Page 37 of Black Tie Billionaire
Thirteen
Shay shrugged into her suit jacket, studying herself in her room’s cheval mirror. The slim fit of the gray, pin-striped jacket and pencil skirt were flattering, emphasizing the curves of her waist and hips. The cream blouse with the throat-to-waist ruffle lent it a feminine flair. She’d gathered her hair into a loose bun and fastened a pair of her mother’s favorite diamond studsto her ears. The whole look was professional, fashionable...
And armor.
Yes, she needed it today. Hopefully, no one looking at her would guess that the previous night she’d had hot, wild sex in the back seat of a car.
God. She closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. What had she been thinking? But that was just it. She hadn’t been.
Groaning, she turned from the mirror.It would’ve been so easy to stay in bed today and burrow under the covers. Just pretend last night hadn’t happened. After all, that was her forte lately. Pretend to be in a relationship. Pretend to be in love with Gideon Knight. Pretend she hadn’t just thrown all common sense and family loyalty out the window and screwed the man who was blackmailing her.
Regret weighed down her chest, so shecouldn’t inhale without feeling its bulk. Not regret about the sex. It had been as cataclysmic as the first time, and though it’d been foolish to give in to him, she didn’t have remorse over experiencing passion.
No, it was what happened after that earned her regret. For a time, she’d forgotten that Gideon hated everything and everyone associated with the Neal name. That he planned on takingdown her brother if she didn’t capitulate to blackmail. That they stood on opposite sides of a Hatfield-and-McCoy-esque feud.
But as soon as the pleasure ebbed from her body, he’d returned to his aloof, distant self. She’d practically felt the wall slamming up between them. He’d been gentle when he’d shifted her off his lap and adjusted her dress, but unlike the hands that had cupped her breasts,tangled in her hair and stroked between her legs, his touch had been cold, almost clinical.
Other than asking if she was okay and wishing her good-night when he’d dropped her off at home, he hadn’t spoken. And she’d never felt so vulnerable, so...alone. Not even after the night of the blackout.
And to think she’d been so close to telling him she was Camille. That would’ve gone over well.Not.
Well, lesson learned. Last night was a mistake she wouldn’t repeat. She refused to let herself be vulnerable to him again. Get through the next six months. That was her goal. Protect Trevor from Gideon, come into her trust fund, then leave RemingtonNeal to concentrate on her own business.
The days of being under the thumb of the men in her life would come to an end.
To achievethe dream of independence, she could endure six more months of Gideon Knight.
With a sigh, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Well, no time for breakfast, and she could grab coffee at the office. If traffic cooperated, she would just make her nine o’clock meeting with the event planners for RemingtonNeal’s huge annual holiday party.
Grabbing her coat and purse, she descendedthe steps, her mind already locked on the multiplying items on her to-do list today.
“Shay.”
She halted at the front door, shooting Trevor a hurried smile as she set her purse on the foyer table to slip into her coat.
“Morning, Trevor. I’m sorry I don’t have time for breakfast. I have a—”
“You’ll need to make the time. I need to talk with you immediately. And it’s too importantto put off. I’ll meet you in the study.” He didn’t wait for her agreement, but pivoted on his heel and strode toward the rear of the house.
Bemused, she stared after him. Removing her arm from her coat sleeve, she tossed the garment over her purse and followed her brother.
“Shut the door, please,” he said, when she entered the room he considered his domain. As their father had done beforehim.
Trevor hadn’t changed much in the room. Except for the dark chocolate office chair that sat behind the massive oak-and-glass desk, everything else was the same. The tall bookshelves that lined two of the walls, the heavy floor-to-ceiling drapes, the two armchairs flanking the big fireplace. She’d hated being called into this room when her father had been alive; it’d meant she’d somehowscrewed up. And she didn’t like it any better now with her brother.
“What’s going on, Trevor?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Another thing she hated. Feeling defensive.
“Why did I have to find out about you and Gideon Knight from Madison and her father?” he snapped, stalking around his desk. “Do you know how humiliating that was for me, receiving that phone call?”
Ofcourse. How could she have forgotten about Madison and the senator?
Gideon, that’s how. Gideon and sex in the back seat of his car.
“I’m sorry, Trevor,” she said, truly remorseful. She’d fully intended to tell him about her and Gideon’s “relationship” when she arrived home last night, but it’d slipped her mind. “I wanted you to hear about us from me first.”
“Us?”he sneered, his handsclosing on the back of the chair several feet from her. “There shouldn’t even be anus. I told you to stay away from him,” he reminded her with a narrowed glare. “Do you remember? It was when you told me you barely knew him and there was nothing going on between you two.”
“Like I told Madison last night, the fund-raiser wasn’t the place to discuss my personal life. Especially when you didn’ttry to hide your hostility toward him. I’ve been seeing Gideon for a while now, but because of who we are, we decided not to make our relationship public until we knew we were serious about it.” Great. Now she was lying about her lie. “But like I also told the senator, I don’t need to run my relationships by you for permission. I did intend to give you thecourtesyof telling you about Gideonlast night. So again, I apologize if you were embarrassed discovering it from someone else.”
