Page 43 of Greed

“C’est pour toi ma ravissante beaute. Mais, aucune fleur ne pourrait se comparer a vous.” Michael held out the flower for her to take and heat crept up her cheeks. She reached out and took the vibrant flower, the petals sparkling slightly in the dim light like the petals had been kissed by crystals.

“Thank you. I don’t know what you said, though,” she said shyly. She brought the flower to her nose, and the scent was sweet and oddly addictive.

A sudden tingling in her chest had her sucking in a sharp breath a moment before a voice spoke behind her. “He said you can’t compare to a flower. I would have picked something a little less mundane, but that’s me.”

She knew the voice and didn’t want to turn around, not after what she’d seen. She’d rather smack her head on the wall instead of speaking to him, but instead plastered a smile on her face. Minetta slowly turned to face the man she now knew as Riker Rhodes.

There he was in the flesh, just with a lot more clothes on this time, although her mind hadn’t forgotten the pleasant visual of his muscles bulging and his ass flexing. His amber eyes bore holes into her, and she swallowed hard. If meeting Michael had made her heart pound this quickly, then Riker’s made it want to jump out of her chest. Her body flushed so hot, she had the urge to fan herself as she stared back.

Straightening her spine, she managed to keep her wits about her, not wanting to give away just how uncomfortable she felt.

“Brother, what a surprise. How lovely it is to see you again so soon,” Michael said, and her mouth dropped open.

She stared between the two men. “This man is your brother,” she asked in disbelief. “Forgive me. I’m having a hard time seeing the resemblance.”

“Yes, well, I’m not surprised. I am the far better-looking brother,” Riker said, his tone as arrogant as the man himself. She pursed her lips and glared at him.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” she said.

“Do the two of you know one another,” Michael asked.

“I wouldn’t put it that way, more like an unfortunate brief acquaintance,” she said. She refused to look back at Riker, but she could feel him staring at the side of her face and then back at Michael, making this already weird encounter feel wildly uncomfortable.

“Oh really? That must be a fascinating story. Tell me, how does a nine, one, one operator meet a high-powered executive? I hope my brother wasn’t in any distress,” Michael asked, and she saw Riker’s lip lift up, his eyes hard as he glared at Michael.

She didn’t really want Michael to know about the unfortunate situation of seeing Riker having sex. He had been the one to mention the building and the donation, but he never asked her to go. This was awkward no matter how she cut it. “No…um,” she started, but Riker finished for her.

“Minetta was a volunteer at the triathlon I competed in not long ago. She was nice enough to serve me some much-needed refreshment. Isn’t that right, Minetta?”

She bit her lower lip and nodded and silently prayed that Michael didn’t press for any further explanation. She suddenly needed wine, lots and lots of wine. It didn’t help that she liked the way her name sounded coming out of Riker’s mouth. The image of him calling out her name as he pounded into her had her clearing her throat and fidgeting. She averted her gaze and took a steadying breath.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Minetta’s eyes rose to stare at the petite woman who suddenly appeared.

The woman linked arms with Riker, and she felt herself staring as he laid his hand on top of the woman’s. She was beautiful in an adorable way. She had a round face with big grey, doe eyes that seemed to scream sweet, yet her overly revealing dress and roaming hand told a whole other story. “Darn traffic this time of night, right sweetie?” the woman said, and Minetta watched Riker carefully. She got the feeling he didn’t like the pet name, but if he didn’t, she couldn’t tell for sure. His face was set, his lips in an unreadable line.

“Michael, it has been a long time. How are you?” the woman said.

“Come now, Skye, you don’t need to pretend to like me. We both know you’d prefer I never stepped foot in this city again,” Michael smiled warmly, and she felt like singing, ‘which one of these doesn’t belong with the others.’ Seriously, she couldn’t have felt any more out of place or awkward if she’d set out to do so and contemplated walking away to leave the three of them to have dinner without her.

“It may be true. We have had our differences,” Skye said and laughed her voice grating. “Isn’t that right, sugarplum?”

Minetta’s face scrunched up, a little bit of bile rising in her throat at the terrible nickname. Okay, it really was time to get away from these two.

“We should probably get inside,” she whispered to Michael.

“Yes, Minny, you are quite right. I have a fabulous idea, brother. Why don’t you and Skye join us this evening? I’m so rarely in town for long periods, and we could certainly use the time to get caught up. And, all of us could get to know one another better. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Minetta’s eyes went wide, the fake smile spreading across her face as she clenched her teeth from saying what she really thought of that idea. “Oh, I don’t think your brother would want to sit with us,” she gave a fake little laugh.

“We’d love to,” Riker said smoothly.

“We would?” Skye gasped, voicing what Minetta was thinking.

“My brother is right. I don’t see him nearly enough. It has placed undue stress on our relationship. Why not have a delightful meal with him and his date for one night?”

Skye’s mouth fell open. “Um, maybe because it wouldn’t be delightful.”

Minetta stared between the three people. She could cut the tension with a knife. Why in the heck would they want to spend a single second together, let alone an entire meal?