Free The Redemption of Darius Sterne by Carole Mortimer Page B

you,’ Andy muttered once they were out of earshot of the older couple.
    Darius gave another unconcerned shrug. ‘I thought you would have realised by now; I’m an incredibly rude man.’
    No, actually, he wasn’t.
    Arrogant? Yes. Overbearing? Certainly. Blunt? Disconcertingly so. Ruthless, even—Darius’s threats regarding Colin’s job in order to force Andy into coming here with him this evening certainly came under the latter category! But Andy had never thought of Darius as being particularly rude.
    Until he spoke of or to his mother.
    There was definitely a story there. One which Darius had made it clear he had no intention of confiding in Andy. Because he wasn’t a man who confided in anyone except perhaps his twin brother? Andy recalled that the brothers had arrived at the restaurant together last week, and they had been in business together for twelve years, so it was probably safe to assume they at least liked each other and got along.
    â€˜Is there some reason why your mother should be worried about Xander’s lateness?’ she prompted slowly.
    Darius looked down at her coolly. ‘None at all—apart from the fact that she’s overprotective of him to the point of obsession.’
    An image of Darius’s twin instantly came to mind: the golden-haired god with laughter in his dark eyes. ‘Does she have reason to believe he’s in need of protection?’
    Darius breathed his impatience. ‘You seem overly concerned with the non-appearance of my brother.’
    Andy frowned at the accusation. ‘Not in the least.’
    â€˜No?’
    â€˜No!’
    Andy decided, with Darius looking so grimly unappreciative of this subject, that it might be best to talk of something less controversial.
    â€˜What I am curious to know is just how much the tickets cost for this dinner.’
    There must be at least five hundred people in this crowded ballroom, all of them dressed in glamorous evening wear; the men all looked very distinguished in their black dinner suits, and the array of ladies’ ballgowns was exquisite. Andy was in danger of being blinded by the amount of jewellery glittering beneath the crystal chandeliers.
    Darius took two glasses of champagne from one of the circulating waiters before handing one to Andy. ‘Does it matter?’
    â€˜Only if it would be a complete waste of my time offering to pay for my own ticket!’
    â€˜It would,’ Darius confirmed dryly.
    â€˜Oh.’ She grimaced before taking a sip of her champagne; she knew that the tickets for some of these charity events cost in the thousands of pounds rather than the hundreds. And this evening looked to be one of the former.
    â€˜Not only would it be a waste of your time from a financial angle,’ Darius continued dismissively, ‘but also totally unacceptable.
I
was the one who invited
you
this evening; I doubt you would have come here of your own volition!’
    Andy gave him a pointed glance. ‘We both know that I didn’t.’
    He sighed heavily. ‘You really meant it when you said you aren’t going to let that go, didn’t you?’
    â€˜I really did,’ she confirmed dryly. ‘Do you think—?’
    â€˜Andy, is that you? My goodness, it
is
you!’
    Andy had been so sure that she wouldn’t know anyone else here this evening, and she now turned to look blankly at the woman who had just greeted her so enthusiastically. She looked at a tall and willowy brunette, dressed in a red sequinned dress that finished at least six inches above her shapely knees.
    She was exactly the type of woman, tall and brunette, Andy had seen Darius photographed with so much in the past.
    The woman had now moved forward to clasp one of Andy’s hands in her own red-tipped ones, a smile tilting the edges of perfectly painted red lips. A smile that didn’t reach the coldness of her blue eyes.
    Andy’s heart had sunk as