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James slapped his hands against the arms of his chair.
“Don’t patronize me, boy. I am not senile. It’s my body that’s failing, not my brain. I am not talking about Bettina. It’s Devon I want you to meet.”
“Devon?”
“Don’t look so blank, for heaven’s sake. Yes, Devon. Bettina’s daughter. Your brother’s stepchild.”
“But why? Look, if you want to do something for her... give her money, whatever—”
“What I want, Ryan, is that you promise to honor the request I shall make of you.”
“I will. I’ve already told you that, sir, but what does it have to do with—what’s her name?”
“Devon,” the old man said. “And it has everything to do with her. You see, I’ve thought of a solution to all my problems.”
“What problems?”
“The ones I’ve spent the last hour enumerating,” James said testily. “Haven’t you been listening? My concern that you settle down with the right wife.”
“That,” Ryan said with a wave of his hand.
“Yes. That. And now this other thing that’s come up, your brother’s wish that his stepdaughter be provided for.”
“Grandfather,” Ryan said patiently, “I fail to see what one thing has to do with another.”
A sly smile curved across James’s mouth.
“They have everything to do with each other. You need a wife and the girl needs to be taken care of.” The old man chuckled. “It’s quite simple, Ryan. I have found you the proper wife and I want you to marry her.”
The words seemed to echo through the library. Behind him, in the fireplace, Ryan heard the pop of a damp log as the heat drew the last bit of moisture from its core.
That’s how I feel, Ryan thought dazedly, as if the last bit of air were being pulled from my lungs.
“You can’t be serious,” he said.
“I’ve never been more serious. And I will remind you that you gave me your word. You will marry Devon Franklin.”
Franklin? Ryan thought. His heart slammed against his ribs. Franklin?
“Grandfather,” he said in a strangled voice, but James shifted suddenly in his chair and peered beyond Ryan, his eyes lighting with pleasure.
“Devon, my dear. Please come in. I want you to meet my grandson.”
Even before Ryan turned, before he saw her, he knew.
There, standing in the doorway, was the same gorgeous, evil-tempered blonde who’d slugged him six hours earlier in Montano’s.
CHAPTER THREE
RYAN had heard it said that in moments of danger, time seemed to stand still.
That had never been his experience. He liked danger: it was one of the things that had made him so successful in business. When things got dicey, when other men blinked, Ryan only felt his heartbeat quicken. And then time would seem to speed up. Events, words, gestures would clip by at a lightning-quick rate, so that afterward he’d have to sit down and sort them all out.
Now, as he confronted the demure, sweet-tempered, old-fashioned girl his grandfather had hand-selected as his bride, Ryan knew for the first time what people meant when they spoke about a moment frozen in time.
He could feel each beat of his heart, hear each breath as he drew it. He could see Bettina, standing just beyond the girl, her blood-red lips moving so slowly that the words were undecipherable.
But the most incredible part of the experience was watching the tangle of emotions pass across Devon’s face. Recognition first, and then disbelief. Then shock. And finally, horror.
Whatever she had expected to find in this house tonight, he had to be her worst nightmare come true.
But she couldn’t be any more stunned than he was. Devon Franklin, sitting by the fireside with an embroidery hoop in her lap? Chatting politely with the other ladies of the sewing circle before returning home to cook her husband’s dinner?
Ryan almost laughed. It was easier to imagine Jack the Ripper hired to carve roasts at a dinner party.
But it was easy to see why James had been fooled. The girl was a chameleon. She could take on whatever coloration she needed. At Montano’s, she’d been the portrait of sexy sophistication: blond hair loose and flowing, eyes ringed with kohl, long legs flashing seductively beneath the ankle-length, velvet cape.
Tonight she looked as chaste as a nun ready to take her vows. Her silky hair was bundled back into a loose knot, her face was scrubbed free of makeup, and her delectable body and long legs were hidden beneath a gray wool dress that hung to midcalf.
And yet, if anything, she was more beautiful than before.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. Her beauty didn’t change reality. She was a woman who had learned she could get whatever she wanted by trading on her looks. It was no accident that she should turn up for a visit with an old man, pretending to be Miss Innocence.
The whole pathetic scheme was obvious. Devon Franklin had created herself to suit his grandfather’s tastes. James was not just an old man, he was an old-fashioned one nearing the end of his life, he had lots of money and only one heir.
Bettina and her daughter had seen a golden opportunity and moved on it.
A surge of anger roiled Ryan’s blood. It was not only a ridiculous scam, it was a cruel one to try and pull on a frail old man. Neither woman had thought, if they’d thought at all, that the old man’s grandson could stop them.
And Devon, he thought grimly, had not thought about him at all.
He started forward, his eyes fixed to hers, relishing the look of dread that would soon replace the horror in her face....
“Ryan!”
Bettina’s squeal of delight shattered the silence. She hurtled past Devon and threw herself at him, rising off her toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Oh, Ryan, how wonderful! I hoped you might be here tonight! How lovely to see you again after so many years.”
Ryan clasped Bettina’s forearms and set her on her feet.
“Hello, Bettina.” He smiled tightly as he took in the flushed, artfully made-up face, the hennaed curls, the lush body verging on ripeness. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it? But I can see you haven’t changed at all.”
Bettina giggled. “It’s sweet of you to say so.” Her hand went to her hair; she patted it into place as she looked at James. “Hello, Grandfather Kincaid. You’re looking well.”
“I’m still breathing, if that’s what you mean.”
Bettina giggled again. “Such a charming sense of humor,” she said gaily. She swung around and held her hand out to her daughter. “Come and give your grandpa a kiss, darling.”
Ryan watched with grim pleasure as the girl took a minute to pull herself together. Then she squared her shoulders and stepped into the center of the room.
Did she think she could bluff it out?
“Good evening, Mr. Kincaid,” she said. Her voice was softer than Ryan remembered it, but then, it would have to be, to suit the role she was playing. “Thank you for inviting us this evening.”
“Nonsense, darling.” Bettina’s smile was as bright as neon. “There’s no need to be so formal with your grandfather.”
Ryan saw something flash in the girl’s eyes. “He isn’t my grandfather, Mother.”
“Why, Devon. Don’t be so silly. Of course he is.”
“Mother...”
Devon’s voice was low but there seemed to be a thread of warning in it. Ryan’s eyes narrowed. The game was getting interesting.
“Leave the girl alone, Bettina. She can address me however she likes.” James smiled and held out his hand. “Come here, girl, and let me see you.”
Ryan’s mouth thinned. Was that the plan? To contrast Bettina’s avarice with the girl’s modesty?
He almost smiled. It was clever, but it didn’t fool him.
Devon looked at James’s outstretched hand. She wanted to look anywhere but at the man she now knew was Ryan Kincaid.
Damn, she thought, it’s not possible!
Bettina had not shut up from the instant they’d gotten into the Kincaid limousine. She’d rattled on and on about how much James Kincaid had liked Devon. She’d talked about how he’d never had a daughter or a granddaughter. And, oh, she’d said, she just knew how impressed he’d been with Devon when he’d had them to dinner the previous week; he’d never taken his eyes off her.
Devon hadn’t replied and eventually Bettina had changed the subject. Perhaps Ryan would be there tonight, she’d said, and sighed girlishly. Did Devon remember him? He’d been at the old man’s house the night Gordon had brought them there for dinner.
Devon had said she didn’t and let it go at that. What was the point in adding that all she could remember of that night was wishing the floor beneath the dining room table would open and swallow her whole? It had been horrible, hearing the contempt in the old man’s voice each time he spoke to Bettina; it had been even more horrible, watching her mother crawl.
And then there’d been Gordon’s younger brother who’d come in late, left early, and never so much as looked at her in between.
Ryan, his name was, and Bettina had babbled on and on about him all the way here tonight, about his good looks and his money and his bachelor eligibility.
“Devon!”
She looked up. Bettina was staring at her, her eyes shooting sparks, her smile fixed and feral.
“Grandfather Kincaid is waiting,” she said sharply.
Devon swallowed and started forward. Ryan was standing in her way; she expected him to move but he just stood there like a rock, his eyes cold and flat as green glass, so that she had to brush past him, her shoulder and hip feathering against his.
“It’s...it’s nice to see you again, Mr. Kincaid,” she said, and gave James her hand.
“Such cold hands, girl.” James chuckled. “What is it they say, Ryan? Cold hands, warm heart?”
“Something like that,” Ryan said.
Devon looked up. She saw the faint smile on his handsome mouth, the chill in his eyes, and she stiffened. It was time for someone to make the first move, and it might as well be she.
“Good evening, Mr. Kincaid,” she said. Her voice was steady, though her heart was thumping. “What an unpleasant surprise.”
It was like throwing a bucket of water on a red-hot stove. There was an instant’s silence, and then, with a hiss like supercharged steam, Bettina swung toward Devon, eyes wide.
“What did you say?”
It was Ryan who answered, his voice icy.
“She said that we’ve met before. Isn’t that right, Miss Franklin?”
“We certainly have. We met this afternoon, at Montano’s.”
Bettina gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t understand. Devon, you naughty girl, you never said-”
“I didn’t know. We weren’t formally introduced.” Devon’s smile was rimmed with frost. “I had no idea this—gentleman—was Ryan Kincaid.”
Bettina looked from Ryan to Devon. “You mean, you sold something to Ryan today, at Montano’s?”
Ryan gave a harsh, cold bark of laughter. Devon shot him a furious look, then turned toward Bettina.
“No, Mother. I didn’t sell Mr. Kincaid anything.”
James cleared his throat. “Ryan? I’m afraid I’m lost here, too. How do you and Devon know each other?”
Ryan smiled thinly. “I went into Montano’s today. Miss Franklin works there. Isn’t that right, Miss Franklin?”
“I worked there until this afternoon,” Devon said defiantly. “I was fired.”
“How unfortunate.” Ryan smiled and leaned back against the edge of his grandfather’s desk. “Why not tell us about it?”
Devon felt color rush into her cheeks. Damn Ryan Kincaid! Hadn’t he embarrassed her enough today?
“Miss Franklin?” His voice was silky. “We’re all waiting to hear the details. I’m sure it’s a fascinating story.”
He smiled, folded his arms over his chest and rocked back just a little on his heels. That was just how he’d looked at Montano’s, that smug, superior smile curling across his too handsome face, that arms-folded, back-on-his-heels stance that said he was far too good for the rest of the world and especially for mere peons like her.
Devon drew a deep, deep breath.
“It’s not fascinating,” she said, “it’s depressing. To think that a...a male chauvinist pig like you could—”
“Devon!”
“It’s the truth, Mother,” Devon said furiously, “and I’m not going to pretty things up just so we don’t offend the Kincaids!”
“The truth is never offensive,” James said mildly. “Why don’t you tell us what happened, girl?”
Devon spun toward him. “I’ll tell you what happened,” she said through her teeth. “I was doing my job and your grandson here decided to make an ass of himself, that’s what happened!” She flung back her head, crossed her arms over her breasts, and glared at Ryan. “And when I refused to let him insult me, I was fired.”
