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He drove away from Zoe’s flat, images from their lovemaking last night replaying in his mind’s eye over and over again. Swearing loudly and furiously, he stepped on the pedal.
How the hell was he going to forget about her?
*
Hannah phoned asZoe boarded the plane.
“What happened between you and Dale Cavallo?” Hannah hissed before Zoe could even say hello. “I told you not to get involved with him.”
She swallowed. “I can’t talk now, Hannah, I’ve decided to leave for Mahé earlier. We’re about to take off.”
“Dale told me. I’ll also be in Mahé tonight, I got an earlier flight.”
Zoe sighed. “Fine, see you later.”
When the plane finally took off, Zoe relaxed and berated herself. She’d been worried Dale would follow her but realized now how ridiculous she’d been to think that. To him, she was just another conquest.
Before she’d forced herself out of bed this morning, she’d stared at him for long minutes. She’d wanted to stay so desperately, but she knew what would happen. He was going to scuttle away as soon as he could without looking her in the eye and she didn’t want to see that. Why would he want to stay? He was a Cavallo, for crying out loud; there was no way Dale would’ve wanted to repeat the previous night. He’d had his way with her. Now she’d be out of his system.
And what about her? Well, if she was quite honest, she’d been hoping for the same thing. But unfortunately she was now afraid one night with Dale Cavallo was never going to be enough. She was very much afraid there was no easy way to get him out of her system.
She tried to inhale, but her body felt too small all of a sudden. Being with him had been a magically, intensely beautiful experience, one she would never forget.
But she lived in the real world and what she was feeling, what she’d experienced last night, couldn’t be real. She was just another woman in a long line of women he’d had. There was no way he’d be interested in repeating the experience. She closed her eyes and didn’t bother to brush away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. If he were, he would have been at the airport.
*
David broke thesilence in the office.
“So, what’s wrong with the two of you?” he asked and pointed towards Dale and Darryn. “I thought you had a hot double date, but you’ve both been snarling and barking at everyone since early this morning. What happened?”
“Mind your own damn business,” Darryn growled.
Before Dale could say anything, the door to their office flew open and Caitlin stormed in.
“You and you,” she said very quietly, pointing at Dale and Darryn. “What have you done to my sisters?”
Don appeared behind her, his eyes blazing.
“What did you do to upset my wife?” he barked.
“What are you talking about?” Darryn asked, his face closed.
“Zoe left for Mahé this morning early and Hannah is also on a flight heading for the Seychelles. A week before they were supposed to go. The only reason could be the two of you. So, I repeat, what have you done to them?”
“I—” Dale began, but Darryn interrupted.
“Dale and I had dates with two other women,” he said mildly. “So the erratic behavior of your sisters is not our doing.”
Caitlin stared at Darryn, her eyes mere slits.
She turned to Dale. “Do you have anything to add?”
“No, ma’am,” he said. This was clearly not the time to tell her he’d ended up in bed with her sister.
Caitlin pointed a finger at both of them. “The last time Hannah was in Mahé, she ended up in the hospital. We still don’t know what really happened, but I know she was scared of something. If anything happens to my sisters, and I mean anything, I’m holding the two of you responsible,” she hissed, and turning on her heels, left the office.
“Well?” Don said. “Anything?”
Dale got up and grabbed his laptop. He was not going to get any work done in this chaos.
“I’ll be working at home,” he said and left before Don could say another word. Dale had had enough of inquisitive, meddlesome brothers for one day.
But Caitlin’s words left him restless and, yes, worried. He’d forgotten about the incident where Hannah had been hurt. All he remembered was his brothers’ crazy behavior. At the time, he hadn’t really paid much attention to what had really happened to Hannah. It was news to him that she’d been scared.
Hit and run? Yeah, that was what was said, anyway. Someone had nearly run her over, but the car had raced away quickly and was never found. He wondered whether there had been a proper inquiry into the incident.
He would phone the hotel tonight and make sure the sisters would be escorted if they ventured out. It wasn’t necessary for him to fly out to Mahé. Zoe knew what to look for in the hotels. His secretary had told him she’d arranged everything, but would she be all right?
Oh, why the hell was he still thinking about Zoe?
