Free His Desire by Ann King Page A

mind.
    “ Okay, sir. Over
breakfast,” she whispered.
     
    The next morning, Carlos
sat opposite Elsie on the beautiful solarium overlooking the Falls
while enjoying an exquisite breakfast fit for royalty. The view of
the water was breathtaking but the view of Carlos was even more
captivating. Only Carlos looked disturbed as if he had the world on
his shoulders. His BlackBerry that was
lying on the table near his plate buzzed and he reached over to
answer it.
    “ Yes… Good. Keep me posted.” He hung up and threw the phone
back on the table.
    Elsie looked up into his
eyes expectantly but Carlos’s eyes were fixed on his plate as he
finished up his breakfast. Was he upset with Elsie? Was he having
second thoughts? What on earth was that short phone call
about?
    Elsie couldn’t bare the
silence anymore. “Is everything okay?”
    “ Red was arrested this
morning. Security cameras in the corridors caught his assault on
you when he kidnapped you.”
    Elsie dropped her fork on
her plate. Her mouth fell open. “That’s a good thing, isn’t
it?”
    “Yes.”
    “You look upset.”
    “ Elsie, I’m a complicated
man. My life is complicated.” He then dropped his fork on his plate
and gazed out at the falling blue water outside the window which
glistened under the morning sun. Mixed feelings surged through her
as she observed his body language.
    “I…I know.”
    “ No. You don’t know
everything. Red’s arrest is going to draw some….media attention and
he’s going to talk.”
    “About?”
    “ The family business. Or
should I say, the family’s dark secrets. He’s also trying to tie
this kidnapping to the Kincade’s name. The last thing we need is
this kind of publicity.”
    Elsie felt her stomach
plunge. Was this all her fault? Why hadn’t she looked behind her
last night when she walked out of the elevator? Why wasn’t she more
careful?
    “ It’s not your fault,
Elsie,” Carlos said as if he could read her mind. Boy, they really
did have some sort of cosmic connection. His voice sent chills up
her spine. His expression then transformed from cold and distant to
warmth as she noticed the corner of his lips curl into a charming
grin. So he wasn’t upset with her. Relief washed over her. She just
couldn’t tell with his deep private thoughts or his volatile mood
swings. She would have to learn to get used to his
personality.
    “I feel as if I’m
responsible.”
    “ Nonsense. If it weren’t
you it would be someone else or something else. They know that I
have an interest in you and they’re trying to use you to get to
me.”
    “Oh,” Elsie’s heart hammered in
her chest. She felt like a liability to him.
    He leaned back in his chair
observing her with his delicious grey eyes that seemed to sparkle
in the morning sunlight coming in from the floor to ceiling
wall-to-wall window of the solarium.
    “As you probably know by now
there are others trying hard to remove me from Kincade’s.”
    She noticed he looked different
from his brother. He was more tanned and had sexy dark features.
His brother was pale with blond hair and blue eyes. Was this
anything to do with his birthright?
    “ My mother was the young
Italian help when my father…when John Kincade, Sr. made a move on
her. The story I was told was that John seduced her and got her
pregnant while he was still married to my step-mother.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry, Carlos.” She
felt a stab of pain in her heart for Carlos. Here he was in the
midst of an ugly family scandal that was not his fault.
    “Don’t be. It’s made me who I am
today.”
    “That’s why you often cheer on
the underdog,” she assessed.
    He nodded. “I was an outcast.
Had my father’s eyes. Rumors started around the household when my
mother, the live-in help who lived in the maid quarters would bring
her little son to join in birthday parties or play with the Kincade
children.”
    Elsie listened attentively. She
could feel his hurt.
    “Anyway, John, my half-brother
had