How To Seduce An Heiress: The Reluctant Heiress / Pride After Her Fall / Project: Runaway Heiress

He had not succeeded or even come close to getting her to consider meeting the Delaneys. So would Garrett continue trying, or was he giving up?

Would she ever see him again? And could she admit to herself that after everything he had done to her, after everything that had happened, the possibility of never seeing him was the worst part of all of this?

Garrett slid behind the wheel and took deep breaths. Desperate at the thought of losing Sophia, he had been tempted to just grasp her shoulders and force her to talk to him. But where the Delaneys were concerned, Sophia had shut off reason.

Her actions shocked him even though he had known about her feeling rejected beforehand, and had heard her bitterness when she talked about the Delaneys, particularly her father.

Anger churned his insides. Along with fury was an uncustomary hurt. He had enjoyed being with her more than any other woman he had known. He wasn’t ready for the hurt of losing her. He wasn’t ready for the fallout from telling the truth, yet he had been compelled to do so. How could she be so stubborn?

Clenching his teeth until his jaw hurt, he drove home, charging into the empty house and tossing down his keys. Yanking off his jacket as he headed to his room, he tried to compose his thoughts and get a grip on his stormy emotions.

He’d always thought Will was the most stubborn Delaney—until now. Sophia was more stubborn than Will because Will would at least listen to reason and if you got through to him, he would cooperate. Sophia, on the other hand, turned deaf ears to his arguments.

He thought about the night and her passion. It was as if he had been with a different woman when they had made love. A warm, loving, passionate woman. He hurt and hurt for her.

He swore quietly, pacing his room, glaring at the phone. He needed to break the news to Will, but he wasn’t ready yet.

Would she ever give him another chance to talk to her about the Delaneys—or to make it up to her? He doubted it and he didn’t care to hang around with unreasonable expectations.

He went to the kitchen to get a cold beer. Reeling with anger and frustration, Garrett popped the top and took a drink, feeling the cold liquid wash down his throat.

Procrastinating, Garrett stared at the window. He did not want to call Will or any other Delaney. Yet he had to. What would he do if he were in Will’s place? What could he suggest Will and his brothers do now? In future years, after the inheritances were dispersed to other places and no longer an issue, then would she meet with the Delaneys? The brothers truly wanted to know their sister, and Garrett knew they wouldn’t stop trying. Surely then she would think more rationally about them and give them a chance.

But would she ever give him another chance?

Garrett paced the floor and sipped his beer while he thought. All the time he had argued with her, he had wanted to just wrap his arms around her and ask her to forgive him, believe him and go back to the way things had been. He knew that was unrealistic, but he wanted her badly and he hurt now in a manner he had never hurt before in his life.

Reluctantly, he picked up the phone. Will answered on the second ring.

“Will, it’s Garrett.”

“You’re running true to schedule, waking me in the wee hours of the morning. What’s the deal?”

“Here’s the latest,” he said, pausing. This was the second-hardest thing he had ever had to tell someone. “I did what I could for you with Sophia.”

“Whoa, Garrett. You told her who you are?”

“Yes, I did. I had to. I think waiting longer would have made it worse and it’s bad enough anyway.”

“Go ahead,” Will said, his voice becoming gruff, the disappointment showing. “I’m not sure I want to hear, but I know I have to. This doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not,” Garrett declared. “She’s adamant about her decision. She still won’t meet with any of you,” he said, pain rippling through him as he remembered her cold remarks to him.

“Dammit, I thought you were getting close to her—I thought this would work.”

“I did get damn close to her, but the instant she learned the truth … You can’t imagine her fury. She doesn’t want anything to do with me or any Delaney. Will, I did my damnedest with her.”

“I’m sure you did. I’m disappointed, but not with you. You always give a job your best.”

“We were getting along great and I thought I could safely tell her. I was wrong, but I don’t think she would have been any different if I had waited a year. She won’t listen to reason. She’s stubborn, determined and filled with hate for Argus. Because of that, Sophia will pass up the inheritance and hurt herself along with all of you. I’ve been shocked by the depth of her anger toward your dad. It’s monumental.”

“Garrett, I gotta ask,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about you giving up your pay for this. Do you care about her?”

Silence stretched between them. Garrett didn’t want to answer Will, but he knew his silence was telling.

“Dammit,” Will said. “We didn’t want you getting hurt in the cross fire.”

“Forget it, Will. None of us—not any of you, Sophia or even I—expected us to get involved. That’s beside the point here.”

“Sorry. That’s bad news. When the time is up on the inheritances, and we still want to meet her, do you think she’ll at least meet us and let us try to be a family?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“We all want to know her. You liked her, so in the right circumstances, I suppose we would, too.”

“Yes, you would. She’s like you in some ways, like Zach in others. She’s stubborn as hell—definitely a Delaney.”

Another heavy silence ensued. “What do you suggest as a next step?” Will finally asked.

“I’ve been thinking about it and the only thing I can come up with is to go back to your lawyer. Or get a different lawyer and see if he can reason with her.”

“Like I said, she won’t even talk to our attorney. She has her attorney talk to our attorney.”

“All right, but get him to tell her attorney everything you want her to know. Try to get him to convince her attorney this is in her best interests, which it is. Also, try to get across that you want to know her and include her in the family.”

“We’ll do that.”

“How can her attorney not want to argue in your favor when the size of the inheritance is so huge?” Garrett asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe a female attorney might get farther.”

“I don’t think it’ll matter. Man or woman, just get someone who is very clever and competent.”

“We’ll try. Don’t come home yet. Stay a few days longer and see if Sophia relents and has a change of heart.”

“Will, I’m coming home. Sophia doesn’t want to talk to me or see me again.”

“How could she be this bitter when he provided for them and her mother was in love with him?”

“She hated seeing her mother hurt by him, especially when he wouldn’t marry her. As a child she felt shut out and ignored by him.”

“That wasn’t so different from how he dealt with us. We had nannies, boarding schools. It wasn’t until we were adults that he began to show real interest in us.”

“She doesn’t know that and won’t care. Since she’s never met any of you, you’re not real to her and she is lashing out at him. She’s financially independent and she’s content with what she has.”

“The one person on earth who doesn’t want more money and she has to turn out to be our sister.”

“Sorry, Will. I failed all of you, but I tried,” Garrett said. “Will, other than this facet to her personality, she’s great. She truly is. You would like her.”