Thrust: Bad Boy Racing Romance (Fastlane Series Book 2) (10 page)

DANI

With his cocktail in one hand, Marco slid the other around my waist, squeezing me at the hip. Flexing his arm, he pulled me tight, crushing my body against his. I sighed, moaning into his mouth while all the tension in my body melted away.

We kissed for what felt like a minute but it wasn’t nearly enough. His touch rekindled the dull ache inside of me. If he’d wanted to, I would’ve let him take me right then and there. It was a feeling I couldn’t control – it frightened and thrilled me at the same time. His aroma permeated my senses, sending me deeper into a spiraling need. Within seconds, my entire body tingled. My nipples hardened like small stones against the lace of my bra, driving my desire further.

I’d almost reached the point of no return when Marco broke his lips free of mine. Staring into his eyes, I struggled to catch my breath. He looked at me for a moment before taking another drink and I took the opportunity to have another sip myself.

Something to cool off was just what I needed.

“Beautiful night.” he said, looking away from me and towards the glittering lights below. “Don’t you think?”

I nodded while swallowing. “Yes, it is.”

Marco leaned against the railing. Without turning his upper body towards me, he glanced over his shoulder in my direction.

“I’m glad you could come, Dani. I regretted having to cut last night short with you. I apologize for that.”

Before I could respond, a brief gust of wind sent my hair fluttering in front of my face. I reached up and pulled it away from my eyes only to see him still looking at me. His apology caught me by surprise - mostly it was the
way
he said it. His voice carried a tone of sincerity.

“It’s okay, Marco. I understand. Don’t feel like you need to apologize.”

He nodded and offered up a faint hint of a smile in return before turning to look out over the horizon once more. I wanted to walk towards him, touch him and be near his side. But, I was having a hard time understanding the boundaries between us.

What was happening?

We’d been alone together a couple of times and we weren’t any closer to him signing the agreement. What was worse — with each passing hour, I felt my focus shift from the coldness of doing a business transaction to the much more dangerous pangs of desire.

In moments like this, when he showed me a tender side, it only confused me more. I hadn’t come to Monte Carlo looking for anything other than another stepping stone to my dreams. With Marco, I sensed I straddled a line that was both thrilling and lethal, at least where my career was concerned. And I felt that if I didn’t make one last effort to finish the business between us, and do it immediately, the opportunity would probably be gone forever. By now, I’d had enough of my cocktail to infuse me with the last bit of courage I needed. I cleared my throat, swallowing the final remnants of nerves in the process.

“Marco,” I began, tossing my hair to one side and focusing my attention in his direction. “I have something to say to you.”

I paused. He turned and looked at me.

“I’ve got to return to New York. I realize this is a trying time for you – your father hasn’t been gone for long. But, just like you have obligations to your racing team, I too have obligations of my own. If you want to work with our firm, I want you to know that you can trust me. We’ve shared something together. It’s not something I've ever done. I just want you to know that being with you had nothing to do with the agreement. If you don’t intend to sign with us, I’ll respect your decision, but I just wanted you to know that.”

My confession complete, Marco turned away. He remained still, leaning against the railing. He only broke his pose to bring his drink to his mouth and gulped down the remainder of his cocktail.

“Is there anything else you want to say, Dani?”

I rolled my eyes, thinking I’d already said much more than I should have.

Swallowing hard, I replied, “No.”

Marco eased himself into an upright position, turning to face me.

“Dani, if I didn’t think you had integrity, and further, that I could trust you, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

I sucked in my lower lip, pinching it between my teeth. Marco walked in my direction and I looked up at him. Darkness stretched across the sky now, covering us like a blanket. The only light came from inside his penthouse, hugging the angles of his square jaw.

“I haven’t made a decision about what I’m going to do, Dani. Like you said, I’ve got a lot going on right now. The reason I brought you here tonight was to let you know that what happened between us… It won’t be a factor in any decision I make.”

A breath of relief escaped from my mouth.

Marco continued. “I’m only going to tell you this one time. I don’t want to be pressured by you or anyone else in your firm about this decision. If I am, I can promise you that you won’t hear from me again. Is that clear?”

I nodded. “I understand. Please, take all the time you need to think it over. I’m available when, or if, you want to talk about it.”

He nodded, then gestured with his chin towards the interior of the penthouse.

“I’m assuming you brought the signature page with you?”

I did my best to conceal a hard swallow at the question. I’m not sure why it bothered me. After all, the way we’d just laid out everything between us… I really had no reason to feel uncomfortable about it. But, for some reason I can’t explain, I did.

“Mmm, hmm,” I muttered, nodding in return. “It’s in my purse.”

Marco didn’t say anything in response. He turned and headed inside. I watched him for a moment until at last, he turned and looked at me.

“Dani,” he said, gesturing for me to come inside. “It’s time for you to leave.”

And then, in that moment, I knew I’d blown the deal. What he said to me a few minutes earlier didn’t matter. The look on his face said it all. Even so, I decided it was better to go out with my head held high than to beg for forgiveness, even if losing this deal meant permanent damage to my career and my dreams. Less than a minute later, I walked inside and picked up my purse. I turned towards Marco, certain it was the last time I’d see him.

“Well…” I began, straightening the strap of my purse on my shoulder. “I guess I’ll be going.”

Marco frowned at me, it wasn’t a look of anger but confusion.

“What?” I asked.

“You said you had the signature page, Dani. Where is it?”

I returned his frown with one of my own.

“I-I um… I have it, I mean, I just thought that you… That we…”

Marco waved me off.

“What are you carrying on about? Do you have the signature page or not? Just give it to me.”

Confused, I slid my hand inside of my purse. A moment later, I pulled it out and passed it to him. Marco took it from me and spun it around, examining it for several seconds.

“Okay,” he muttered. “I’ll look this over in more detail and be in touch.”

I took that as my cue to leave. “All right.”

But, I didn’t go. I stood there. I wasn’t sure why really. I just didn’t want to leave.

“Anything else?” Marco asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I’m not sure what I expected. A kiss? Maybe just a hug? But no, Marco stood there with a look of indifference on his face.

“No,” I began, shaking my head and wrapping my hand around the door knob. “Nothing else.”

DANI

It had been a few days since I arrived back in New York. I hadn’t heard anything from Marco regarding the agreement. Even so, I gave Bernard and Leopold enough information to keep them off my back - for the time being at least.

Since I returned home, my mother had called me three or four times, but I’d been so busy I hadn’t had a chance to call her back. It wasn’t something I enjoyed doing to begin with, for a variety of reasons. But she could be relentless, especially when she wanted something, which was most of the time. In any case, I’d finally run out of excuses. And so, after work, I plopped down on my couch and with a reluctant swipe across my phone’s display, I dialed her number.

She answered after the third ring.

“Well it’s about time you called.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Don’t start with me, Mom. You’re lucky I'm calling at all.”

She ignored my scolding.

“Didn’t you get my messages, Dani?”

I ran my fingers through my hair, pausing long enough to grab a fistful of them in my hand.

I cleared my throat. “You mean the ones about Dad?”

“Yes, Dani,” my mother deadpanned. “The ones about your father.”

I exhaled. “Yeah, I got your messages. When is he scheduled to get the stent?”

“Well,” my mother began. “That’s just it. It turns out your father's arteries are too small for the stent procedure.”

I shrugged. “So, now what?”

“The doctors aren’t sure right now. They’re considering more drastic measures, maybe a bypass.”

“How did Dad take the news?”

“He’s not happy about it. The stent procedure would’ve been covered by insurance, but now it looks like whatever we do will have to come out of pocket.”

I pinched my lip between my teeth. “I see.”

While we talked, I stood and made my way into my bedroom. I sat down on the mattress and then lay down on top of it.

“That’s all you have to say, Dani?” my mother said, her voice taking on the tone she knew I hated. “Your father’s life is in jeopardy. He could die.”

With my head flat on the mattress, I shook it back and forth.

“I understand that Mom. I’m not an idiot.”

“Why do you always act like this, Dani?”

I snapped upwards, into a seated position.

“Why do I always act like what, Mom? Who’s kidding who here? You might as well just say what you want to say and get it over with. I really don’t have time to get into an argument with you.”

My mother puffed an angry breath into the receiver.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dani.”

“Don’t give me that. You know
exactly
what I’m talking about Mom. I don't see why this is my responsibility.”

My mother cackled with laughter.

“Who said anything about this being your responsibility? That’s just like you. It’s always about
you
, isn’t it Dani?”

I shot to my feet.

“Me! How is this about me? I’m not stupid. I know that the only reason you’re calling is for money.”

“Dani,” my mother snarled. “The reason I’m calling is because your father is
very ill
. If we don’t do something and do it soon, there’s no telling what can happen.”

“There! Right there!” I exclaimed, smacking the outside of my thigh with my palm. “Who is the
we
that has to do something here?”

And then, almost on cue, my mom poured on the guilt.

“We’re a family, Dani. This is about taking care of each other. It’s about you doing your
duty
as a good daughter.”

“My duty!” I shrieked, balling up my free hand into a fist. “Why can’t Michael and Scott help out? Don’t my brothers have to do their
duty
also? Why is it always up to me? Always!”

My mother remained silent for a moment or two before a withering exhale sputtered from her lips.

“Dani, don’t be ridiculous,” she replied at last, her voice simmering with rage. “You know full well they have family obligations you don’t. They contribute in other ways.”

I scoffed.

“Give me a break, Mom. Really? In what ways do they contribute?”

“Well, for starters, they’ve given me beautiful grandbabies and grateful daughters-in-law. It’s nice to be appreciated, Dani.”

I reached up and ran my hand down my face, swiping the entire length of it with my palm. Before I could respond, my mother rambled once more.

“It’s about time you stop being so selfish, Dani. Now, we all let you run off to New York and do
whatever it is you do
but, it's time for you to come home and help this family. Enough is enough.”