Читать книгу The Billionaires Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 54

CHAPTER TWELVE

FOR THE REST of the weekend, Bianca had tortured herself, worrying over Dario and what Liev intended to do. She’d expected to hear from Dario, but nothing other than the usual emails regarding the launch. Finally she’d broken under the pressure and had called him, explaining she’d given away all the necessary information to ruin him.

She’d explained about the bracelet and how Liev had bid against her in order to use it as blackmail. She had been so shocked when Dario had told her he, too, had just been given a task of locating a Lost Mistress that she confessed absolutely everything, even telling her brother she’d fallen in love with the man who was planning his downfall.

That man’s silence had screamed at her all week, fraying her nerves. What was he up to? In just one hour ICE was about to launch its latest product, the one she’d stupidly told Liev all about, and all she could think of now was his warning that he wanted to bring ICE down and Dario with it.

He’d used her. Blackmailed her. But still she remembered his kisses. The night they’d made love. What was the matter with her?

The conference room was filling up fast. The press had already taken up their positions as Bianca slipped in the door at the side of the room to give everything one final check. Dario joined her, filled with excitement.

‘You’ve done a great job, Bianca.’ Her brother’s voice was full of praise. Praise she didn’t deserve.

‘That’s not true and you know it.’

‘We all make mistakes. Don’t worry—I’ve got your back on this one. It’s all sorted.’

She turned to look at her brother. ‘What do you mean?’

He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him, and then smiled. ‘It’s sorted. Stop stressing and concentrate on your job.’

‘But...’ Before she could say any more, Dario had left. The room was filling more rapidly now and she watched everyone. Then her world stopped turning. Her heart stopped beating and she wasn’t sure she could even breathe.

Liev.

She closed her eyes in resignation of all that was surely about to happen. Liev Dragunov wanted revenge and he was here to get exactly that. Her first instinct was to warn Dario, but he was busy with final preparations.

She had no choice. She had to confront Liev—now—before he publicly created a scene.

Trying to gather her shattered nerves, she strode over to him. Instantly the air became full of tension and the way he dominated everything around him unnerved her further. The dark suit he wore hugged his body and that image she’d stored away, of him standing in the sea, sunlight defining every muscle, filled her mind. What was the matter with her? The expression on his face was unreadable as she looked directly into his eyes.

‘We need to talk, but not here.’ Bianca walked away, hoping Liev would follow. She glanced back to see that he was, and that inscrutable expression didn’t give her any hope that he’d changed his mind about revenge.

She went through the side doors, into the quietness of the corridor, and headed to the office she and Dario were using. Anywhere was better than having this conversation in public. Once inside the room, she stood behind the desk and turned to face him as he came in and shut the door.

His icy grey eyes met hers. ‘I’ve seen Dario.’

Straight for the jugular, then. No niceties. But what had she expected—or more to the point, what had she hoped for?

‘And?’ She wasn’t going to be drawn into giving anything else away. Not again.

He crossed the room and came to stand in front of her, only the polished surface of her desk between them. She could see the slate grey of his eyes glittering with anger. The firm set of his lips was so severe she wondered how she could ever have been seduced by his kiss. Because you wanted him. Because you loved him. The answers rushed at her and she stood a little taller in defence against what he was going to say.

‘You were right.’ His accent was harsher than she’d ever heard it, as if admitting such a thing was too difficult. The relief which rushed through her was immense, but it was soon hotly followed by panic.

‘About what?’ She didn’t want to assume anything. Despite Liev’s threat, ICE’s share prices had risen steadily. Did this mean he still had his trump card to play? Was that why he was here?

He calmly sat down, as if they were having a friendly chat, but the darkening of his eyes urged caution. Her attention was snagged as he stretched out his strong legs, looking powerful and relaxed, like a panther luring its prey in for the kill—and she had no intention of being his prey.

‘Dario had tried to put those dubious dealings right. I saw the evidence for myself.’ He watched her intently as she sat down and a zip of something travelled down her spine. Fear? Yes, that was it. How had he managed to obtain such information? She only knew what Dario had told her in the past; she’d never seen any evidence.

‘He wouldn’t just show you something like that.’ Why hadn’t Dario told her about this? He knew how worried she was, how guilty she felt. ‘When did this happen?’

‘Monday.’ The word slid through the air at her and she looked at him, and for a moment she thought she saw a hint of a smile on his lips. Damn him. Did it amuse him to torment her like this?

Why hadn’t Dario said anything to her? It must have been some showdown, but with the share prices rising, it was one Liev had obviously lost. Distractedly she dragged her fingers through her hair and looked at the few papers on her desk, as if they could give her all the answers she sought. Anything not to look into that handsome face.

‘You obviously didn’t carry out your planned revenge, so what is it you want now, Liev?’ She returned her attention to his face and saw the lift of his brows and again that fleeting hint of a smile. What was he up to? Just as the first time she’d met him, she didn’t trust him one bit.

He stood up and walked around the desk, to stand next to it and look out of the tall window at the skyscrapers of New York. His bold audacity at helping himself to such a view jarred on her already jangling nerves. She stood up, too, not happy to sit whilst he all but loomed so close.

‘Liev,’ she snapped, hardly able to contain the apprehension inside her. ‘What do you want this time?’

‘This time?’ He turned to face her and to her horror took a step closer, then another, until she could breathe in the scent of his aftershave, which only made her more worried as somewhere deep inside her the flicker of hot passion they’d shared stirred once more. She couldn’t allow him to dominate her, to drag her back to the night she’d loved with her heart and her body.

‘Yes, this time.’ Her terse words rushed out. ‘The last time you wanted something, it was to blackmail me in order to destroy my brother’s company. Not that you told me that—no, you lied and cheated your way into my...’

She stopped, inwardly cursing herself. She’d almost given herself away, almost told him he’d cheated his way into her heart. Just as she’d almost told him she loved him whilst they’d been in Central Park last weekend. Thank goodness she’d stopped herself each time. He could never know he had that power over her.

‘Into your what, Bianca?’ He took another step closer and she drew in a breath, determined not to step back, not to be intimidated by him, but even more determined he should never know the truth.

‘My family, my social circle. You told me you wanted acceptance and I tried to give you that, even though it was just a cover for the destructive revenge you planned.’

‘I did want acceptance, but things changed.’ He remained so close she could hardly think straight.

So he still wanted revenge. ‘If you have all you want, I think you should go.’

She turned away from him, looking out over the city as it shimmered in the heat of the afternoon. She didn’t need this conversation now, not when the launch was about to happen.

‘I’m not leaving, Bianca, not yet. Not when I don’t have everything I want.’

Her fingers curled tightly into the palms of her hands, her nails digging in painfully, focusing her mind. She whirled round to face him, her chin lifted defiantly. She would put an end to this right now.

‘What do you want, Liev?’

‘You.’

* * *

Liev watched Bianca’s eyes widen in shock and outrage, but this was no longer a time for dancing around issues and giving mixed messages. He had to tell her exactly what he wanted, exactly why he was here. The rest was up to her. He was totally at her mercy.

‘How dare you?’ She flung the accusation at him, disbelief in her eyes, on her beautiful face and in every move she made. Then she stepped back, watching him suspiciously as she did so.

‘Don’t deny it, Bianca. You want me as much as I want you.’ He moved towards her, but stopped when alarm entered her eyes. He had no wish to frighten her, not when everything he’d done this week had been done to avoid hurting her in any way.

‘All I want is for you to leave—right now.’ She squared up to him, just as she had done after he’d bought the bracelet, outbidding her and infuriating her.

If he was honest with himself, he’d fallen in love with her right then, but he just hadn’t recognised it as love. To him it had been the first stirrings of desire, but he’d pushed that aside in his quest for revenge. At least until he’d taken her to the island villa. It had been as they’d made love, abandoning everything in their past to enjoy that night, that he’d accepted he was in love with her, but that had been instantly quashed when she’d admitted to using her virginity just to get the bracelet. Instead he’d despised her. He’d thought she was as callous as he believed her brother to be.

‘That’s not the impression you gave to Dario.’ Now he really had her attention.

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘He wouldn’t have told you.’

‘What? That you’d fallen in love with your blackmailer?’

She gasped and for a moment he thought she was going to crumple to the floor in shock. Her blue eyes were so wide, their colour so vivid. Then she dragged in a deep breath and fixed a furious expression to her face. ‘He had no right to tell any such thing.’

‘So, it’s true?’

‘No.’ Her voice rose and he knew she was lying, deceiving herself as well as him. All he had to do now was convince her that he loved her, that because of that love he’d changed all the plans for revenge. ‘I despise you. How can I ever love a man who wants to do nothing but destroy my brother and me in the process?’

‘How could you make love to a man, give up your virginity, if you didn’t love him?’ She paled as his words found their mark and he felt sorry for her, felt her pain and confusion, and wanted nothing more than to hold her, to kiss away that pain, caress away that confusion.

‘I did it for the bracelet, for my grandfather.’ She fiddled nervously with the simple gold locket around her neck and bit down on her bottom lip as she waited for his response.

‘I know,’ he said softly, and he moved towards her. ‘You have no idea how much it hurts me to think that I put you in that position.’

‘You blackmailed me, Liev, blackmailed me in order to ruin my brother. I can never forgive you for that—ever.’

The door opened and one of Dario’s staff came in. ‘Sorry. Ten minutes until we go live.’

‘Thank you.’ Bianca was visibly unnerved and her eyes met his, the questions in them clear. He’d do anything to take away her pain, to answer those questions, but in the light of what she’d just told him, he knew it might never happen.

‘Excuse me. I have to go.’

Panic sluiced through him. She had to know what he’d done in an attempt to mend the hurt he’d caused. He had to make her understand he loved her, but from the sound of that last comment, his time was very limited.

She looked at him. ‘I have work to do, Liev. I’d like you to leave.’

‘Not yet, you don’t. I need to explain.’ He stood so close to her he could smell her fragrance and he remembered how she felt in his arms. He had to fight for that.

‘There’s nothing to explain. You deceived me, blackmailed me and now you plan to destroy all that my brother has worked to achieve. How can there be anything to add to that?’

There was so much more to add, like the deal he’d struck with Dario after the heated argument which had revealed the truth of the situation. A deal that meant he could put right the past in a businesslike way and not hurt anyone in the process. He had, of course, faced Dario’s wrath over hurting his sister and it was then that her confession to her brother had unintentionally come out, but Dario must have got it wrong. She didn’t have feelings for him. From the contempt on her face, it was obvious she had no wish to see him at all.

‘I didn’t use anything you told me, Bianca—not to anyone but Dario.’ He’d never felt this out of depth before, this adrift in a sea of emotions he couldn’t control.

‘But what is to stop you leaving here right now and doing just that?’

‘There is only one thing that can stop me,’ he said, his voice gravelly and thick with emotion. ‘You.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s too late, Liev, too much has happened, and besides, I don’t believe you and certainly don’t trust you. You could leave here now and leak all you know, just moments before the launch, to the waiting press and achieve the destruction you so obviously crave.’

‘Why would I destroy a company I’m now a shareholder in?’