"Francesca Duarte."
Even her name sounded erotic to me. I felt a familiar heaviness in my groin from the sound of it. I was starting to throb.
"Wait, the Italian chick?"
My head swiveled away from the fire at last.
"You know her?"
"No man, she's all over the papers and those gossip magazines."
"You read that trash?"
"No, but it's kind of hard to avoid seeing it. I just came from the airport remember?"
I stared into the fire, not wanting to talk about it. Not wanting to talk at all. I just wanted her back here, where I could get my hands on her. Jake waited me out though. Finally I gave up.
"I spent the last forty-eight hours fucking her brains out."
I took another slug.
"Fucking my brains out too, apparently."
"She's that good, huh?"
"She's a nightmare. A stunning, beautiful, hot as hell pain in the ass nightmare. And now she's gone. Left me high and dry.”
Jake poured us each another drink. I glared at him. The bastard was laughing at me.
"You got it bad, Daniel."
"Why the fuck are you laughing?"
He grinned at me.
"I have no doubt you will get her back. If you still want her."
"Want is the understatement of the century."
"So, go get her. But wait until you are sober."
"She could have someone else in her bed right now."
"She's playing the field? After what happened to her I don't blame her."
"No. She doesn't like guys with money. She could be fucking a waiter for all I know."
Jake said nothing. He just poured me another drink.
"Maybe she doesn't know what she wants. Maybe you have to show her."
He winked at me.
"I had to chase my woman down. Trust me, it was worth it."
I stared at him. I hadn't heard this story. I loved my future sister-in-law to pieces. Elle was spunky and kept Jake on his toes.
She'd settled him somehow. He was calmer than he'd ever been, which was no small feat. He was making it work and even look easy. Out of the three brothers I would have said he would be the last to get hitched, and that was saying something. None of us were exactly the settling down type. But he'd found love and he wasn't letting go.
So if he had any tactics he wanted to share, I was eager to hear them.
"What did you do?"
"It's not for the faint of heart, brother."
I lifted my glass, clinking in with his.
"Oh, now you have to tell me."
He leaned back, his eyes closed.
"Well you are going to need something to tie her up with..."
Chapter Sixteen
Francesca
It was day two of my exile. So far I'd shopped and spent well over a thousand dollars at the hotel spa. More at the local shops, particularly on some very fine lingerie. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of luxury items available in Nashville. It was nearly like shopping in Paris, other than the twang and the height of the sales girls hair.
But I’d already done everything a wealthy woman might want to do.
I was bored. And worse than that, I was restless and unsatisfied.
I hadn't even come close to erasing Daniel from my mind. I had been kidding myself. That man was a Houdini when it came to escaping my mental box.
When I closed my eyes, all I could see was a sweaty American Cowboy leaning over me. Taking me. Making me shiver.
But in my ears... all I could hear was Philipe. His phone call had taken me off guard. I hadn’t meant to answer it. But he had used an unfamiliar number.
I was still shaking.
Mostly because he was so clearly bat shit crazy. Crazy enough to think I would ever come back to him.
It would be a cold day in hell before that happened.
Come back to me Francesca.
I've changed Francesca.
I love you Francesca.
He said all that and more. It was laughable that he would profess his love to me when it was obvious he'd been bedding half of Europe throughout our relationship. I snorted. I was not interested or impressed. He was a liar, like all men.
Or most men... 99% of them at least.
Even my cowboy.
But he hadn’t lied exactly. He has merely omitted. It still felt like a betrayal… but perhaps that wasn’t fair. He had been playful, not cruel.
At the moment I wasn't entirely sure what to believe when it came to the male sex. It seemed wrong to lump Daniel in with a cretin like Philipe. But they were both men and not to be trusted.
I sighed, arching my back. I felt good, relaxed even. Probably because of the daily massages. Or because my phone had been silent all afternoon, I realized. I glanced at it. For the first time since I'd left the Delancey Estate, he hadn't tried to get in touch with me.
Had Daniel given up already? I was almost disappointed. I'd thought he was more determined than that.