Page 10 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

She still did. And there was no one he could tell...

Or could he?

There were awkward coughs from the impatient audience.

He glanced at his father.

You want feelings? How about I tell everyone what Joel was really doing on his cell phone when he died? How about I tell them that he was driving and sobbing, asking me if he was going mad or if his new wife had gone cold on him...? Why don’t I tell them how it felt to lie to my twin and tell him he was just imagining things? Why don’t I describe that brief sense of relief I felt as Joel laughed on the other end of the phone, and agreed with my rallying words?

‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘It can’t be a honeymoon every day, can it? You won’t tell anyone?’

‘Joel,’ Elias replied. ‘Do you even have to ask? Of course I would never tell anyone.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Give it time,’Elias had said to his brother.

But there had been no more time.

Not for Joel.

Elias had heard Joel’s sudden shout of alarm, then a horn blaring and the screech of brakes.

He recalled it now so vividly that he could almost smell the burning rubber...

He hadn’t experienced a second of relief ever since.

As he stood at the podium, he felt as if the smoke from the wreck was choking him, filling his nostrils and making his eyes smart.

‘On the night my brother died, he called me.’

It was information only those close to the family could possibly know. He looked straight at Seraphina, and he loathed that she had the nerve to look back at him, that she had no idea how close he was to telling all those present what had really occurred.

Nothing had occurred, Elias reminded himself.

But only because of him.

Had it been up to Seraphina...

‘Joel had a question for me,’ he went on. ‘He wanted to know how come his new wife...’

Elias watched her rapid blinking. Perhaps she had begun to sense just how out of control the usually measured and emotionless Elias Henley currently was.

‘He wanted to know—’

CHAPTER TWO

‘DELUCA!’

Carmen was certainly not listening to the boring speeches. Even if she was supposed to be as invisible as a ghost, there was still a lot of work to be done.

This was her third job since arriving in America, and she desperately wanted to hold on to this one.Hadto hold on to this one if she was to keep her promise to herself and not use Romero money.

But it was hard to be treated so badly. And not just by guests: it was the treatment of staff by the owners and managers that had caused her temper to rise until she exploded.

She glanced over to the manager, who nodded towards a table where someone was signalling for more wine. Carmen made her way over with an ice bucket.

The lady shook her head. ‘I asked for sparkling water.’

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