Taken By Storm. Cat Schield

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       Two

      “I can’t believe you lied to me.”

      Teresa St. Claire shied away from the accusations blazing in Liam Christopher’s eyes and shifted her attention toward the document clutched in his left hand. His father’s will. The venom in his eyes lanced through her, cutting deep into her heart. It was as if every bit of rapport they’d developed these last few weeks had been erased in the time it took for her to use the bathroom.

      Five minutes.

      What could possibly have gone this wrong in such a short period of time?

      When she’d slipped away from the yacht’s lounge, he’d been relaxed and in a good mood, his obvious affection turning her bones to mush.

      The last thing she expected on her return was to bear the brunt of his cold fury.

      “I didn’t. I haven’t,” she insisted, confused and off balance. “What’s going on?”

      The stack of papers fluttered as he gestured with them. “My father left you twenty-five percent of his personal stock in Christopher Corporation.”

       He’d done what?

      “That’s crazy,” Teresa murmured, barely able to breathe as she struggled to absorb that his father, her mentor, had left her a small fortune. “I don’t understand.”

      Shock and dismay made her thoughts thick and gummy. Beneath her feet, the sixty-eight-meter yacht churned placidly through the calm waters of Puget Sound, but Teresa’s equilibrium pitched and heaved. She tottered over to the closest chair and sat down.

       Why would Linus leave me anything?

      “...a year?” Liam had continued speaking, but she’d stopped listening. His voice had sounded muffled and indistinct as if she was hearing him while being submerged in water. “I need those shares back now.”

      The rage in Liam Christopher’s voice sliced through the fog surrounding Teresa. Wincing at his fury, she blinked several times to clear her vision. When she glanced his way, she wished his features had remained indistinct.

      She held out her hands in a conciliatory manner. “I missed what you said just now about the will’s terms. Could you repeat the last part?” She forced a shaky laugh. “This is all overwhelming.”

      “My father put a clause in the will that states you can’t divest yourself of the shares unless and until you spend a year on the board.”

      “What?” This additional complication on top of an already tricky situation threatened to overwhelm Teresa’s ability to maintain some semblance of calm.

      “Seems my father believed you’d be good for our company.”

      Obviously Liam disagreed.

      Anger painted fiery blotches over his cheekbones. With his eyes shooting steel and his jaw locked in stubborn lines, he vibrated with fury. The emotion highlighted his raw masculinity and set Teresa’s heart to pounding for all the wrong reasons.

       Stop it.

      The man was poised to murder her and here she was, swooning over how gorgeous he looked.

      “This whole thing is unacceptable,” Liam snarled, bringing Teresa’s attention back to the real problem. “You don’t deserve those shares.”

      “Maybe not,” she declared. But why did your father want me to have them?

      Liam grabbed the arm of her chair and leaned toward her. “It seems pretty clear to me now that you’ve been underplaying your relationship with my father all along.”

      “That’s not true,” she insisted, sick of defending herself. “Look, I have no idea what Linus was thinking, giving me the shares.”

      “Don’t you?” Liam declared, his voice low and savage.

      Teresa ground her teeth together and fought to remain calm. “We did not have an affair.” How many times would she have to make this same speech before he believed her?

       He’s never going to believe me. Just like he’s never going to trust me.

      The pair of declarations flashed through Teresa’s mind like a lightning bolt, revealing the bleak landscape of her doomed relationship with Liam and leaving an afterimage of hopelessness imprinted on her brain.

      “You’re lying.”

      Teresa wanted to shriek in frustration and despair. How had they found their way back here again?

      “What purpose does it serve me to lie to you at this point?” she asked, even as she recognized the futility of trying to reason with Liam. “Your father made a decision. I don’t understand it any more than you do. Before your parents divorced, Linus and I were close, but he was my mentor. Nothing more.”

      She never would’ve slept with Liam if she thought he hadn’t already accepted this. The disillusionment and melancholy unleashed by Liam’s dagger thrust of accusations demonstrated just how right she’d been all those years to put her focus on her career and avoid romantic entanglements. Making her love life a low priority had been the right move all along.

      “I’m going to make you give those shares back.”

      And for a moment she wished giving Liam back the shares would mean he might once again look at her the way he had when they’d made love. When that carefully constructed wall she’d raised around her heart to keep it safe and undamaged had shattered.

      “You have a year to try,” Teresa responded.

      “It’s not going to take a year.”

      Teresa met his eyes. “You can’t intimidate me into selling you the stock.”

      “Selling?” Liam released a harsh laugh. “By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to be begging me to take it off your hands.”

      * * *

      Shane arrived ten minutes early for his dinner meeting with Isabel, expecting he’d be the first one to the table, only to find she’d beaten him. As the hostess led him to the table, the first thing he noticed was that Isabel had worn her hair down. The shimmering russet curtain spilled over her shoulders in a luxurious wave. Next, he realized she’d exchanged her hotel uniform for something white and lacy.

      Bridal.

      The impression popped into his head and he ruthlessly banished it before it took root.

      “Good evening,” he said, settling into the seat opposite her, relieved to see a presentation СКАЧАТЬ