Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire (9 page)

Lia examined his face for some sign that he was joking. This was so bizarre. He was crazy. She took a deep breath.
Just stay calm.

“I did not arrange a meeting with you. I arranged a meeting with Mr. Watson. I’d never even heard of you before that night.”

Luc looked skeptical. “So you say.”

Lia wanted to scream. She took another deep breath, and then one more, closed her eyes and counted to ten.

“So, you had me investigated. You already knew all about me. You knew all the time that I was lying and that my mother was dead.”

“Not when you came to see Harley, no. But soon after that.”

She stood for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip. Would he go through with his threat and post those pictures on the Internet, leak them to the local press? The thought sent shivers of panic rippling through her. She couldn’t risk it; this was her career on the line. She had no choice but to go along with him. As she admitted it to herself, an entirely inappropriate wave of excitement washed over her, and she hugged her arms around her middle. Why did he have such an effect on her? All these years she had thought herself immune to men. Why did he have to be the one to prove her wrong?

He lounged against the wall, arms folded, but while his position was casual, his whole body radiated masculine power. With his scar and his dark good looks, his beautiful emerald eyes, he also appeared vaguely menacing and immensely sexy. It was a bizarre and powerful combination.

Her body tightened at the memory of all that leashed power focused on her. The way he had controlled her, overwhelmed her, made her feel in that moment as though she were the most desirable woman in the world—the most important person in his world. And it had all been a lie, an act.

“Well?”

His question brought her out of her thoughts. She was going to have to go with him, she knew that, but it was imperative she make one thing clear at the start. “I’ll come, but I’m not going to sleep with you. This is just to find my father.”

“Wait until you’re asked,
cara
.”

She ignored the comment. “And I can’t come with you if I think you’re going to hold those pictures over my head and threaten me every step of the way.”

“Lia, you will come with me
because
I’m holding those pictures over you.”

“That’s immoral.”

He smiled, but it did nothing to alleviate the sense of panic threatening to overtake her. “I have to admit to a certain level of moral flexibility when it comes to getting what I want,” he said. “It’s probably best you know that right from the start.”

Lia sighed. “I’ll go pack. Wait here.” She shut the door in his face and hurried up the stairs.

…

The door to the apartment swung open, and Luc stood to one side to let her pass. He seemed more relaxed now that he’d gotten his own way. On the drive into London, he’d been silent, but at least the tension appeared to have left him. She’d been expecting him to take her to the apartment in the office block, where they’d been that first night. But they’d headed not for the business district, but into an upmarket residential area in the west end of the city. Finally, Luc had pulled into an underground parking area beneath a modern apartment building, and they’d taken the elevator up to the penthouse.

Luc put her bag down on the floor and held out a hand.

“I’ll show you around.”

She ignored the hand and stood staring around her, eyes widening as she took in the sheer luxury of her surroundings. The place was huge, light, and airy with vast expanses of polished wooden floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. The furniture was sparse but beautiful, elegant and modern, uncluttered. Lia kicked off her shoes, and some of her own anger and bitterness drained from her. It was no good being angry. She never did anything sensible when she was angry, and she needed to be sensible now. But without the anger, she felt a little lost, with nothing to replace it.

“I don’t know why I’m here. Not really.” She knew she sounded forlorn.

“We’re going to find your father.”

His tone was soothing as though he were trying to calm her. Lia didn’t want to be calmed, and she let her irritation rise. “I told you. I don’t want to find him anymore.”

“But I do, and I need you in order to do that.”

“And I suppose that’s what matters, isn’t it? That you’ve gotten what you want.”

“I wouldn’t quite say that,” he said softly.

She looked at him sharply, but his face was expressionless, bland except for the small smile that played around his lips. She sighed. “So here I am. What happens now?”

“Now, we see if we can’t draw your father out.”

“Can you at least tell me why you want to find him?”

“No.”

She glowered in frustration. “What’s the big secret? It’s unlikely that anything you can tell me is going to surprise me. I already think the worst about you anyway.”

He studied her, his expression speculative. “I doubt that’s true. In which case, you’re going to have to trust me.”

“And just how likely is that? The first time we met, you pretended you wanted to help me, got me drunk, and then seduced me. The second time you blackmailed me into coming here. Not much incentive to trust, now is there?”

He shrugged. He obviously had no remorse at all about how he had gotten her here.

“And I can only stay until my wrist is healed. After that, I need to get back into training. How long are you expecting me to stay?”

“As long as it takes.”

“As long as what takes? Finding my father? And what happens if he does turn up?”

He regarded her curiously. “Do you care?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, just moved into the room, and Lia stared after him. Did she care? She hated her father, but he was a dangerous man, and for some reason the idea of Luc confronting him made her feel weak and shivery. Perhaps Luc was more than a match for her father. Her father was a bully. How would he stand up to someone like Luc? She didn’t want to know. All she could hope for was that her father would stay away. After all, he had managed it very well for the last ten years. Why change now?

Luc picked up her bag again. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.”

She followed him out of the living area, along a carpeted hallway. He paused at a door.

“That’s my room over there.” He nodded at the door opposite. “In case you need anything in the night.”

“In your dreams,” she muttered. Luc smiled then led her into the room. It was beautiful, pale cream and dark blue with a huge king-size bed. She also had her own bathroom with an enormous whirlpool bath.

“There’s no lock on the door,” she said as she trailed behind him. “How am I supposed to sleep at night with no lock on the door?”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t push it, Lia
.
”

She wanted to push it. Instead, she followed him around the building as he gave her a tour of the place, trying not to appear as impressed as she felt. The kitchen was amazing, enormous, state of the art, with every possible gadget, none of which Lia had a clue how to switch on.

“Do you actually use this stuff?”

“I can make coffee, but I have a housekeeper who comes in each day—Mrs. Blake—don’t upset her. She leaves a meal if I want it. Otherwise I eat out or get food sent in.”

“What’s up there?” she asked, pointing at the elaborate wrought-iron spiral staircase that appeared to lead out onto the roof. “I thought we were on the top floor.”

“We are. Come and look.”

The roof garden was out of this world, not so much a garden as a conservatory, the whole place enclosed in glass with a fabulous view out over the city. Tropical plants ran rampant, crimson bougainvillea, hibiscus, and through the plants, she caught sight of the turquoise water of an infinity pool that seemed poised on the edge of the building. “You have a pool on your roof?”

She walked toward it and bent down to trail her fingers through the warm water.

“Feel free to swim,” Luc said.

Lia turned to stare at him. He seemed to belong among the lush tropical splendor, his dark exotic beauty at home in such decadent surroundings. Lia shook her head; this level of wealth was beyond her imaginings. Suddenly, she had an urge to confront him, ask him what he did, where all this money came from. Before she could open her mouth, a noise erupted from among the plants. She jumped as a large ginger tomcat emerged and strolled toward Luc, ignoring Lia completely. He rubbed himself against Luc’s legs, a loud rumbling purr vibrating his whole body. Luc crouched down and picked him up, rubbing his head.

“This is Murphy,” he said.

“You have a cat. I’m surprised.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say that. Murphy lives here. This is his domain, so if you want to spend time up here, you’d better make friends.”

Lia shook her head. “I can’t believe you have a cat.”

Luc grinned at her obvious bemusement. “Murphy was a stray. He sort of adopted me.”

Lia could see now that the cat was a little worse for wear, one ear ripped and a scar down his nose. She reached out a hand and stroked him. Murphy rubbed his head against her hand.

Luc smiled. The effect was devastating, and for a moment, Lia actually felt jealous of the cat, held in his arms. She pushed the thought away. That wasn’t going to happen—not again. But still, she found herself staring at him. He caught her gaze for a long moment then looked away.

“Let’s finish the tour.” He lowered the cat to the floor.

There was one room he didn’t show her, just waved a hand toward it. “That’s my office.”

Lia glanced at the door. She was sure she could find out all about Luc Severino if only she could get in there. Wouldn’t that be good, she mused silently, get in there, find some incriminating evidence, and get the blackmailing bastard at his own game. She came out of her happy daydream to find Luc watching her, an amused expression on his face.

“Don’t even try,” he drawled. “You’ll never get past the locks.”

“I bet I could, if I wanted to.”

“They only open with my thumbprint,” he said wagging his thumb.

Lia was impressed—talk about high-tech—but she wasn’t going to let Luc see that. “I saw a film like that once, but it was eyeballs.”

“A retinal scan.”

“They got into that room,” she said with anticipatory relish, “by cutting his eyeballs out.”

Luc laughed. “Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you? Remind me not to leave the carving knives out.”

Despite herself, Lia laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to get into your office. I told you, I was looking for information on my father that night. I’m not interested anymore, so your secrets are safe.” She gave him a suspicious look. “What have you got in there that’s so secret? Some sort of criminal plans?”

He ignored her question and led her back into the living room.

“Why don’t you sit down?”

She avoided the cream leather sofa and perched instead on one of the chairs. He took a seat opposite. Lia peered around. “Anyway, there’s one important thing you’ve missed on this tour. Where are the cameras?”

“You’re in danger of becoming paranoid,
cara
.”

“Yeah, right. How can you say that when the only reason I’m here is because you got me into a compromising position and took photos of me? Who knows how many times you’ve done this sort of thing before for your own nefarious purposes.”

“Nefarious?” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve been called many things, but that’s a new one. And it may come as something of a surprise, but I do not actually make a habit of seducing women in my office.”

“So why make an exception with me?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He relaxed back in his seat and studied her. “Can’t you accept that I wanted you, found you attractive and desirable? And you, Lia, why did you sleep with me?”

“I thought you knew why. I was using you, of course. Getting you all relaxed so you would fall asleep and I could search your office. Hey, and guess what—it worked.”

“So how many men have you slept with?”

“That’s none of your business,” she said stiffly.

“Humor me.”

She bit her lip, but really it was no big deal. “Two.”

“And I’m presuming one of them was me,” he said smiling. “I knew you were innocent.”

“That doesn’t make me innocent. And don’t go thinking it means anything. I’ve just had my mind on more important matters.”