Page 19 of The Naughty One
In return, Romy had been given her divorce but would not take a penny from the Mortimers. Hubert Mortimer had given his son a check for three million dollars and then cut him off. His parents had disowned himentirely.
And you are to blame, Romy Sasse. You shouldn’t have made meangry.
Dacre parked his car behind the tree line of the forest which bordered Magda Sasse’s property and stepped out to slink closer to the house. He saw a car pull up and saw a dark haired-man and Romy get out. They were laughing and joking. God, Romy looked so beautiful. Dacre’s cock twitched at the sight of her long dark hair tumbling around her lovely face. Who was this guy withher?
The next moment, he watched as the man pulled Romy into a small corner of the house, shaded from the windows, and kissed her. Romy gazed up at the man with love in her eyes and it made Dacre’s insides twist inrage.
Damn fucking bitch. How dare she cheat?Because she was still his in spite of the divorce. She’d vowed forever and she would always be, no matter her whoringways.
“She’s exquisite, isn’tshe?”
Dacre started and turned to find a tall, amused-looking man with piercing blue eyes staring at him. Dacre was lost for words. The man held his handout.
“You must be Dacre Mortimer,” he said in a friendly tone. He nodded towards the couple who were now disappearing into the house. “And that’s my bastard half-brother Blue Allende kissing your ex-wife. And yes, they’re fucking each other. Sickening, isn’tit?”
“And who the fuck areyou?”
“Gaius Eames. Hello, Mortimer. I think we’re going to have a lot of funtogether.”
Chapter8
Romy was beginningto feel really uncomfortable. The meal had started off well. Everyone had been formally introduced, and the food was out of this world. If there was one thing Magda excelled at apart from parenting and sculpting, it was cooking. The turkey was juicy and plentiful, the side dishes of creamy mashed potatoes and yams sweet and heavenly, the gravy well-seasoned. Even the cranberry sauce was made from scratch and Blue grinned at her as she went in for anotherhelping.
She shrugged unrepentantly. “It’s myfavorite.”
The worst part of the meal was not giving away that she and Blue were together, not sharing those intimate glances or private jokes between them. They’d slipped a couple of times but had written it off as ‘workjokes.’
Everything had been going really well until Gaius turned his attention toher.
“Nice to see you again so soon,Romy.”
Oh, fuck.“How’s the hand?” She could feel Blue staring at hercuriously.
“Much, much better, thanks to you.” Gaius appeared friendly, even if there was an undercurrent. He looked at Blue. “She’s quite remarkable, Blue. Have younoticed?”
“Of course,” Blue smiled smoothly, but the edge in the smile was one Romy hadn’t seen before and it made her cold. “Romy is by far the best resident at Rainier Hope this year. And for many years, come tothat.”
“You sound impressed,brother.”
Blue fixed Gaius with a searching stare. “I am, Gaius. When did you and Romymeet?”
Romy opened her mouth to speak but Gaius got there first. “A couple of days ago … you didn’t mention it, Romy?” His face was a picture of innocentconfusion.
“Patient privacy,” Romy said quietly. She risked a glance at Blue, who met her gaze steadily.There will be questions later, his eyes said, and she gave a quick, almost imperceptible nod, believing with every fiber of her being that he might be upset but would not hurt her as Dacre had done anytime he wasenraged.
“The consummate professional,” Gaiussaid.
Artemis cleared her throat, picking up on the sudden tension. “I actually have somenews.”
Romy shot her a grateful smile. “Is everythingokay?”
“Oh, yes … well, no, but yes, and I know that doesn’t make sense. Glen and I have decided to break up. Now I know you’ll think this is a bad thing, Mom, but for both Glen and I … we’ve grown apart. Neither of us thinks badly of the other, it’s just we no longer fit as a couple. Glen’s moving out … today, actually, which is why he couldn’t be here. It’s entirely amicable, I assure you, so there’s no need to pick sides,etc.”
“I’m glad,” Juno said immediately, “but you know we’ve always got your back,Arti.”
Artemis grinned ather.
“I know you do, Bubba. But, yeah, so … I guess I’m just saying, I’m single, and happily so fornow.”
