Andrea Laurence - From Riches To Redemption

“My father cares very much about me,” she managed to say between tightly gritted teeth as she gripped her collar and held it closed to block out his prying eyes.

“No. I cared about you. I loved you. You’re just a prop in your father’s perfect family presentation. You have to fall in line or you’re cut from the spotlight.”

“Not everyone wants to be in the spotlight, River. I would’ve much rather lived a life of my choice in the shadows than a life crafted for me on my father’s stage.”

River shook his head. “I don’t believe you for a second. At any time, you could’ve stood up for yourself. You could’ve stood up for me. For our marriage. But Daddy’s money was too important to risk on a future with some poor boy with a little promise but no education. If he’d cut you off, what would life have been like for you? You would’ve had to really work for a living and make do without servants like the rest of us poor schmucks. Or from what I’ve heard, the way you would’ve been raised if you hadn’t been switched in the hospital.”

River watched the blood drain from her face. He went too far mentioning that whole thing. He’d read about it in the papers, but he was sure she was still working through it all. He shouldn’t have let all his emotions out at once. They’d been bottled up for years, festering, with their only outlet being his company and building it to be the best it could possibly be.

“It would’ve been easier if I hadn’t been switched,” she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “When you have nothing, there’s nothing to take away.”

“I’d heartily disagree on that point. I’ve lost plenty.” Morgan’s green-gold eyes met his for a moment before she looked away uncomfortably. “It may not have seemed like much to you, just a rebellious fling with an unsuitable boy, but it was everything to me.”

Morgan sat silently, a frown transforming her face into a guilty expression. Her gaze dropped to the blotter on her desk. “We need to stop this. It isn’t going to change the past, so we might as well put it behind us and try to be civil.”

“Of course.” River pressed his fingertips together thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t want to cause a scandal for the Steele family. Again.”

“River...” she warned.

“Like I said before, I want this project to be a success. We have some important work ahead of us. So you’re right, we can’t let our past interfere. Truce?” He arched his brow at her in a challenge. He knew he could behave, but silencing her sharp tongue might prove more difficult.

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief and her practiced smile returned to her face. She seemed confident in her abilities. He almost missed her anger once it was tamped down. At least that was a real emotion.

“Truce,” she said and offered her hand across her desk.

Tentatively, River reached out and took it. Instantly a sizzle traveled up his arm and down his spine, exploding in his groin like a shockwave of arousal. He pulled away as quickly as he could and buried his hand beneath the desk to rub the sensation off his palm and onto his pant leg. It had been like that the night of the party, too, making him both eager and cautious about touching her again.

They might be calling a truce on their fight, but the connection between him and Morgan was far from over.

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