An Inconvenient Love (Crimson Romance) (22 page)

If only she could do something to help her older brother. Paul stood with his hands crossed in front, his head bowed, in prayer or contrition, she wasn’t sure. His guard escort stood a respectable distance away, allowing the family to grieve in private. As she’d hoped, Luca had greeted her brother with openness and ease, even offering him a job once he was released if it would help him transition back to society. In fact the prison board had said he may be eligible for early parole if he continued to be an exemplary inmate.

The minister continued his reading and Sophia switched her attention to Sarah who was sobbing into the arms of her boyfriend. Andrew seemed to genuinely love her and Sophia was looking forward to getting to know him better when they visited later in the year. She really hoped her sister had found stability and happiness at last.

After shutting his Bible, the minister offered a few words of condolence to her father. Sarah’s oldest child, little Benny, held his grandfather’s hand. Silent tears coursed down her dad’s face as the graveyard attendants started to shovel dirt on her mother’s coffin. Hopefully, he’d be able to find some peace when he and James came to Italy as soon as her younger brother finished his coursework. With Luca’s love and support, she was now looking forward to reconnecting with her family—a family that had been ripped apart by tragedy, now reunited in love.

Sophia had even managed to make peace with the specter of Kathy Summers. When her soap opera had come on the telly, Sophia had been able to watch her former nemesis without a single panicked reaction. In fact, she’d been able to dispassionately prove to herself that Kathy was truly an awful actress.

Sophia ran a hand over her still flat belly, in awe to think that a little life was growing inside her—a product of Luca’s and her love. A true new beginning.

And all because the couple who hadn’t wanted love had been unable to resist its power.

Alexia Adams was born in British Columbia, Canada and travelled throughout North America as a child. After high school, she spent three months in Panama before moving to Dunedin, New Zealand for a year where she studied French and Russian at Otago University.

Back in Canada, she worked building fire engines until she’d saved enough for a round-the-world ticket. She travelled throughout Australasia before settling in London—the perfect place to indulge her love of history and travel. For four years she lived and travelled throughout Europe before returning to her homeland. On the way back to Canada she stopped in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, India, Nepal, and of course, Australia and New Zealand. She lived again in Canada for one year before the lure of Europe and easy travel was too great and she returned to the UK.

Marriage and the birth of two babies later, she moved back to Canada to raise her children with her British husband. Two more children were born in Canada and her travel wings were well and truly clipped. Firmly rooted in the life of a stay-at-home mom, or trophy wife as she prefers to be called, she turned to writing to exercise her mind, travelling vicariously through her romance novels.

Her stories reflect her love of travel and feature locations as diverse as the wind-swept prairies of Canada to hot and humid cities in Asia. To discover other books written by Alexia or read her blog on inspirational destinations, Journey to Love at
http://Alexia-Adams.com
or follow her on Twitter @AlexiaAdamsAuth.

Lalita froze.

No! It couldn’t be. Not him! Turn around, damn you, so I can see your face.

Although what she’d do if it was him, she had no idea. Run away? Rush over, kiss him till they both exploded and released five years of pent up frustration?

Lalita shook her head but the eerie sensation wouldn’t go away. The feeling of déjà vu she’d had since walking into the ballroom of Claridge’s Hotel intensified. Why did her younger sister have to choose the same venue for her engagement party that their older sister, Jane, used all those years ago? Lalita’s brain balked at any reference to that other evening. Her body, though, came alive at the memory and her heart rate increased.

Dragging in a few calming breaths, she pretended to sip her champagne. Her gaze riveted on the mystery man as he stooped to kiss one of her great-aunts. The frail old dear blushed to the tips of her snow-white hair. It appeared no age was immune to his charisma.

Perhaps he was a distant relative or a business associate she’d met once and that was why he seemed familiar. In general, her father didn’t invite company employees to family functions, preferring to keep his two worlds as separate as possible. But one or two always managed an invitation.

Or maybe he was a friend of her future brother-in-law? However, Lalita had managed to place most of them, fellow lawyers or friends from the elite social group her sister’s husband-to-be occupied. They each fit so neatly into a stereotypical pattern it was almost funny.

This man was different. Although dressed in the requisite black suit, even from a distance he appeared powerful, not caged and domesticated like most of the other men in the room. He prowled around the floor, as though deciding which prey was the tastiest.

Lalita wished he would turn around so she could be certain of his identity. His effect on the girls and women he had spoken to had been obvious. He was tall, well over six feet, and his exquisitely cut suit hugged a lean form. His jet black hair was thick and curly and skimmed his collar. And when he’d bent to kiss her grandmother in her wheelchair, Lalita had been able to admire his other fine assets.

Lalita lifted the champagne flute to her lips again to keep up the pretense she was enjoying the party. Truth was, she rarely drank alcohol these days. That night five years ago could have destroyed her future. If her father had discovered that she wound up in the rear seat of some eager junior manager’s car he never would have trusted her. And her first big break of running one of the far-flung outposts of his company may never have happened. In the five years she’d been away, though, she’d more than proved she was capable and held her position on merit and not nepotism.

“Laly, are you going to hide in the corner all evening? And how on earth did you manage to find a dress the exact same shade as the curtains?”

Lalita turned to find her older sister standing with her arms crossed above her distended belly. Jane’s petite frame was engulfed in a swath of pale green silk. Despite her enlarged waist, she still appeared delicate and almost ethereal.

“Luck, I guess. Taupe is all the rage in the orient.” Lalita hugged Jane tight until she felt a tiny kick from Jane’s stomach.

“Well, only you could carry off that shade. I’d look ghastly. The style suits you, you appear … exotic.”

Lalita glanced down at her sari-inspired dress; the color might be bland but it worked with her skin tone. It also did a good job of concealing her curvy figure, hopefully rendering her invisible to the charming, mysterious man she had been watching. Lalita had fallen for a charmer once, and she couldn’t let it happen again. She couldn’t lose her focus and give her father any reason to doubt she was capable of running his multi-national business.

“It’s so wonderful to see you. You are beautiful, pregnancy really suits you.”

“I look like Tinker Bell, who got herself in a little bit of trouble,” Jane replied with a laugh. “Come on, I’m not going to let you stand here all evening drafting quarterly reports in your head. I thought you’d be excited to talk to people you haven’t seen in ages. It’s almost as if you’ve been in exile.”

“I was in the UK a couple years ago and saw everyone I wanted to see then.” Lalita tried to peer around her sister to spot where the mystery man was now. He seemed to have moved on and she released a long held breath. When her attention returned to her sister, Jane had her hands on her hips.

“Two years ago, you were here for a company board meeting and you attended one small family dinner. One visit in five years is hardly enough. You didn’t even return for my wedding.”

“Jane, please. I’ve told you how sorry I was to miss your special day. It wasn’t my fault the biggest monsoon of the century shut down all air travel. I was at the airport for three days and by the time planes were flying again, you’d already left for your honeymoon.”

“We miss you, Laly. Family gatherings aren’t the same without your dry wit.”

Lalita put her hand out and ran it over her sister’s baby bump. “Glad to know I’m good for something. I miss being part of your and Jessica’s life too. I’m here for two weeks this visit and I promise I’ll be back for Jessica’s wedding. At least she’s not getting married in monsoon season.”

“Well, you can make it up to me now by taking the heat off me. If one more person asks if I’m carrying triplets I’ll kick them in the knee caps.”

“You, lose your cool? Now that I’d like to see. You know parties aren’t my scene. I’m only staying long enough to be polite and then I have to get back to work.” Lalita peeked at her watch, relieved to find an hour had passed and she could soon leave.

“You can’t walk out on your younger sister’s engagement party, although I seem to recall you disappearing from mine.” Jane stood in front of Lalita, blocking her escape. “Besides, even Daddy isn’t working tonight. You can afford to take the night off, too.”

The two women gazed across the room to where their father stood next to their elegant mother. His light brown hair was now flecked with grey, yet he still gave the impression of a man in his prime. “Daddy isn’t working because Mummy threatened him with divorce if he did,” Lalita clarified. “I am under no such orders.”

“You have nothing left to prove, Laly. We all know you will be the next CEO of Evans International. Can’t you take one night off to get to know your sister’s new relatives?”

“Ah, but I already know them. By marrying brothers, you and Jessica have spared me the effort. Your in-laws are her in-laws-to-be. So very convenient; I’ve met them all.”

“Believe it or not, we didn’t both fall in love with the Johnson brothers to make life easier for you. They happen to be wonderful men.”

“Not to mention handsome and with fortunes to rival yours, so you never felt you were being married for your money,” Lalita added.

“Not everyone sees money as the be-all and end-all of life. I married Robert because I love him and Jessica feels the same way about Wesley.”

“I know, Jane.” Lalita softened her voice. “Marriage suits you, and Jessica seems happy, too.” Lalita scanned the room until her eyes lit upon her younger sister, who was smiling up at the man standing next to her. “I just happened to have fallen in love with mergers and acquisitions rather than a man.” She wished she had more in common with her sisters. When the Evans women got together, Lalita always felt like she was on the outside looking in, unable to relate to her own family. At least she had business in common with her father — if he was her father.

“Ah, but with a man you can get the best kind of merger and acquisition,” Jane smiled and rubbed her baby bump. “However, I’m not going to let you stand here pretending to be a curtain until you can slip away. We only get to see you every couple of years, the least you can do is be sociable for a few hours.”

Despite her small size, Jane took Lalita’s arm in a grip that wouldn’t be denied and led her across the room to where a group of people were chatting.

Dutifully following her sister, Lalita tried to ascertain if the mystery man was still in the room. He was nowhere to be seen.

He’s probably made his conquest and retired to one of the hotel bedrooms.

Lalita squelched the sudden feeling of disappointment, surprised that it wasn’t relief she was experiencing.

God, what is wrong with me? Do I have some kind of flawed programming that makes me act ridiculously at my sisters’ engagement parties?

Forcing a bright smile, Lalita greeted her sister’s mother-in-law with exaggerated affection.

Lalita spent the next hour talking to relatives and her sisters’ various friends. At one point she and her father exchanged a glance and smiled. He was as uncomfortable as she was. They’d both rather deal with a hostile takeover bid than spend another half hour discussing the extraordinary weather or the latest political scandal.

When a photographer requested a photo of the three sisters, Lalita was once again reminded of the old children’s game,
which one of these is not like the others
. She felt positively Amazonian next to her tiny siblings. Even in three-inch heels, they barely came up to her chin. Lalita’s brown skin and black hair were in sharp contrast to their perfect alabaster complexions and white-blonde hair.

The band struck up a waltz. Before she could protest, Lalita’s third cousin, Rodney, grabbed her arm and whisked her onto the dance floor. Rodney danced with more exuberance than skill and Lalita began to feel dizzy. Round and round, round and round. One more turn and she might be sick.

• • •

Jeremy caught a hint of an exotic, sultry scent and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He’d remember that smell anywhere, it was seared in his memory. He knew she’d be at the party and had wondered whether the instant desire he’d experienced five years ago would resurface. Now, just smelling her perfume, he was transported to another evening. He hoped tonight would end better than their first encounter.

Jeremy excused himself from the heated discussion his two aged companions were engaged in about treating an aphid infestation on roses. He scanned the room. It took only a few seconds to find her. She was being flung around the dance floor by some over-eager youth. The rush of blood to his groin confirmed his suspicion that the intervening years had done nothing to cool his attraction.

Lalita was even more beautiful than she had been five years earlier. Her hair was shorter than he remembered, less girly. The new style emphasized her strong cheek bones and expressive, almond-colored eyes. She was dressed demurely but exuded a sensuality no amount of clothing could disguise. The other Evans women were blonde and petite and had always reminded Jeremy of pixies. Lalita was all woman.