Fighting the Inevitable (8 page)

Letting her friend in had
opened up a floodgate of emotions that threatened to cripple her,
and yet she knew she had to work through her grief. Still, she felt
so alone. She knew she had Millie, but Rafe was her last blood
connection in the world and she couldn’t help but feel completely
orphaned. She knew she had to start pulling herself together, had
to start thinking about going back to work and getting on with
life, but it just felt insurmountable.

She alternated between
having good days and very bad days. On the bad days, she could
barely drag herself out of bed and even Millie couldn’t reach her.
The insistent ringing of the doorbell dragged her out of bed on one
of her bad days. Millie was at work and Rhianna tried to ignore the
bell, however, whoever was there wouldn’t give up. Cursing loudly,
she pulled on her dressing gown and all but ran to the door. She
yanked it open furiously.

“
What the
fuck do you want?!” she screamed at the strange man on her
doorstep.

Jared Hanlon actually
took a step back from the tiny red-haired woman screaming at him.
He blinked in surprise as he stared down at her. She was in her
nightclothes, and her long auburn curls were tumbling wildly about
her pretty face.

Lavender eyes flashed at
him, and he could see the deep pain within them, could see the tiny
lines of grief around her eyes and mouth. He could also see the
resemblance to Rafe in the woman before him, and he struggled not
to show any sign of recognition. “Pardon me, Miss, but I’m looking
for Rhianna Armand. Is she at home?” He kept his voice level and
very neutral.

Rhianna stared at him
open mouthed, and then suddenly blushed scarlet. She had just
screamed at the man and yet he was so polite to her, acting as if
she hadn’t just behaved like a screaming banshee. She swallowed
slowly. “I’m Rhianna Armand,” she managed to get out. “What can I
do for you, Mr….?”

“
Hanlon,
Jared Hanlon.” The gorgeous man responded. “I’m here about the
estate of your brother, Rafe Armand. Would now be a convenient time
to discuss this with you or would you prefer for me to make an
appointment for another time?”

The mere mention of Rafe
brought tears to her eyes and she looked down to hide them from
him. She stepped back and allowed the man to enter her apartment.
“Have a seat,” she said quietly. “If you’ll just give me a few
minutes, I’ll get dressed.”

She didn’t even stop to
see his reaction, she turned and fled into her bedroom and closed
her new door behind her. She doubled over and let the tears come.
There was no point in fighting them, they would come whether she
wanted them to or not. Smothering her sobs with her hands to muffle
the sound, Rhianna headed into her bathroom and closed the
door.

Jared’s enhanced hearing
could pick up Rhianna’s sobs and he sighed sadly at her pain. He’d
promised Rafe he would check up on his sister, make sure she was
okay. He had also told him he’d provide financially for the girl
until she could get back on her feet.

Rafe’s closeness towards
his sister was clearly reciprocated. The girl was in immense pain
at the loss of her brother, and he truly wished there was something
he could do to ease both of their pain, anything other than
revealing the truth that was.

He put down his briefcase
and took off his jacket when he heard the sound of the shower going
on. He headed across the open plan great room into the kitchen area
and decided to make some coffee for both of them. The next half
hour or so was going to be difficult for him, and probably
excruciating for Rhianna. A coffee seemed the least he could
do.

He was sitting at the
breakfast table sipping his coffee when she finally left her
bedroom. She stared at him for a long, silent moment, before she
crossed the room and sat down in front of him.

“
I didn’t
know what you take so I left it black,” he said as she looked down
at the cup of coffee before her.

Rhianna flushed with
embarrassment and look at him. “I’m really sorry about that
screaming stuff,” she said self-consciously. “I’m still trying to
come to terms with…you know…and some days are more difficult than
others.”

Jared smiled gently at
her, his blue eyes warm. “Think nothing of it, Miss
Armand.”

Rhianna rose and went to
put a sugar and some milk in her coffee. “Please, it’s Annie,” she
finally said as she sat back down.

“
And I’m
Jared,” he smiled. “I’m sorry if appearing out of the blue like
this upset you, Annie. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you
for a couple of weeks now and haven’t been able to. I really did
need to get the estate sorted out as soon as possible.”

Rhianna frowned as she
looked at the gorgeous man across from her. He didn’t look like a
solicitor or whatever the person was who dealt with death estates.
He had more of an untamed look about him even if he was wearing an
Armani suit.

“
You keep
mentioning an estate, Jared. I went through all of Rafe’s paperwork
and there was nothing there to indicate he’d taken out any kind of
insurance policy. He was only thirty-six years old and had no
family apart from myself. He probably hadn’t seen a need to think
about that kind of thing.”

Jared was prepared for
this, and smiled gently at her. “He’d lodged the paperwork with a
firm of solicitors,” he lied smoothly. “When his obituary appeared
in the paper they located the paperwork and approached me about the
pay-out. You were listed as the sole beneficiary of his estate
which I believe you have already cleared so therefore the cheque is
all yours.”

She nodded numbly, only
half wondering why Rafe had never told her about it. He usually
told her everything when it came to financial matters. She managed
a weak smile as she sipped at her coffee.

“
I can’t
imagine it will be that much,” she said quietly. Rafe had worked
labouring jobs. The money was reasonable but not exactly the kind
of money which would allow a huge life insurance policy.

“
On the
contrary, Annie, your brother appears to have been very concerned
about your well-being should anything untoward happen to him,”
Jared answered. He clicked open his briefcase and pulled out some
legal documents and a cheque. “Rafe insured himself for the sum of
one million dollars. I just need you to sign these legal documents
and the cheque is all yours.”

Her mouth dropped open
and she stared at him in shock. The man wasn’t looking at her, his
head staring down at the documents before him as he quickly leafed
through the sheets of paper. “Did you just say one MILLION
dollars?” she stammered, her eyes wide, her mind whirling madly as
she blinked at him.

He looked up at her in
surprise. “Yes, one million dollars,” he repeated
slowly.

“
There has to
be some mistake,” Rhianna gasped, jumping up from the table and
beginning to pace in agitation. “There is no way on the planet Rafe
could afford to take out a policy with that kind of pay-out. I know
my brother very well and I know he couldn’t have afforded something
like that.” She turned to look at Jared, her eyes narrowing at his
surprised expression.

He rose slowly. “I can
assure you, Annie, your brother did take out the policy and that
was the agreed upon amount of life coverage he requested. If you
read through the documents you can see for yourself.”

“
But how?”
she asked, clutching at her stomach. “This just doesn’t make
sense!”

Anything he was about to
say was cut off by the sound of a key in the front door and
Millicent Cooper walking in. The instant the tall, curvy dark
haired woman entered the apartment Jared’s wolf howled loudly and
he stiffened in shock.

Millie looked from her
friend’s anxious expression to the tall handsome man looming over
her and she actually growled. An honest to goodness growl erupted
from her throat, and she flew across the room to pull Rhianna
behind her protectively.

“
Who are you?
What are you doing here? And what the hell are you doing upsetting
my friend?” she barked at the man who was looking at her as if he
was completely stunned. She tried to ignore just how gorgeous he
was, how his deep blue eyes seemed to be peering right into her
soul, and how her heart was practically skipping as she took in the
sheer size of the man.

Her actions seemed to
shake Rhianna out of her shock, and she stepped from behind her
friend and placed a hand lightly on her arm. “It’s okay, Mills.
This is Jared Hanlon. He came to speak to me about an estate Rafe
left.”

Millie dragged her eyes
reluctantly from the gorgeous man before her and turned to look
quizzically at her friend. “Estate? We went through all of Rafe’s
papers. There was nothing there.”

“
It appears
he lodged the paperwork with a solicitor. Jared was just telling me
that I am now the proud beneficiary of one million
dollars.”

Millie’s eyes went round
with shock, and she slowly sat down on one of the chairs at the
breakfast table. Rhianna sat back down beside her and so did Jared
after a moment. “You’re shitting me, right?” Millie managed to get
out, shaking her head in disbelief. “How the hell could Rafe afford
a policy like that?”

Jared watched the new
woman who was obviously Millicent Cooper as per Rafe’s information.
His wolf was howling
‘mine’
repeatedly, and he was seriously
having to battle hard to calm him down while still appearing to act
normally in front of the two women.

He wanted to howl
himself. If things weren’t bad enough already, they had just become
so much worse. Here he was lying his ass off to Rafe’s sister, and
it turned out her best friend was his mate!

How could he rip the only
other person Rhianna Armand had in her life from her after all she
had been through? However, he would have to do so, because it was
impossible to deny his wolf. Millicent Cooper was his mate and he
had to have her. No one could fight the mating instinct.

CHAPTER four

Caleb strangled down a
deep sigh and tried hard not to drum his fingers on the boardroom
table. The CEO from Belmont Industries was droning on and on and he
was bored with the man. He was only half listening to the fat,
balding human, letting his mind wander to what he’d do once he
finished work.

He sensed Demetri shoot a
quick glance in his direction, and realised he’d actually started
to drum his fingers. It was a shocking loss of control, one he
wasn’t used to. His mind had been wandering constantly for weeks
now, and it was immensely irritating. He stopped immediately, and
tried to pay attention to the proposal the other company was
outlining.

“
Can you
at least try to look interested?”
Demetri said sarcastically
inside his head
. “This will be an excellent deal for the
company, Caleb. All these meetings will be for nothing if you piss
off Arthur Belmont.”

“
The man’s
a moron,”
Caleb retorted acidly.
“Look at him. He’s so full
of his own self-importance he’s about ready to explode. If you want
to kiss his ass then go ahead, Demetri. Quite frankly he’s doing my
fucking head in.”
He could feel his friend’s shock through
their mental link.

“
What the
fuck is up with you? You’ve been a bear with a sore fucking head
for the last month. I think the last time I saw a smile crack your
face was when you picked up that little redhead at the
club.”

Caleb barely stiffened,
but knew his friend would pick up the movement, though the others
in the meeting would be none the wiser. He had tried very hard to
put that night out of his head, but without much success. He didn’t
need Demetri bringing it up and waving it under his nose. The
strength of his disappointment at finding Rhianna gone when he woke
up had stunned him. Never in his very long life had he ever felt
such regret at finding a woman gone from his home. Usually he was
relieved not to have to face them the morning after.

It was different with the
delightful little redhead though. He had woken up and smiled as he
walked downstairs to find her. He had wanted to see her lying
before his fire, her beautiful face sleepy, her long auburn curls
tumbling wildly around her head.

His body had hardened at
the image, and he’d begun thinking of how he could love her
delectable little body before driving her home. Instead, he’d been
greeted by an empty room, and a fierce rage settling deep within
his soul. His feral side had kicked in and he’d wanted to start
hunting immediately.

Her scent had still been
in the air, as had the heady scent of the sex they’d had, but the
girl was gone; his throw folded neatly on the sofa. A quick check
had shown she’d even re-locked his door and posted his keys through
the letterbox. For some reason that tiny gesture had soothed a lot
of his feral nature, and had brought a slow smile to his
face.

It was a very considerate
thing to do. She wasn’t to know that no one within a hundred miles
would have dared to enter his mansion if the door had been
unlocked. Animals and humans alike could detect a dangerous
predator instantly. Even the mail carrier wouldn’t walk up his
drive, hence the reason for having a mailbox outside the main gates
as well as one in the actual door.