SEDUCING MY BESTFRIEND'S DADDY

Chapter 10

The atmosphere at the Vargas estate had shifted from a cold war to a high-voltage standoff. After the gym encounter, Alejandro didn’t just avoid Emily; he treated her like a radioactive object. He communicated through Sofia or through clipped, one-word sentences that felt like shards of glass. But beneath the silence, the air between them was heavy with the secret of what had happened on that weight bench.

"Pack your bags, girls," Sofia announced two days later, her eyes bright with excitement. "Dad’s taking us to the Lake House in Geneva for the long weekend. Just the three of us. No board meetings, no interns—just sun and the water."

Emily’s heart gave a treacherous leap. The Lake House was a secluded, cedar-and-glass masterpiece tucked away on a private point of the shore. It was smaller than the Chicago mansion, more intimate, and infinitely more dangerous.

Alejandro stood in the foyer, leaning heavily on his silver-headed cane as the driver loaded the SUV. He looked exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes deeper than they had been a week ago. He didn’t look at Emily as she passed him with her duffel bag, but she felt his gaze burn into the small of her back the moment she stepped onto the driveway.

The drive to Lake Geneva was three hours of exquisite torture. Alejandro drove, his eyes fixed on the road, while Sofia chattered in the passenger seat about the parties they could host. Emily sat directly behind Alejandro. From her seat, she could see the salt-and-pepper hair at the nape of his neck and the way his shoulder muscles bunched beneath his linen shirt every time he glanced in the rearview mirror and caught her eye.

They arrived as the sun was beginning to dip, turning the surface of the lake into a sheet of liquid copper. The house was beautiful—all natural wood and massive windows that invited the outside in.

"I’m going to go get the boat ready!" Sofia cheered, running toward the dock the moment the car stopped.

Alejandro and Emily were left standing by the trunk of the car. The silence was broken only by the sound of the cicadas in the nearby trees.

"This was a mistake," Alejandro said, his voice so low it was almost swallowed by the wind. He grabbed Emily’s suitcase, but he didn't hand it to her. He held it between them like a shield. "I should have sent you home. I shouldn't have brought you here."

"But you did," Emily countered. She stepped closer, the scent of the lake mixing with the sandalwood of his skin. "Why did you bring me, Alejandro? If you’re so afraid of me, why keep me so close?"

"Because I am a weak man," he hissed, finally looking at her. The pain in his eyes was raw, a jagged wound that hadn't begun to heal. "And because I’d rather be in hell with you than in a heaven where I can't see your face."

He shoved the suitcase toward her and turned, heading into the house with a limp that was more pronounced than usual.

Dinner was a quiet affair on the deck. Sofia was exhausted from the sun and retreated to her room early, leaving Alejandro and Emily alone as the first stars began to pierce the dark velvet of the sky.

Alejandro stood at the railing, a glass of Scotch in his hand, staring out at the black water. The wind had picked up, cooling the humid air, and the first distant rumbles of a summer storm echoed across the lake.

"You should go inside," he said, not turning around. "The weather is turning."

"I like the rain," Emily said, stepping up beside him. She was wearing a simple, thin silk slip dress—no bra, no jewelry, just the fabric clinging to her as the humidity rose.

Alejandro’s grip tightened on his glass. He could see the outline of her body in the peripheral of his vision, a pale ghost against the dark wood of the deck. He took a long, jagged swallow of his drink.

"Sofia is asleep," Emily whispered.

"I know."

"And the guest rooms are on the other side of the house from yours."

"I know that, too," he growled. He turned to her, his face a mask of beautiful, tortured restraint. "What do you want from me, Emily? I’ve given you my dignity. I’ve given you my peace of mind. What is left?"

"Everything," she said, her hand reaching out to touch his chest, right over the steady, heavy beat of his heart. "I want everything you haven't given anyone else."

A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, followed almost instantly by a crack of thunder that shook the deck beneath their feet. The first heavy drops of rain began to fall, splashing against the wood and soaking into Emily’s thin dress.

Alejandro didn't move. He watched the water drench her, the silk becoming transparent, sticking to her skin like a second layer. He looked like a man watching his own execution.

"The storm is here," he whispered, his voice disappearing into the wind.

"Let it come," she replied.