Free His Desire by Ann King Page B

found out when he overheard his parents arguing over my
presence. Mother and I were soon not welcomed into the household
after my father was forced to fire her. She threatened to go to the
media about the situation and my father took her back in along with
me and we lived in the guest house and were kept out of sight.”
    “Oh, Carlos, that’s…awful.”
    “There are worse things that
could happen to people.”
    “I know…but it couldn’t have
been easy on you as a child.”
    “ No. I looked at people
differently. Soon enough, mother got ill and died when I was ten
years old and father took me into the main house but I was always
ill-treated by the others in the household—except my grandfather. I
was made to feel inferior. I felt like an outsider, intruder. If
anything went missing in the mansion, I would get blamed and
punished for it like the designated scapegoat, even though I had
nothing to do with the incident.” He took a sip of his glass of
orange juice then placed the cup back on the table. His elbow
resting on the back of the chair as he leaned back. Anger gleamed
fiercely in his sinfully sexy grey eyes.
    “ So there you have it. I
decided then that I would be different that I would not be treated
as second class anymore or the evidence of my father’s
infidelity. At least the man that I knew
to be my father.”
    “What?”
    “You see after my mother had
died, my father’s wife demanded that he get rid of me and insisted
on a blood test.”
    “What was the result?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “ But your brother John
knows? ”
    “That’s right. It was kept in a
safe for a while.”
    “Oh, I see.”
    “And that’s why I grew
suspicious when this will stipulation surfaced from my
grandfather.”
    “ Do you think it has to do
with John…your brother?”
    “I know it has.”
    “ No wonder you don’t trust
anyone.” Elsie gazed out at the Falls outside the window of the
solarium. The water looked breathtaking and refreshing as it poured
over the enormous cliff. They were in front of one of the world’s
greatest natural spectacle and yet in the midst of an absorbing
conversation unable to fully take in the beauty of the
waterfalls.
    “You see, my grandfather saw
that I worked hard in the company and he didn’t care either way
whether I was blood or not. My brothers always had life easy and
grew up thinking they ruled the world. Rumor had it that he was
going to leave me a sizeable portion of the company.”
    “ I see. And John, your
brother and namesake thought he should have the largest share of
the company.”
    “Precisely.”
    “So that’s why he’s trying to
prove that you are not really family?”
    “Yes. That was plan B.”
    “Plan B?”
    “Yes. Everyone knew how I felt
about marriage so it was so odd that my grandfather’s will would
include the marriage clause before my next birthday.”
    “ Oh, I see. That’s why you
asked me to marry you,” she whispered.
    “ Yes. That’s when I knew I
was bugged because the word got out fast.”
    “ What?” Heat rushed to
Elsie’s cheeks. Oh, God! Did the whole world know what transpired
between them in Carlos’s office…and at her apartment? How
humiliating. Carlos was right. How could she live this kind of life
where her privacy would be invaded from every direction?
    “You can’t say I didn’t warn
you. I knew you would not take too kindly to what I had to
say.”
    “ No. Carlos.” Elsie stood
up and walked out of the solarium into the grand suite. Her head
was spinning. Could she really take this kind of cut throat life he
was subjected to. Would there every be peace? Would they ever be
left alone to love and be a happy family? Maybe she was asking for
far too much. She hugged herself and tried to blink back
tears.
    His arms around her sent a
shiver of delight down her spine and she tingled between her
thighs. What was with her and Carlos? There was definitely the
chemistry because whenever he touched her electrical