Free The Redemption of Darius Sterne by Carole Mortimer Page A

subject, at least.
    â€˜You certainly wouldn’t have come out of that explanation in a very good light,’ Andy assured Darius.
    He raised dark brows. ‘And do you somehow have the mistaken idea that would actually have bothered me?’
    â€˜Obviously not,’ she snapped her impatience. Honestly, what was wrong with this man? She had done as he’d asked, and come out to this dinner with him, so why was he now being so aggressive? ‘Do you usually bring a date to one of these dinners?’ She decided to attack rather than keep being put on the defensive. As she so often was where Darius was concerned.
    But also because she knew, in her heart of hearts, that Kim would have been right to warn her off the man.
    Being here with Darius
was
dangerous.
He
was dangerous to the ordered life Andy had painstakingly Zcarved out for herself these past four years.
    Darius grimaced at her question. ‘Never.’
    Her eyes widened. ‘Seriously?’
    He gave a half-smile. ‘Seriously.’
    Oh, wonderful! Not only was she here with the most impressively handsome man in the room, and about to be introduced to his parents, but now she learnt that Darius usually attended these functions alone.
    No wonder so many of the other guests, most especially the women, had stared at the two of them when they arrived. And were still staring at them.
    Andy eyed him impatiently. ‘Why now?’
    â€˜Wrong question, Miranda,’ Darius bent to murmur huskily against her ear as they approached the front of the line. ‘The question should have been, Why
you
? Not, “Why now?”’ he supplied huskily as Andy gave him a questioning glance.
    Indeed, why her? Andy wondered dazedly—a question she was prevented from asking out loud as they finally stepped forward to be greeted by his parents.
    â€˜Miranda, Catherine and Charles Latimer,’ Darius introduced with terse economy. ‘Mother, Charles, this is Miranda Jacobs.’ The last was accompanied by a challenging look at the older couple.
    Catherine seemed momentarily disconcerted as her frowning gaze moved quickly to Miranda and then back at Darius. ‘I wasn’t aware you had purchased a second ticket for this evening.’
    He raised dark, challenging brows. ‘And I wasn’t aware I needed your permission to do so.’
    â€˜Lovely to meet you, my dear.’ Charles Latimer stepped into the awkward breach between mother and son, as if it was a habit of long standing. He was a white-haired and still handsome man. ‘And so good of you to come along and support such a worthwhile charity.’
    â€˜Oh. Yes. Very kind of you.’ Catherine belatedly remembered her manners, her smile tense as she offered her hand.
    It was impossible for Andy not to be aware of the tension between mother and son. A tension that now seemed to include her.
    â€˜Mrs Latimer,’ she returned lightly as the two women briefly shook hands. ‘I hope it’s a successful evening for you.’
    â€˜I hope so too.’ Up close, it was impossible to miss the fine lines beside Catherine Latimer’s eyes and mouth, as indication of her age, but she was nevertheless still a very beautiful woman, very slender and chic in her black designer-label evening gown; she certainly didn’t look old enough to be the mother of thirty-something twins.
    â€˜Is Xander here?’ Darius enquired abruptly.
    â€˜Not yet.’ Catherine Latimer frowned. ‘It’s most unlike him to be late, I do hope nothing has happened to him,’ she added with concern.
    Darius’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘He’s a big boy now, Mother. I’m sure he’ll find his way here eventually.’ He didn’t wait for a response from either of the older couple, his expression grim as he placed a hand beneath Andy’s elbow before turning her and walking away and into the crowd.
    â€˜That was incredibly rude of