1925 - Millionaire's Secret Seduction by Jennifer Lewis Page A

Maybe blood really was thicker than water? He felt relief that he’dcome clean about Bella, yet managed to protect her interests, at least for now.
    He’d be able to look himself in the mirror while he shaved tomorrow morning.
    Or would he?
    He stepped out into the streetlights of Fifth Avenue and started walking back to the Hardcastle building.
    Bella had thought they had a “deal.” She’d traded a kiss for it. Maybe even given him her body to keep him quiet.
    And memories of that lush, willing body stirred his groin.
    She’d been as turned on as he was. Hot, slick and ready.
    He pulled his tie off and shoved it in his pocket. The night air felt sticky and oppressive.
    Every time they touched, a surge of rough, unregulated voltage shot through him. He could picture her right now, lips wet and parted, eyes glazed with passion, her body writhing against his.
    He shrugged off his jacket and threw it over his arm. Apparently he’d drunk more than he thought. If he didn’t know better he’d imagine that was her walking along the sidewalk right toward him, curvy hips swaying to an internal rhythm that stirred his blood.
    Wait a second.
    He squinted. That damned dress. It was her.
    She looked entranced, her lovely face angled skywards to the streetlamps and the stars. Instead of holding her briefcase in her hand, she clutched it to her chest like a newborn babe. Her springy pace suggested that she was almost ready to break into a dance of joy.
    He inhaled to call her name—then froze.
    Her joyful expression. Her bouncy stride.
    She’d found what she was searching for.
    He turned so his back was to her, bent his head and examined his watch until she went past him, heels beating rhythmically on the sidewalk.
    Then he started after her, his stride silent in the shadows.

Six
    B ella pushed through the doors leading down into Grand Central Station. If anyone was watching, Dominic would have looked pretty suspicious pacing after her like a hungry panther, sweat dampening his white shirt.
    She scanned the train schedules up on the big board, then hurried off to a track. He stayed far enough behind that she didn’t spot him. Climbed on the train two coaches back from her.
    He bought a ticket from the conductor on the Metro North train and since he didn’t know where she was getting off, he paid all the way to the end of the line. At the 125th Street Station he leaned out the door and scanned the platform to make sure she didn’t get out, then he settled in for a long ride because the first stop wasn’t for over half an hour.
    When the train chugged over a bridge into the Bronx, his mind cleared enough to wonder what he was doing.
    I’m watching her.
    Just like he’d promised his father.
    Funny how he was thinking of the old man as his father all of a sudden, instead of the infamous Tarrant Hardcastle. He was still an arrogant jerk who’d been a deadbeat dad, but now for some reason Tarrant was his deadbeat dad.
    Dominic shoved a hand through his hair. He wanted to call his mom and ask her about Tarrant’s visit. But how would he explain the rattle of the train? Yeah, Mom, I’m trailing this girl.
    She’d love it. Always after him to find someone nice. Dropping hints about grandchildren, and lamenting over his lack of interest in a meaningful relationship.
    The man in the seat in front turned around and he realized he’d laughed out loud.
    Bella wasn’t so nice by most people’s standards. Holding a job with a hidden agenda to undermine the company. Kissing the boss’s son to win his silence.
    Both strategies doomed to failure.
     
    When she got off the train, he stepped out after her. He skulked in the shadows as she walked up to a light-colored car and unlocked it. The taxi driver he approached didn’t even blink when he asked him to follow her.
    This was crazy. He should just confront her and ask her if she’d found the papers she needed. Make her hand them over because they were Hardcastle property.
    But he