Sinful Attraction (12 page)

Marcus’s face turned to stone. The black flash of his eyes warned of serious danger to come if Charles didn’t learn some manners, and learn them quick.

“Charles,” he began, his voice deathly soft.

Claudia held up a hand and shot him a look. Muttering a curse, Marcus paced to the galley and deposited the bags on the counter.

“Charles,” she said kindly, knowing very well that this could be her first, last and best chance to convince her brother to get the help he needed, “will you please consider rehab?” Marcus pivoted back around, eyes wide with astonishment. “I’ll arrange for everything. I’ve researched several facilities back in London. All you have to do is show up and try—”

“Why would I try rehab when I’ve already told you a million times that I don’t have a drinking problem?” Charles yelled, veins throbbing and distended in his temple and throat.

“You do have a problem!”

Claudia hesitated, overwhelmed by the situation and sure she was screwing it all up. There were proper ways to hold interventions, and she didn’t know enough about them because she’d only begun to research them a bit last night, when she couldn’t sleep, and she hadn’t had time to get all her thoughts together. “I mean, look at you! You’ve lost weight. You’ve aged terribly, Charles. Your color is yellow, which tells me your liver is compromised. You can’t keep a job, you don’t stay in school—”

“I’m a loser, then?” Charles’s eyes bulged and his face was turning purple, making him look as though he was on the verge of an apoplectic fit. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m saying you need help.” Claudia crept toward him, arms out, beseeching. “Let me help you.”

“That’s easy!” Charles face lit with a wild hope. “If you want to help me, you put me up here and make those calls to find me a job, like you promised.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said firmly. “I’m not doing that.”

“You’re not doing that?
You’re not doing that?
” Charles lashed out, swiping a vase off the console and sending it crashing it to the floor. “Well, what the hell am I supposed to do when
you’re
not doing that?
”

He raised his hand again, but Marcus was there, materializing from across the room and inserting himself between Charles and Claudia and speaking with a low but implacable voice.

“You need to keep a lid on your temper, son.”

“Son?”
Charles shouted, spittle flying. “You can bugger off!”

“Charles!” Claudia ran headlong into her limit. This had gone on long enough, and there’d be no big breakthrough with Charles tonight. She could see that now. That being the case, it was time for him to go, so she crossed to the door and opened it. She wasn’t going to stand by while he insulted Marcus. “My door is always open to you if you decide to get help with your drinking. But, until then...” All her turbulent emotions began to break through her calm facade, forcing her to pause and catch her breath. “It’s time for you to leave.”

Charles flung his arms wide and succumbed to a wild-eyed panic, probably because he’d never been truly on his own before. “What am I going to do for money?”

“You’ll figure it out,” Claudia told him, blinking back her tears and swiping under her nose. “Goodbye, Charles.”

Charles stared at her, panting and disbelieving.

Then, without warning, he turned on Marcus, snarling.

“This is your fault!” Charles banged his palms on the console, making the remaining vase jump and wobble. “She’d’ve never’ve found the spine for this before you showed up!”

Marcus crossed his arms over his broad chest and stood tall and strong. Unsmiling. Unyielding. “Claudia makes her own decisions. I support her. And I’ll support you if and when you decide to get help for your drinking.”

Charles barked out an ugly laugh. “
You
support
me?
You
support
me?
Well, let me tell you something, mate! I’m not the loser here—Claudia is! Do you know how many men she’s been through? Do you think you’ll stick when no one else ever has? I give you a month, tops, and you’ll walk out on her like everyone else has, but I’ll still be here, because I’m the only man who’s stuck in her life!”

Silence rang through the apartment.

Claudia discovered, to her mortification, that she was shaking.

So was Marcus, who cracked his lips open the smallest possible amount as he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides.

“Get. Out.”

Charles seemed to realize he’d gone too far. Turning back to her, he tried one final plea. Tears shimmered in his eyes, but now, finally, she saw them as the manipulations they were rather than evidence of anything genuine. And it infuriated her.

“Claudia. Sis. Please—”

“Get out!” she shrieked.

She and Charles stared at each other for one miserable second.

And then Charles dropped his head and strode out of her apartment.

She slammed the door at his back.

All the emotional pain—years and years of it, congealing in her gut and poisoning her thoughts—surged up her throat and out, emerging as a sob. Clapping her hand over her mouth, she stifled it, an effort that made her bend at the waist and took everything she had. But then she managed it and straightened, swiped the last of the angry tears from her eyes and turned to face Marcus.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she warned. “I don’t want you feeling sorry for me.”

“Sorry. Try again. This is my look of absolute admiration and adoration.”

She hadn’t expected that at all. She gave him a watery smile and ruined it by hiccuping with the ongoing effort of not bawling her eyes out.

“You admire emotional wrecks, do you?”

“I admire the strongest woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Funny,” she said, wiping under her eyes again, “I don’t feel that strong at the moment.”

“The strong ones never do. But you don’t have to put on a strong front for me. Ever. Cry if you want to. I’ve got big shoulders. I won’t think any less of you.”

“Oh, I plan to have a real crying jag in the shower later,” she assured him brightly. “That’s where I do all my best crying.”

“Whatever works. You know there are support groups for people dealing with alcoholics, right?”

“Yeah. I probably need one, don’t I?”

“Wouldn’t hurt.” He crept closer and held his hand out to her. “Is it okay if I touch you right now? I need it.”

“I need it, too. But you’re doing it at your own risk. I’m likely to sob all over your lovely starched shirt.”

“I’ll risk it.”

She took his strong hand and he reeled her in. They stood there together, their fingers intertwined, and stared at each other, assessing the damage. Looking into the unabashed warmth of his brown eyes, Claudia felt as raw and exposed as a newborn kangaroo trying to inch its way to its mother’s pouch.

She knew she was on her way to a better, safer place.

If only Marcus would tough it out with her for a little longer while she got there.

But why would he? Why would he think she was worth the trouble?

“In case you’re wondering,” he told her softly, “I don’t know or care if anything Charles said about you was true or not—”

A joyous wave of relief swept through her.

Oh, God, she thought, ducking her head and trying, harder than ever, not to cry. There she went again with the ridiculous waterworks. Was she a mess, or not?

“—as long as you don’t care that I’ve been with—and this is a conservative estimate—three-fourths of unmarried Manhattan women between the ages of twenty-two and fifty-five since Renee died.” He cocked his head, reconsidering. “Actually, we’d better make that four-fifths.”

A hysterical burble of laughter shot out of her mouth.

He pressed her hand and stared at her, unsmiling. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re both starting again. Right now. Okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, dimpling at him. “Although perhaps you’d like to start again with one of those fresh-faced twenty-two-year-olds. They have so much less baggage than I do.”

“Maybe, but I’d be bored in a day or two.”

“I hate to tell you, darling, but you may well be bored with me and my family drama very soon. Because we both know that Charles will be back to put me—”

“Us,” Marcus amended.

“—through the wringer again, and probably sooner rather than later.”

Marcus shrugged as though this prospect was no trickier than cleaning the gutters in the fall. “We’ll manage.”

She gaped at him in utter disbelief. Was he for real? And, if so, what had she ever done to deserve him? “You’re barking mad, aren’t you? That’s the only explanation for why you aren’t running in the other direction, isn’t it? You’re mentally subnormal, clearly.”

“Nah.” Pulling her closer, Marcus pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead and breathed her in. “I’m mad about you, but normal otherwise.”

“Perhaps
I
should be running in the other direction.”

He grinned, tightening his grip around her waist. “You’re not going anywhere.”

She eased closer, resting her cheek against the steady thump of his heart and closing her eyes. And then an image of Charles’s traumatized face flashed through her mind’s eye, and she grimaced.

Marcus, being Marcus, noticed. “What, beauty?”

“What’s going to happen to him?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. But he needs to figure it out for himself.”

“Did I do the right thing, Marcus?”

“I think so.”

Reassured, she nodded. “Well, then,” she said crisply, raising her head and smoothing the front of his black shirt to make sure she hadn’t gotten it too wet with any lingering tears, “shall we eat our kung pao everything and talk about how we’re going to make Judah’s auction a great success?”

She flicked her gaze up to his and discovered him studying her face with bright eyes and banked heat. With absolute concentration, he traced his fingers over her eyebrows...her nose...her parted lips.

Low in her belly, desire began to pulse.

“Marcus...?”

“Dinner can wait,” he murmured, eyes closing as he leaned in to capture her mouth with his.

Chapter 16

“W
oo-hoo!” Judah Cross said, in full rock-star regalia. He wore spiked hair, eyeliner, a sequined black jacket over his flowy white shirt and neon green hot pants, high-heeled purple cowboy boots and, last but not least, a collection of bling—rings, bracelets, necklaces and glittery scarves—that made him damn near impossible to look at beneath the spotlights hitting the stage. He grabbed the mic off the stand, leaned as far back as he could, which, thanks to his yoga-induced flexibility, was pretty far, and let loose with that wolf-howl thing he did. “Woo-hoo! You guys are amazing! Thank you to everyone who made this auction such a great success!”

Marcus, who was happy with the world and had been for the past two months since he and Claudia came back to New York and began their relationship in earnest, clapped and whistled along with the rest of the raucous black-tie crowd.

Claudia, who was clapping along with him, leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Our Judah does like his moment in the sun, doesn’t he?”

“Oh, yeah,” Marcus answered, grinning as he gave her an appreciative once-over. “I can’t take my eyes off you, though.”

It was true. Claudia had blossomed into an enhanced version of the woman he’d met on the plane, which made her almost more than his poor heart could take. Tonight she wore a strapless black dress with a heart-shaped neckline that dipped low enough to keep him in a sweet state of barely suppressed arousal, a flowing skirt with a slit up to her shapely left thigh and a pair of silvery spiked heels that set off her perfect legs. Her skin glowed, her eyes glittered and she smiled nonstop these days, reflecting his happiness back to him.

She arched a brow. “Is that so?” she murmured to Marcus, keeping her eyes on Judah.

“It’s so.”

“That’s merely because you’re wondering about the state of my knickers tonight.”

“Well, what did you expect? You wouldn’t let me see them before we left the house.”

She giggled, and he felt that slow curl of desire again.

“Will you two lovebirds knock it off?” Cooper, who stood on the other side of Claudia, glowered at the two of them, his hands deep in his pockets. “I’m really not trying to vomit tonight.”

“Honestly, Cooper, what’s wrong with you?” Claudia eyed him with a concern that Marcus shared, namely because Cooper was in bad shape these days. “I’m worried you’re sickening or something. You’re so thin, and with those bags under your eyes—”

“I’m fine,” Cooper snapped, convincing no one.

“You’re not fine,” Claudia persisted. “For the last couple of weeks you’ve—”

“Fine,” Cooper barked.

Wide-eyed, Claudia looked to Marcus for an explanation.

“Remember the woman he mentioned at the bonfire?” Marcus said in a stage whisper. “Something happened with her. Something bad, obviously.”

“I can hear you,” Cooper said sourly.

“Oh. Oh, dear. I’m sorry, Cooper,” Claudia told him, squeezing his arm for support. “If you’d like to talk—”

“Sure,” Cooper said. “As soon as I’m done gouging my eyes out, I’ll be happy to talk about it. Because I’m a talker. I loooove talking about feelings.”

“Well,” Claudia said uncertainly, exchanging a raised-eyebrow look with Marcus, who shrugged, “the offer is always open. In case you, you know, change your mind.”

“Good to know,” Cooper said tightly.

“Thank you!” Judah said again, waving the crowd to silence. “Thank you! Woo-hoo! Thank you!”

“This could go on all night,” Marcus muttered.

“Shh,” said Claudia.

“I want to thank each and every one of you—and you! And you!” Judah said, pointing to random members of the crowd. “Everyone who helped make the auction such a huge success tonight! And I want to be the first to announce that the preliminary numbers are in, and we’re looking at 54.9 million for my old costumes, guitars, books, sheet music and cars! Can you believe that?”

The crowd roared.

“Who’d’ve thought my old shit was worth that kind of dough, man?” Judah asked as the crowd quieted down to a dull roar. “This is so special to me because, as you know...” He trailed off, swiping at his eyes. “I’m gonna need a minute.”

“We love you, Judah!” someone yelled.

The crowd roared their support.

“This is so special to me because all proceeds are going to the charity that I founded and that is so near and dear to my heart—Goats Around The World. Because when you give a family a goat, they will never starve. Can I get an amen?”

“Amen! Judah! We love you!”

“And now,” Judah concluded, “I want you folks to eat, drink and be merry! We’ve got smoothies—” Just then a uniformed server with a silver tray laden with shot glasses full of smoothies in every color of the rainbow, including several dubious brown shades, elbowed her way past.

“—we’ve got buffalo burgers, bison dogs and huckleberry crisp à la mode, and the night is young! Let’s rock! Dance, people, dance!”

The crowd erupted as Judah left the stage and the band began to play a song with such a pounding bass that Marcus could feel his eardrums vibrating inside his head.

“He’s not serving liquor,” Cooper said darkly. “This place’ll clear out inside of an hour.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as the checks clear,” Marcus told him.

“True.”

The crowd dispersed a bit, giving the three of them a chance to appreciate their surroundings. They were in a tent in the backyard of Judah’s estate in the Hamptons, and the setting couldn’t have been more idyllic. Red paper lanterns strung with white lights bobbed overhead, and the tables were decorated with white cloths and beautiful wildflower arrangements that Judah had had flown in from out West.

“What an amazing night,” Claudia breathed, turning to Marcus. “I’m only sorry your cousin Tony and his fiancée couldn’t come. I’ve really been looking forward to meeting them.”

“I know. But Talia’s finishing up the last of her chemotherapy, and with her immune system so vulnerable—”

“I know. She’s not up for crowds. We should send her flowers, don’t you think?”

“I think.”

“That’s settled, then. And when will Sandro and his wife pop by from D.C.?”

“Don’t know,” Marcus told her. “We may not get the whole family together until Tony and Talia’s wedding. Getting all the Davies clan together is like herding cats these days.”

Claudia pouted prettily. “That stinks!”

“It’ll happen,” Marcus promised. “Don’t worry.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Claudia whirled to face Cooper and include him in the conversation. “Shall we dance? You need to have fun.”

“Dance with
him,
” Cooper said flatly, jerking his thumb at Marcus as he wheeled around and headed to the exit. “I’m going to find something to eat that’s not made of grass and comes from east of the Mississippi. Try not to miss my cheery face too much while I’m gone.”

“O-kay.” Claudia slid her arm around Marcus’s waist as they stared after Cooper. “Should we put away all the sharp objects, then? I think he’s a danger to himself and others.”

“Ah, he’ll be okay,” Marcus assured her. “He’ll get it figured out. And speaking of, you and I have something to figure out—what’re we doing now that the auction is over?”

“In terms of what?”

“Us.”

“I suppose we should give it some thought, shouldn’t we?” she said brightly, tugging him toward the dance floor. “Can we dance now, though? I love this song.”

Wow. Marcus tried not to get his feelings hurt, but that wasn’t exactly the answer he’d been hoping to hear. Something about being madly in love with him and dying to officially start their life together would have been much better.

That being the case, he wasn’t in much of a dancing mood suddenly.

“I don’t know,” he began.

“Miss Claudia, you are the brightest star here tonight!” Judah materialized out of the crowd, held his arms wide and pulled Claudia in for a lingering hug before turning her loose. “And I see you wore the necklace I gave you!”

Smiling, Claudia touched the pendant at her throat. “I love it. I never take it off.”

Judah pressed his lips together, trying to still the sudden wobble in his chin. “I’m real glad. That means a lot to me. You’re a special girl.”

“You’re just saying that because we earned you a ridiculous amount of money tonight,” Claudia said, laughing.

“I’m saying it because you’re a special girl. Ain’t that right, Marcus?” Judah clapped Marcus on the back.

“That’s absolutely right,” Marcus said, holding Claudia’s gaze as she beamed at him.

“Did you bring your brother?” Judah asked hopefully, looking around at the people nearest them. “I want to meet him one of these days.”

“Ah, no,” Claudia said. Judah’s face fell. “Some other time, maybe. I certainly appreciate the invitation.”

“Judah!” Summer, who was wearing a vivid blue dress and carrying Gandhi the cat in her arms while Buddha the dog and Yoda the pig followed along at her heels, edged her way through the crowd to join their circle. Squinting, Marcus took a closer look at the pets and discovered that, yes, they were, in fact, wearing matching red bow ties. “There you are! It’s almost time for your vitamin C injection. You don’t want to miss it!”

Judah frowned at her. “I’m in the middle of a party, woman! I don’t need it right this second!”

“Of course you do.” Summer set Gandhi down and they all watched the pets scamper off in the direction of the buffet table. “Think of all the germs here tonight. And your resistance is already down because of the stress leading up to the auction, so you definitely—”

Someone’s cell phone rang.

“Oh, my God.” Claudia’s eyes went wide as she dug inside her beaded clutch. “That’s me. It’s Charles’s ring.”

Marcus, who knew that she hadn’t talked to her brother since the night she kicked him out of her apartment, stiffened, going into full alert. He’d meant what he said about being supportive of her and her relationship with Charles, but, honest to God, if that idiot made Claudia cry or in any way upset her after their great success tonight, and especially after she’d been so happy for the past two months, Marcus would personally and happily rip his face off.

“Hello?” Claudia said anxiously. “Charles, is that you?”

“
Oh
....Oh, yes, I see.” She listened; the rest of them watched as her face darkened and fell. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “Okay....No, don’t worry. I’m on my way....Of course. Bye.”

She hung up, looking shaky and distraught but trying to hide it. Marcus put an arm around her waist and opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong.

“What is it, baby girl?” Judah said, beating him to the punch.

“That was a doctor. Charles is in the hospital. At Tisch,” Claudia said faintly. “With a severe concussion. He was driving his mate’s car and discovered it didn’t want to climb a telephone pole.” Her face crumpled. “The police are investigating and may file charges.”

Shit. That was worse than Marcus had feared. “Is anyone else hurt?”

“The doctor says not,” Claudia told him. “He says Charles was drunk out of his mind.”

“Let’s go,” Judah said quickly. “My driver can take us.”

“Oh, that’s so kind of you.” Recovering her crisp composure, Claudia put a grateful hand on Judah’s arm. “But we can’t ask you to leave your own party to—”

“You’re not asking. I’m volunteering.” Judah scrubbed a hand over his spiky hair, making it look crazier than it already did. “Least I can do. This is my fault anyway.”

“Your fault?” Claudia looked at him in surprise. “Judah, what on earth are you talking about?”

Judah hung his head and took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to do it like this,” he said, almost to himself.

Watching him, Marcus began to get a strange, prickling feeling along the back of his neck. “Judah,” he said warningly, “now really isn’t the time for Claudia to deal with anything else—”

Summer raised a finger, silencing Marcus before she turned to Judah. “You have to own your truth, Judah,” she said. “The truth is the truth. It doesn’t have a time. It’s always the truth, and it’s always right.”

“The truth’s time is not now, Summer,” Marcus snapped.

“Judah,” Claudia said sharply. Her color, Marcus noticed with dismay, was suddenly pale, as though all the blood had leached from her face. Acting reflexively, he tightened his hold on her waist. “What’s going on? How on earth could my brother’s accident be your fault?”

Judah raised his head, took another deep breath and fixed Claudia with his bright blue gaze. “Because,” he said slowly, “I passed the addiction gene down to him. I’m your father, baby girl. Yours and your brother’s.”