Never Dare a Tycoon by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online

with a nod. “That will be the end of that conversation. I don’t ever want that brought up again.”
“Well, don’t worry, you won’t ever see him again,” Sal interjected. “I’ll make sure to do my business at the office from now on.”
    Antonia whirled on him. “If I want to see him, that’s my own business. If I want to sleep with him, you’ll not have any say in that.” She didn’t say another word, shocked herself at what she’d just said.
    Antonia knew she’d gone too far at that point. All five brothers, Sal in the lead, moved towards her. “What are you telling me?” Sal said, the vein in his cheek throbbing just as it had on Friday. “Have you slept with him?” he asked, the fury evident in his face.
    Antonia stopped leaning against the bookcase. She’d never seen all her brothers this angry before.
starting to tower over her.
    But she refused to back down despite the way they were “No. I haven’t. To be completely honest, I don’t want to have anything to do with the man. He’s not my type. But that’s my option. If I want to sleep with him, or any other man, at any time, I’m going to do it,” she said, taking a cautious step towards the doorway.
    Sal shook his head, throwing his arms up in exasperation. “Ok, that’s it. I’m driving you to your apartment and you’re going to pack up your things and move back in here.”
“No,” Antonia said, refusing to take another step back.
     
Sal had started to turn away, but at her defiance, he stopped and turned towards her. “What did you say?” he demanded quietly, his eyebrows raised.
    Her chin went up another notch. “I said no,” Antonia repeated, desperately hanging on to her shredded confidence. “Thank you for a lovely afternoon. I’m leaving now,” she said and moved to the closed, double doors of the library.
    “How are you getting home?” Carlos asked to her back. “Wait a few minutes and I’ll drive you,” he said and turned to Sal to say something to him that Antonia couldn’t hear.
    Looking back at the five men standing almost in a circle, she knew she’d angered and hurt all of them. “No thanks,” she said, trying not to let them know how close to tears she was. “I’ll manage on my own. Just as I always have.” Not wanting to stay in the room any longer, she turned the knob on the door to the library.
    “Antonia, think clearly,” Thomas said, quickly stepping out of the circle to stop her from leaving and attempting to reason with her. He’d been silent throughout the confrontation, but he moved towards her now. “How can you say you’ve made it on your own? You never wear anything we haven’t given you? How can you afford to dress? What do you do for money? I know you work as a waitress, Sal told us that. But wouldn’t you like to make some real money? Something that you can tell us about and be proud of?” Thomas said.
    Antonia shook her head, leaning it against the door. Slowly, she turned back, the tears glittering in her eyes. She couldn’t tell them about her own wardrobe. It was just another lie on top of all the others. She couldn’t take any more disappointment from the men in this room. Despite their autocratic natures, they loved her and she loved them back. They were a fiercely loyal family. She was just stepping out of the ranks in this case.
    With her head held high, she quietly walked out and returned to the kitchen. There she picked up the phone and called a cab to pick her up. She had fifteen minutes until it arrived. She called to the guard at the end of the street to inform him that the cab would be arriving and should be allowed down the street.
    Then she went upstairs to her old room. Opening the door, she looked around at the pink and white room. The lace canopy was exactly as it had been while she was growing up. All the furniture was white, with porcelain knobs hand painted with delicate pink and yellow flowers. The walls and carpet were a soft pink as were the satin