Читать книгу Modern Romance September 2017 Books 1 - 4 - Кэрол Мортимер, Кэрол Мортимер - Страница 19

CHAPTER NINE

‘LUNCH HAS ARRIVED.’

Lunch? A glance at her wristwatch told her it was almost five o’clock in the afternoon, and Lia didn’t want to move out of the warm comfort of the bed where she and Gregorio had spent the whole afternoon making love. They had left the bed only once, to take the shower they had forgone earlier. Gregorio had made love to her again against the shower wall once they had soaped, washed and caressed each other all over. The third time had been just a few minutes ago.

Every part of Lia ached, but it was a pleasurable ache. An ache that came from knowing Gregorio’s possession so intimately, so many times in such a short time.

Which was surprising, because Lia hadn’t thought a man could recover sexually so quickly. David certainly hadn’t...

‘Whatever you are thinking about has put a frown on your brow,’ Gregorio reproved as he crossed the room to stand beside the bed, wearing a towel knotted loosely around his hips.

Probably so that he could open the door when Room Service delivered their late lunch, Lia realised.

‘It was nothing of any importance.’ And it wasn’t. None of it. David. Their less than satisfying relationship. Their broken engagement. My lucky escape—that seemed more appropriate. ‘I’m too comfortable to get out of bed.’ She gave Gregorio a satiated smile.

His smile was indulgent. ‘Would you like me to bring the food to you in here?’

‘That sounds like an excellent idea.’ Lia tucked the sheet about her breasts as she sat up against the pillows.

Gregorio sat on the bed beside her. ‘You are very beautiful to me, Lia.’ His fingertips ran lightly down one of her flushed cheeks.

Lia believed him this time. How could she not after the exquisite way Gregorio had made love to her for hours? After he had shown her time and time again how beautiful she was to him.

So why was he now the one frowning?

‘I want you to promise me you will not see Richardson alone again.’

Ah.

Gregorio’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘Probably because I’m wondering if this is the reason you’ve made love to me all afternoon.’ She eyed him suspiciously. ‘To distract me, and also so I’d be more amenable to whatever you ask of me.’

He stood up abruptly. ‘You have never for a single moment been amenable, Lia,’ he bit out impatiently. ‘Dios mio.’ He ran a hand through his already tousled dark hair. ‘Is that what you think of me?’ He glared down at her. ‘That I would use sex to manipulate you?’

Exactly. Sex.

She had been making love...falling in love...while Gregorio had been having sex. Very good sex, but nonetheless it was just sex.

Lia wondered why some women—herself included, apparently—had to pretty it up by calling it ‘making love’. Maybe because that was exactly what it did—it prettied up what was basically a primal sexual urge. There was a much more crude word Lia could have used to describe it, but she was too much of a lady to use it.

Gregorio scowled his impatience at Lia’s lack of a reply. ‘I do not remember having to force you into doing anything this afternoon.’

On the contrary, after her initial shyness Lia had proved to be a very adventurous lover. Satisfyingly so.

So why were the two of them arguing again?

Because their conversations always—usually sooner rather than later—became an argument. One of them would take umbrage at something the other had said, and a disagreement would ensue.

‘I think I should leave.’ Lia avoided his gaze, keeping the sheet wrapped about her breasts as she moved to swing her legs out onto the carpeted floor on the other side of the bed.

‘Is this how you usually behave?’ Gregorio snapped in frustration. ‘You run away whenever you are confronted with a situation you cannot control?’

Her eyes flashed as she turned to glare at him. ‘I don’t have control over a single part of my life right now. Including this part, it seems,’ she added vehemently, standing up and taking the sheet with her. ‘I no longer think I should leave—I am leaving.’

She kept the sheet wrapped around her as she marched over to the door.

‘Lia!’

She turned in the doorway. ‘Let me go, Gregorio.’ Tears glistened in her eyes.

Gregorio’s shoulders dropped in defeat. He knew he had no desire to force Lia into doing anything. ‘As long as you agree not to see Richardson again on your own. My investigation into his lifestyle, and the money missing from your father’s company, is still ongoing.’

And Lia’s interference would not only put that investigation in jeopardy but also Lia herself.

‘You really believe he did it?’

‘I do, yes.’

‘And that caused my father’s heart attack?’

‘Yes.’

‘Very well.’ She nodded. ‘But you’ll keep me informed?’

‘I will,’ he conceded tautly. ‘Now I insist you allow Silvio to accompany you home and remain outside your apartment building.’ After what she had revealed during her conversation with Richardson earlier today, he believed it was now even more necessary that Lia be protected.

She breathed deeply as she obviously fought a battle within herself. ‘Do you really think David would hurt me?’

Gregorio’s mouth tightened. ‘I believe that today you challenged and cornered a man who does not like to be thwarted in any way. By meeting him, saying the things you did, you have now made Richardson aware of some of your suspicions regarding him—if not all of them. It is never a good idea to allow the enemy to know what you are thinking or feeling.’

Lia eyed him quizzically. ‘Is that how you’ve become so successful? By treating everyone else as the enemy?’

He breathed in deeply. ‘You are angry with me and deliberately twisting my words.’

Lia was angry with herself—not Gregorio. After all that had happened these past few months she had still allowed herself to be a naïve romantic where Gregorio was concerned. She was twenty-five years old, and had already been used and manipulated by one man for his own selfish purposes. It was time she stopped romanticising and accepted that she and Gregorio had simply spent a pleasurable afternoon in bed together.

And now the afternoon was over.

She forced the tension from her shoulders and half smiled. ‘Let’s not part as bad friends, hmm, Gregorio?’

Gregorio’s eyes narrowed. Friends? Lia believed the two of them to be merely friends? After the afternoon they had just spent together?

‘Will we be friends with benefits?’ he mocked harshly.

‘No.’ She kept her gaze downcast. ‘What happened this afternoon will not happen again.’

‘You truly believe that?’ he scorned. The sexual tension between them crackled and burned even now. When they were arguing or when they weren’t.

She raised her chin as she looked at him, her gaze clear and unwavering. ‘It’s time I took charge of my own life, Gregorio,’ she stated flatly. ‘And that includes who I go to bed with.’

‘And it will not be me?’

‘No.’

Gregorio nodded abruptly. ‘Silvio will be waiting downstairs to accompany you when you are ready to leave.’

‘Thank you.’ Lia disappeared into the hallway, and there followed the sound of the bathroom door closing seconds later.

Gregorio made his call to Silvio and then turned to stare out of the window at the London skyline, his reflection showing him his expression was grim. This afternoon with Lia had been a revelation. She was correct in her belief that in the past twenty years he had bedded many woman. So many he had forgotten some of their names.

He would never forget Lia’s name.

Would never forget Lia.

She was unforgettable.

Not because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Which she was.

Nor because she was the best lover. Which she was.

No, he would never forget her because she was Lia.

Fiery of temperament. Passionate of nature.

Lia.

* * *

‘What happened to you yesterday—? Careful,’ Cathy warned as Lia’s hand jerked so suddenly she almost tipped her glass of water all over the table. The two women had met up at the gym after work, and were now enjoying a relaxing cold drink together in the bar there. ‘I expected you to telephone last night, but now I really want to know what happened yesterday.’

The other woman eyed Lia knowingly.

‘Which part?’ Lia couldn’t quite meet her friend’s gaze.

She had gone to bed early last night—had pulled the covers over her head and slept for almost twelve hours. Today she was back working behind the reception desk at the Exemplar Hotel, so obviously Gregorio’s PA had recovered enough to come in today. Or maybe not? Maybe Gregorio was doing the same as Lia? Trying to ignore her existence as she was trying to ignore his. She certainly hadn’t seen anything of him in the hotel today.

‘The part that’s making you blush,’ Cathy said with relish.

Lia winced. ‘I’d rather not.’

‘At least tell me if it involves Gregorio de la Cruz?’

She sighed. ‘It does.’

‘Wow!’ Cathy had a dreamy expression on her face. ‘I love Rick to bits, but being married doesn’t make me blind and Gregorio is something else.’

Yes, he was. But quite what that something else was Lia had no idea.

She knew she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since she’d left his apartment late yesterday afternoon. Since she had made... Well, it hadn’t quite been the walk of shame, because it hadn’t mattered that the clothes she was wearing were the same ones she had worn to work that morning. But it had certainly been an embarrassing exit from the hotel after Lia had collected her coat from the staffroom. Made more so by the fact that the other receptionists had cheerfully wished her goodnight before she left—just as if it had been a normal working day at the Exemplar Hotel.

There had been nothing normal about yesterday as far as Lia was concerned.

The pleasurable aches and pains in her body when she’d woken up that morning had seemed to agree with that sentiment. Which was why she had suggested meeting up with Cathy at the gym after work. The two women had been using different apparatus since they’d arrived, so sitting in the adjoining bar, sipping iced water, was the first opportunity they had found actually to chat.

‘I can see by the smile on your face that he’s every bit as satisfying as I thought he might be.’

‘Cathy!’ Lia’s cheeks were ablaze with revealing colour.

‘Lia!’ she came back teasingly. ‘You never had that cat-that-got-the-cream expression on your face after spending the night with David.’

Lia sobered at the mention of her ex-fiancé. ‘I saw David yesterday too.’

‘What?’ Cathy sat forward. ‘When? Why?’

She sighed heavily. ‘Gregorio told me some things about him and I wanted to know if they were true.’

‘And were they?’

‘Yes.’ Lia had no doubt now that Gregorio’s suspicions about David would prove to be correct. Or that he was right to be cautious about to what David might do once Gregorio had evidence against him.

‘More secrets?’ Cathy eyed her sympathetically.

Lia blinked back the tears that never seemed to be far away nowadays. ‘Gregorio thinks David is responsible for my father’s financial problems and subsequent heart attack. I’m inclined to agree with him.’

‘Oh, Lia.’ Cathy placed her hand over Lia’s and gave it a squeeze. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘But not surprised?’ Lia quirked a rueful brow.

‘Not really, no,’ her friend acknowledged with a pained wince.

Lia laughed softly. ‘You really will have to be more honest with me in future regarding the men I date!’

‘Gregorio has my full approval,’ Cathy supplied instantly.

He had Lia’s full approval too. But that didn’t change the fact that she was just another sexual conquest to him. Unfortunately she had to accept that her emotions didn’t function in the same compartmentalised way as his. She already cared more for Gregorio than she should, and she didn’t need to have her heart broken for a second time in a matter of months.

Had David’s desertion broken her heart?

If Lia was honest, the answer was no. It had hurt that he had ended their engagement so abruptly after her father’s death, but she hadn’t been heartbroken in the way she would be if she allowed her emotions to become fully engaged where Gregorio was concerned.

If they weren’t already...

* * *

‘I was wondering when you were going to arrive home.’

Lia stiffened as she stepped out of the lift and saw David standing in the hallway, directly outside her apartment. ‘How did you get in here?’

There was no reception at this small apartment complex, but it did have a key-coded panel outside the front door, and a security number that had to be logged in before the door could be opened.

She had also left Raphael, her protector for the day, sitting outside in his SUV on the other side of that locked door.

David gave an unconcerned shrug. ‘I told one of the other tenants I was a new neighbour and I’d forgotten the door code. She was only too happy to let me inside.’

Lia was pretty sure there had been a lot of David’s false charm involved in that conversation. Although she really would have to introduce herself properly to the other tenants, so that they knew exactly who their new neighbour was in future. They also needed to be more cautious about letting unknown people into the building.

In the meantime, she had to deal with David’s unwanted presence. ‘How did you find out where I’m living now?’ she demanded as she walked down the hallway.

He shrugged. ‘It wasn’t that difficult. A friend of a friend who works for the telephone company.’

Lia eyed him warily. ‘Why are you here?’ He was dressed casually, in an open-necked pale blue polo shirt and designer label jeans, so he had obviously been home and changed after work before coming here.

He gave her one of his most charming smiles. ‘I felt we parted badly yesterday, and I wanted to put things right between us.’

‘Really?’ She quirked a sceptical brow.

‘Yes, really.’

The smile stayed firmly in place, but Lia knew David well enough to realise it hadn’t reached his eyes.

‘You said some unsettling things to me yesterday, and I wanted to set the record straight.’

Lia thought saying really again might be a little too much. ‘That’s no longer necessary,’ she said.

He tensed. ‘Oh?’

‘I think we both know the truth, David. Which means we have nothing more to say to each other.’

‘You aren’t being very friendly.’

She snorted. ‘Do I have reason to be?’

‘We were engaged...’

‘Were engaged being the appropriate phrase.’

‘Look, I know I let you down when you needed me to be strong for you. I made a mistake, okay?’ His smile became ingratiating. ‘I obviously don’t handle sudden death well—’

‘I will not discuss my father with you,’ Lia snapped. ‘Ever,’ she added vehemently. ‘Now, I would like you to leave.’

‘I just want to talk to you, Lia,’ he cajoled. ‘I’ve missed you.’

‘Oh, please!’ She glared her disgust. ‘I realise now how completely naïve I was until a few months ago. Maybe I was just too busy being “the privileged daughter of the wealthy and powerful Jacob Fairbanks”,’ she said, repeating his insult of yesterday. ‘If I hadn’t been then perhaps I would have seen through you much sooner.’

‘This isn’t like you, Lia...’

David had returned to the condescending voice that was really starting to grate on Lia.

‘You don’t talk like this. I can only conclude that it’s the influence of de la Cruz.’ He gave a shake of his head. ‘What on earth are you doing with a man like that anyway? He’s a womaniser—and a corporate shark of the worst kind.’

‘He’s a more honourable man than you’ll ever be!’

Lia knew that was the truth. In all his dealings with her Gregorio had been nothing but honest. Even when the two of them had spent the afternoon in bed together Gregorio hadn’t made any false declarations or promises—before or after.

‘Now, I really want you to leave, David.’ She searched agitatedly through her shoulder bag for her door key.

‘What if I don’t want to?’

Lia looked up sharply, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she realised that David had moved and was now standing much too close to her in the hallway. Uncomfortably so. There was no charm nor an ingratiating smile on his face now.

‘One of Gregorio’s men is sitting in his car outside this building,’ she challenged tensely.

David raised is brows. ‘He has men watching you?’

‘Protecting me, yes.’

‘Protecting you from whom? Me?’ David questioned when Lia gave him a pointed glance. ‘You never used to be paranoid, Lia,’ he scorned.

‘I never used to be a lot of things that I am now.’

‘So I’ve noticed. And not all of those changes are for the better,’ David assured her. ‘But de la Cruz and his men aren’t here. There’s just the two of us.’

Lia was aware of that. Very much so. And she didn’t like it one little bit. Didn’t trust or like David one little bit.

‘I said I want you to leave,’ she repeated through gritted teeth.

‘Wouldn’t you like to know what really happened the night your father died?’

‘What?’ Lia gasped as she stared at him with wide eyes.

David returned her gaze challengingly. ‘I said—’

‘I heard you,’ she dismissed agitatedly. ‘What I want is an explanation of what you meant.’

He shrugged. ‘I was with your father when he died.’

‘I... But... There was never any mention...’ She gave a shake of her head. ‘I was the one to find him—slumped over his desk in the morning.’

‘Our meeting was lawyer/client confidential.’ David shrugged. ‘When he suddenly collapsed... Well, as I said, I don’t handle sudden death well.’

‘He had a heart attack in front of you and you just left him there to die?’ Lia reached out to place her palm on the wall for support as she felt herself sway.

‘He died almost instantly.’ David’s mouth was tight. ‘There was nothing anyone could have done.’

‘You don’t know that!’ Lia stared at him incredulously. ‘You all but killed him!’

‘Your father died of a heart attack,’ he maintained evenly.

‘But heart attacks are usually brought on by stress or shock. Did you do or say something to cause his heart attack?’ Lia was having difficulty keeping down the waves of nausea churning in her stomach.

‘Invite me in and I’ll tell you exactly what happened.’

Lia didn’t like the smug expression on David’s face. Smugness caused by the fact that he knew she would want to know exactly what had happened the night her father died. That she needed to know.

But to do that David had said she must invite him in to her apartment.

Did she dare to be alone with him in there?