LITMIR.BIZ

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At the moment, he refused to acknowledge that even with all the animosity he felt toward her, the air around them crackled with sexual tension and awareness.

      Narrowing his gaze, he said, “You’ve got one minute.”

      He watched as she breathed in deeply, which made her breasts appear to press even more against the evening gown she was wearing. How he’d loved her breasts— He cut off the memory, frowning as he wondered why he was thinking about that now.

      “All right,” she said softly, breaking into his thoughts. “I wanted to speak with you privately, Virgil, to apologize. I found out a few days ago that Marti lied to me about you.”

      If she thought her apology exonerated her for not trusting him, then she was wrong. “It took you four years to find out just what a liar your sister is? Honestly, I could care less what you now know, Kara.”

      “Will you accept my apology?”

      “No.”

      “No?” She actually sounded surprised.

      “No. Why should I? I tried to convince you of my innocence and you refused to believe me. Instead you chose to believe your sister’s lies. So now you’ve found out the truth and expect me to forgive you for throwing away all we had? No.”

      “I had no idea Marti would deliberately lie about you.”

      “You should have trusted me enough to believe I would not have betrayed you. Without trust, love is nothing and you proved what we shared was nothing.”

      He then glanced at his watch. “Now if you will excuse me, your minute is up.”

      Without giving her a chance to say anything else, he turned and headed down the hallway that led back to the ballroom.

Chapter 1

      Six months later

      “How was the wedding?”

      Virgil glanced up when his father walked into his office. For a minute he had forgotten his old man had arrived in town that morning. While growing up Matthew Bougard had been his idol and he still was. Although it seemed that lately, as they both got older, father and son didn’t always agree on things. He couldn’t help wondering what had brought his father back to Charlotte that morning. All the text message he’d received last night had said was to expect him around ten. And like clockwork, he was here.

      “The wedding was nice, although it’s hard to believe another Steele got married. Tyson surprised all of us.”

      Matthew chuckled as he took the chair across from Virgil’s desk. “I can imagine. But did you honestly think those Steeles would be die-hard bachelors forever? Take a look at your own godbrothers.” The Steele family were good friends of theirs.

      Virgil frowned. “I’d rather not.” Doing so would make him recall how he and his five godbrothers had formed the Guarded Hearts Club almost four years ago, right after his breakup with Kara Goshay. At the time all six godbrothers had been going through their own personal hell with women and made a pledge to remain single forever. Now four had defected. He and Zion were the only unmarried members left and they were determined to keep the club going, no matter what.

      “Well, I am proud of my four godsons and their decisions to settle down and marry. Look at your mom and me, Virgil. We’ve been happily married close to forty years now.”

      Virgil hoped his father wasn’t about to start his never-ending sermon about love, happiness and the pursuit of marriage. He’d heard it enough over the years; hearing it again wouldn’t change a thing. Yes, he knew his parents had a long and happy marriage. He knew his father considered his mother his queen and she considered Matthew her king. He even knew—although he’d rather not think about it—that they still had a very active sex life. He’d discovered that upon arriving in the Keys unexpectedly last summer to join them on their vacation. It was supposed to be a surprise for them but ended up being a shocker for him when he’d walked in on his parents making out like teens.

      Matthew and Rhona had met while attending college in Atlanta. His father had graduated from Morehouse and his mother from Clark Atlanta University. Instead of returning to Houston, where he’d been born and raised, Matthew asked Rhona to marry him and they settled in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina.

      Just in case a sermon was on his father’s agenda, Virgil quickly asked, “So, Dad, what brings you back to Charlotte?”

      His father was still CEO of Bougard Enterprises, though he rarely came into the office anymore, leaving Virgil, as second in command, to make most of the day-to-day decisions. His parents were often busy traveling, and just last year they’d bought a home in Houston with the intention of spending more time there.

      But Matthew Bougard was well aware of every aspect of BE’s business. He was sharp and highly intelligent, which was how he’d taken a small financial company he’d founded right out of college and made it into one of the largest hedge fund corporations in the country. And thanks to a few recent deals, they could now even boast of going global.

      His father remained quiet for a moment and then said, “I’m thinking about retiring, Virgil.”

      Virgil sat up straight in his chair. “You really mean it this time?”

      Matthew chuckled. “Yes. Leigh informed us on Friday that she and Chad are expecting a baby,” his father said, beaming heartily. “That means your mom and I will be grandparents.”

      Virgil couldn’t help but smile. He knew how much being grandparents meant to them. His younger sister had married her childhood sweetheart a few years ago after they both finished medical school. Last year Leigh and Chad had opened a medical complex in Houston and were doing just great.

      “I need to call Leigh and Chad to congratulate them. Congratulations to you and Mom, as well,” Virgil said.

      “Thanks. I’d like to spend more time in the Keys as well as in Houston. Plus I promised your mom we’d do more international travel. She really enjoyed that Mediterranean cruise I took her on last year.”

      His father leaned back in his chair and studied him. From the close scrutiny, Virgil got the feeling there was more to come regarding his father’s pending retirement. “My decision to retire depends on you, Virgil.”

      Virgil lifted a brow. “How does your decision to retire depend on me?”

      His father leaned forward and Virgil knew this would be one of those Matthew Bougard deeply serious moments. Virgil wasn’t sure if he was mentally prepared for it this early in the morning.

      “You have a reputation, Virgil.”

      He didn’t have to wonder what his father was alluding to. It was well-known around Charlotte and the surrounding areas that Virgil Matthew Bougard was an ardent womanizer. As far as he was concerned, he had no reason not to be if that was the lifestyle he chose. He wasn’t married, nor was he in an exclusive relationship with any woman. So in his defense he could do whatever the hell he wanted to do and with whomever he chose.

      “I’m a thirty-five-year-old single man, Dad. There’s no reason I shouldn’t enjoy female company whenever I want it.”

      “Well, there’s that incident with Whitney Hilton that won’t go away as much as I wish it would. Marv Hilton hasn’t forgotten about it.”

      Virgil released a deep sigh. That had been almost two years ago. Why couldn’t the man get over it? Would that be the scandal that haunted him forever? Marv Hilton had been one of their biggest clients and Whitney was his twenty-five-year-old daughter. Her father had brought her along on one of his business trips to Hawaii when BE had held a meeting at the same time.

      “She came to my hotel room. I didn’t go to hers.”

      “I know but to Marv none of that matters. You slept with his daughter, and as her father, he was livid.”

      Virgil

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