Dressed in Yellow: BBW Contemporary Romance by Karina Ashe Read Free Book Online

no way to pay your loan.”
    “You think you can blackball me and then turn around and state I didn’t fulfill my contract?” She stared at the screen, unsure she’d correctly heard his logic. “Are you mad?”
    “Run to Sudano, cousin,” he replied coldly. “Prove that you are nothing, that you couldn’t make it without a man of means backing you. That’s what you set out to prove, wasn’t it? That you could make a place for yourself without the help of your father and brothers. You didn’t want a man controlling your life. Unless that man is rich and powerful, of course.”
    Cold settled in the pit of her stomach, the verbal blow hitting home. “I can make it on my own without Leon, without you, without any man. This is not the old country.”
    “Prove it. Do it on your own.”
    “You think I can’t?” she snapped. “I’ll refuse Leon’s order, refuse his help. I can make my business work without him- and without you. You’ll get your money, and not a dime of it will be from an order from Sudano.”
    She sat in the parking lot of her shop, knowing Daniel had manipulated her- but knowing he was right. For one mad moment under the cover of night she’d forgotten, intoxicated by her own lust, that she’d started along this path out of a desire for independence. How could she let Leon save her if she wouldn’t accept help from her father or brothers? Daniel, her cousin, was barely acceptable as a source of capital and only because she knew he was an ass and would scrooge every dime out of her he could- he didn’t care they were related. He just wanted his money, and in lieu of money, control over other people. She’d known, going into the deal with him, that his very nature would act as a prod to drive success.
    When she called Leon, she could tell from the carefully controlled neutrality that he was displeased.
    “What’s the real reason you don’t want the order, Aiva?” he asked softly.
    She’d told him that there was a problem with the suppliers and she couldn’t reliably fill it, recommending several reputable shops as alternatives.
    “Mr. Sudano- thank you for the offer. But I need to do this on my own.”
    The silence on the end of the line warned her. Maybe he’d been soft with her, nearly sheepish. But she couldn’t forget he was a man of power, with the pride and ego attached.
    “Very well, Aiviana. When you’re ready to make me an offer I can’t refuse, call me.”

 
     
     
    Chapter
    5
     
     
     
     
     
    She might have let it go. Her temper simmered, nearly boiled- but she might have let it go if he hadn’t walked into her shop, chest poked out like a bad cliché.
    “Get out,” Aiva said, striding towards Daniel. “You sabotage my business then have the nerve to show your face?”
    He smiled. “No sabotage. Just reminding you what your original goal was, remember? Independence. Self-determinism.”
    Aiva never would have guessed he even knew the word self-determinism.
    “That’s bullshit. You just don’t want Leon to upstage you.”
    Daniel’s smile faded, mouth tightening. “I’ve got ninety-nine problems, but that prick ain’t one. I’m the man in my house.”
    She stared at him, lip curled, hand on her hip. “You are no man, Daniel Losito. Do you hear me? You are lower than a street whore who sells her own children for crack.”
    He hit her. The back of his hand connected with her cheekbone, his wide knuckles glancing off her eye. Aiva staggered back several steps, shocked, hand cupping her face. She heard a cry and whirled to see Mandira rushing from the back room, her face a study of rage. A vase clutched in her hands like a weapon. Aiva stepped in front of her, grabbing her shoulders.
    “Don’t.”
    “He hit you!”
    “Let it go,” Aiva said, heart pounding. Mandira wasn’t part of the community, the family. No ties to the old country. If Mandira offended Daniel, he wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate. Her friend’s honor meant nothing to him- she had