Читать книгу The Billionaires Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 52
ОглавлениеAS HE APPROACHED Bianca’s family home, Liev looked at the large white house set in immaculately maintained grounds and had to suppress his anger. This was what his mother could have enjoyed if ICE hadn’t duped his father so cruelly. Instead his mother had died in poverty and pain, broken-hearted after watching the man she loved drink himself into oblivion, believing he was nothing but a failure.
He tried to refocus his thoughts, bring them back to the present. Bianca had been stoically silent during the flight back from his island retreat. Now, as he stopped his car outside the imposing front doors, he glanced across at her. She looked much younger and more vulnerable than she’d ever done before. It was more than just the light make-up she wore today or the soft floating sundress, which caressed her body, reminding him how he’d done the same.
Every emotion she was feeling was exposed. A sensation he, too, felt and he didn’t like it one bit. She’d changed him, made him think differently, feel differently, and he couldn’t allow sentiment to get in the way of his plans—not now—not ever.
‘Grandfather will be resting for the remainder of the day,’ she said as she got out of the car and walked towards the sweeping front veranda of the house. Discreet members of staff came out to take his car to be parked. This was most definitely high-society living.
‘I trust he is well enough to meet with us later, even if only for a short while?’
‘Of course. That is the main reason we are here. He plans to join us before dinner this evening.’
The thought of being vetted by her grandfather sat uncomfortably with him. Naturally the old man would want his granddaughter to be happy, but what would he say if he knew she was being blackmailed? For a bracelet? What would the old man think of him if he knew he’d taken her innocence—her virginity—as part of that blackmail?
He watched as Bianca greeted the staff with genuine affection and didn’t miss the way they responded with fondness. The sound of her light laughter caught him unawares as she laughed at something the maid had said. Before he had any other opportunity to say anything, she turned and smiled at him, the laughter of moments ago still in her eyes.
‘This way.’
He walked with her up the wide staircase, the intimacy of being in her family home not lost on him. How many other men had she brought home to meet her grandfather? From the comfortable way she was dealing with this, it was something she was used to doing.
What he hadn’t expected was to be shown into a suite so large his own childhood home would have fitted into it twice over. She closed the door and blushed, not able to meet his questioning gaze.
‘This is the principle guest suite and where we can change for dinner, or rest until we head back to New York this evening.’
Liev bit back against the urge to walk out right now and go back to New York. How could he have thought coming here was a good idea? He could feel his frozen emotions thawing, more rapidly than he was comfortable with, and knew the iron-strong will which served as his barrier against everyone was failing. He shouldn’t feel anything for Bianca. She was a means to an end, a tool which turned the wheel of his revenge.
He could understand her need to pacify her grandfather about the engagement. It was making headlines, and even if he was frail and elderly, the old man would want to know who it was his granddaughter had become engaged to. But being here, in the home he’d raised all the Di Sione children, including Dario, was too intimate, too personal.
Just as sleeping with Bianca had been. Not only sleeping with her, but taking her virginity, damn it. Guilt continued to eat away at him over that.
‘I have no intention of staying here any longer than necessary.’ He snapped the words out as he looked at the view from the doors which opened out onto a magnificent balcony. ‘It’s not as if the engagement is permanent. I only agreed to this so you could do what was needed to put your grandfather’s mind at rest. Nothing more.’
He didn’t need to look at Bianca to know she was bristling with indignation. He could feel it in the hot afternoon air.
‘I apologise for the inconvenience, but just because you are ruthless and cold-hearted doesn’t mean I am. I care about my grandfather, and even if this damn engagement is fake, I will not give him cause to worry about me. I played along with your photoshoot, gave you all you needed and more, so now you will afford me the same courtesy.’
He turned to look at her, hostility rushing off her in waves as she made yet more demands on him. The vulnerable woman he’d begun to glimpse on their last dates, the one who’d tantalisingly revealed herself over the past few days, had now gone. And why wouldn’t she? This was her family home, her territory. Just as she’d been emotionally exposed at his island villa, so he was here.
‘I will do my best to convince your grandfather I am worthy of calling myself your fiancé.’ Why it mattered to him when all he wanted was to avenge his parents was beyond reason right now, adding to those exposed emotions he was desperate to hide.
‘Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I must just go and see my grandfather quickly.’
* * *
Bianca rushed from the room, desperate to calm herself before she saw her grandfather, but with the hum of desire still heating her body and the anger at herself for having responded to Liev’s expert touch, she doubted the short walk to her grandfather’s suite would do that. The hours on the plane, then trapped with Liev in his car, had been too much. The memory of her night in his bed was burning in her mind, so much she doubted it would ever fade.
Unnerved by how she’d all but begged him to make love to her, she smoothed down her dress and took a deep breath before knocking on her grandfather’s door. His frail voice called her in and her insides contracted, sure he would want to know if she had made any progress with the bracelet.
‘Hi,’ she said as she walked in, trying not to show how shocked she was by his ever-weakening health. Damn Liev and his blackmail. That emotion mixed uncomfortably with the passion she and Liev had shared and guilt added to the potent cocktail.
‘Bianca,’ he said with a smile, and he gestured for her to come closer. He took her hands in his and looked at the large diamond ring on her finger. ‘It is true, then. My Bianca has finally succumbed to love.’
‘Don’t.’ She smiled down at him, knowing he was only teasing. It was just a little too close to the truth. How had she even fallen for a man who used such underhand tactics as blackmail?
‘I just want you to be happy, Bianca, and whatever you do, don’t waste a chance of love if it comes along.’ His words, though frail, were steeped in deeper meaning.
‘No, I won’t.’ She had to paste a smile on her lips as she looked down at him. ‘But you rest now and later you can meet Liev.’
As she walked back to the suite, the guilt of deceiving her grandfather weighed heavily on her mind. What would he say when the engagement ended? He would be heartbroken for her; she knew that much. What would anyone say when it became public knowledge? Would all the effort she’d put into Liev’s acceptance by society be wasted as soon as word got out they were no longer engaged?
She could hear Liev talking on the phone as she opened the door to the suite. The Russian words were so alien to her that she had to stop and listen, but the coldness of his tone could not be mistaken. Whoever was on the other end of the phone had definitely angered him.
He met her gaze and ended the call. ‘My assistant in St Petersburg.’
‘Not bad news, I hope.’
‘No, not all.’ He stood and looked at her for a moment, as if seeing her for the first time. ‘How was your grandfather?’
The fact that he’d asked knocked her emotionally off balance and she blinked back the urge to give in to the tears which had prickled in her eyes since she’d left the old man’s rooms. She wished there was another way to get the bracelet. Not only was she lying to her grandfather and entire family, but she’d lost her heart and her virginity, given them away to a ruthless blackmailer who wasn’t even capable of love.
‘Frail, but looking forward to meeting you.’
‘Are any of your brothers or sisters here too?’ he asked as he sat down on the elegant white sofa, looking so relaxed it could almost be his home.
‘No. It’s just us here this evening.’ She thought of Allegra and wished she was here to guide her, though not with dealing with Liev and his blackmail tactics. That she could manage herself. What she needed help with was the way he made her feel, the way her heart leapt and her pulse raced just from thinking about him. The way she missed him when he wasn’t around. The way he’d awakened the woman within. It was all too real.
‘You look tired,’ he said as he stood up and came to her, guiding her to the sofa he’d just been sitting on. The genuine concern in his voice almost finished her. ‘Sit down and relax.’
She sat down, a little surprised when he sat next to her, his knee touching hers as he moved closer. ‘I know you don’t have brothers or sisters, but do you have cousins or other family?’ His mention of her family made her realise they still knew very little of each other. It shocked her to realise she wanted to know more about him, more about his family, his home.
‘No, I was an only child, which was hard when my parents died.’ He looked at her and she saw sadness in his eyes, the same sadness she felt when she thought of her parents. For him it was different. Not worse, just different. She could barely remember hers; he would have formed many memories with his.
Suddenly the need to talk washed over her like an incoming tide. ‘I can hardly remember my mother and the only images I have of my father are from photos. I did have brothers and sisters though. You had nobody. That must have been hard.’
* * *
Liev watched her beautiful face. She looked so defenceless his heart constricted with pain, for her loss as well as his. She had weaved a spell on him, bringing him physically nearer to his goal, but emotionally further from it. Right at this moment, as he looked into the blue depths of her eyes, he wasn’t sure if he still wanted the revenge on ICE he’d planned for so many years.
No. He pushed that thought away. Revenge was the only option, the only way to put right the past.
‘I had nobody and that had unsavoury consequences at the time, but it made me the man I am today. It made me stronger.’ He couldn’t help but compare the time he’d spent on the streets of St Petersburg with her life here, growing up like a cosseted princess. Just being in this house dragged them further apart.
‘It’s strange how an event can shape your whole life,’ she said earnestly, obviously thinking back to some hardship she had had to endure. Then he remembered what she’d said about her prom night. It had obviously affected her badly. He recalled how she’d ranked him as bad as that man. But he knew he was worse.
‘At least you had a home and your grandfather.’ He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice and his mind on the present. While she’d been living in luxury he’d been living through the hell of the regimented life of prison and all because his father had fallen victim to ICE, the company her brother now headed. Getting close to Dario would enable him to seek out those responsible for his father’s downfall. ‘And your brothers and sisters.’
She smiled at a secret memory and he felt strangely excluded. ‘The twins were so naughty, although I think Dario has settled down now.’
Exactly the topic he wanted. ‘The owner of ICE?’
‘Yes.’ She looked at him, surprise in her face briefly. ‘But then being in the same market, you know all about him, I’m sure.’
‘Not all.’ He laughed softly, anything to keep the anger from boiling over. ‘We are not competitors for business. Our products could complement each other’s.’
‘You should talk to him.’
‘Oh, I intend to, but now may not be a good time. Isn’t he about to launch his latest product? Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about it. There is, after all, client confidentiality.’
She smiled at him, her guard dropped by happy memories being in her home had evoked. ‘It seems you know anyway. It’s what I’ve been working on for the past two weeks, and with just two more weeks to go, it’s going to be a busy time. Just as well this interview should get you what you want. Then I can concentrate on that instead of playing the role of your fiancée.’
The barb hit home but he took it knowing he was finally getting to what he really needed to know.
‘He took over the company and made it into a bigger success, I believe. Highly commendable.’ Except for his ethics in pushing the company’s past dealings under the table without any compassion for those who’d lost and suffered due to being all but robbed by ICE. His parents weren’t the only ones. Finally he would get past Dario and confront those responsible.
‘I should arrange a meeting for you with him.’
This was too easy. She was telling him all he needed to know in order to finally achieve his goals, even offering to arrange a meeting with Dario. ‘I’d appreciate that.’
She stood up and looked down at him, and again he marvelled how the layers of her defences seemed to be coming away, almost before his eyes. How long would it be before he saw the real Bianca again?
He watched as she walked away to her room. He’d wanted to call her back, to pull her into his arms and tell her she didn’t have to be alone tonight when they finally returned to New York, that he would keep her safe, but he stopped himself just in time. She’d never be safe from him.
* * *
Just one more charade to get through and that would be the hardest one. She had to convince her grandfather that what she and Liev were doing was real, that they did love one another. Under no circumstances did she want him worrying about her when he was so ill.
‘This will mean a lot to my grandfather,’ she said quickly, her mask of indifference returning, even if only briefly. With her hand still in Liev’s, she made her way to the large lounge the family always entertained guests in.
‘I don’t want my grandfather tired. He is not well. All I want is to make his last days as happy and worry free as possible.’
She felt Liev glance at her as they walked but she didn’t dare look at him. If she did and saw sympathy in his eyes, she might dissolve into a heap of tears right here.
‘I will do my best not to upset him, although meeting your granddaughter’s fiancé can’t be easy.’
Bianca tried to remain calm and composed. She didn’t want her grandfather to see even a tiny hint that things weren’t right. He never said much, but he always noticed everything. She could see him sitting in his favourite chair, watching them. Did they create a picture of happiness? From the look on his face, she thought they might be achieving that at least.
Liev greeted her grandfather with a firm handshake, regardless of the fact that he wasn’t able to stand up and greet him properly. They sat together and she was aware of her grandfather’s scrutiny as they made polite conversation about the weather and the house.
‘You must make Bianca very happy.’ She blushed as he launched into the protective parent mode, straight to the point as always.
‘I hope so.’ Liev’s hand tightened around hers as he answered.
‘She has never brought a man home before. I’m not even aware that she has dated before.’
‘Grandfather,’ Bianca scolded him. Liev didn’t need to know such details, especially now, after he’d rejected her because of that innocence.
‘I’m just doing my job, Bianca.’ His words were as firm as an elderly man’s could be, but there was humour in his eyes. Whatever the test was, Liev had passed it.
She stood up, knowing they were tiring him. ‘We’ll leave you to rest now.’
He had nodded at her, obviously more exhausted than he was letting her know. Liev took her hand and they walked towards the double doors of the lounge.
‘Bianca.’
She turned as he called her name, her heart filling with love for the man who had raised her and protected her as best he could—and still was, if the past half an hour was anything to go by.
‘Any news on the bracelet?’
Inwardly she deflated. That was the worst thing he could have asked. Why hadn’t he done that when she’d gone to see him? Beside her she felt Liev stiffen and his fingers tightened on her hand.
‘Not yet, but I’m hopeful that it won’t be long.’
* * *
Liev felt Bianca become rigid at his side, felt her hand loosen its grip in his as if she wanted to escape, but he held hers tighter, keeping her right where he wanted her, right where he could find out exactly what was going on.
I’m hopeful that it won’t be long. Those had been her exact words.
He forced down the bile which rose in his throat. He’d wrung himself out with guilt at taking her virginity, felt lower than he’d ever felt in his life for using her so appallingly when she’d talked of her growing affection, telling him that their pasts meant nothing. Then she’d told him of her prom night, adding to that guilt. All that must have been part of her game plan.
She’d been desperate to get her hands on the bracelet, to give it to her grandfather. She’d bartered something as precious as her virginity. Would she now throw herself at him again, as their time together drew to a close, just to ensure she got the piece?
Disgust rushed over him, hotly followed by annoyance. He’d believed her declarations of growing affection, believed that maybe, if it wasn’t for his need to wipe out ICE, they could be lovers. She knew more about him now than many of his friends did. But obviously, he didn’t know enough about her.
‘We should change for dinner.’ Her voice was light, but he heard the guilt lacing through it.
He wanted to tell her dinner wasn’t a good idea and that he would be going straight back to his apartment in New York. But that first reaction gave way to a gut instinct which urged caution. If she could use him so shamelessly, he shouldn’t have any remorse or guilt about finding out about Dario’s new product—or using that information. He knew it was a phone, one that would revolutionise the market, but he had to know much more. Leaking half the story and expecting the share prices to fall enough for him to make a takeover was business suicide.
Despite what he thought of Bianca right now and the way she’d sold herself to him, he had to keep that connection going between them and, above all, put aside anything he’d begun to feel for her and remember his promise as he’d stood at his parents’ graveside over twenty years ago.
‘Maybe we can sort out our differences over dinner?’ He lowered his voice, keeping it smooth, effectively offering an olive branch to her.
She stopped and looked up at him, hope lingering in her eyes. ‘Yes, perhaps we can.’
He nodded in approval. ‘Are we still changing for dinner?’
‘I think it would be best. Grandfather would approve—if he does join us, that is.’ There was a hint of anxiety in her voice and he suppressed the urge to offer comfort.
After he’d changed for dinner, he sat on the balcony, watching the sun set over an estate that made him seethe with anger for what his parents could have had if ICE hadn’t been so mercenary. Dario Di Sione had pointedly ignored the fact that the company he now owned was only so lucrative because of the businesses it had wiped out. Liev’s father had built his up from nothing, creating an inheritance for his only son, but had been duped by the cunning and underhand deal offered by ICE. Driven by the need to put the past right, Liev had rebuilt it from nothing using his knowledge, intuition and, above all, the need to survive, making it bigger and better. His father would be proud.
‘Ready?’ Bianca asked, dragging him back from the darkness of his black thoughts.
She looked beautiful, even more vulnerable and innocent if that was possible. How could he have fallen for her soft words, her assurances that all that mattered had been that night in his villa?
‘You look lovely.’ He spoke the truth but hoped to pick up the gauntlet where she’d thrown it and lull her into a false sense of security with loving words and gestures. This time he would be well and truly in charge.
‘I don’t think Grandfather will be joining us, so I hope you don’t mind standing on ceremony just to have dinner with me.’
‘It will be a pleasure to dine one last time with my fiancée.’
‘Last time?’ She frowned, looking far more worried than she probably was. ‘So you are happy that we have achieved all that was needed?’
‘Yes. I strongly suspect that the exclusive on the island will more than clinch that deal.’ He kept his voice free of the emotion raging through him. Everything was becoming too mixed up, getting too close to something real, exposing too many vulnerabilities, and he didn’t like it one bit.
‘And the bracelet?’
Did she now regret using her virginity to secure the bracelet? He smiled, fighting hard against the urge to tell her to forget the damn bracelet, but somehow he managed to hold it all together. ‘I will have the bracelet delivered as soon as I am convinced the acceptance I wanted has been achieved.’
‘Thank goodness,’ she said as they left their suite and entered the large family dining room, the table looking odd set only for two. ‘I’m going to be so busy with Dario’s launch I won’t have time to parade our engagement.’
He pulled out her chair and the temptation to place his hands on her shoulders, to kiss the back of her neck, almost made him miss the inadvertent opening she’d just presented.
* * *
Bianca closed her eyes and held her breath as Liev lingered briefly behind her chair. She could almost feel his hands on her shoulders and his lips against her skin. Her heart rate accelerated wildly and memories of just how good his kisses were heated her body.
What had they been talking about? The phone and its launch, yes. ‘It is set to take over the market. There’s nothing else out there that can do as much from just one handset. Business will be revolutionised with it.’
As she spoke, he walked around the table to take his place opposite her, and as he came into her line of vision, she remembered who she was talking to. He might be the man she’d fallen in love with, but he was also her brother’s competitor.
‘You must be very proud of your brother.’ His dark eyes fixed her to the spot, sending a sizzle of desire spiralling through her. How could she still be feeling such attraction to him, when it was obvious that once they arrived back in New York their engagement would be over?
‘I am, yes. He’s worked hard and deserves this success.’
Liev raised his glass to her. ‘To success—for all of us.’
She had the strangest sensation that there was another meaning hidden deep in that innocent toast and had been about to ask him what he meant when the housekeeper, Alma, discreetly entered the dining room with a message from her grandfather’s nurse.
‘Is Grandfather all right?’ Bianca asked, alarmed.
‘He is, but has asked to be excused this evening. He’s very tired.’
‘Of course. That’s fine. I will slip in and say goodbye before I leave.’ She lowered her gaze to the table, worried about her grandfather. He was getting frailer each time she saw him and his disappointment at not yet having the bracelet had been painfully clear. He must have thought her visit was not primarily to introduce Liev, but to reunite him with one of his much-talked-of Lost Mistresses. Sadly, she hadn’t yet achieved that. She vowed that next time she visited would be different.
She turned her attention back to Liev. ‘Would you mind if we left as soon as possible?’
She wanted to see her grandfather before it got too late, reassure him that next time she came home she would have with her the bracelet. And she would. Whatever she had to do, she would have it for him.
