Shadows of Desire

CHAPTER FOUR

Raymond sat at his study table, his legs stretched out. A half drunken bottle of red wine and an empty glass sat on the table in front him. He ran his fingers through his hair for the upteempt time since his meeting with the young woman that is now just a few rooms away from him. He didn’t know why his emotions were so heightened, why he kept feeling himself get lost in the deep brown of this woman’s eyes. He wasn’t s*x-starved, and he definitely wasn’t a foreigner with feelings like that. He just couldn’t understand why he felt drawn to this woman.

He took a swig from the almost empty bottle sitting in front of him and put the bottle down with a loud thud. He knew that the alcohol was not going to help and needed to get out of the house for some air before he lost his sanity. He ran his fingers through his hair again and let out a loud sigh.

Raymond thought of all that had happened in the last three hours and wanted to cuss out loudly. Heck, he wanted to punch someone, preferably Giovanni Santoro.

“That damned bastard!” he cussed under his breath. He couldn’t for the life of him understand how someone could give up his daughter as a w***e to a man who was rumored to be ruthless and dangerous.

He let out a huge huff of air as he stood up from his chair behind the desk and walked towards the window that overlooked a beach that was a part of his property. He opened the window a bit and watched the sun turn orange in the sky. It was a beautiful sight that he could relate to many things; like the color of the hair of the woman that now occupied his thoughts.

Raymond caught himself in the middle of a chuckle and scolded himself for acting like a little boy who needed desperately to scratch an itch.

“Oh, I need to scratch an itch alright, just not here and definitely not with that woman.” He muttered to himself in frustration.

A gentle knock on the study door forced him to turn around, and before he could reply, the door began to open slightly to reveal the little woman that had been the major cause of his frustration. She had now changed into simpler clothes than the one she wore earlier in the day, but it didn’t make her any less provocative.

She had a sweater on with a v-neckline that stopped above her cleavage but gave a full view of her neckline paired with a short that showed her very pretty legs. He could not help but notice that her red hair was now let loose. It fell a little below her shoulder and made her look even more inviting. Did she really come here to seduce him like her stepfather had asked her to? Was the sincerity and sadness he spied in her eyes even real? Or was it all a part of her ploy to get him? He sighed and looked heavenward in frustration.

“What do you need?” Raymond asked with a grumble, his brows creased.

Isabella adjusted from her position outside the door and moved into the study just a bit. She noticed the almost empty bottle of wine on the table. She smiled at how mature and well arranged the study was. She imagined Raymond in her stepfather’s scattered library, with his tall frame and tousled hair. The image was so funny, and she let out a small giggle before she could catch herself.

“What is so funny?” Raymond asked with a scowl on his face. He couldn’t figure out what was going on in that head of hers and wasn’t sure he wanted to figure that out.

“Are you always so grumpy?” Isabella retorted with her lips in a firm line. How could a man so big always be grumpy like a child? She pushed the thought aside and decided that the faster she says what she came for and leaves him alone, the better for both of them.

“Well, I want to say thank you for letting me stay,” she started, “And I want to let you know that I am not going to be a free loader. I am going to work as one of your domestic staff and do my best to earn the roof over my head and the meals I am going to have.” She concluded and made to look at him and quickly averted her eyes back to the ground.

“Nobody is asking you to do a thing, Isabella,” Raymond said. He took a step closer to her and could instantly smell her citrus body wash. He wanted to get closer to her. To move her hair aside and know what her skin smells like. To know how silky her hair would feel on his fingers. He knew he couldn’t though. He couldn’t let himself fall prey to whatever was going on. He instinctively took a step back.

“I know. I know you’re not, but I’d only feel at ease if I could pay for whatever I get here. And since I don’t have the money to pay, I could as well do it in kind,” Isabella said with a grimace.

“In kind, huh?” he moved closer to her, took a lock of her hair and twirled it between his fingers.

Raymond was standing so close to her that he could smell her shampoo. He could feel the heat radiating from her. One more step and he was sure he could feel the hair on her skin. He looked down and could see her eyes closing. The dark brown of her eyes was darker and they looked glazed. Raymond couldn’t figure out what it was, but he knew that something about the way she was, the way she looked right now was messing with his head. He knew he had to stop. But he couldn’t. He wanted to place a finger on whatever was going on.

Isabella’s emotions were twirling. She had never felt anything like this from being in proximity with anyone in all her twenty-two years of living; not when she held hands with Jonah, her first and only boyfriend from high school, or when he pecked her on prom night. But here she was with a strange man. His hands had not even made contact with her skin, but she could feel herself already melting away. Her legs felt like jelly. She wanted to get close to him. She wanted to know if his legs felt like jelly too. If he could feel the turmoil raging inside of him like she was right now.

Raymond stretched his other hand around her waist and pulled her closer to himself and, with the hand in her hair, he nudged her head closer. They were so close now, and he could hear her heart beating rapidly. He couldn’t figure if this was all real or if she was still acting on her stepfather’s orders. But if she was acting, then she was a damned good actress.

“You want me to?” he asked in a whisper. His voice elicited more feelings from Isabella than she thought was possible.

In reply, Isabella stood on her toes and tried to reach his lips with hers. Raymond brought his head down a little to enable her get access to him. From how close their faces were, Isabella could smell the mint in his breath and imagined tasting it off his tongue.

“I’m ready when you are, princess.” Raymond drawled out in a husky tone.

Isabella inched a little bit closer and this time their noses were touching. She placed her right palm on his chest to stable her herself and the other on his face to guide his face to hers. She could feel the heat radiating from him though his shirt and knew he felt what she felt as well.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Shawn peeked in and cleared his throat when he noticed the situation. Isabella made to move away, but Raymond held her in place. With her back to the door, she couldn’t tell who it was until he spoke.

“Sorry to interrupt, boss,” he began, and waited for Raymond’s nod of approval to go ahead. When he got it, he continued. “We just got word that Rodriguez is in Los Angeles. He is supposedly having a meeting with some Italian guys at the Mandarin club.”

Raymond gave a grunt to show that he had received the message. He didn’t for once take his eyes off the woman in front of him. This made her feel more tingles all over.

“Shall we?” Raymond asked once they were alone again.

Isabella blushed lightly at the fact that Shawn had just caught them in that position.

“Oh, there’s no need to blush. This is going to happen sooner or later. It is what your stepfather sent you down here for. We don’t want to disappoint him now, do we?” Raymond said with a devilish smirk.

Isabella felt the embarrassment wash over her. She couldn’t believe she thought this man actually wanted her, and he was not doing all of this to get repayment for her stepfather’s debt. She staggered backwards and removed her hand from his chest like it was too hurt, and it burnt her.

She couldn’t get herself to say anything. She was going to make sure she didn’t make a fool of herself any more than she had already done. She ran out of the study with tears of embarrassment blurring her vision.

“Stupid! So stupid!” she kept saying to herself.

She managed to make it down the hallway to the room that had been assigned to her. Once she was inside, she locked the door and, with her back pressed to the door, she let the tears flow,

Hot, angry tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to hold the sob in. No, she was not strong. She was just a weak girl that let everyone use her however they liked, she thought to herself. Well, at least she couldn’t blame Raymond. He was only taking what was due him.

Isabella sat there and cried a while until she could feel her body giving in to the tiredness she felt. The event of the day took its toll on her and she soon got sleepy. Her final thoughts as her eyes drooped close and as she let nature do its job were that she was going to take charge of her life from now on. And she knew how to do just that.