Scandal and the Runaway Bride (Heirs to an Empire 1)

If he didn’t go right now she was going to burst into tears. “I love you, too,” she answered, knowing it was true, wondering if it was wrong.

He smiled, and she memorized every feature of his handsome face. He couldn’t be guilty of what Stephen said. He couldn’t. Will strode back toward the dining room, and she stumbled toward the stairs, fighting tears. The moments they’d shared, making love, the soul-to-soul connection...it had to be real.

She opened the bedroom door and then rushed to the bathroom and was sick. Not from the food, but from the stress and the possibility that she had once again made a bad decision. She’d believed that she and Luca had had that connection, too, and he’d been a liar and a fraud and a cheat.

What she needed now was time and space. To think. To decide what to do now. She washed her face and put on the nightgown she’d brought, one that was much too sexy for the situation but she’d brought nothing else to sleep in. She was sitting in bed, with earbuds in her ears, when Will came in.

She pulled out the earbuds.

“What are you listening to?”

“A meditation.”

He instantly went to the bed and sat on the edge. “I’m so sorry about how my family reacted.” He smiled. “I’m used to their dramatics. I promise it’ll pass eventually, when they see we’re committed.”

“I’m not sure of that,” she replied, looking down.

“They will. Bella is already halfway there and I can always count on Christophe.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted it, tried a winning smile, but she didn’t have it in her to give one in return. “Sweetheart, what is it? Is it my family, or your family situation? You’ve been under so much stress. Damn that Stephen. If he had only agreed to my proposal, so much of this burden would have been lessened for you.”

Her stomac

h clenched. “It isn’t for you to save Baresi. I can do this on my own.”

“I’ve been giving it more thought the last few weeks,” he said, sliding further onto the bed so they were face-to-face. “We don’t need Aurora to officially invest. I have my own money. I can help you.”

The proposition struck her speechless for several seconds. Had he mentioned this to his brother? That he was planning to go off book and make an offer himself?

“No, William.” She slid out of the bed and went to the closet to take out her robe. She slid it over her shoulders and tied the belt firmly. “I don’t want your money. I’m going to deal with this on my own.”

“But, darling, it could make things so much easier for you. Like we planned at the villa, remember?”

She remembered, and she’d felt desperate at the time, with her father’s surgery still looming and so much uncertainty. Now, even though she was struggling in her new position, she wasn’t nearly as afraid of it. Not so much that she was willing to cede control to anyone. Not even Will.

“Maybe I don’t need easy. Maybe I need to accomplish this myself. And I certainly don’t need you coming in and taking over.”

He stood and stared at her. “Taking over? Who said anything about taking over?”

“It would be a great addition to your own business interests, wouldn’t it? And then you could be the one to negotiate with Aurora and you’d be padding your pockets from both sides.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

His mouth dropped open. “I can’t believe you just said that. Gabi.”

“Maybe I’ve been gullible this whole time. What a perfect mark I was, trying to avoid a scandal, vulnerable because of my father...you could swoop in as my rescuer and achieve what Stephen could not.”

He swore quite thoroughly. “Who the hell got to you? What did they say? This is ridiculous!”

“Is it?” Fear and desperation nudged her forward. “You always said that loyalty to your family comes first, particularly to Stephen.” She thought back to that day at the villa when Stephen and Will had fought. “What happened between you at my house?” she asked. “Did Stephen not like your plan?”

Will ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “This is unbelievable. An hour ago we were united against the world. And now you’re accusing me of using you to take over your company? Someone must have said something to you. What I don’t understand is why you’d believe them.”

Gabi heard hurt in his voice and didn’t know what to believe. He hadn’t actually denied it, but he hadn’t confirmed it, either. And Stephen had been convincing, playing the friend card. She shook her head. “Do you know what? I don’t trust any of you right now. I don’t know who to believe.”

“So someone did get to you.”

“It doesn’t mean they were lying.”

He stared at her, and the longer he did, the more confused she became. Why couldn’t she trust him? Why couldn’t she believe him? And then she remembered telling Luca she might be pregnant and the look of horror on his face as he crushed her future beneath his heel. She remembered the horrible sick feeling as she waited for the pregnancy test results, and the combined sadness and relief she felt. She remembered the panic of her wedding day, and dashing off in Stephen’s car to hide away in London, knowing she’d been foolish to agree to his plan in the first place.

The truth was, she had a history of making bad decisions, and there was too much at stake to do it again.