‘Hardly hiding,’ she argued. ‘I was working for my living.’
‘Living life vicariously,’ he continued, as if she hadn’t said a word. ‘Arranging other people’s big occasions. Making other people happy, and making a name for yourself into the bargain. I think that was a side benefit you hadn’t expected.’
‘Any more words of wisdom or can I go?’ Drawing herself up, she looked past him.
‘You do a good job, I don’t deny it,’ Dante continued unperturbed, ‘but the fact that you were so good brought you to everyone’s attention, which I imagine was the last thing you had in mind—especially when it brought you to my attention.’
‘You are one arrogant—’
‘You have a gift for organisation,’ he said, talking over her in a low, intense voice. ‘You cast your fairy dust on every party or event, but then your carefully constructed house of cards came crashing down when I walked back into your life. You couldn’t ignore your secrets then, could you, Karina? For years you’ve done everything you could to avoid me, but now I’m back. The one person you should have confided in is back, and you won’t get away with silence now.’
Huffing out a frustrated breath, she shook her head firmly. ‘I have nothing to tell you.’
‘You’re a liar.’ He pushed his face into hers. ‘You never used to be a liar, Karina. So, what’s happened to change you?’
‘You,’ she said icily. Her passion had soared way past the danger level, and caution had gone out of the window as they confronted each other unblinking. ‘You think you know so much about me—but did you also know that I was a virgin that night?’
‘Deus!’
She had the satisfaction of seeing Dante’s look of horror, but little else. She was ashamed of herself for telling him that way. She had never meant to use it as a weapon, and on her birthday night she hadn’t wanted to stop him. She had wanted to go the whole way with Dante, and had set out to do just that. Dante hadn’t taken advantage of her. She had taken advantage of him.
‘If this is this the truth, Karina, why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Why didn’t you ask?’
‘You—’ Dante broke off to rake his hair in the familiar gesture that made her feel guiltier than ever, for springing something else on him that he couldn’t possibly have known. ‘Why, Karina?’ His eyes were black with emotion.
‘I thought you’d laugh at me if I told you.’
‘Laugh at you?’ he demanded incredulously.
‘We didn’t have that type of relationship. We were friends. I was a tomboy—one of the gang. You were always bragging about your conquests, all of you.’
He gave a short laugh. ‘I didn’t make love to you because you were one of the gang.’
‘We were both wild that night—reckless.’ Her mouth dried as she remembered. ‘That’s how we were—how you expected me to be. I didn’t want you to think I was...soft.’
‘It isn’t soft to be a virgin. It’s a life choice, and one some people stick to because it suits them.’
Shaking her head, she disagreed. ‘Don’t make me out to be some sort of saint when I was stupid and na?ve. I wanted you. I wanted a magical end to my birthday. I didn’t think any further than that. And it was special—for me at least. It was everything I’d ever dreamed of and so much more. But then you sent me from your bed and I was devastated. How do you think I can trust you now?’
‘I made a mistake,’ Dante admitted. ‘You were savvy and smart, and we moved with the same wild group. You seemed to know it all. You were so beautiful that night and I wanted you. There seemed no point in waiting once you made it clear that you felt the same.’
‘If you’d known I was a virgin, would it have made a difference?’
‘Honestly?’ His lips pressed down as he thought about it. ‘No, not if that was what you had wanted. But I would have been more careful with you.’
He groaned as he thought back to a night of hot, hungry passion when a go-slow had never been on the cards. ‘I wanted you for all the wrong reasons. You were like a flame, drawing every man at the party towards your heat, and I had to have you. I had to claim you to show everyone you were mine.’
‘And then you had to discard me?’
‘And then I came to my senses,’ he argued. ‘I tried to save you from myself—a man who was nowhere near ready to settle down. I know you were trying to pretend you were someone else that night, and you’re doing it again. You won’t tell me what’s hurt you, because you think you can tough it out on your own. How’s that been going for you so far, Karina?’