Net of Lies (7 page)

It wasn’t
the kiss of a lover. His anger and frustration turned it into a punishment, forceful in its intent and purpose. Hard and masterful, his lips parted hers, his mouth swallowing her whimper of pain. His arms went around her waist, molding her to him with unmistakable purpose, her breasts crushed against his rock hard chest. She felt wonderful in his arms as he felt her softness yielding to his dominance. His kiss softened, his lips becoming gentler as he continued exploring her mouth, each sweep of his heated tongue slower and more sensuous than the previous one. As he felt his anger fading, another emotion, no less passionate, took its place. Desire too intense to be handled exploded inside his large frame, guiding his arms to press her to him even closer, his erection throbbing against the softness of her belly. One of his hands reached lower, to cup her round buttock, impatiently lifting the long, silken dress and finding her warm, satin-smooth skin.

He wanted her to respon
d as his grip on her softened slowly. He wanted her hands to reach up to his shoulders and pull him even closer while she kissed him back with all the passion he had remembered her being capable of. Instead, he felt moisture smearing his cheek, and the slight shaking of her body betrayed its source. He lifted his head, his mouth reluctantly abandoning the softness of her lips, and looked down into her wet, unhappy face, where streaks of tears left silvery lines down the velvety skin of her cheeks.

‘Don’t cry, Kate
,’ he whispered, studying her tears as he felt something new and unexpected coming to life in the deepest recesses of his soul. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.’

‘You
’re damn right about that.’ She stepped back as she wiped her mouth with a gesture that couldn’t be misunderstood. ‘How dare you, Raoul! It wasn’t enough to drag me here to prove you’re in charge and can still manipulate people the way you want. No, you needed to make sure I felt exactly how powerful you are, pawing at me like that.’

‘I don’t need to prove anything
. It is you who needs a reality check, sweetheart. And as far as the pawing is concerned, yes, I shouldn’t have done it, and I do apologize. You made me totally mad, and I lost my control, that’s all.’

‘
That's all?’ Her sadness disappeared as if it had never existed as she glared at him, her lovely eyes stormy. ‘Are you absolutely sure about that, Raoul? You just get mad because I call things as they are, and it gives you the right to treat me like some tart? What world are you living in, Señor de Santos y Lorrena? Oh, yes, I forgot—a world where women are just pretty and smile as expected, hanging on every word you say. Isn’t that so?’

‘
You can’t make me mad again.’ He shook his head. ‘I usually don’t treat people like that,
querida
. Come to think about it, it’s only you who can provoke me to such a primitive response, no one else. But as I said, I didn’t mean to get distracted with your delectable body, however tempting it might be. Power and proving it to the world have never been an issue for me, either. Quite frankly, I don’t care what the world thinks about me, Kate.’

‘Now that’s something I can believe.’ Her voice shook slightly as she nodded
, the veil of careful self-composure slipping momentarily and allowing him a quick glimpse into her sad eyes. ‘I think I figured that one out on my own, years ago, Raoul.’

He
desperately wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted her to see that he was not the cold, deceiving and ruthless man she thought him to be. He needed to make her understand why he had done the things that had torn them apart and maybe even receive her absolution. He knew that if she had ever given him a chance to explain himself, she would agree that he’d had no other choice. Kate Reeves was the most loving and compassionate person he had ever met, and it was this hope of finding her understanding that had backfired. He had believed that if he told her the truth about what he was forced to do, she would understand. He had taken too long, postponing the moment of truth, hoping to the very end that a miracle would happen and the whole nightmare he was involved in would disappear without him having ever to mention it at all. Only it hadn’t. So he had done the only thing he could, but he’d lost his race with fate when Kate had found out about his plan from someone else.

‘No matter now, Kate.’ He decided to let the past rest
. The familiar feeling of resentment over her rash judgment successfully subdued any need for confession. She’d had her chance to hear him out before, and she had chosen entirely on her own not to do so. Obviously, she had moved on. The image of her smiling at Marc appeared before his eyes. To try to explain himself after so much time had passed was absolutely pointless and uncalled for.

‘I have other things to talk about, now.
Things that actually matter and need to be resolved. But I won’t do it here, with this whole place listening to every word I say.’

‘
That’s paranoid.’ She shrugged, looking at him with indifferent eyes. ‘What on earth can it be that is so secret?’

‘
Let me be the judge about what is and isn’t needed, Kate.’ He looked around again, pressed his lips together in a determined grimace. ‘For now, let’s go somewhere more private. Do you live far away from here?’

She gasped
in outrage, and he grinned swiftly.

‘No, I don’t intend to seduce you
, Kate. I thought we’d established that already. There are enough willing women in this world without me having to desperately try to bed one who so obviously detests me. You have my word on that.’

‘I don’t really care what kind of women you bed.’ She stepped
toward the exit, her high heels making a clicking sound against the glossy, perfectly polished floor. She wrapped her silky, gossamer-thin wrap tighter around her shoulders and cast him a glance from under her long eyelashes. ‘We can talk about whatever it is that is so important on the way out of here, or in a restaurant. I just don’t want you in my house. Do you understand?’

He understood, of course. She didn’t want him anywhere near her private life. And
while a part of him had to admit that she had a right to protect herself from his interference, another more impatient side of him rebelled against that kind of treatment.

He cursed his inability to control
the anger that had led to the kiss. It should have been avoided; it had opened the door to the forbidden realm of desires and needs that he had learned to repress. Slamming it closed and pretending that nothing had changed wouldn’t work. Tasting her once was not enough. The fever in his blood awakened into a rushing stream of red-hot lava.

‘We can talk at my hotel room th
en,’ he offered, only to be rewarded with her definite refusal. ‘No? You think I’m trying to get you there to have my wicked way with you?
Dios
, do you really think I’m so desperate?’

Actually
, I am.
He watched her chew her bottom lip in hesitation. He could tell his sarcasm was doing little to calm her doubts about his intent.

‘
We can talk in your hotel, and that is all, Raoul,’ she managed finally, surprising him with her sudden defeat. ‘As long as you promise not to make it too long and don’t dwell on the past. I don’t want you anywhere near my flat, not now and not ever.’

‘I told you already that what concerns me most is the presen
t and the future, Kate.’ He tried very hard not to show how pleased he was with her unexpected agreement. ‘I’m giving you a chance to choose yours here, so it’s up to you how you plan to deal with it. You can treat it as my belated compensation for any discomfort I might have caused you.
Vamanos
!

……………………

Kate’s anger swallowed her with a strength that left her speechless. His arrogant statement was nothing short of a slap in the face. He called it a discomfort and used the word
might
, implying he wasn’t even sure she felt that way at all. For a second, she had to fight the temptation to yell back at him that he was absolutely wrong.

H
is deceit had been not only uncomfortable, but also totally devastating. It had destroyed her life and trust in people. All her hopes and plans for the future had depended on one glance of his imperial eyes. She had loved him as she had never loved anyone before, barely allowing herself to believe that it was possible she could be so lucky to find a man she cared for and have him love her right back with equal fire and tenderness. As she’d listened to his peaceful breathing in the bedroom they so often shared, she’d often thought it was too good to be true. In the end, it proved to be exactly that.

But admitting that would allow him to see the full exten
t of her misery and her love for him, which he obviously didn’t return. Having him understand that he was so much more than just a summer fling would be utterly humiliating.

‘Ten minutes
.’ Through grated teeth, her voice was calm and carried an unmistakable air of finality. ‘After that, I don’t want to see you anymore, Raoul. You might be the best client Marc has ever had, but it doesn’t change the fact that I plan on avoiding you as much as possible.’

‘Keep that thought for later,
Kate.’ He watched her with cool indifference as they walked out of the gallery to the curb, where another cab was already waiting, as if it had been conjured by magic.

She raised her eyebrows at the cab.

Not even bothering to hide his arrogant self-confidence, Raoul explained, ‘I told the driver to come back in five minutes and wait. I had no definite plans to stay here any longer. We are a bit late for my initial estimate.’ He checked his watch, which she guessed had cost a fortune.

She followed him
to the dark car.

‘
You’re more of a fighter, Kate, than I had given you credit for. And you seem bent on making this difficult every step of the way, isn’t that so?’

And
whose fault was that?
She had an uneasy feeling of déjà vu as the cab driver’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror with polite indifference.

‘I was coming with you under the impression we were to explore the gallery,’
she answered, her face composed and calm. ‘Any fighting that happened was entirely your doing, let me assure you. If I had any say at all in the way this evening was going, we would be in there, looking at the pictures and talking professionally, Raoul. I would be helpful with descriptions and suggestions, as I do with all our customers. You’re the one bent on hinting and reminding me of the past, no matter how blunt I am about the fact I don’t want to ever think of it again.’

‘I
’m done for now.’ He had the gall to smile. ‘Just try to curb your impatience a bit longer, and you’ll find out more. You might just end up being grateful.’

He was making fun of he
r. She sat stiffly, biting her lips to stop the word ‘never’ from escaping her throat. She would sound childish and petty if she gave him the satisfaction of getting to her, which she abhorred. She would go with him and listen to whatever revelations he had in store, only to dismiss him afterward and walk off with her head held high. The evening would end, and starting the next morning, she would make sure to have as little contact as possible with Raoul.

She was planning on having an honest talk with Marc
about the impossible situation he had put her in with his request. Making it as brief as possible could be crucial because she certainly did not want to discuss the details of her affair with Raoul with her current boyfriend. Just the brief overview should suffice. He would have to realize that the idea of her as Raoul’s guide was simply wrong and move on with someone else in charge of appeasing the Spaniard. If nothing else, Marc was bound to be jealous of the time his girlfriend would have to spend with a man who had been her lover. Explaining why she had not cleared it up right away, as they had met at the table, would be difficult, but she knew she could smooth out that wrinkle with the simple explanation that she had not wanted to cause a scene at the charity ball. Knowing Marc, he would believe that. Nothing mattered more than his business and its good image, she thought bitterly, realizing that for the first time, she was actually grateful for his obsession with the gallery.

‘
I’m pretty sure that our driver must be convinced by now that you’re mute, my sweet.’ Raoul’s amused voice interrupted her thoughts as he grinned at her with barely veiled amusement. ‘I’ve heard the saying that children should be seen and not heard, but I never thought it would apply to women, however lovely they might be.’

‘That’s
too bad,’ she countered pleasantly, her eyes stormy, ‘and I have always thought that whatever idiot came up with that saying obviously had no children. If I’m correct, it was some pious, bitter monk from the Middle Ages, so I think we can safely skip his opinion on this topic.’

‘I forgot you studied not only art
, but the history of literature, as well.’ He laughed openly. ‘But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re an awfully quiet passenger, Kate. No questions, no prying about the things I want to tell you?’

‘
It wouldn’t help anyway.’ She shrugged, her hand going to her temple and massaging it absentmindedly as she felt a migraine starting to build in her tense head. ‘You will tell me things when you want to, and no amount of asking will change it.’