Читать книгу Pregnant by the Billionaire - Ким Лоренс, Кэрол Мортимер - Страница 9

‘A VERY wise decision on your part,’ Sin drawled as the lift doors of the penthouse suite opened to admit Luccy that evening. ‘And only ten minutes late, too,’ he added appreciatively as he stepped back to allow her to stride forcefully past him into the suite. ‘I expected it to be eight o’clock at least before you put in an appearance,’ he jeered as he followed her into the lounge.

A room that unfortunately brought back all too many memories for Luccy. Disturbing memories she had tried to forget, but couldn’t…

She rounded on him fiercely. ‘Let’s just get this conversation over and done with, shall we?’ she snapped, not at all happy with his absolute assurance that she would appear here some time this evening—just as he had told her she would.

But what else could she do when he seemed to know so much about her and she still didn’t know what he was talking about half the time?

He raised dark brows. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like a glass of wine—or champagne—first, to help the evening along?’

Luccy speared him with a glare, knowing he was enjoying mocking her by the amused glitter she could see in those silver eyes. ‘This isn’t an evening, it’s a brief—very brief!—visit,’ she announced, determined that she wouldn’t acknowledge by so much as a glance that she was aware—and disturbed by!—how casually he was dressed this evening. His black tee shirt fitted tautly across the width of his shoulders and chest, and faded denims rested low down on his hips, his feet left bare.

‘You don’t mind if I go ahead?’ He held up the bottle of white wine before pouring some into one of the two glasses he had waiting, and then taking a sip. ‘It really is a very good Chablis,’ he added temptingly. ‘And I hate to drink alone.’

‘This isn’t a social call, either,’ Luccy said tersely, aware that the suite had a more lived-in appearance this evening, a folded newspaper on the coffee table, some papers spread out on the desk near the window where he had obviously been busily working when she had arrived.

He was obviously a man who liked to work as hard as he played.

And, as Luccy knew only too well, he played extremely diligently!

‘Pity,’ Sin murmured huskily as he moved to sit down on the sofa, looking up at her as he rested the ankle of one foot on the other knee. ‘You aren’t here for the evening, and this isn’t a social call, so what is it, Luccy?’ he challenged softly.

‘You’re the one who insisted I come here tonight,’ she reminded him. ‘So why don’t you tell me what it is?’

She looked stunningly beautiful again this evening, having changed the loose blouse and denims of earlier for a fitted apricot-coloured cashmere sweater that clung lovingly to the firm swell of her breasts, and tailored black trousers that emphasised the long length of her legs, a pair of strappy black high-heeled sandals adding to her height. That amazing blue-black hair was loose again tonight too and falling in a soft cascade over her shoulders and down the length of her spine.

Dressed to kill was the appropriate phrase, Sin believed, and Luccy was certainly looking lovely enough this evening to take his breath away…

Sin regarded her broodingly for several long seconds before answering her. ‘Things were becoming a little—heated, at your studio earlier; I thought a cooling-off period might be beneficial.’

‘For whom?’ she asked.

‘For both of us, as it happens,’ he drawled. ‘For goodness’ sake sit down, Luccy,’ he instructed irritably as he took another leisurely sip of his wine.

‘I’ve already told you—I’m not staying!’ She stubbornly continued to stand across the room.

Sin gave an impatient sigh. ‘I don’t intend staying long when I pay a visit to the dentist, but I do at least sit down!’

She grimaced. ‘I’m glad you can see the similarity.’

Sin gave a shrug. ‘I can see that from your point of view this may not be the most pleasant visit you’ve ever made, yes…’

She gave him a scathing glance. ‘But not from yours?’

Of course he hadn’t expected this to be a pleasant visit—how could it be when this woman had deliberately, calculatedly, made love with him three evenings ago. Just because he didn’t look furious didn’t mean that he wasn’t!

Looking at Luccy from beneath hooded lids, he could see that she was just as angry…

Because she had been found out?

Whatever the reason, those deep blue eyes sparkled when she was angry, her cheeks became flushed, and her breasts strained against the soft material of her sweater. As for that blue-black hair! Just looking at its soft silkiness reminded him of how that long ebony swathe had fallen so enticingly about the nakedness of her shoulders the night they had made love together.

‘No,’ he bit out, ‘I don’t find being with you anywhere near as painful as a visit to the dentist.’

‘It’s early yet,’ Luccy retorted swiftly.

‘I have nothing else to do this evening—what about you?’

Luccy repressed a quiver down the length of her spine as she easily heard the underlying threat in his voice. ‘Can we just get this over with?’

‘By all means,’ he agreed smoothly.

‘Well?’ Luccy prompted impatiently after at least a minute’s silence had stretched between them.

He frowned darkly. ‘I was giving you the opportunity to explain yourself.’

‘How can I do that when I have no idea what you’re talking about most of the time?’ It had taken a tremendous effort of will on Luccy’s part to come here this evening, the least this man could do was cooperate.

Sin’s mouth thinned. ‘I’d hoped the games would be over this evening.’

‘Maybe they would be—if I knew what game we were playing!’

‘I thought we had agreed it was blackmail—sorry, leverage?’

Luccy felt the heat in her cheeks. ‘I still have no idea what you meant by that remark. As far as I can see, the only one guilty of using leverage is you—by forcing me to come here this evening!’

Sin’s patience faded completely in the face of her continued claim of innocence. He hadn’t expected this to be a pleasant evening, he was too coldly angry for that, but he would certainly have respected Luccy more if she could at least have been honest with him once she was found out.

‘Okay, let’s start with exactly when it was you realised who I am,’ he growled.

Luccy eyed him blankly. ‘Who you are?’

Sin gave an impatient sigh. Damn it, he didn’t enjoy being made a fool of! ‘I can see this is going to be a long evening, after all,’ he rasped.

‘No, it isn’t,’ she said. ‘You tell me who you are, I’ll go “wow”, and then I can leave. Yes?’

‘No,’ Sin grated. ‘But Wow is probably as good a place as any to start this conversation.’

Luccy became very still, her gaze wary now. ‘You’re referring to the magazine?’

His mouth tightened. ‘I’m referring to one of its executives. Paul Bridger, to be exact, a man we both met—in my case, briefly—three evenings ago.’

Luccy nodded slowly. ‘When he propositioned me and you interceded, yes.’

Resulting in Luccy having received a very politely worded letter the following day, from the secretary of Dale Harris, the other executive at that dinner meeting, informing her—surprise surprise!—that they had decided against contracting her to do any work for their magazine.

‘I won’t deny you gave a charming performance that night, but it really wasn’t very fair on Paul Bridger,’ Sin bit out disgustedly.

‘Not fair on him?’

He nodded. ‘You had already agreed to go to bed with him in exchange for being given a photographic assignment with the magazine he works for—’

‘I most certainly had not!’ Luccy glared at him indignantly, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

‘He says you did.’

‘He—! When did you talk to him?’ she demanded incredulously. ‘Why did you talk to him?’

Sin looked at her coldly. ‘Let’s just say I found the way you just disappeared the other evening while I was in the shower a little—questionable, to say the least—’

‘It didn’t occur to you that I might have been embarrassed by what had just happened between us?’ she asked exasperatedly.

‘No,’ Sin said. ‘But I was definitely curious enough to know that it might be in my best interest to—see you again. I had a little difficulty tracking you down at first,’ he acknowledged ruefully, ‘but enquiries at the hotel restaurant established that you had been dining with two executives from Wow magazine that evening. It wasn’t too hard to find out the names of those executives, or to make an appointment to see the younger one—’

‘You’re incredible, do you know that?’ Luccy gasped disbelievingly.

He gave an unapologetic shrug. ‘I went along to Bridger’s office this morning and had an illuminating little chat with him before coming to your studio.’

Luccy stared at him. Just stared at him. Sin had—Then he had—And he believed Paul Bridger’s version of what had happened that night rather than her own? It was unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!

More than that, it was damned insulting!

‘How very Sherlock Holmes of you!’ she snapped.

‘I thought so.’ Sin’s smile was completely lacking in humour.

She gave a disgusted shake of her head. ‘And that night I thought you were—I believed—You’re no better than Paul Bridger!’

His lips curled with distaste. ‘Not a pleasant individual, I grant you. Although it wasn’t exactly pleasant of you, either, to threaten him with the fact that he’s married.’

‘I didn’t threaten him. You were there in the hallway. You heard some of what was said—’

‘I heard you mention Bridger’s wife,’ he admitted grimly.

Luccy became very still. She had mentioned Paul’s wife to him that evening. But only out of desperation, as a deterrent, not—

‘He expected—He wanted—I only mentioned his wife because I was only trying to remind him of his—of his responsibilities,’ she defended herself, realising just how lame that sounded.

‘He claims you were trying to blackmail him into giving you work. His boss—Dale Harris is his name, I believe?—he seems to believe it too.’

This was a nightmare. An unbelievable nightmare. She had taken Paul and Dale to dinner, had paid for the whole damned evening—and now it seemed she was going to be made to pay in another way, too.

‘Let me try and get this straight,’ Luccy exclaimed. ‘You believe I tried to blackmail Paul Bridger into giving me work on the magazine he works for by threatening to tell his wife that he tried to get me into bed after our business meeting? You’re also of the opinion, based on that belief, that my ultimate intention was to somehow blackmail you, too?’

‘That works for me, yes.’ Sin nodded slowly. ‘But having transferred your attention onto me so impulsively it must have presented something of a problem for you when I told you that I didn’t have a wife, let alone kids.’

Luccy frowned at his continued insistence that she had deliberately planned what had happened between them that evening. ‘Even supposing—just supposing!—that your accusations were true, what do you possibly have that I could want?’

‘Off the top of my head?’ he drawled derisively. ‘Your future employment seems like a good enough incentive.’

Luccy had heard enough. She really had. ‘What future employment are you talking about?’

‘You still have a contract with PAN Cosmetics, I believe?’

Luccy became very still. He had mentioned the PAN contract earlier today, too. As he had just mentioned her future employment…

‘What does any of that have to do with you?’ she asked warily.

Mocking brows rose over those icy grey eyes. ‘Still pretending ignorance, Luccy?’

She wasn’t pretending at all! But she had a definite premonition she wasn’t going to like his answer when it eventually came!

‘Sleeping with the boss just isn’t what it used to be, is it?’ he derided.

The boss? What boss?

The only boss Luccy had came with her contract with PAN Cosmetics…

She swallowed hard. ‘You work for PAN Cosmetics?’

He gave an impatient sigh. ‘I own PAN Cosmetics, Luccy. As you are well aware,’ his voice grated harshly.

He owned…?

Luccy didn’t just stare at him now—she goggled. ‘Jacob Sinclair is head of Sinclair Industries, the company that owns PAN Cosmetics…’ Was that strangulated voice really her own?

‘Yes.’

Luccy could barely breathe now. ‘But Jacob Sinclair is—Isn’t he an elderly man, almost eighty?’

‘Jacob Senior is eighty, yes,’ Sin confirmed. ‘He also stepped down as Chairman of Sinclair Industries almost ten years ago. As I’m sure you are well aware,’ he added pointedly.

And why should she have known that? She worked exclusively with PAN Cosmetics, not Sinclair Industries.

Luccy could only stare at Sin as she waited for him to drop the next bombshell—one that she was sure was going to completely devastate her!

‘Ordinarily, his son, Jacob Junior would have inherited that position, of course, but unfortunately Jacob Junior was killed in a car accident ten years ago.’ His eyes were cold as he looked at Luccy.

Luccy moistened suddenly dry lips. ‘So who did take over as chairman?’

Sin gave a weary sigh. ‘Do we really have to continue with this act of ignorance on your part?’

‘Just humour me, will you?’ she rasped, totally agitated as he continued to play with her.

His mouth tightened. ‘Jacob Sinclair the Third, Jacob Senior’s only grandchild now controls all the companies under ownership by Sinclair Industries. Which, of course, includes PAN Cosmetics.’

Luccy’s eyes widened as the truth suddenly hit her with the force of a blow to the chest. ‘You?’

‘Me.’ He gave an unpleasant smile.

Him. He was Jacob Sinclair the Third. The grandson—and the only grandchild!—of Jacob Sinclair Senior.

The man who had become Luccy’s lover three days ago…

The man who now believed—with the help of that lying louse Paul Bridger!—that she had deliberately transferred her attentions to him that evening because she had spotted a bigger fish to fry.

Her cheeks burned. ‘I didn’t know!’ she gasped weakly. ‘How could I possibly have known when you introduced yourself to me only as Sin that night?’ she added accusingly.

‘You introduced yourself only as Luccy, remember?’

‘That was because—because—’

‘Because you had recognised me in the restaurant earlier but didn’t want me to know who you were!’ A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw.

If Luccy had recognized this man as Jacob Sinclair three evenings ago, in the restaurant or anywhere else, then they wouldn’t even be having this conversation!

Not that it mattered now. This man owned and ran Sinclair Industries, and consequently owned PAN Cosmetics, too.

The same man who was going to ensure that Lucinda Harper-O’Neill never worked for PAN Cosmetics again. Or possibly anyone else, either?

‘Don’t look so downcast, Luccy,’ he jeered. ‘You aren’t the first woman to use her body in order to try to get what she wants.’ His mouth tightened.

Luccy stared at him. ‘This—Are you saying that something like that has happened to you before?’

‘Just the once,’ he growled, the coldness of his expression telling her that it was not a pleasant memory—for him or the woman involved!

She swallowed hard. ‘What happened…?’

His eyes narrowed to steely slits. ‘Just a lowly employee of Sinclair Industries who thought she would like a promotion.’

‘And she went to bed with you to get it?’

His face darkened ominously. ‘Luccy—’

‘What happened to her?’ Luccy persisted.

He shrugged. ‘After her employment was terminated? I have absolutely no idea.’ His eyes glittered angrily.

Luccy gulped. ‘I think I would like that glass of wine now,’ she said shakily.

‘I don’t believe getting drunk is the answer to your problems,’ Sin drawled mockingly even as he stood up to pour wine into the second glass before handing it to her.

Luccy ignored the comment, her hand trembling slightly as she took the glass from him. ‘So.’ She drew in a shaky breath after taking a sip of the chilled wine. ‘Where do we go from here?’

‘Where do you want us to go?’

Luccy looked up at him warily, seeing him for exactly what he was now. Not only the billionaire chairman of Sinclair Industries, but also a hard, powerful, and ruthless man. ‘What do you mean?’

He grimaced. ‘Well, obviously I have now made it clear to you that any attempt on your part to use our past—relationship, shall we say, as leverage of any kind, in order to renew your contract with PAN, is out of the question…’ He looked up as Luccy stood up abruptly, his expression one of hard challenge as she began to pace the room agitatedly.

Luccy made no attempt to disguise her dislike as she glared across the room at him. ‘I can assure you I did not—and most definitely still do not—have any intention of ever discussing that evening again. With anyone!’

‘I’m pleased to hear it.’

‘And that includes you!’ Luccy snapped as she saw Sin’s derisive expression. ‘It was a mistake—’

‘It was certainly a serious tactical error on your part,’ he agreed.

Luccy slammed her glass forcefully down onto the table, mildly surprised when it didn’t instantly shatter. ‘You seduced me that evening—’

‘I believe it was a mutual seduction,’ he corrected harshly.

‘If it was mutual then why are you bitching about it?’ Luccy was beyond even attempting to keep this conversation polite. Why should she bother when Sin had done nothing but insult her since coming to her studio this morning?

Why was he bitching? Sin questioned himself suddenly.

Probably because, although it had been ten years since he had last been this gullible, Sin could still clearly remember the humiliation he had felt, the sheer fury, at knowing how naïve and stupid he had been.

So much so that he could cheerfully have wrung Luccy’s neck right now.

He had found his conversation with Paul Bridger this morning offensive, to say the least. The other man, once he’d realised the purpose of Sin’s visit, becoming extremely insulting about Luccy as he talked of the way she had encouraged him to believe they would be going to bed together at the end of the evening. That those insults were obviously true, going on the part of their exchange Sin had overheard, had only made his own conversation with Bridger more unpleasant.

‘Nothing else to say?’ she challenged Sin scathingly now.

There were a lot of things Sin could have said. But he wasn’t about to say any of them. ‘I believe the next move is up to you.’

She scowled. ‘Obviously you will be terminating my employment with PAN Cosmetics immediately—’

‘No.’

She raised startled brows. ‘No…?’

Sin gave her a scathing glance of his own. ‘You have three months left to run on your present contract, I believe?’

She eyed him warily. ‘Yes, so?’

He nodded. ‘Then you will continue to fulfil your obligations to PAN Cosmetics for that amount of time.’

‘That’s very—surprising, of you,’ Luccy said warily.

‘It’s business, Luccy,’ Sin rasped.

‘And once that contract is over you will make sure I never work again, is that it?’ she asked.

He continued to look at her coldly for several long seconds. ‘I haven’t made my mind up about that yet.’

Luccy knew by the absolute implacability of his expression that there was no point in her continuing to proclaim her innocence; this man simply didn’t believe her. ‘Let me know when you have!’ she retorted before marching in the direction of the lift.

‘Where the hell are you going?’

‘I’m leaving, of course.’ She stabbed her finger on the button to open the lift doors.

Sin stood up. ‘I don’t believe we’ve finished talking yet—’

‘I have,’ she assured him grimly as she stepped into the lift, her eyes glittering as she turned to face him before the lift doors slowly closed.

Sin was scowling darkly as he listened to the lift descending, knowing that the conversation hadn’t gone at all as he had thought it would.

The tears he was sure he had seen glittering in Luccy’s eyes didn’t make much sense to him, either…