Claiming His Nine-Month Consequence

“Why?” he growled.

“I told you. I’m never going to be that stupidly reckless again.”

“You think I would hurt you?”

She looked down, refusing to answer.

They drove in silence. It was rush hour, and traffic was appallingly slow. She could feel his gaze on her, even as she woodenly stared out at the passing city.

“Are you hungry?” he said finally.

That made her look up with a faint smile. “I’m always hungry.”

Leaning forward, he abruptly told Horace, “Pierre’s.”

Forty minutes later, Ruby and Ares were walking into a wood-paneled, elegantly rustic French restaurant. Though the place was packed with glamorous diners, they had no difficulties about a reservation. When Ares walked in, the maître d’ looked delighted and immediately started fawning over him in fluent French. Ruby was astonished when Ares answered him in the same language.

Within moments, the two of them were sliding into a prime table by the window. After the drinks had been chosen and poured, when they were finally alone at the elegant, candlelit table, Ruby asked, sipping her sparkling water, “You speak French?”

Ares shrugged. “My mother lived in Paris for many years. I went to boarding school in Switzerland when I was eight.”

Her eyes widened. “Your parents sent you away from home at eight?”

“It was a blessing,” he said shortly. “I was glad to be away from them. And I attended some of the best schools in the world, in Switzerland and in America.” He took a measured sip of his red wine. “My childhood prepared me for the life I live now. And my parents, for all their faults, did teach me one thing.” Setting down his glass, he looked at her. “How to fight without remorse or mercy.”

She stared at him in shock. “That’s a horrible thing to learn from your own family.”

“But valuable. It prepared me for the real world.” He reached over the table, putting his hand over hers. “In the real world, you either win or lose. With family, that’s truest of all.”

His touch caused prickles through Ruby’s body. She pulled her hand away. “That’s all wrong.”

“Is it?” Smiling humorlessly, he picked up the menu. “You took care of your sister from childhood, and she still cut you out of her life the instant you took something she wanted. Something that was never a possibility for her in the first place.”

Ruby bit her lip. “I wouldn’t say she cut me out, exactly…”

“I assume you’ve tried to contact her since we left Star Valley.”

“Yes.”

“Has she answered any of your messages?”

Compulsively, Ruby checked her phone, which she’d done a thousand times in the last two days. A lump rose in her throat. “No.”

Ares took another sip of his wine. “She will. Soon.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve instructed my executive assistant to arrange payment for Ivy’s tuition and a monthly stipend if she enrolls in college.”

Her heart twisted. Just thinking of Ivy made her homesick and sad. “You think that will make her forgive me?”

He gave a cynical smile. “Absolutely.”

“You can’t buy everything,” she whispered, thinking of her fear that he would soon own her, as well.

“Anything money cannot solve I do not want.”

“Because you don’t do complicated.”

“Correct.”

She took a deep breath, then met his gaze.

“That’s why I can’t let you kiss me,” she whispered. “Because I’m afraid you’ll break my heart.”

For a moment, Ares stared at her, his handsome face shocked. Then he said in a low voice, “So leave your heart out of it. What does love have to do with sex?”

Now Ruby was the one to be shocked. “Everything.”

“That belief will cause you to lose out on a great deal of pleasure, and gain you a great deal of pain,” he observed, then turned to the menu. “Do you prefer lamb or veal?”

Two hours later, as they climbed back into the waiting sedan, Ruby greeted their long-suffering driver with a tentative smile. She thrust a brown bag emblazoned with Pierre’s into his hands.