“Yes,” he said impassively. “Do you?”
“No.” Otto held grudges against lots of people for reasons she couldn’t fathom. Not so long ago, he’d reproached her for speaking French, seeming angry at that entire country. Maybe because of his mistress? The woman who’d hidden his daughter from him?
“Did you ever tell Otto that you and I—”
“No,”she interrupted, snapping at this vexing man. She really wished she didn’t blush every single time he referred to that day in London.
“Axel didn’t, either?”
“Otto would have said something by now if he knew.” It would have been something cutting enough to slice her to juliennes. “I’ve literally spent years feeling sick, you know. Waiting for you to tell Otto how slutty I was that day. I hope you enjoyed that, forcing me to live in fear.”
“We’re going to clear this up right now.” He hitched forward on the cushion and set down his drink with the clack of a judge’s gavel. “First of all, I don’t slut-shame. Most people like sex.Ido. It’s a nonstory that you do, too. And I would never discuss that day with anyone because my private life is exactly that.”
“Then why—”
“I’m not finished.” He held up a finger. “I didn’t realize you thought I was holding it over you. I thought you must have told Otto by now. Or that Axel had decided I needed punishing on your behalf, since Vorstoben was going so far out of its way to grind our profit margin under their heel. But this is the truth, Mira. What happened in London took me by surprise, too.”
“How?Youknew who I was.”
“I did. And I could have been more clear about my relationship with your father.” His cheek ticked while he stared at her so hard she felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. He abruptly looked away. “But I only meant to have a drink with you.”
“You asked me to dinner! You wanted me to go to your room. You wanted to have sex with me so you could throw it in Otto’s face!”
“Then why haven’t I?” he retorted.
“Because Axel caught us!” But even she couldn’t fully square that logic.
She’d spent the last three years feeling used by Rocco, but what had he really done? Maybe he’d hidden his rivalry with Otto, but their kiss had been consensual. The shame she had carried around like a box of broken glass was all hers, made heavier and more ungainly by her confusing relationship with Otto. She’d been terrified that Otto would find out and dislike her more than he already did.
But his dislike had nothing to do with her. She was merely the stand-in for Otto’s contempt for her mother.
She pushed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets, trying to move past this awful, awful revelation that kept tangling her feelings into knots.
“I wasn’t planning to kiss you that day,” Rocco said.
“Then why did you?” She dropped her hands into her lap.
His face blanked as though her question didn’t make sense. He expelled a tight laugh then pointed across the room. “Go into that bathroom and take a look in the mirror.”
“Oh, please.” She made every effort to keep her appearance flawless. It was a defense mechanism against Otto finding fault, but she was very average under the salon products and carefully applied makeup and designer clothing. “No. You knew I was—”Easy.
Shehadn’t known she was easy, though. She wasn’t. Only for him.
“What?” he prompted.
“You came on to me the second I walked in here,” she reminded him with a scuff in her throat. “Like you thought all I wanted was sex.” Angry heat pressed behind her eyes, making it hurt to meet his gaze. “Like it’s all I’m good for.”
“I thought you were here for rebound sex.” His mouth twisted with self-deprecation. He reached for his drink.
“Seriously?” Her heart lurched. “And you were willing to be used for that?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s unfinished business between us.”
Because she had finished and he hadn’t? She closed her eyes in mortification.
“We can circle back to that.” His tone was almost gentle, as though he pitied her enough to guide their conversation back to less sexually charged waters. “You’re not here to get back at Axel, you say. It’s Otto you want to punish.”
“Yes.” Her fingers absently searched for the ring she’d removed. “Will you tell me why he’s been coming after you all these years?” She lifted her gaze.
