TheTemptationNotJustifiedAReFinal by Delaney Diamond Read Free Book Online Page B

conceive
of a reasonable explanation for why she’d left the way she did. He thought they
had hit it off.
    “I’m
a grown man,” he said to his sister. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll deal with Aunt
Iris and anybody else who asks questions. One wedding at a time. Let’s get you
married first.”
    He
forced the last forkful of pancake into his mouth, although he didn’t feel much
like eating anymore. He’d finally swallowed his pride and contacted Lucas and
Xander a couple of days ago to find out if either had obtained contact
information for the other women. He thought he could reach out to her through
one of her friends, but no such luck.
    He
couldn’t understand why she left without a word. It didn’t make sense, as if
he’d imagined the passion they shared. He racked his brain in an effort to
figure out what had gone wrong. Even worse, he thought about their night
together over and over, the torture of it making his body clench in sexual
frustration.
    “Uh-oh,
here comes trouble. It’s your brother,” Matthew said in a low voice.
    Immersed
in his thoughts, Roarke completely missed the red sports car parking outside
the house.
    “Be
nice,” Cassidy said, smacking the back of Matthew’s hand. “He’s your brother,
too.”
    “He’s
our half brother, and you know as well as I do whenever he’s around, trouble’s
close behind. Why’d you invite him?”
    “Because
he’s our brother,” Roarke said in a firm voice before Cassidy could respond.
“He’s not at fault for what our father and his mother did. Try to be nice for a
change.”
    “That’s
not why I dislike him, and you know it. He’s a bastard,” Matthew grumbled. “And
I don’t mean it in the biological sense. I don’t know why you bother. He hates
you. He thinks it’s your fault he didn’t have our father in his life.”
    “We’re
here for a wedding, okay? It’s all about Cassidy and Antonio this weekend and
making sure the guests have a good time. I’m sure we can get through the
weekend without going at each other’s throats for once.”
    Roarke
took his empty glass to the refrigerator for more juice.
    Matthew
continued with his play-by-play. “She’s out of the car. She’s tall, like the last
one, but at least she doesn’t look as slutty. Maybe she won’t hit on you and
cause a big mess like his last girlfriend did New Year’s Eve weekend.”
    Roarke
and Derrick had almost come to blows when Derrick’s most recent female
companion ended up in Roarke’s room after too many drinks.
    “Cut
it out, Matt,” Roarke said over his shoulder. “Let’s keep the peace this
weekend. Do not bring that up.” He poured himself some juice.
    Despite
being brothers, a complicated history of enmity existed between Roarke,
Matthew, and Derrick. Derrick didn’t like Roarke, and Matthew, ever loyal to
the brother who’d taken care of him, didn’t like Derrick.
    When
Roarke’s mother found out about the child born from the affair between her
husband and Derrick’s mother, she gave him an ultimatum. He’d chosen to remain
in his marriage.
    Derrick’s
mother married a wealthy older man, but at some point the affair resumed.
According to the passenger manifest, they sat next to each other in the plane
crash that took their lives.
    Hidden
behind the freezer door as he added ice to his juice, Roarke heard the door
open and his sister say, “Hi, Derrick.” She’d always reached out to him, and
Derrick got along with her.
    Roarke
closed the door and was about to lift the glass to his lips when he halted.
    Celeste?
What in the world . . . ?
    It
couldn’t be her.
    He
listened in disbelief as Derrick introduced her as his girlfriend. She smiled
politely at his siblings, and when she finally looked at him, the light of
recognition ignited in her eyes. The smile froze on her face, and her eyes
widened. Even with her scared-rabbit appearance, she took his breath away. Her
naturally curly hair was pinned into a ball at her nape. The style