Somehow they knew she loved Damien.
Really loved him.
But they never mentioned it to her. She was pretty sure they didn’t mention it to their husbands, either, for which she was eternally grateful.
As for Damien, he gave nothing away, but every night he made love to her with a passion that made her love for him deepen. Beyond that she was afraid to think. She couldn’t let herself. There was just too much of a heartache standing between them. A heartache he had no idea existed. One she prayed he never knew existed, not just for her sake but for his own. The more she loved him, the more she didn’t want to see him hurt.
And then one evening after dinner, Damien had gone downstairs to get some paperwork he’d left in his BMW when his cell phone rang. Gabrielle wasn’t sure whether to answer it at first, but thoughts of her father taking a turn for the worse had her hurrying over to the coffee table to snatch it up.
A woman gave a little gasp, then hesitated. “Er…is Damien there?” the husky voice said on the other end of the phone.
Gabrielle’s heart sank as she wondered if this was one of the women Ken had said was “disappointed” about Damien’s marriage. “He’s stepped out for a moment.”
“Oh.”
She did sound disappointed, but Gabrielle wasn’t sure it was because she knew he had a wife now. “He’ll be back soon.”
There was a tiny pause. “To whom am I speaking?” the woman asked, but not in a nasty way. She actually sounded rather well-bred and polite.
“Gabrielle.” She almost said “his wife,” but just didn’t have the heart. “Can I tell him who called?”
“Um, yes. Please tell him Cynthia called. Perhaps he could call me back? It’s important.”
“I’ll pass the message on,” Gabrielle said as an unexpected feeling of jealousy hit her. Cynthia sounded like a nice person, and that was more dangerous than a hundred women who only wanted Damien for what they could get from him.
Just as she hung up, Damien walked into the apartment, looking so handsome he made her heart skip a beat.
“Who was that?” he said, lightly tossing his car keys on the table.
“Someone called Cynthia.”
He looked at her sharply. “Did she say what she wanted?”
“You.”
His eyes narrowed, telling her he got her point. “Does she want me to call her back?”
“Yes.” She paused. “An old girlfriend?”
A shadow of annoyance crossed his face. “She’s a…woman friend.”
“Your mistress?” His words stabbed at her heart. She’d suspected, but hearing him say it out loud made her feel sick. “I expect you to be faithful, Damien.”
His gaze held hers. “Who said I wouldn’t be?”
“Then you’d better let all your…women friends know you’re married now.”
He held himself stiffly. “I’ll be faithful, Gabrielle. You have no need to worry on that score.”
Yes, but would he feel the same way in a few years’ time? Men often played around, and rich successful men were no different. Most of them thought it was their right. Her father certainly had.
He walked over to her, captured her chin with his fingertips and tilted her face up to him. “Listen to me, Gabrielle. And I mean this.” His eyes turned even more intense than usual. “You’re all the woman I want.”
“Am I?” she croaked, unable to stop the sinking feeling in her stomach at his words.
Want, he’d said.
Not need.
“Yes.”
“Lucky me,” she managed to say.
He stared at her, baffled. Then, “Perhaps I should show you just how lucky you are,” he said, arrogance taking over as he scooped her up in his arms and strode toward the bedroom.
By the time she came up for air, he’d made love to her as if he’d wanted to imprint himself on her forever. And yes, she felt very lucky indeed. For a moment she reveled in that feeling. But then she realized he was only stamping what he considered to be his.
Yet despite fighting her feelings for a man who would try to control her if he knew she loved him, Gabrielle was happy to work alongside Damien at the office, helping him make changes that would benefit the company. She was impressed, not only by his business acumen, but by his consideration in teaching her things about the business that would take her a lifetime to learn elsewhere. Yet they both knew who was really in charge.
Him.
Not that she minded. She needed him to put the company back on the right track. Perhaps if Keiran hadn’t messed things up so badly she might have stood half a chance of straightening things out herself. As it was, she was grateful for Damien’s help.
And everyone was grateful that Keiran had taken a break from work the past few days. The office was a much nicer place without him around, putting her on edge, constantly sending her daggers with his eyes. She could easily see why all the department heads had been leaving for greener pastures. Thankfully the ones who hadn’t left were now happy to stay, and Damien had even managed to get two of their top staff to return to their old positions.
Unfortunately, Keiran came back to work the morning Damien was absent at an important meeting. It didn’t take her cousin long to walk into her office with a smug look on his face that somehow sent shivers down her spine and gave her a sense of déjà vu. She hoped she was wrong but she had the feeling he was up to something.
She gave him a cool look. “Do you think you could make an appointment with Cheryl? I’m a busy lady these days.”
He came toward her. “Cheryl isn’t at her desk.”
“Then perhaps you could wait until she is.”
He flopped down on the chair opposite her. “But I wanted to tell you something really important. I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.”
She looked into his gloating eyes and knew he had trouble in mind.
“Guess where I’ve been?” he taunted, as was his way.
She picked up her pen, ready to ignore him. “Keiran, I don’t have time for—”
“Sydney,” he cut across her.
A wave of apprehension replaced that shiver down her spine. “What’s so important about that?”
His mouth spread in a thin-lipped smile. “Ahh, but it’s not what I did in Sydney. It’s what I found out.”