“After Mother died, I broke free of him. Moved out, left the family business. I was old enough to take my stock. I sold my shares to his worst enemy, forced him into bed with the last man he wanted there.” He snarls and laughs, his eyes gleaming ruthlessly now. “Payback for all the times he cheated on my mother.”

I wait with bated breath for him to tell me more, and it doesn’t take him long. It sounds as if he’s speaking about someone else, he’s that distanced from his father.

My father died; his father is alive, but somehow it feels as if we both grew up without one.

“With that money, I started my empire. I supposed he thought I’d lose it all on whores and Vegas. I don’t need to pay women to be with me. And I have better sense than Vegas.” He smirks proudly at that. “No one has ever underestimated me like my father.”

“What happened to the family business?”

“Weakened. He lost control of his own board. Had to buy back his own stock to recoup the majority of his business. By then he’d formed a bad reputation. Not paying suppliers. He couldn’t stand growing weaker while his weak kid grew better and stronger.”

His smile is brief and regretful.

“I’m over it, but he’s never backed off from trying to step on my heels. For years I’ve been weeding out his hired snoops, who are rabid to know what I’m after next.” He looks fondly at me and winks. “I move too fast for him. But damn me if I shouldn’t have seen this coming after . . .” He trails off.

I ache in my ribs, my chest, my stomach. “I’m sorry, Malcolm.”

“Edge is worthless to him without you. He’s testing me out to see how much I care.”

“But we’re not formally together. After what happened, why would he think you cared?”

“Because I do.” His green eyes flash almost violently, hot and fast. “I just do.” And then, a low, amused laugh follows when I just stare at him stupidly. “Rachel, it’s obvious.”

He drags a hand through his hair, looking away thoughtfully while shocking me. No. Stunning me.

“Cathy and the girls would share looks when I scheduled an appointment with you. Otis would get a look on his face when I’d ask him to pick you up. Roth and Carmichael still won’t let me hear the end of it. People who don’t know me at all speculated about you and me. It’s very obvious.”

“What’s obvious?”

He shoots me a look, then his lips curl a little and he runs his knuckles down my jawline. “That I’m into you.”

He touches his thumb to my chin and there are dozens of hot, tangled sensations all over me.

“I swear, those looks you give me, Rachel,” he murmurs under his breath.

“What looks?” I laugh, flustered. We’re so relaxed, bantering; I missed this so much. The way his eyes look at me, openly amused. There’s something unguarded and warm in his humor. It’s enchanting because he’s always so in control at work.

“This one.” His thumbs brush over the outside corners of my eyes. “This one.” He uses his thumbs to shape a smile on my lips, his green eyes both humorous and tender. “This one,” he adds huskily, brushing his thumb over a frown on my forehead. “And the one that tells me you want me here.” He cups my sex, then brings his dark head close to my ear. “The one that says you’re scared and want to be saved. And the one when you’re happy, as if I gave you the world, like when I bought you lingerie.”

“Oh, I bet you loved that last one, hmm? You like the ones that cater to your ego best?” I bring my hand up to stifle my laugh. “The ones that go straight to here.” I then give a tap to his head, and he’s just smiling.

“Do you know,” I stroke a hand aimlessly up and down his abs, his pecs, “the story of Psyche and Cupid?”

He cocks an amused eyebrow.

“Psyche’s beauty compelled men to worship her, incurring Venus’s wrath, and Venus commissioned Cupid to enact her revenge. But upon seeing her, Cupid accidentally pricked himself with his own arrow and fell in love with Psyche, so he hatched a plan to make her his wife. Now, Psyche believed she was fated to marry a monster, and when Cupid himself told her not to look at him, she was pretty worried about who he was. She didn’t trust what she couldn’t see, and one day, encouraged by her jealous sisters to kill him, she dared to look upon him. And he was so beautiful . . . her Cupid . . .” I blush. “So just when she realized he wasn’t the monster she thought he was, she lost him. Cupid told her that love couldn’t dwell with suspicion, and he left her.” I blush more.