“I’m dead serious. Sev, Ispoke to the rep. Personally.”
He bowed his head and stared at the floor. “She wouldn’t have done that. Iwant you to double-check, Lazz. Triple-check, if that’s whatit takes. Find out why Bloom’s rep would lie to you.” And then he looked up, straight into Francesca’s eyes. What hovered there in the shadowed darkness had him breaking off with a word he’d never normally use in her presence. He hit the disconnect button. “Lazz doesn’t need to triple-check, does he? Bloom’s rep told him the truth.”
His shirt hung on her, making her appear small and fragile. Or maybe it was the barriers she slammed back in place. He never realized how utterly they enshrouded her until she emerged from their protective folds. Last night she’d bared herself in a way she never had before, not in all the time they’d been together.
Francesca shook her head. “There’s no point in his checking again.”
“You contacted Juliet Bloom’s representative?” At her nod, he hit her with his accusation. “You advised her to go with Timeless.”
“Yes. Iguaranteed she wouldn’t lose if she did so. That it would only benefit her.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Payback, Francesca?” he asked softly.
She tilted her chin to a combative angle and fixed him with a cool, remote gaze that shot his blood pressure straight through the roof. “I prefer to call it insurance.”
“Explain,” he rapped out.
“Timeless Heirlooms owns the designs that Juliet Bloom is so crazy about. The onesIcreated. She wants to wear them in her next film. Dantes plans to purchase TH, not put them out of business, so Timeless will endure regardless of ownership. Once the company is safely tucked back into the Dantes’ fold, you’ll receive the continued benefit from having someone of Bloom’s caliber as your spokeswoman.”
“If we tuck TH back into the Dantes’ fold,” he corrected tightly. “That’s a big, fat effingif!”
“You’ve already assured me it’s going to happen, regardless of me, or the Fontaines, or even Juliet Bloom.” She lifted an eyebrow. “A lie, Sev?”
His back teeth clamped together. “It’s no lie.”
“Then what’s the problem?” She stepped from the bathroom, wary enough to keep her distance. Smart woman. “All I’ve done is ensure that you honor the contract we signed and pay the Fontaines a fair price for TH. Now that Bloom’s agreed to be the spokeswoman for them, Kurt and Tina will reunite. They’ll have no other choice if they want that contract. Knowing Tina as I do, she won’t let a little thing like an illegitimate daughter stand in the way of a deal of this magnitude.”
“It will, however, make it more difficult for me to acquire TH.”
She graciously conceded the point, which had him backing up a step so he wouldn’t give in to temptation and throttle her. “But it will happen. And when that day comes, since I work for you, I’m also available to work with Ms. Bloom should she wish to expand the current collection I designed for her. Or I can create a whole new line for her at some point in the future. And if you don’t buy out TH, Ms. Bloom will most likely jump ship and become Dantes’ spokeswoman, since I now work for you. As far as I can tell, everyone comes out of this a winner.”
“Except for you.”
That stopped her. About damn time. “What are you talking about?” For the first time a hint of uncertainty crept into her voice.
“I’m talking about the fact that I have the option to either fire you, in which case I’ll see to it that you don’t work in the industry for the next two years. Or I can transfer you to another office. Either way, Bloom will no longer be your problem.”
“Which do you intend to do?”
Francesca asked the question so calmly, if he didn’t know better he’d have thought she didn’t care. But if he’d learned nothing elseabout her, he had learned that designing jewelry was as much a part of her as her heart or soul. In fact, it was her soul. He couldn’t take that away from her, no matter how badly her actions had hurthim.
And theyhadhurt him. This wasn’t about business, anymore. In fact, she’d shown a ruthlessness he could almost admire. Aruthlessness he, himself, had been forced to employ on occasion. No, this had become personal. It felt personal. It felt as though he’d risked opening himself to her, only to have her use what she’d learned to hurthim.
“I believe there’s a spot open for you in our New York office. I’ll make your transfer effective immediately.”
She jerked as though he’d struck her, staring at him for an endless moment with huge, wounded eyes. Without a word, she turned on her heel and moved through the apartment, gathering her possessions. Sev hardened himself as he waited for her to finish and leave.
Even so, it tore him apart watching her. One more rejection. One more door slammed in her face. Once more out in the proverbial cold. They made one hell of apair.
He scoured his face with his hands. All the while, The Inferno consumed him, raging with the urge to go to her. To fix this. To take her back into his arms and make her his again. His jawtightened. The hell with it. This was just one more roadblock. Ahuge one, granted. But surely they could—
The front door opened and quietly closed, locking behind her. Sev charged into the living room, but she was gone, leaving nothing behind but a cold gleam emanating from the fireplace. Sitting on the hearth he found the engagement ring he’d given her. He crossed the room and picked itup.
Maybe it was his imagination, but he could have sworn the fire deep within the heart of the diamond had dimmed.
Francescasat at her drawing board in her New York office, an office not that dissimilar from the one she’d occupied in San Francisco. Exhaustion dogged her, thanks to an endless round of sleepless nights. She’d only been in New York for a month, but already it felt like a lifetime. She rubbed her eyes, struggling to get them to focus on designs that could only be described as mediocre, at best. For some reason, her heart wasn’t in her work anymore.
But then, how could it be? The past few weeks had been some of the darkest and most difficult of her life, far worse than anything she’d gone through in foster care. Worse even thanher father’s rejection. She’d made a hideous mistake when she’d contacted Bloom’srep.
