“Maybe we should go downstairs and count heads,” Tina muttered. “See if any of our designers are missing. It would be just like him to snitch one of them right from under our noses.”
Francesca closed her eyes, her world tilting. Aware that the Fontaines waited for her response, she swallowed, struggling to speak around a throat gone bone-dry. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
Not that it would take much effort. In fact, it wouldn’t take much more than a single visit. How many times had Sev offered her a job, each proposition more lucrative than the last? Suddenly, it all made sense.
Sev knew that TH was in hot negotiation with some big name. He’d been frank about that almost from the start. Chances were excellent healso knew which designer had piqued that person’s interest, had undoubtedly known from the night they firstmet.
If he stole—seduced—her away from TH, he’d gain the ultimate prize. Now that he’d romanced the actress’s name out of her, he’d land a highly lucrative account with Bloomandtake away the Fontaines’ best chance at revitalizing the company Dantes wanted to purchase. If she didn’t miss her guess, Sev planned to use her to accomplish both those goals.
Overhead the storm clouds broke.
Francescadidn’t give the assistant seated at a desk outside Sev’s door a chance to stop her. She simply swept past the stunning blonde and barged straight into his office. Four men sat sprawled on couches and chairs in an informal sitting area at the far end of the enormous room. She recognized them from the photos that decorated the console in Sev’s den, as well as the walls of his apartment.
The Dantes, all four glorious male specimens on display.
Sharp light, scrubbed clean from the recent storm, streamed from the floor-to-ceilingwindows and haloed the twins, Marco and Lazz, who sat opposite each other like a pair of striking bookends. She pegged Marco by his wide grin and appreciative gaze, not to mention the sexual sizzle he gave off with every exhalation. Lazz regarded her with a cool, analytical stare, everything about him suggesting a man who kept his emotions under tight control. And then there was Nicolò, the youngest at twenty-nine, but according to Sev, the most dangerous of the bunch. Had he been the one to suggest her as a creative solution for taking over Timeless Heirlooms? Finally, her attention switched toSev.
He knew why she’d come. She saw the knowledge settle across a face she’d covered with sweet kisses just a few hours earlier. He jerked his head toward the door and his brothers stood en masse. Before Nicolò left, he handed Sev a file folder with her name prominently displayed across the cover.
Sev lobbed the opening volley. “I have one question before you say anything. Have you signed a formal contract yet with Timeless Heirlooms, or are you still on probation?”
She couldn’t believe his nerve. “That’s none of your business,” she retorted, stung.
“Answer me, Francesca.” His quiet tone gentled the implacable demand. “Have you signed with them?”
“I intend to, just as soon as I tell you what I think of you.”
He simply nodded, but she caught a hint of relief that came and went in his expression. “Would you care to sit?”
“I prefer to do this standing.” Her hands curled into fists. “You used me. You used me to try and take over TH. I’m here to tell you that you’ve failed. And I’m also here to tell you that I think you’re despicable.”
“Let’s set the record straight on several points.” He stood, tossing the folder Nicolò had given him to one side. “When we first met—hell,when we first made love—Ihad no idea who you were. Maybe if I’d answered my cell when Marco phoned that night, Iwould have. But if you recall, Iwas a little preoccupied and he didn’t get through to me until the next morning.”
She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “I’m not buying it. You could have discovered my identity before you ever arrived at the showing.”
“It would have been possible, Isuppose. But the fact is, Ididn’t.” He stalked closer. “Next point. The Fontaines and I were already negotiating the sale of Timeless Heirlooms before you and I ever met. Tina knew I intended to buy them out, either when she eventually sold out to me, or after she was forced to declare bankruptcy. That hasn’t changed.”
“But you hadn’t counted on the success of the showing.”
“No.”
“Or that they might acquire Juliet Bloom as their spokeswoman. Or that she would use their collection in her next film.”
“Correction.Yourcollection. And Juliet Bloom has postponed her decision.” He paused a beat. “Indefinitely.”
Undisguised fury ripped through Francesca. “Because you told her that you had a collection as good as TH’s. That you had the perfect designer for her. Me.” He didn’t deny it and desolation battled with anger. “You thought you could hire me away from the Fontaines and steal the Bloom account so they’d be forced to sell to you.”
“Yes.”
The simple confirmation cut deep. “You’re not even going to deny it?”Please denyit!
“Why should I? It’s true. If you’d accepted my job offer that’s exactly how it would have gone down.” For the first time, she saw a businessman instead of her lover. “That’s how it’s still going down.”
She shook her head, so angry she could barely see straight. So heartbroken she could barely feel past the pain. “Not a chance in hell.Do you think I’d ever agree to work for you after this? That I’ll ever sleep with you again?”
“One has nothing to do with the other. One is business, the other personal.” He shrugged. “The two are mutually exclusive.”
Her chin wobbled precariously. Didn’t he get it? “One has everything to do with the other. I’ve lived a lifetime of betrayal in one form or another. Ican’t...” She ground to a halt, correcting herself. “Iwon’tbe with a man I can’t trust.”
