The Rogue (The Moorehouse Legacy #4)(41)

As he felt her tremble in anger, he wondered what the hell they were doing, standing in the foyer, biting at each other. How had they sunk so low so fast after last night?

He dropped her arm, held his hands up and went for the front door. “I’m sorry…I’m…Yeah, I’m out of here.”

*

Mad felt positively ill as she heard the Harley roar to life and take off.

When the thundering din faded, she covered her face with her hands and cursed. That argument just now had been her fault. She’d goaded Spike, taken out her anger on him.

But the thing was, she’d watched when Amelia had walked into the sunroom. She’d seen him appraise her half sister. And she knew what he saw.

Amelia was even more beautiful than ever. The past four years had sharpened the woman’s features and incomparable sense of style, elevating her above mere humans, like a priceless figurine on a shelf. Who wouldn’t be enchanted?

Except unlike Spike, Mad knew what was underneath the fine wrapping: all that calculation, all that casual, careless cruelty that led to a desire to play with other people’s emotions. If Richard was an in-your-face destructive force, Amelia was the kind that came in the back door, taking shots by stealth.

Which was the only reason the woman had supported Mad going on the corporation’s board. Amelia knew that would drive Richard insane.

Mad shook herself into focus and headed for the stairs, jogging up them fast. In her room, she changed into her swimsuit and then went down to the pool. As she dove into the water and set a brutal pace, she told herself she could take it. Whatever Richard and Amelia threw at her, she could take it and live.

As for Spike? She would apologize to him, of course, but she would keep her distance. Last night…last night she’d thought she knew everything that mattered about him, that the present was enough. Now, she wished she’d known him for years because trust took time and experience and they’d had neither. So in the face of having had two men she was with leave her for Amelia, it was hard to believe Spike wouldn’t do the same thing.

After all, when the second boyfriend of hers had met her half sister, Mad had told herself it couldn’t possibly happen again—she couldn’t possibly have another man she was interested in prefer Amelia. Good heavens, she’d thought back then, what were the chances of it happening twice?

Damn good, as it turned out. She’d batted two for two at getting left at the side of the road. Adding a third to the tally just didn’t seem that far out of the realm of plausibility.

As Mad thought about Amelia materializing in the sunroom’s doorway, looking like a queen, she recalled Spike’s yellow eyes going over the woman.

The pain was so great Mad flubbed her stroke and struggled to fall back into her rhythm. Those betrayals by the two other men seemed minor if she considered what it would be like to have Spike fall into Amelia’s bed. After last night, she’d be ruined if Amelia got her claws into him.





Chapter Ten




Mad climbed out of the pool an hour later. She dried herself with her towel, wrapped it around her body and then sat down on a lawn chair. The swimming had been therapeutic, clearing her mind a little, calming her emotions. Now if Spike would just let her apologize—

“I’m really pissed off at you.”

Mad jumped and glanced behind her. Spike was standing a couple of yards away on the terrace and his stance made it seem as if he were facing an opponent: his feet were spread apart and his hands were planted on his hips. His eyes were as dark as yellow could get.

“You have every right to be angry,” she said, shifting around and looking right at him. “I was going to come find you. I’m very sorry I jumped on you like that.”

He nodded, but his posture didn’t change. “Apology accepted. Now I want to know what’s doing with your sister.”

“Half sister.”

“Whatever.”

“No, the distinction matters to me.” She glanced at the house, noting the many windows that were open to the morning air. She owed him more than an apology, she owed him an explanation, but she had to have some privacy. “Do you mind if we walk a little?”

“If that’s what you need to talk, I’m all for it.”

As he crossed the flagstone, she shoved her bare feet into her running shoes and left the laces unbound.

“You’re going to trip,” he said.

She bent down and made two hasty knots.

As they walked over the bright green grass to the flower beds, the sun bore down on them, the heat seeming oppressive rather than soothing.

“Amelia…” She cleared her throat. “Amelia is…”

God, she couldn’t find the words.

“Come on, Mad, do you actually believe I’d make a move on her?”

She stopped and met him in the eye. “Twice. It’s happened to me twice before. So when a man I…like is around my half sister, my instinct is to cut my losses. Not your fault and I’m honestly sorry.”

He frowned. “How can you think I’d screw you over like that?”

“I want to trust you. I really do. It’s just…seeing her this morning made me realize how little I know you. I mean, I wish we’d spent more time together. Or that I had something, some kind of context for you like more details about your life, where you’ve been, what you’ve done.” As his face tightened, she cursed softly, realizing how she must be coming across. “Ah…hell. I don’t mean to put this back on you again. Listen, Amelia and I and Richard, we’re a bad combination and our roles are set like bricks in a wall. I’m very sorry you’re tangled in it.”