The Chocolate Heart by Laura Florand Read Free Book Online Page A

says?”
    â€œOh, I’m sure Sam found some way to control the situation.” Cade looked a little amused, like someone who also usually had the power to control a situation. “Probably promised to invest in something they need out on the islands. I wouldn’t put it past him to have some kind of bonus if she marries the man he wants her to while she’s here, too. He’s clearly marketing his top choices for future Corey Holding chairs.”
    Anger stabbed through Luc. Across the room, Sam Corey stopped by his daughter and Jaime with a well-dressed man in tow. “Why? He wants her to be miserable?”
    Cade’s look was arrested. “That . . . might have a grain of truth. I know he’s always blamed himself for spoiling her. He talks about it, when he gets frustrated enough.”
    Luc remembered blame. Sometimes it flashed through him like it was yesterday, that blame. Sometimes he still believed it. “He’s a doting father, then,” he said neutrally.
    Cade looked doubtful. “I guess. In his way. If you ask me, she’s probably got abandonment issues.”
    Luc’s and Dom’s eyes met, and then both looked away, expressions unchanged. Luc didn’t even know where their awareness of each other’s shitty childhoods had come from. Neither was exactly the confiding sort.
    â€œAbandonment,” Luc repeated, not particularly wanting to hear the sad story of a beautiful billionaire heiress’s difficult childhood. Summer pushed his buttons enough already.
    Cade shrugged. “Well—I don’t know. If Dad had dumped me in a boarding school on the other side of the world at age thirteen, I think it would have broken my heart. Of course, my mom had just died, so I might have been a lot more fragile at that age.”
    â€œFragile” wasn’t really a word Luc associated with Cade. On the other hand, Summer . . . he looked at her again, moving through the crowd, elusive as sunlight dancing over waves.
    Nothing fragile about sunlight, he reminded himself. Get close enough, and the sun will vaporize iron.
    With a warm smile, she slipped away from her father’s latest candidate and turned. Across the room her eyes met Luc’s and she stilled. Then she was gone again, her father in annoyed pursuit.
    Luc’s brow creased faintly, and then, cursing himself, he followed after her. She doesn’t need help, you idiot. Or if she does, it’s with carrying her bags.
    Summer and her father stopped near one of the great floor-to-ceiling windows. Against the white sweep of the curtain pulled back by gold tassels far above her head, she looked exquisite but caged, stolen out of her natural habitat to delight those too lazy to seek her out where she belonged.
    â€œYou’re leaving tonight,” she was saying flatly when Luc got within earshot. “Even though you said you dragged me back here from my island so you could see me more.”
    â€œWell, I will see you more.” Her father sounded exasperated. “Your Manunui isn’t exactly an easy place to stop by between meetings. Paris is central. I’ll be back through after I finish up in Poland.”
    Summer’s eyes were brilliant. “I’ll get Alain to give me a secretary, so yours can call him and set up a time.”
    â€œNot a him. I don’t trust you with a male secretary. I’ll be paying off lawsuits in no time. You’d better get a woman.”
    For a second Luc was convinced that shimmering glow of hers came from incandescent rage. But she only smiled. “I’ll do what I want with my own hotel, Dad. That’s one of the points, right? By the way, if you want to know a worse gift to give someone than a puppy, try a luxury hotel. Fortunately, my sense of responsibility is almost nonexistent.”
    â€œYour sense of responsibility is misdirected. That’s how I got you here, your overdeveloped sense of responsibility for a