Page 17 of Untamed Billionaire's Innocent Bride
“I’m currently delivering you to the London headquarters of Combe Industries,” Lauren replied as crisply as she could manage. Especially when all she could seem to concentrate on was his sardonic mouth. “Once there, you and I will wait for further instructions from Mr. Combe.”
“Instructions.” Dominik looked amused, if darkly. “I can hardly wait.”
Lauren gripped her mobile in her hand and made herself stop when she realized she was making her palm ache.
“Mr. Combe is actually not in England at present,” she said, and she didn’t know why she was telling him this now. It could have waited until they were out of this car. Until they were safely in the office, the place where she felt most at home. Most capable. “He is currently in Perth, Australia. He’s personally visiting each and every Combe Industries office.”
If Lauren had expected Matteo to greet the news that she’d found his brother by leaping onto a plane and heading straight home to meet him, she kept that to herself. Because Matteo showed no sign of doing anything of the kind.
And it felt disloyal to find that frustrating, but she did.
“The great saint is not in England?” Dominik asked in mock outrage. “But however will we know how best to serve him if he isn’t here to lay out his wishes?”
“He is perfectly able to communicate his wishes at all times,” she assured him. “It’s actually my job to make certain he can, no matter where he is. Don’t worry. You’ll know exactly what he expects of you.”
That was the wrong thing to say, but she only realized that once the words were out there between them. And Dominik’s eyes gleamed like silver as he gazed at her.
“Between you and me, little red, I have never done well with expectations.” His voice was much too low for her peace of mind. It was too intimate. Too...insinuating. “I prefer to blaze my own trail.”
“There is no blazing of trails in the San Giacomo family,” she retorted with far more fervor than she’d intended. But she tried to keep her expression impassive when his dark brows rose. “The San Giacomos have existed in some form or another for centuries. They were once a major economic force in the Venetian Empire. While their economic force might have faded over time, their social capital has not.”
“They sound marvelous,” Dominik murmured. “And wholly without the blood of innocents on their hands, I am sure.”
“I couldn’t say what the San Giacomo family did in the eighth century, of course. But I think you’ll find that Matteo Combe is a good and decent man.”
“And you his greatest defender,” Dominik said, and there was something less lazy about his voice then. “He must pay you very well indeed.”
Her breath caught, but Lauren pushed on. “Whether you like expectations or do not, I’m afraid that the blood in your veins means you must meet them, anyway.”
That dark amusement in Dominik’s eyes made them bright against the rain outside. “Must I?”
“There are more eyes on the San Giacomos now than usual,” Lauren said, and wasn’t nervous. Why would she be nervous?
“It would seem to me that those eyes are more focused on the Combe side of the family,” Dominik said after a moment. “Less Venetian economic might and more Yorkshire brawler, if I remember correctly.”
Lauren didn’t instantly bristle at that, which struck her as evidence of more disloyalty on her part.
“I’m not sure that there’s any particular model of behavior for how a man is expected to act at his father’s funeral,” she said quietly. “Especially when his mother died only weeks before.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Dominik replied, and that voice of his wasn’t the least bit lazy any longer. “Having never met anyone who would claim me as a son in the first place.”
Lauren felt as if he’d slapped her. Worse, she felt a flush of shame as if she deserved the slap he hadn’t actually given her.
“Why don’t we wait to have this argument—”
Dominik laughed. “Is this an argument? You have a thin skin indeed, little red. I would have called this a discussion. And a friendly one, at that.”
“—until we are in the office, and can bring Mr. Combe in on a call. Then he can answer all these questions instead of me, which seems more appropriate all around.”
“Wonderful,” Dominik said, and then his mouth curved in a manner she could only call challenging. “Kiss me.”
And she had truly convinced herself that the bargain they’d struck had been some kind of hiking-inspired dream. A Hungarian-woods-inspired nightmare, made of altitude and too much wildlife. She had been sure it had all been some kind of hallucination. She’d been sure.
You’re such a liar,a voice deep inside her told her.
“You can’t mean now. Here.”
“Will you make me say it every time?” Dominik’s voice was soft, but the look on his face was intense. Intent. “When, where and how I want. Come now, Lauren. Are you a woman of your word or not?”