Surrender 01 - Surrender

wouldn’t have wanted to defy him — wouldn’t have wanted that buildup of pleasure to be for nothing.
    As Mario pulled onto the street, Ari fought her tears. She wouldn’t cry in front of Rafe’s employee. Mario was obviously loyal to him and would report back that Ari had fallen apart. She would be home soon and then she could cry…though she didn’t see what good it would do her.
    Thankfully, Mario kept quiet, even showed her enough respect not to look at her in the rearview mirror. She liked Rafe’s driver and normally would have tried to break the silence, ask him how his day was, but Ari couldn’t speak. If one word slipped from her mouth, she knew she’d become a blubbering mess.
    She managed to make it all the way home without a breakdown, then dealt with Mario’s insistence on walking her to the door. She got inside without the key’s giving her too much trouble, then calmly walked to her bed. Only when she knew it was safe to do so did she allow her knees to buckle and her heart to break.
    Somewhere along the way she’d developed feelings for Rafe. She wouldn’t say she was in love with him, but she’d grown to anticipate his arrival, look forward to their sparring matches, and desire his touch. She’d been stupid enough to begin falling for a man who made it more than clear he wasn’t available for anything but what he wanted.
    It wasn’t enough for her. She would lose herself in him if she kept seeing him. So she would give herself this one morning to cry over Raffaello Palazzo, and then she’d make sure to avoid him no matter what it took. If she kept seeing him, she’d end up having sex with him. If she slept with him again, she wouldn’t recover.
    Sleep finally separated her from her misery, and when Ari woke up in the late afternoon, she had a firm resolve to listen to herself and not fall back into Rafe’s twisted world. No matter how he pursued her, she wouldn’t cave in to him or her own desires. She’d just have to take it one step, and one day, at a time for now.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

    Rafe slammed down the receiver — Ari had disconnected her phone. He’d given her a week to cool off before he’d begun calling again. She’d ignored his calls, messages, and e-mails.
    Enough . He was finished giving her time. She could do this the easy way or the hard way, but the bottom line was that she would be his by tomorrow. He was finished waiting.
    “Cancel my meetings,” Rafe announced to his stunned assistant, then walked past her and straight through the offices to the elevators.
    He was supposed to meet with a congressman in an hour. He didn’t care. There was nothing more important on his agenda than getting his life back in order. Did he have a problem? Of course not. For some strange reason , Arianna Harlow had gotten under his skin, but it was temporary, nothing more. No feelings for the woman had grown in his heart, he told himself. It was about sex and only sex. What more could it be?
    He wanted her all the time, night and day, but what angered him was he missed their daily interactions. His time with her in the hospital had been…surprisingly pleasant. He’d looked forward to hearing the sound of her laughter, seeing her victorious smile when she bested him at a game of poker, and witnessing the way she always had a kind word to say to the staff treating her.
    There was so much more to Ari than he’d seen with any woman he’d been in a mutually pleasurable relationship with. He thrust that feeling aside. She desired him — that’s all either of them needed to make this arrangement work.
    Rafe called his driver on his way down the elevator, then glanced at his watch. It looked as if he was going to have a meeting with Ari at her place of employment. The thought made him smile. She wouldn’t be able to fight him, because she didn’t like public scenes.
    The drive didn’t take long, and soon he was outside the front doors. Rafe didn’t hesitate as he strode inside.
    “Mr. Palazzo, it’s great to see you,” the guard said as he jumped from his desk.
    “Thank you, Dean. Don’t announce me. This is a personal visit.”
    “Yes, sir,” the man replied with a confused frown. Rafe wasn’t known to simply drop in at the businesses he owned. He didn’t like to be kept waiting, so it was much smarter for him to let the management staff know of his plans for arrival and be there to greet him.
    He headed straight for the elevator and pushed the button for