Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire (13 page)

“Well,” Lia said after a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence. She was doing her best not to squirm under the intense scrutiny of two sets of eyes. “It’s lovely to see you, Pete.”

“Er, yes.” Pete looked around him in obvious amazement.

Luc pushed himself off from the wall. He smiled, a smooth sophisticated smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m being remiss as a host. Let me get you both a drink. Scotch okay?”

Not waiting for an answer, he strode across the room and poured three drinks. He took two across, handed one to Pete, then put the other in Lia’s hand, closing her fingers around the glass. He went back for his own, and took a sip as he continued to watch them.

When nobody else said a word, he turned to Pete. “I’m having a party next Saturday night,” he said. “We’ll be announcing our engagement. Perhaps you’d like to come. I’m sure Lia would like to have an old friend present.”

“Announcing your what?” Pete whirled around to face Lia. “You’re engaged? Since when?”

She opened her mouth to deny it, and Luc shot her a sharp, warning glance.

“It was sudden,” Lia said weakly. She hated Luc for mentioning it like that; Pete was clearly shocked, and she glared at Luc. “Luc, I’d like a word with Pete. Alone.”

“No.”

“I wasn’t asking,” she said.

Luc looked at her in amazement. She got the distinct impression that he wasn’t used to people standing up to him and wasn’t sure how to react. “I’ll be in my office.”

“Who is he, Lia?” Pete asked when the door shut behind Luc.

“He was an acquaintance of my father’s. I thought he might be able to help me find him, and we just…”

Pete seemed perplexed, unsure as to what to say, as if he was thinking his words out very carefully, which was totally unlike Pete, because he was the most straightforward person she knew. “Lia,” he said, “you know what your father was like, don’t you?”

“Of course I know, I lived with him, and he wasn’t a nice man,” she said stiffly, “but that doesn’t mean Luc is the same.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “My point is, considering what your father was like is it sensible to trust an old friend of his?”

“Luc wasn’t a friend, just an acquaintance.”

“And that makes it better? What do you know about him?” He waved a hand, encompassing the apartment. “Or is it just his money you’re interested in?”

“Pete!”

“Oh, I know you’re not interested in money for yourself, but you’d do anything to keep that house.” He took a sip of his drink. “You know I said I’d help.”

She sighed. “It’s not that simple, Pete.”

“So tell me.”

But how could she? She certainly wasn’t going to bring up those pictures. Pete would probably go bananas, and she didn’t want him getting into a fight with Luc. Despite the men being around similar size, Pete was a gentleman, while she’d bet Luc could fight dirty. She also knew now that she was never going to return Pete’s feelings; her reactions to Luc had shown how impossible that would be, and she couldn’t let Pete go on thinking there was a future for them. She had to be ruthless.

“Luc’s the first man I ever wanted.”

Pete winced. He turned away from her and stood gazing out the window for long moments. When he turned back, he seemed composed, but the hurt lingered in his eyes. “I was waiting for you to grow up. I guess I waited too long.”

“I’m sorry, Pete.” What else could she say?

Pete shoved his hands in his pockets; she saw the tension in the stiff line of his spine. “I guess that’s it then.” He placed his glass on the table.

Lia led him back to the door.

“Just remember,” he said, “I’m here if you need me, and the offer of the land is still open.”

He stood for a moment then took her in his arms and gave her a hug.

“Let her go.”

Luc’s voice came from behind. Lia stepped away from Pete, her fist clenching at her side. Going up on tiptoes, she kissed Pete’s cheek. “Thanks for coming.”

She watched as he walked away, then stalked back and plunked herself down on the sofa, turning to glare at Luc. He smiled and crossed the room to pour himself another drink before sitting opposite her.

“What’s this business he was talking about?” he asked.

“That’s none of
your
business.”

“Anything you do at the moment is my business,
cara
.”

“I told you last night—he’s buying some land from me.”

“So you can pay off the mortgage on your mother’s house?”

“Of course, you know everything about me.”

“I don’t want you accepting money from that man.”

She stared at him in amazement and was about to give a scathing answer when he continued. “In fact, I don’t want you having anything to do with him.”

Lia stared at him in disbelief. “That might be a little difficult, seeing as how he’s my boss and my trainer.”

“Then maybe you should start looking for another job. He wants to be more than your boss.”

“He knows we’ll never have that kind of future together. Clearly you were eavesdropping so you’d know what I told him. I need my job when this is over, Luc. I want my job. I love my job.”

“Why the hell would anyone want to slave away every day at that place?”

“It’s all I ever wanted to do,” she said. “I was your typical pony-mad teenager. After my mom sold my pony when I was fourteen and the money ran out, I haunted the local stables. I probably made Pete’s life a misery, but he put up with me, gave me a job when I left school.”

“You don’t need him. I’ll buy you a stable full of horses. I’ll hire you a new trainer.”

Standing up, she shook her head. He had no clue about real life. “I don’t want you to buy me anything,” she said sadly. “Forget about dinner. I don’t want any dinner. I’ll make myself a sandwich and eat in my room.” But as she slammed the door behind her and threw herself onto the bed, a strange, almost unbelievable, thought occurred to her. She stared at the ceiling as she turned the idea over in her mind.

Luc was jealous.

He knew she found him attractive—he could feel her eyes on him whenever they were in the same room—but he’d decided to go slow. He wanted her to come to him of her own free will. No way was she going to accuse him of seducing her a second time. He was beginning to believe she was telling the truth about her father. Or maybe it was more that he wanted her to be telling the truth. He wished she were someone else, and he could forget Jimmy Brent ever existed.

Of course, that was impossible. Luc had to let this play out. He owed it to his own father and to all the other men and women whose lives Jimmy had destroyed over the years. And who knew what the man was up to even now—he was hardly the type to reform.

He found himself hoping that Jimmy Brent would remain absent. Lia had claimed she loved her father, and while he didn’t actually believe that, he doubted that she would forgive him for sending her father to prison. The outcome and its potential aftermath were killing him. Losing Lia was a very real possibility.

Luc paused at the top of the spiral staircase. Below, Lia sat cross-legged on the sofa talking to her brother on the phone. She talked to him every day.

“I’ll ask him,” she said.

Glancing up as he padded barefoot down the stairs, her eyes fixed on his bare chest where the shirt hung open. She licked her lips and heat coiled in his belly.

She looked away. “I know he promised, Mike, but he’s a busy man.”

Luc sank down onto the sofa opposite her, resting his bare feet on the coffee table, his head against the back. Murphy had followed him down, and now the cat jumped up beside him. Luc stroked the silky fur while he waited for Lia to finish the call, letting the soft lilt of her voice wash over him.

He’d only been in love once in his life, at eighteen. He’d never been naïve, even back then, but he had still at least believed in love. Serena had been blond, blue-eyed and beautiful, and when his life had fallen apart, when he needed her the most, she’d dumped him.

He’d been locked up like an animal, and each day, he’d waited for her to visit, sure that she would arrive; after all, she’d told him she loved him. How could she even think he was capable of the crimes he’d been accused of? How many days and lonely nights had it taken before he’d finally accepted that she wasn’t coming? He remembered clearly the overwhelming bleakness when he’d realized she’d abandoned him—that she believed the lies about him. Or at least that she had doubted him enough that she hadn’t wanted to risk the censure of her friends and family by sticking by him. So much for love.

He ran a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe he was thinking of Serena after all this time, or about love. What the hell had gotten in to him?

“You shouldn’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”

Lia spoke, breaking into his memories. She’d finished her phone call and was regarding him as though he were something unpleasant. What had he done now?

“Me?”

“You promised you would take Mike for a ride in your Ferrari.”

“And what makes you think I don’t intend to keep my promise?”

“Do you?”

Why did it piss him off that she should sound so incredulous? Did she think he was incapable of nice gestures? Hell, he had a cat. Of course he was nice. “I have some things I need to do this morning, but we can go over there this afternoon.”

“
We
?”

He smiled. “Don’t you want to come for a ride in my Ferrari, Lia?”

…

Lia knew he was teasing her, but she couldn’t deny the warmth that flushed her skin at his husky words. They promised all sorts of delights.

It had been a strange couple of days. Luc was back to being Mr. Nice Guy. Charming even. And she really wished he wouldn’t. How was she supposed to keep her distance?

Now sprawled on the sofa, long legs stretched out, he just about took her breath away. His white linen shirt was open, framing the golden skin of his chest. The black pants lay low on his hips so she could clearly see the ridged muscles of his flat stomach, and her fingers itched with the need to reach out and stroke him. She sat on her hands.

“Does that line normally work for you?” she asked.

He grinned. “Oh, yeah. You have no idea.”

Lia could well believe it. It would probably have worked if he drove a Mini, never mind a Ferrari. She studied him, her head tilted to one side. “Hmm. Well, I suppose it would depend on where you were taking me.” He opened his mouth to answer, and she interrupted before he could speak. “I have to warn you, if you say ‘heaven and back’ I might just heave.”

He laughed. “You think I couldn’t take you to heaven?”

Oh, she knew he could. He already had. And she had no immediate plans to make a return journey with him.

“I’ll call Mike,” she said. “Tell him we’ll be over this afternoon.”

“Spoilsport.”

…

It was a perfect summer day, and Lia felt her spirits lift as the car sped out of London. Luc was an excellent driver, keeping within the speed limits, and soon they’d left the city behind and were driving through open country.

Lia studied his sure grip on the steering wheel—he had beautiful hands, with long elegant fingers. Clever fingers, and a wave of heat washed through her at the memory of how those fingers had felt, on her, in her.

She squirmed in her seat, and he cast her a quick sideways glance. Time to get her mind onto other things. “So, this party next week—is it something special? Your birthday, maybe?”