Billionaires' Secrets: Volatile Chemistry

Volatile Chemistry Part 13

Dominic leaned back in his chair. Sipped his wine. His big body filled the chair, hiding it completely. "I didn't come here to make love with you again, or even to sleep with you. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to do those things...." His low voice made her belly quiver. "But I can show some restraint."

Did she want him to show restraint? Her skin hummed at the memory of his mouth moving over it.

Around Dominic she seemed to lose all sense of proportion. And it was happening again because she needed to tell someone about those damn letters and he was here.

She sucked in a shaky breath. "I did read the letters on the train."

He frowned and leaned forward. "And?"

She shoved a hand through her hair. Dominic's eyes wandered to her lifted chest, then blinked innocently back to her face. Her skin heated.

"Tarrant paid my father a hundred thousand dollars."

"That's not peanuts." Dominic sipped his wine.

"And it wasn't Tarrant's idea." She paused and inhaled. "It was my dad's." Butterflies tickled her stomach. "He did it for me."

Dominic's eyes narrowed. "To get you the job?"

"No! I was still in grad school at that point. Had no idea what I'd end up doing. He did it to pay off my college loans. In one of the letters he tells Tarrant it would mean a lot to him for me to start out life without debt to worry about. To be able to follow my dreams without owing anyone anything."

"Damn." Dominic sat back in his chair. "And here you are, turning your life upside down to get back the work he sold to buy your freedom."

She blinked. Bit her lip. "Yes."

"So now you'll agree with me that he'd want you to drop the whole suit idea. Right?"

"It's obnoxious to ask a question that assumes a particular answer."

He put his elbows on the table. "You already know I'm rude. It's part of my charm. And I do want you to agree with me."

"It's not that simple."

He stared at her, his eyes almost black in shadows from the overhead light. "Your mother."

She nodded. "The only time she brightens up and shows any interest in life is when I talk about reclaiming dad's work. If I give up on that, she'll give up on life."

"What's wrong with her? How did it start?"

Bella hugged herself. Her skin felt cold. "After my dad died early last year, she just seemed to disconnect from everything. From everyone." She inhaled slowly. "I had a job at a nanotechnology lab in Northern California. I was totally immersed in my work, at the lab almost eighteen hours a day. Then I got a phone call from our neighbor that she hadn't been eating. That she didn't answer the phone. She was acting strange."

She shivered. "So I flew back here and found she was dehydrated and almost starving. She hadn't been out of the house for three weeks." Her voice started to crack. "I called a doctor. I didn't know what else to do. And they had her committed right away." Hot tears spilled onto her cheeks. "I shouldn't have called. I shouldn't have let them take her. She went into the hospital and never came out." Her words emerged on a shaky sob. "What if she never leaves?"

She covered her eyes. She was so ashamed of what she'd done. Handing her own mother over to an authority figure as if she were a stray dog she'd found in the yard. She was anxious to get back to the experiment she'd left behind. She'd figured a week or two later, her mom would be better.