had put him in a difficult position.
Over the years, he’d put his own selfish desires aside where Eva was concerned. Still, he’d fantasized about making love to her on numerous occasions—even though she irritated and perplexed him by turns.
She reminded him of a sleek, lithe cat. Everything was perfectly proportioned, and exercise kept her body limber and supple.
Her straight black hair hung in a curtain past her shoulders in a blunt cut. Her mouth was a little too large for her face, and her topaz eyes tilted upward at the corners. And yet, those elements added character instead of suggesting she fell short of ideal beauty.
Now he was being asked to dig up dirt on the man that she intended to marry—the man, his lips curled tightly, she fancied herself in love with.
But he couldn’t say no to Marcus Tremont’s request. Because, all else aside, Griffin found himself agreeing with Marcus’s instincts where Carter Newell was concerned.
Not to mention he owed Marcus a debt that couldn’t be repaid.
After his parents’ death in a private plane crash when he’d just gotten out of high school, he’d become guardian to his fifteen-year-old brother, Josh, and fourteen-year-old sister, Monica. He’d had to become an adult almost overnight and had become grimly determined to succeed on his own in the world.
Fortunately, though his parents had not left behind a lavish estate, it had been significant enough to allow him to send his younger siblings to boarding school and to further his own education.
After college and business school, he’d been given a break by Marcus, a business acquaintance of his father’s, in the form of a job with Tremont REH, where he could learn the ropes of the real estate business.
The business relationship had proven lucrative to them both. Griffin had soon discovered he had the Midas touch when it came to real estate deals. He’d eventually formed his own company, Evkit Investments, and become immensely wealthy through savvy management of his own ever-expanding real estate portfolio.
But loyalty to Marcus Tremont had kept him involved with Tremont REH. When Marcus had decided two years ago it was time to step back from the day-today management of Tremont REH, he’d asked Griffin to take over the reins as CEO. Marcus had insisted that, in his continuing position as chairman of the board, there was no one he trusted more at the helm of the company he’d spent a lifetime building.
The two companies had merged their office space when Griffin had become CEO of both. And since Evkit Investments and Tremont REH pursued different business interests, there’d been no issue of competition between the companies. By Griffin’s deliberate design, Evkit had acquired residential real estate rather than become a player in commercial office space.
Griffin wouldn’t betray Marcus by competing with Tremont REH.
He paused now, his mind turning back to Eva.
As much as he wanted her, he didn’t understand her. She exasperated him with her blithe lack of interest in Tremont REH. As a family member, she had a position on the company’s board of directors, but that was the extent of her involvement.
He, on the other hand, could appreciate firsthand what Marcus had built. He’d spent years creating a company to match—and by many measures, exceed—Tremont REH’s reputation. He’d also put time and effort toward growing Tremont REH, especially since he’d become CEO.
Griffin stared unseeingly at San Francisco’s lights.
Still, he couldn’t escape the fact that, against all reason, he remained attracted to Eva. When he was around her, he got an adrenaline rush—a heady sensation that had him feeling as if he were drunk on euphoria.
She challenged him, and he thrived on challenges.
He’d never acted on the attraction because he couldn’t sleep with Marcus Tremont’s daughter without there being…consequences. And Eva’s obvious dislike for him made it easy to walk the line.
He’d also already had enough commitment to last a lifetime. He certainly wasn’t looking to jump into another to, say, a wife.
He’d been committed to raising his younger siblings and committed to making sure they found their paths in the world.
It was only in the last couple of years, in fact, that he felt as if he could exhale. His brother, Josh, had finished his medical residency and become a surgeon in Denver, where he’d recently married his college sweetheart, Tessa.
Likewise, his sister, Monica, the head of a school for learning disabled children, had gotten married two years ago to a film producer, Ben Corrigan, and was settled in L.A. She was expecting her first child in five months.
He was proud of his siblings, and relieved they’d become well-adjusted adults who’d found their personal happiness.
His job was finally done.
He wasn’t taking on responsibility for anyone else.
Still, the thought of Eva throwing herself away on a loser like Carter Newell made him want to put a hole in the wall.
If he couldn’t have her, he damned well wasn’t going to let her waste herself on a gamesman like Newell. Even if he knew that if Eva ever found out he’d done her father’s dirty work, he could kiss goodbye to any minimally civilized relationship they continued to have.
With that thought, he grimly reached for his cell phone. He had Ron Winslow’s number programmed in.
From time to time, he’d used the private investigator to smoke out the truth about potential real estate investments.
When Ron picked up, they exchanged brief greetings.
After a moment, Griffin cut to the chase. “I’ve got a new assignment for you.”
“He’s impossible.”
“He’s your father.”
Eva sighed. She’d left her parents’ estate earlier that day, right after the conversation with her father, and retreated to her town house condo in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood.
Now she sat, curled up on her couch with her cell phone, talking to her mother, who’d called to make sure everything was okay.
“I was hoping for the best.”
“He’ll come around.”
Eva silently disagreed with her mother’s assessment. She knew just how stubborn her father could be—and during moments when she was being honest with herself, she could admit she’d inherited his stubbornness.
“The more important question,” her mother continued, “is whether you’re sure you want to marry Carter—”
“Of course!” Her reply was quick and snappy. She was still smarting from the confrontation with her father—in Griffin Slater’s presence, of all people.
“Because there’s no rush,” her mother persisted. “The test showed you have time.”
“Yes, but how much?” she replied automatically.
She’d told her mother that she’d gone in for a test to gauge the quality of her egg supply. Now she wondered from her mother’s concerned tone whether she’d appeared too preoccupied with her biological clock.
“Eva—”
“Mom.”
Her mother sighed.
“What do you think of Carter?” Eva blurted, and then could have kicked herself.
“I just want you to be happy.”
“I want to marry Carter. I do,” she said, adopting her most reassuring voice—the one she used to sooth jittery clients before a big bash.
A beep sounded on her cell phone, followed by another.
“Mom,