wanted him to stop her. She wanted him to take her in his arms and convince her to stay. But he opened the door for her to leave.

She did, and it wasn't until much later she realized she hadn't been able to keep her promise to Valentine. She hadn't kissed Brian, and she was pretty sure she'd never get the chance to.

Chapter Twenty-three

"Give me good news," Daniela said into the phone when she answered her real estate agent's call.

"We lost the building."

"Where did it go?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"No, we were outbid," Ken explained patiently. "Cruz Enterprises bought it."

"That's not possible." She stopped abruptly in the middle of the kitchen. "I made an agreement with Chris Ludlow. I took him three loaves of cinnamon bread."

"Well, it must not have made the same impression Cruz's offer did."

"How much was his offer?"

"Half a mill over what we bid."

She sat down, on the floor, abruptly.

"Daniela? Are you still there?"

"Barely," she said, staring unseeingly ahead. "Is there anything we can do?"

"About this property? No. Cruz closed on it. But I can look again for other buildings that might work, within your budget. Maybe we'll have better luck after the holidays."

"I'll let you know. Thank you, Ken."

"I'm sorry, Daniela. I wish I could do more."

"It's not your fault." It was Nico's.

She hung up but stayed on the floor, staring at the cupboards in front of her. She'd been staying with him for days.
Days
. When had he made the deal? When had he signed the papers?

She should have been upset because he got the building, but, damn him, she was more upset because he hadn't been honest with her. Why had he hid the fact that he'd outbid her? To surprise her one night when they were soaking in his Jacuzzi tub? Did he think she wouldn't find out?

Anger boiled in her chest, like a pot of Nonna's
penne a la arrabiata
.

She'd make some now, she decided. She got up, determined, needing to channel her fury into something.

Nico ordered food in all the time, but after she'd decided to stay she'd stocked up on some essentials so she could cook. Nonna's
arrabiata
sauce was simple to make, needing only tomatoes, passion, and time.

She had plenty of the last two ingredients, thanks to Nico. That
bastard
.

Determined, grim, she strode to the wine rack and looked through all the bottles first. She stopped when she saw the '82 Chateau Margaux.

"Why not?" She plucked it out and uncorked it. Pouring herself a large glass, she sipped it, nodded in approval, and set a pan on the burner for her sauce.

She was on her second glass, about to toss the cooked pasta into the spicy tomato sauce when she heard the elevator doors open. She picked up the wine bottle, looking at it regretfully. A waste, but it was going to feel so satisfying.

"Daniela?" Nico walked into the kitchen.

She threw the bottle at his head.

He ducked just in time. The bottle hit the wall behind him and broke, making a splatter pattern of wine over the white walls and carpets.

Nico swiped what splashed on his cheek and tasted it. "Good vintage."

"When were you going to tell me?"

He looked resigned. "I told you all along that I was going to buy the property. It shouldn't have been a surprise."

She downed the wine in her glass and threw that at him, too. "Bastard."

He ducked again. "Daniela, you're going to run out of things to throw at me. Let's just stop and discuss this."

"We could have discussed this," she yelled, "if you'd told me.
But you didn't
."

Holding his hands out to try to calm her down, he approached her cautiously. "It's just a building. I'll help you find another one that suits your purposes. I know there's that family living in it. I won't turn them out without a care. I'll find a place for them too."

"
That's not the point
. The point is you didn't tell me. I'm living here with you, and you didn't mention a word to me. How do you think that makes me feel?"

Of all the things he could have said, she didn't expect him to go with "I needed to buy that building, Daniela."

"Well, you got what you needed." Wiping her hands on a towel, she tossed it on the counter and walked toward the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" he said, following her.

"Home," she said, not bothering to turn around.

He caught up to her and made her turn. "Daniela, you have to understand—"

"Do you know what I understand?" She got in his face, wanting to kiss it as much as she wanted to spit at it. "I understand that I told you my dream, what I wanted so badly, and you disregarded it. More than that, you went ahead with your own plans, even though they directly conflicted with mine. But most of all, you kept me in the dark. How is that different than Tony? You should have had my back, but you stabbed it instead."

"You're being dramatic," he said.

"And you're being an asshole."

He tugged her against him and kissed her. There was the residual taste of sweetness and spice, but the overtone of bitterness overwhelmed everything else.

She broke away from him, putting a hand to her mouth. Her lips felt bruised, but not nearly as much as her heart. "You screwed up," she said in a low voice. And then she turned and walked straight to the elevator.

She realized she didn't have shoes on when she got to the lobby, but she didn't care. She had the porter flag her a taxi, and she numbly rode home, calling Marley to ask her to come pay for the cab once she realized she didn't have her purse.

Marley was waiting out by the curb when she pulled up. Looking as grim as Daniela felt, she paid the driver and then studied Daniela head to toe. "You look like I feel," she finally said. "Man problems?"

"What else could it be? You?"

Marley sighed so hardily Daniela almost smiled. She slung her arm through her assistant's and walked gingerly into the house.

Tony was inside, waiting. Fuming. "Where the hell have you been, Daniela?"

"Put a sock in it, Antonio."

"Fine!" He threw his arms in the air. As he stormed out, he yelled, "Ruin your lives. You'll come running back to me soon enough."

"As if." Daniela turned to Marley. "You and I are getting a bottle of wine, some chocolate, and retiring to my room."

"Kinky," Marley said.

Daniela smiled in shock. "Marley, that was funny."

She rolled her eyes. "You want funny? I have a story to tell you about the wrong man who got away."

"Will one bottle of wine be enough?" she asked, an arm through Marley's as they headed to the kitchen.

"Probably not, because I may have to quit tonight too."

"Damn." Daniela looked at her assistant. "Are you really giving notice?"

Marley took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes," she said, sounding sure. "Yes, I am. I'm going to focus on my photography."

"Good for you." Daniela hugged her tightly.

After a moment, the younger woman returned the embrace. "You aren't angry?"

"What I am is impressed. It takes courage to step out on your own." She went straight to the fridge and pulled out champagne and truffles. "I know you don't drink, but you're making an exception tonight. We're going to toast your new endeavor, curse our men, and generally get trashed."

"I'll get the glasses," Marley offered helpfully.

Chapter Twenty-four

It started out simple: Daniela invited Eve and Lola. But Eve brought Olivia, and Lola brought Gwen, and suddenly it was a party—on the floor of Daniela's unfinished showroom space.

Lola ran back to her apartment and brought a blanket, and Olivia contributed candles from her shop since Daniela still didn't have the lighting wired. Eve brought over champagne, and Gwen brought her happy laugh.

They sat on the floor, with a couple jackets piled around Olivia to help her get comfortable. Daniela eyed the woman's belly with awe and a little envy. Olivia was very pregnant—radiant the way women aspired to be. "Are you comfortable, Olivia?"

"I'm perfect." She smiled as she stretched her legs in front of her. "Although I'll be more comfortable when Sprout decides to make his appearance."

"I hope he decides to make his appearance after tonight," Lola said, handing over a glass of sparkling grape juice to Olivia. "Because I don't know how to birth babies, Miss Scarlet."

Grinning, Eve passed around champagne to the rest of them. "Maybe we should toast to long-term projects finally coming to fruition."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Daniela looked around her pathetic showroom.

"When are you going to finish it?" Gwen asked. "I haven't seen anyone working in here for weeks."

"I'm having second thoughts."

Eve set down her glass abruptly. "You aren't leaving San Francisco, are you?"

"No." She shook her head vehemently. "I love it here. What I'm reconsidering is continuing baking."

"What would you do?" Eve asked.

She shook her head, not wanting to talk about her soup kitchen idea. Maybe it was as ridiculous as Tony said. "I had some ideas, but I have no idea. Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want."

"Uh-oh." Lola reached for a brownie. "This feels like a story involving a man."

"There is no man." She reached for a cookie and savagely bit into it, imagining it was Nico's head.

Gwen laughed. "You aren't fooling anyone here. You might as well give us the details."

"You'll feel better," Olivia said, accepting the cookie Eve handed her. "It'll get it out of your system faster."

"Which means you'll forgive him faster, and then you can get on to the make up sex." Lola winked at her.

"I'm not going to forgive him," she declared, downing her champagne and holding out her glass for more. "Nico Cruz is dead to me."

"You're so Italian sometimes." Eve refilled her glass. "But you obviously really like him, so at some point you have to be less Italian and forgive him a little."

"But it's totally okay to make his life hell first," Lola added.

"I threw a wine bottle at his head." She smiled grimly, still feeling the satisfaction of it. "An '82 Chateau Margaux."

Eve choked on her drink, and Gwen launched into raucous laughter. Lola looked at them, her brow furrowed. "I guess that's an expensive bottle of wine?"

"It's only like a couple thousand a bottle," Gwen said, wiping her eyes.

Daniela forgot that Gwen was heiress to one of France's most prestigious wineries. Gwen was always so unassuming, in her hippie chick clothing. But of course she'd know her wine.

"It was probably sacrilege to waste it like that, but it made me happy," Daniela said, reaching for a biscotti. "I had a glass before I threw it at him. It was delicious."

"What did he do that was so unconscionable?" Olivia asked.

She started to say that he stole the building that she wanted out from under her, only that wasn't what had her most angry. She didn't understand why he needed to buy it so badly, but the reason didn't matter. What upset her was that he hadn't been honest with her. The entire time they'd been together, he'd hid what he was doing, and that was what hurt. "He went behind my back."

Her friends didn't say anything, obviously waiting for more.

She shrugged. "I got angry because he didn't trust me enough to tell me what he was doing. I found out through a second party."

"And it chaffed, finding out from someone else." Lola nodded. "Classic conflict."

"The question now is, when are you going to forgive him?" Olivia said, popping another sweet in her mouth.

"Never," Daniela declared ruthlessly, even though her heart wilted a little at that prospect.

"Is that in your best interests?"

"I'd be happy if I never saw him again," she said viciously.

"Liar," Lola said with a smile. "If you didn't care about him, you wouldn't be so worked up."

Gwen leaned forward and fake-whispered, "You may even be in love with him."

"I
refuse
to love him." She set her glass down before she was tempted to throw it. "Especially an overbearing, macho man who pats me on the head and dismisses me instead of sharing important things with me."