*****
“I want to be alone,” Thomas said abruptly as he heard the doors being pushed open. He'd been sitting with his feet propped up on the desk with a glass of bourbon in his hand. He'd switched to the drink right after Clint had left half an hour ago.
“Tough,” his sister said firmly as she came around and sat on the edge of the desk, putting his feet onto her lap. She'd changed into a ruby red silk robe that looked great against her alabaster skin. Her hair was piled on top of her head and her face was devoid of makeup. “Mother and I saw that dreadful woman leave some time ago, but we had to attend to an emergency in the kitchen. I really think we should fire Michael. He keeps behaving as if the kitchen is his domain.”
“It is his domain.” Thomas leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes wearily.
“Darling, what do you plan on doing? Surely you aren't thinking of marrying that woman?”
“She has a name,” Thomas’ lips twisted cynically. “I should have realized that Dad was up to something when he kept having those secret meetings with the lawyers.”
“I love dad and miss him like crazy but the way he operates sometimes leaves a lot to be desired!”
“I agree with you.” Thomas tossed back the drink. “I've worked so hard to prove myself to him and the board of directors and now to be faced with this...”
“Are you going to marry her?”
“I might not have a choice,” Thomas said grimly.
“I cannot believe this is happening!”
“Neither can I.” He swung his legs off her lap and got to his feet.
“Where are you going?”
“To the club. I think I need to forget about this evening for a little bit.”
“You can't drive!” Talia protested. “You've been drinking.”
“I'll have one of the drivers take me.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Go to bed, darling. It'll work out.”
Talia watched him leave the room and went to stand in front of the fireplace staring at the benign expression on the handsome face etched on canvas. Both she and her brother had inherited his emerald green eyes and straight nose as well as the thick eyebrows. They'd gotten the coffee brown hair from their mother. “Oh Dad, what have you done? And why her?” With an impatient sigh, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “He deserves the company without the stipulation you placed on it and you damned well know it!” Shaking her head, she gave the portrait a glinting look before stepping back to walk out of the room.
*****
Thomas waited until he was in the car being driven away from the manor before he opened the letter his dad had left him. He hesitated before taking out the plain piece of paper and stared at the passing scenery, his expression bleak. He'd buried the man he'd admired and respected, as well as loved, for all of his thirty years and hadn't gotten the time to grieve yet because of what had been thrown at him. With an impatient sigh he took out the paper and unfolded it, emotions swamping him as he saw the bold handwriting that belonged to his father.
“Son,” it began. “I know that you are probably wishing me to perdition right now and wondering how I claim to love you yet put this on you. I do love you my boy and I am very proud of you. I have watched you work yourself to the bone to prove to me and others that you are more than capable of running the company. Your input in the different aspects of the company is priceless and you have brought us out of the stone ages with your brilliant ideas. You are going to make a brilliant CEO and I am just sorry that I won't be there to see what you come up with next! Donna Nichols reminds me a lot of you. She is strong and determined and most of all, a beautiful woman inside and out. Her mother was like that too. She saved my life so many years ago and I owe her. I promised that I would look out for her daughter and I am doing just that. I don’t like the kind of women you consort with. You are an exceptional businessman but your taste in women leaves a lot to be desired! They only want one thing, my son, and that is to have the name ‘Hoffman’ attached to theirs. I want more for you, because you deserve more. I know you will not see it now, but Donna is the right woman for you and one day—if you allow yourself to—you will see it too. Please do not try to break the proviso that I put in the will because I have made sure it is ironclad. One day you are going to look back and thank me. Love, your dad.”
Thomas folded the letter and stared sightlessly out the window, his expression bleak. He had been backed into a corner and there was no way out.
Chapter 2
Donna opened the door to admit him and stood inside the doorway, blocking him from entering.
“May I come in?” he asked her politely.
“To do what exactly? Hurl some more insults at me? Tell me how I'm from the wrong side of the tracks?” she asked, lifting tapered brows.
“I was in shock,” he muttered as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “May I?”
She stepped back and admitted him, feeling dwarfed by his towering height. She closed the door and stood there. He was too near and he was inside her apartment, things that had a tendency to unnerve her. “Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thanks. Can we go somewhere and talk?”
She nodded and preceded him into her tiny living room. The electronic fire was on and gave the place a cozy feel.
“You live here alone?” He stood by the fireplace and looked at her.
Donna’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you asking me if I am shacking up with a man?”
He moved his shoulders slightly. “I'm afraid I know nothing about you.”
“I've lived alone since my mother passed.” She gestured for him to take a seat. “I'm sure you didn't come here to make small talks.”
“You're right.” He sat in the sofa and crossed booted feet. “I have been up all night trying to wrap my head around this unusual situation.”
“Have you come up with anything? Say, like try to buy me off?”
“The thought came to mind,” he told her sardonically. “But the will is ironclad as the letter reiterated. My dad thought a lot of you.”
“I think he was by far the nicest person I ever had the privilege to meet, and before you ask the question, no I was not sleeping with him.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I never thought that.”
“Really?”
“I thought that maybe your mother was sleeping with him.”
Her eyes blazed at that. “If you came here to apologize for how rude you were yesterday, you are doing a bang-up job of it.”
“I'm not here to apologize, Ms. Nichols,” he told her stiffly and then sighed wearily, running his fingers through his thick coffee brown hair. “Look, we're both caught in a bind. I don’t want to be stuck with you and I'm sure you don't want to be stuck with me either.”
“Damned right!” she shot at him, feeling stung.
His green eyes glittered at that and his mouth tightened. “There is simply no way around it. We have to get married and stay married for a year or the title of CEO goes to some damned glorified businessman who doesn't deserve it.”
“So, in essence, you're telling me that you need me more than I need you? I don’t need the money, Mr. Hoffman. I have enough to live off of and unlike you and your family, I'm not hankering after fame and fortune.”