Читать книгу The Billionaires Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 45
ОглавлениеLIEV WAS CONVINCED the fiery woman who had just challenged him so passionately hadn’t really agreed to his terms. Not completely. Her dark eyes met and held his defiantly, and he knew she was still trying to figure an alternative way out. Playing for time.
All he needed was to discover why the bracelet was so important, why she would even agree to such a drastic deal for a piece of jewellery. But that wasn’t so urgent now. He needed to set the stage for their engagement and it would have to be convincing.
‘Right now we could certainly pass for lovers who have had a tiff, but you are going to have to do better if we are to convince everyone that we are madly in love and have just got engaged.’
‘Madly in love?’ The surprise in her voice echoed that in her expression.
‘Yes, Bianca, madly in love. That way my acceptance into society is more guaranteed. Do you think you can portray a woman in love?’ He lowered his voice and taunted her mercilessly, enjoying all but whispering in her ear. Her scent filled him, knocking his heightened senses off balance.
‘Don’t worry about that, Mr Dragunov. I’ve spent my life in the limelight. I can act my part.’ Bianca’s words, once again, cut short his runaway thoughts.
He nodded his approval. ‘In that case, you will have no objection to me putting my arm around your shoulders as we leave and, naturally, as we are in love, you will welcome it. You will look happy. Ecstatic. I have, after all, just bought you an expensive gift—and, most importantly, you will call me Liev.’
‘Where are we going?’ For a moment she looked startled and again his conscience snagged on something, but he quickly reminded himself this icy beauty was agreeing to his proposition for a frivolous trinket. Diamonds and emeralds it may be, but it was frivolous nonetheless. She was exactly the kind of woman he despised and there was only one reason for being here with her—the revenge he had to exact on the company her brother now headed. The one that was responsible for his family’s ruin.
He smiled and moved closer in the way a lover would do, pushing back the hurt from the past in order to play his part. He caught the scent of her perfume again and this time inhaled, closing his eyes momentarily, enjoying the scent of summer roses. There were going to be parts to this revenge he would enjoy immensely.
‘First of all, as we leave we will have to pass the press that will most probably have gathered to find out who it was that made such an outrageously high bid on the bracelet. Then we will find a quiet bar to finalise the finer points of our deal.’
‘Don’t worry, Mr Dragunov. I can handle the press.’ Her flippant tone made him smile, admiring the fight that still raged in her.
‘I have every reason to believe you can.’ The slight widening of her eyes, which turned into a deep blue, reminding him of the dark waters of the ocean, suggested she hadn’t thought about the possibility that the press would be outside, despite her bravado. But he had. And he intended this to be the first time they were noticed together as a couple. ‘It will set things up nicely for an engagement announcement.’
‘You’re actually serious about the engagement?’ Incredulity filled her voice.
‘I am nothing if not serious, Bianca.’
The use of her name sent a rush of awareness through him, probably because of the way she drew in a sharp breath, her luscious lips looking ever more kissable. The inconvenient pull of attraction to the woman who was the key to successfully avenging his parents was not something he’d considered. Nor would he do so again. Complete focus was all he needed to maintain. Any other emotion was surplus to requirements—just as it had always been.
‘There is a bar on the next block that will be quiet enough for us to discuss the finer details of our arrangement.’ He took her hand and felt her hesitation as she allowed him to wrap his fingers tightly around it.
‘What about the bracelet?’ So she didn’t trust him.
‘It is quite safe and will remain that way until our arrangement is complete.’ Without further comment, he walked towards the main doors of the auction house. As the door was opened for them, he let her hand go and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her snugly against his body.
It felt good to have her there, where he could feel every step she took and every curve of her body. The flash of the cameras lit up the early evening and satisfaction raced through him. What would make the headlines? The highest bid so far this year at the auction house or Bianca Di Sione out with a Russian billionaire? Either way it suited him. He walked Bianca through the throng and hailed a taxi.
* * *
Bianca quickly got into the back of the car, glad to be out of the glare of the flashlights. Being the focus of press attention wasn’t new for her. She’d been all but hounded by them for as long as she could remember. Such attention certainly hadn’t been courted, but was more something she’d learnt to deal with—and avoid where possible.
She looked at Liev as he got in beside her, still unable to believe what had happened. He calmly gave an address and sat back next to her, seemingly happy that they had been photographed together. Having him so close was distracting and she had to resist the need to slide along the seat, further away from him. Her heart also thumped a little harder, making her feel light-headed. What was the matter with her?
‘So you’ve been photographed as my companion. What’s next, Mr Dragunov? Have you already chosen a fake engagement ring?’ She couldn’t keep the flippant tone from her voice. Was it born out of panic to her reaction to being near him or was it the situation she now found herself in? Her anger rose once more, fired up by her confusion, and together they made a heady cocktail. How could she find a man attractive and hate him at the same time?
‘As a matter of fact, I have.’ He startled her from her thoughts and she looked at him, the golden sunshine of New York’s summer evening playing across the sculpted contours of his face, lending him a dangerous edge. He dominated the very air she breathed as she sat next to him, trying to ignore the tingle of awareness from just being close to him. ‘But it is far from fake.’
Frustration fired through her, making her snap. ‘I can’t believe you are doing all this just because I declined to represent your company.’
‘That was a minor inconvenience and not at all my main goal.’ He looked at her, his eyes hard as they met hers. Everything else slipped into non-existence for the second time that day and mentally she shook herself. Where was the unflappable Bianca who’d forged her way through life for the past ten years without love and definitely without this kind of physical attraction?
‘What is your main goal, Mr Dragunov?’ She forced her mind to focus. This was one man she had to be on full alert with. He’d already proved that.
‘Liev.’
Good grief, even hearing him say his name was sexy. She had to stop thinking such things right now. She had to get a grip and pull herself together. She already knew the consequences of letting emotions show and wasn’t this proposition a battle? One she had every intention of fighting.
She recalled what she’d told Allegra—that she’d do anything to get the bracelet for her grandfather. It seemed that Liev was going to test that claim to the full, but she wouldn’t be thwarted by such an arrogant man. She would do whatever necessary to get that bracelet from him—even a fake engagement.
Her usual cool composure was well and truly ruffled. It was like going back to that prom night when she’d almost allowed herself to be used in the most basic way. She had been a challenge just because of her family name, one she’d risen to and overcome in spectacular style, maintaining her reputation and destroying that of the boy she’d foolishly believed she’d loved.
Since then she’d given men a wide berth, determined not to repeat the same mistake by letting anyone close, but now, confronted with a man like Liev, she had let her emotions show and everything had unravelled. But how could she not bring emotions into the task of getting back something her grandfather wanted so much after he’d told her it was his final wish?
‘You must call me Liev.’ The insistence in his voice was clear and she stifled a smile, knowing she was irritating him.
The taxi stopped and Liev got out. For a moment she thought about shutting the door and instructing the driver to take her home. If it had been anything else this man had taken from her, she would have done just that, but the bracelet was her grandfather’s dying wish. She couldn’t let Liev walk away with the one thing which would make her grandfather happy in his last days. She just wished she knew why it was so important to the elderly man.
Neither Matteo nor Allegra had heard the full story when he’d set them similar tasks. All they knew was that each item was a Lost Mistress from the tales he’d told them as children, as if they were part of the Di Sione fairy tale.
Bianca got out of the taxi onto the sidewalk, the hum of the traffic and the sound of sirens overpowering her. Or was it the man who stood watching her? His eagle-like assessment was unnerving.
‘You made a wise choice.’ His voice was deep and firm and she frowned at him, but before she could ask what he meant, he continued. ‘Not leaving in that taxi.’
‘I was tempted, and believe me, if there was another way, I would have done exactly that,’ she snapped back. ‘But we have to settle the details of our deal first and I warn you, Liev. I will go if those finer details aren’t mutually beneficial.’
She wanted to tell him that the bracelet didn’t mean that much to her, that he’d got it all wrong about her being the spoilt little rich girl, but suspected it would only draw his attention to it once more. If he could put a deal like that on the table, he could do anything. She had to keep her guard up.
‘And believe me, Bianca, they will be.’ The way he said her name, caressing it even while his voice remained granite hard, sent a shiver over her as if he’d actually touched her—and she hated him for it.
She walked into the bar with Liev, not completely unaware of the glances cast in their direction or the way he attracted the attention of just about every female in the bar. He was handsome, that was undisputable, but in a hard and angry kind of way. Or did he just hate her because he thought she was privileged and spoilt? He’d made no secret of his opinion of her.
She drew in a sharp breath as he placed his hand in the small of her back, guiding her to a table set back from the rest of the bar, the privacy it would afford them undoubted. Had he planned this evening down to such a level? Her earlier suspicions surfaced and she became more convinced that he’d known she would be at the auction. She bit down on the anger which bubbled up from deep within.
She slid along the seat, hoping he would sit opposite her, not quite able to take being close to him again so soon after the short journey in the taxi. She still couldn’t understand the effect he had on her, how heat could infuse her so quickly just from being close to him. She’d resisted the pull of sexual chemistry for the past ten years and she could continue to do so now. If Liev thought charm would soften his twisted deal, he was very much mistaken. She was immune to such tactics.
‘This is very, how shall I say, convenient.’ Her words were spiked with tartness as she desperately fought to suppress that new idea of awareness to a man she’d disliked on first sight and now hated with a vengeance.
He flicked his brows up at her sarcasm, then signalled to the bar staff. A bottle of wine, her favourite red, arrived promptly. That uncomfortable suspicion returned. He seemed to know a lot about her. Far too much.
‘I pride myself on being able to prepare for every eventuality.’ The self-satisfied expression on his face just begged to be wiped away, and she vowed that before this deal was over she would do just that.
‘In that case, why not allow me to find a more suitable fiancée for you, one more powerful, more able to open the doors you so desperately want opened? You overestimate my standing in the Di Sione family if you think an engagement to me will do all you want.’
‘Not only is it your family’s name and that old-money respectability I need. It’s your undoubted skill in your professional life. So you see, Bianca, I have made my choice well.’
‘There must be someone better placed than me for this ridiculous sham of an engagement?’
She watched as he poured two glasses of wine, desperately trying to think of who that woman could be, knowing deep down it couldn’t be her. History was repeating itself, but on a much more dramatic scale. Her family name and reputation was being used once more, callously gambled with, but this time she couldn’t see any way out. Not if she wanted the bracelet.
‘And who exactly would you suggest?’ He leant back in his seat, his wine untouched in front of him. She had the uneasy sensation of being more like a hunting eagle’s quarry, set up and unwittingly waiting for the moment she would be swept away from all she’d ever known and devoured.
‘I will find someone.’ She could hear the desperation in her voice. Could he hear it too? ‘There are agencies, although how they’d look upon the request for a fake fiancée, I don’t know.’
She tried hard to think who it could be, but single women able to offer him what he wanted were few, and those she could think of wouldn’t stand a chance against his lethal charm. She had no need to be close to a man, so maybe she was the best woman for the job.
He folded one arm across his body and raised one to his face, his thumb on his chin and his finger rasping over the hints of stubble; the sound, although hardly audible, set her nerves even more on edge. ‘That won’t be necessary. I am certain we can come to a mutually satisfying arrangement. I have something you want and you are in a position to give me what I want.’
‘How long have you been in New York, Mr Dragunov?’ She used his surname and couldn’t help the smile which caught her lips at his annoyed expression. She noticed his eyes glitter, making them ice cold.
‘I have been doing business here for a few years on a small scale, but now our engagement will ensure the success of my latest and biggest venture. It will turn my company global. I will still keep my main office and home in St Petersburg, where I grew up.’ The last few words had a harsh edge to them that was hard to miss.
‘And your family? Where do they live?’
‘I have no family.’
‘So there is no danger of your family finding out about this engagement?’ She flung the question at him, giving voice to the concerns she had over how her family would take the news. He didn’t appear at all worried about deceiving everyone.
‘Not at all. My parents died when I was young.’ She saw his jaw clench, saw the flash of pain in his eyes. Pain she knew only too well. Her heart twisted. He’d lost his parents too. He knew the pain she’d grown up with wishing she had known her mother and father, wishing she had more than snippets of memories.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly, not wanting to open up to him about such things. She never told anyone that she could barely recall her mother and had no memories of her father whatsoever, but hearing Liev’s pain, seeing it in his eyes, opened up that shame and exposed her pain. She fought hard against the urge to confide in him, reminding herself they were not in a real relationship. This man was not to be trusted. In any way.
That connection they shared from the past still didn’t alter the fact that her brothers and sisters would find out about the engagement and she wondered how she could make them believe it was real. She would be lying to them, but she had no choice. If for one moment her brothers thought she was being blackmailed, or set up, as she preferred to think of it, she was certain Liev Dragunov wouldn’t be getting the acceptance in society he craved. And that would mean she wouldn’t get the bracelet. She would fail her grandfather in his last wish.
That thought made sadness sweep over her and she took a sip of the wine, trying to ignore the intensity of Liev’s eyes on her. She wished she could talk to Allegra. All her life she’d looked up to her as more of a mother figure than a sister, but when it came to troubles of the heart, she was always her big sister, someone she could confide in. But for the first time, that wasn’t available. She was miles away in Dar-Aman with what appeared to be the love of her life.
‘Losing my parents is not something I dwell on.’ Liev’s words, more sharply accented than usual, dragged her from her melancholy thoughts.
‘You may not have family to consider, but whatever plans you have to instigate this engagement will need to be good if I am to convince my brothers and sisters that we are engaged.’ She thought of their probable reaction to her even dating, let alone getting engaged. They knew she’d never taken a man home, let alone frequented the dating scene of New York.
‘It will be.’ His high and mighty attitude was beginning to wear thin. He was far too self-assured, far too confident she’d fall into line with his ludicrous plan.
‘I’m serious, Mr Dragunov. If you want doors opened, then you first have to get past the whole Di Sione family, convince them we are in love, because they will not just accept my sudden engagement without question, not when I haven’t dated in years.’
‘Not dated in years? You make it sound as if you have never been in love, never had an affair.’ He regarded her with suspicion and disbelief which only spiked at her irritation.
‘I haven’t. Not that it is any of your business, Mr Dragunov.’
‘If you don’t start referring to me as Liev all will be lost. No doors will be opened, which means no bracelet. I will return to St Petersburg with the bracelet and it will never again leave Russia.’
Take the bracelet back to Russia! That was something she hadn’t considered at all. There was no way that bracelet was going anywhere else except to the Di Sione family estate.
* * *
Liev could see the moment Bianca finally realised he was serious. He saw her eyes wash with resignation, watched those very kissable lips press together, and it was all he could do to keep his thoughts on his mission, instead of thinking how they would feel crushed beneath his as passion burst to life between them. Did she really expect him to believe she’d never dated? A woman as beautiful as her would have exploited that beauty along with her family name and wealth, of that there was no doubt.
‘I do not know why this item is so precious to you, but I mean what I say. Only when you have achieved your side of the deal will I allow you to have it. Not a moment sooner. Three months should be sufficient. Don’t you think?’
He watched as the colour drained from her face, now satisfied there wouldn’t be any last-minute attempts to thwart his plans. He’d waited too long for this moment, and when he’d told her of his parents he’d had to clench his hands into fists, to prevent himself from revealing the truth, from telling her that she and her brother were a crucial part of avenging their untimely deaths.
‘You’re despicable,’ she whispered at him, her breath coming hard and fast. Better that she hated him. Hatred drove a person more than any other emotion. He’d learnt that the hard way as he’d fought and brawled—and worse—for every morsel he’d eaten since the day, at twelve years of age, he’d seen his father’s coffin lowered into the ground, joining that of his mother.
‘Then we have a healthy respect of one another, Bianca.’ He saw her jaw clench as he used her name.
‘How exactly are you going to convince the world that our engagement is real? When we obviously dislike each other so intensely?’ The tartness of her words touched a raw nerve, one that had been exposed by remembering his past.
‘I will give you a ring. The rest is up to you.’ He thought of the large diamond ring he’d bought. Proof, if she needed it, that this whole scenario had been planned down to the last detail. But that was of no importance now; she’d agreed to the deal. He had her right where he wanted her.
As soon as he’d discovered her desperation to get the bracelet he’d done everything in his power to prevent her buying it privately, making a deal with the seller and then bidding for it all over again. It had cost him a fortune, but one he could easily stand, and he’d forced Bianca out into the open where he could snatch it away from her. It was his bargaining tool, but what he hadn’t been prepared for was just how badly she wanted it.
‘Up to me?’ Shocked, her blue eyes widened, sending his thoughts briefly off course again.
‘Yes. The sooner our engagement is known, the sooner you can gain my acceptance with the use of your family name.’
‘And that’s all it’s about?’ Her dark eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion and he wondered if he’d been too unguarded, let too much slip. It was a fine line he was walking between gaining all the information he could from her and telling her too much.
‘I am to attend a charity function this Friday and you will also attend—as my fiancée.’
‘So soon?’
‘I intend we are seen in public as a newly engaged couple as soon as possible.’
She inhaled deeply. ‘Very well. I agree but only for three months and not a day longer.’
‘You will also use your business connections to introduce me to those people who would be most influential in establishing my company here in New York.’ He pressed home the need to be accepted by society, which whilst being beneficial, it was not the main purpose for his deal. The main purpose was to extract information from Bianca about Dario Di Sione and the finer details of ICE, the company he intended to bring down.
She sighed as if bored with the whole discussion—or was it resigned to her fate? ‘I will also expect you to ensure our engagement is as public as possible and gains the interest of not only society, but the press, although I do have a few plans for that myself.’
‘So you want me to act the adoring fiancée in public, pose for the press at every opportunity and arrange a PR campaign that will launch you and your business into the heart of New York’s business world?’
‘That is exactly what I want, Bianca.’
