Marriage At His Convenience
JACQUELINE BAIRD
Amber's multimillionaire Greek boyfriend, Lucas Karadines, informed her that he was getting married–to someone else….Five years later, Amber has put Lucas behind her–until she inherits half his company. Lucas, who's now single again, knows the only way to keep control is for him to marry Amber. But how can she consider marrying him at his convenience–when, five years before, she was worthy only of being his mistress…?
“What exactly is your plan?” she asked abruptly
She would listen, agree and get out fast.
“It’s quite simple,” Lucas murmured. He hauled her hard against him, his dark head swooped down and his mouth closed over hers. Amber gasped and her briefcase fell from her hand and clattered to the floor.
“You haven’t changed,” he said huskily. “Still the sexiest girl alive.”
“Let me go,” she demanded bitterly as she headed for the door.
Lucas smiled, catching her wrist and spinning her back to face him. “The solution is simple—I marry you,” he declared, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. “You did ask me once before, remember?”
Amber would have given everything she owned not to. “Over my dead body. Your arrogance is only exceeded by your colossal conceit in daring to ask the question.”
“I did not ask a question.” His eyes glinted mockingly. “I made a statement of intent.”
Marriage at His Convenience
Jacqueline Baird
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ONE
LUCAS KARADINES stood before the plate-glass window of his New York office, his dark eyes staring out over the Manhattan skyline without really registering the landscape. He ran a long-fingered hand through his night-black hair, a predatory smile curving his sensuous mouth, and a hint of triumph glittered in his eyes. Lunch had been a resounding success; he had done it! Tomorrow afternoon at Karadines London hotel, he and his father Theo, and the head of the Aristides Corporation, Alex Aristides, would sign the deal that would make Karadines one of the largest international hotel chains, and shipping lines in the world.
Like his own father, Alex Aristides was not in the best of health, but unlike his father he had no son to carry on the family business, one of the oldest firms in Greece, hence the sale to Karadines at a discounted price. Tomorrow night a party would be held for the families, the lawyers, and a few friends to celebrate the deal.
Lucas turned back to his desk, his glance falling on the telephone; as for the rest, a brief frown marred the perfect symmetry of his strikingly handsome face. It was time he made the call. He glanced at the gold Rolex on his wrist—at a pinch he could make it back to London tonight. Amber would not mind him arriving in the middle of the night… Amber was a born sensualist—he had never known a sexier woman. Amber with the long golden brown hair, and the long legs; legs that entwined with his as though they were made to match. He felt the familiar stirring in his loins and for a moment felt a flicker of regret.
No, he ruthlessly squashed the wayward thought. There was more to life than wild, white-hot sex. And he hadn’t forgotten he’d had to wait a long time for even that the last time he had returned to London a day early. Amber had been at work and when she’d finally returned to the apartment, had only been able to spare half an hour as she’d had a business dinner to attend. They had made up for it later, but Lucas Karadines was not the kind of man to wait around for any woman, or play second fiddle to a woman’s career. Several times he had suggested she resign from her job and allow him to keep her, but she had refused.
No, his mind was made up. In fact his decision had been made weeks ago. Lucas had been in the first stages of delicate negotiations to try and buy out the Aristides Corporation when he’d been introduced to the daughter of the owner, and fate had played a hand. Christina, sweet, innocent Christina, was everything he wanted in a wife. She was the opposite of Amber. She had absolutely no desire for a career other than marriage and children. She was Greek with the same cultural background and traditions as himself. And Christina adored him and hung onto his every word. They were totally compatible, and she would make a brilliant wife and mother.
The timing was perfect. After his father’s last Angina attack he had confided in Lucas his ambition to see him happily married with a family of his own before he died. Lucas needed no urging to propose to Christina; he was ready to settle down and raise a family. His father was delighted at the deal and the prospect of Lucas marrying was icing on the cake.
Lucas knew he owed everything to his father. He had rescued him at the age of thirteen from the streets of Athens. His mother had left a letter with the Karadineses’ lawyers before she died, giving proof that Lucas was the illegitimate son of Theo Karadines. His father had searched for him, found him and taken him into his home, paid for his education, given him his name and moulded him in his own image, for which Lucas was eternally grateful. Lucas’s much older half-brother had been killed with his wife in a plane crash when Lucas was twenty-six. Without hesitation his father had made Lucas head of the company and he had repaid him by expanding and increasing their holdings and profits a hundredfold.
He turned, strode to his desk, and picked up the telephone, one long finger jabbing out the number he knew by heart. He straightened his broad shoulders beneath the exquisitely tailored dark blue silk jacket, and shoved his free hand in the pocket of his trousers, and with a look of grim determination on his face he listened to the ringing tone.
Amber Jackson walked back into her office with a dazed look in her lovely eyes and a broad grin on her face. She’d just had lunch with Sir David Janson, the chairman of the merchant bank by the same name, and she was still in a state of shock at what he had revealed to her. The ringing of the telephone brought her back to reality with a jolt. It might be Lucas, and, dashing across to her desk, she picked up the receiver.
‘Amber, good I caught you. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to see you tomorrow. It will be Saturday before we can meet, pressure of business, you understand.’
The happy expression that had illuminated Amber’s face when she’d picked up the receiver and heard the deep rich tones of her boyfriend’s voice turned into a disappointed frown.
‘Yes, I understand.’ What else could she say? Lucas was the managing director of his family firm, a large hotel and leisure company, and he spent much of his time travelling between the main offices in Athens and New York, and the various holdings around the world. In the year she had known him, she had accepted the fact he could not be with her all the time. She had a high-powered job herself as a dealer with Brentford’s, a large stockbroking firm, and she knew all too well the pressure of work. ‘But I’m not very happy,’ she added huskily. The sound of his voice alone was enough to make her pulse race, and she was missing him quite madly. ‘It is almost two months since I saw you. I was really looking forward to tomorrow—it is the anniversary of our first date and I have some marvellous news for you. You won’t believe it.’
‘I have some news for you as well,’ he drawled, and the trace of sarcasm in his tone wasn’t very reassuring. ‘But it will keep until Saturday.’
It was not the response she would have liked, but then for the past few weeks Lucas’s telephone calls had been few and brief, and her confidence in his love had begun to waver a little. She told herself she was being stupid. He loved her, she knew he did. But she knew the last time he had come back unexpectedly early hoping to surprise her he had been chillingly angry because she had refused to leave her office the moment he’d called and she’d insisted on keeping her work commitments. Later that night he had suggested yet again she give up her job, declaring a man of his wealth did not need a girlfriend who worked. Amber had tried to make a joke out of it, by answering with, ‘I will when I am married and pregnant, but not before,’ hoping he would take the hint and ask her to marry him. He hadn’t. But when Amber had had to go back to work on the Monday he had casually informed her he had to go to New York for a while. The while had stretched into two long months.
Amber was desperate to see him again. She had taken tomorrow, Friday, off work especially to be able to meet him. Now he was saying Saturday, and she could have wept with frustration. But she wanted nothing to upset their reunion, and so she responded with determined good humour.
‘Okay, but I miss you. It has been so long and I’m suffering from terrible withdrawal symptoms. I expect you to cure me on sight,’ she said throatily.
‘Sorry, darling, but it is only one more day—but it might be more if I don’t get off this line and back to work.’
The prospect of their reunion being delayed even further was enough for Amber to end the conversation within a minute. She replaced the receiver, her smile somewhat restored at his use of the endearment and his apology for the delay. She had waited so long, she could easily wait another day.
But on leaving the classic old building that housed the prestigious offices of the Brentford brokerage firm, she could not help a pensive sigh escaping. She thought her surprise was special, but would Lucas? Lucas had come into her life like a whirlwind and she’d changed from a serious young woman of twenty-two, who had never worn a designer dress in her life, into the sophisticated, elegant creature she was today. But sometimes when she looked in the mirror she did not recognise herself…
Securing the gaily wrapped parcel she was carrying more firmly under one arm, Amber waved down a passing cab by swinging her briefcase in her other hand. She was completely oblivious to the admiring glances of the dozens of men pouring out of the city office. At five-feet-seven, with a slender but curvaceous body clad in a smart navy suit, the short skirt ending inches above her knees, and the snug-fitting jacket enhancing her tiny waist and the soft swell of her breasts, she was an enchanting picture. She moved with a natural, sensuous grace. Her long light brown hair, gleaming like the colour of polished chestnuts, fell from a centre parting, and was loosely tied at her nape with a pearl clasp, before falling like a silken banner almost to her waist. Her face was a classic oval with high cheekbones, a small straight nose and a wide, full-lipped mouth, but it was her huge eyes, hazel in colour and tinged with gold, shining beneath extravagantly long lashes, that animated her whole face.
‘Where to, miss?’ The cab stopped at her feet, and with a bright smile she slid into the back seat and gave the driver the address of her friends Tim and Spiro.
She alighted from the taxi outside the door of a small terraced house in Pimlico, and, after paying the fare, she glanced up at the white-painted house. It was hard to believe it was five years ago since she had moved into the house with Tim, a lifelong friend from the small Northumbrian village of Thropton where they’d both been born and brought up. Tim had comforted her when her mother had died when she was seventeen, and he had been in his first year at art college when Amber had been about to start at the London School of Economics. It had been Tim’s suggestion she move into the spare room where he stayed. The house actually belonged to Spiro Karadines, a Greek student who was studying English at a language school before going to work at the deluxe London hotel which his family owned to learn the business from the bottom up. He reckoned he needed to let the rooms to students to pay for the upkeep of the house, because his closest relative was an uncle, Lucas Karadines, who controlled his trust fund, and was as mean as sin.
Lucas would not be pleased if he knew Amber was visiting his nephew Spiro, but he had been a good friend to her whatever Lucas thought about him. She rang the bell and waited, a reminiscent smile on her face. It was exactly a year ago tonight, Spiro’s twenty-second birthday, when she had first set eyes on Lucas. He had arrived unannounced at the party, and, after a furious argument with Spiro, Lucas had calmed down and accepted a drink.
For Amber it had been love at first sight. She had taken one look at the tall, dark-haired man, incongruously dressed in a house full of motley-clad students in an immaculate grey business suit, and at least a decade older than anyone else, and her heart had turned over. She’d been unable to take her eyes off him; her fascinated gaze had followed him around the room.
Well over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, and long-legged, with thick black hair slightly longer than the present fashion, he’d been the most handsome man she had ever seen. Even when it had been obvious he’d been hopelessly out of place in a room where quite a few of the men had been openly gay, he’d exuded a powerful sexuality that had been totally, tauntingly masculine. When his dark eyes had finally rested on her, he’d smiled and she’d blushed scarlet, and when he had casually asked her to have dinner with him the next night she had agreed with alacrity.
Spiro had tried to put her off. He had told her his uncle was a predator of the first order, a shark, who would gobble up a little girl like her for breakfast. He was thirty-five, far too old for her. He liked his women smart and sophisticated—women who knew the score. Amber had replied she was smart, and Spiro had laughed.
‘In the brains department, yes, but you dress like—a blue stocking, I believe is your peculiar English term.’
Amber had thumped him, but had ignored Spiro’s warning and gone out to dinner with Lucas anyway.
It had been a magical evening. Lucas had asked her all about herself, and she’d responded by telling him her ambition to be a successful investment analyst. How she had just completed her first year at work and was delighted to have earned a huge bonus. She’d even told him she was the only child of an unmarried mother, but he had not been shocked. Finally, when Lucas had seen her to her door he had asked her if she would like to accompany Spiro and Tim to the family villa on the Karadineses’ private island of the same name in the Aegean Sea for Easter. Amber had again accepted his invitation. The kiss-on-the-cheek goodnight had been a bit of a let-down. But after questioning Spiro the next day about Lucas, she had blown a few thousand pounds of her first year’s bonus in buying a wardrobe full of designer clothes, visiting a beautician, and transforming herself into the sophisticated kind of woman she thought Lucas liked.
By the end of the island holiday, she had met the senior Mr Karadines, and Lucas had no longer been seeing her as a student friend of Spiro, but had been looking at her with blatant male sexual speculation in his dark eyes. On returning to London he had called her and wined and dined her half a dozen times, but the relationship had not developed past a goodnight kiss, admittedly each one more passionate and lingering than the last, but nothing more. Then he had gone to New York on business and she had thought he had forgotten her. Two weeks later he’d been back, and the next dinner date they’d shared she’d ended up in his hotel suite and they’d become lovers.
He was her first and only lover so she had no one to compare him with, but she did not need to. She knew she had found her soul mate. He only had to look at her and her stomach curled, and when he touched her he ignited a fire, a passion she had never known existed. She had a vivid mental image of his magnificent naked body looming over her, his powerful shoulders and hair-roughened chest, the long, tanned length of him, all straining muscle and sinew as he kissed and caressed her, and taught her the exquisite delight only two people who loved could share. Within a week, at Lucas’s insistence, she had moved into the loft apartment he had bought overlooking the Thames, and their relationship had gone from strength to strength. Just thinking about him made her heart pound, and brought a dreamy smile to her face.
‘What are you looking so happy about?’ Tim’s demand brought her out of her reverie.
She looked into the sparkling blue eyes of the blond-haired man holding open the door. ‘Happy memories,’ she said, and, walking past him, she brushed her lips against his smooth cheek. ‘Where is the birthday boy? I have a present for him.’
With the ease of long familiarity Amber strolled into the small living room. ‘Happy birthday, Spiro.’ She grinned at the slender dark-haired man elegantly reclining on a deep blue satin brocade sofa, and, gently dropping the parcel she was carrying onto his lap, she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the matching sofa opposite.
‘My, I am honoured. My esteemed uncle has actually allowed you to visit us. It must be over six months since we saw you,’ and, lifting an enquiring eyebrow to his partner, he added, ‘or is it more, Tim?’
‘Cut the sarcasm, Spiro. Amber is our friend, even if we do abhor her taste in men. Open your gift.’
‘Yes, Spiro, where Lucas is concerned we’ve agreed to differ. So open the present—I’ll have you know I went to great trouble to find just the right gift,’ Amber declared with a grin.
‘So-rry, Amber,’ he drawled dramatically. ‘You’ve caught me in a bad mood; I am finally beginning to feel my age.’
‘At twenty-three!’ she exclaimed. ‘Don’t make me laugh.’
‘You deserve to laugh, Amber. You deserve to be happy,’ Spiro suddenly said seriously.
‘I am happy.’ She grinned back. ‘Now open the parcel.’
Two minutes later Spiro was on his feet and pressing a swift kiss on Amber’s cheek. ‘I love it, Amber,’ he said, his gaze straying back to the small sketch of two young men, clad in loincloths, facing up as if to wrestle. ‘But it must have cost you a fortune—it is an original from the nineteenth century, isn’t it?’
‘Of course, I would not dare give you a fake,’ she replied, and all three laughed. Amber knew Spiro hated working for the family firm and his burning ambition was to set up his own art gallery.
Unfortunately she also knew Lucas controlled the purse strings, and Spiro could not inherit his late father’s share of the firm until he was twenty-five, or married. Spiro had a very generous monthly allowance, but he spent every penny.
The week after she’d moved in with Lucas, she had tried to put Spiro’s point of view to Lucas but he had withdrawn behind a cold, impenetrable mask and told her curtly to keep out of their family business, and also suggested she keep away from his nephew.
The ease with which he had turned into a hard, remote stranger as though her thoughts and opinions were nothing had scared her. Amber had wanted to argue, she’d tried, but Lucas had simply blanked her. Unfortunately it had put a strain on Amber’s friendship with her former flat-mates. She did keep in touch with Tim on a regular basis—they talked on the phone every week or so—but Spiro was right. It was months since she had seen them both.
‘I bet my uncle does not know you spent a fortune on this for me?’ Spiro said, propping the framed sketch on the cast-iron mantelpiece, before turning back to look down on Amber.
‘It has nothing to do with Lucas. I found out two weeks ago my bonus at the end of this financial year, on the fifth of April, is—wait for it, boys,’ and with a wide grin, she said, ‘almost a quarter of a million.’
‘Well done, Amber, love,’ Tim exclaimed. ‘I always knew you were a genius.’
‘This calls for a double celebration! Break out the bubbly, Tim, and let the party start,’ Spiro added his congratulations. ‘The three musketeers are back in action.’
Moisture glazed Amber’s eyes at Spiro’s reminder of what the three of them used to be nicknamed by their friends when they had all lived together. She’d changed and moved on, and the carefree days were long gone, but not forgotten.
The champagne was produced and toasts drank to Spiro, to Amber, to Tim, to life, and anything else they could think of. It was like old times.
Two hours later, her jacket long since removed and the clip taken from her hair, Amber was curled up on the sofa with a glass of champagne in her hand when Spiro dropped a bomb on the proceedings.
‘So, Amber, what do you think of this idea of Lucas’s to get married? I saw Grandfather yesterday—he is staying at the hotel while having a check-up at his Harley Street doctor, and he is delighted at the news.’
Suddenly the world seemed a wonderful place to Amber, even in her half-inebriated state. ‘He told you that? Lucas is thinking of getting married! I can’t believe it!’ she cried happily. Lucas had actually told his father they were getting married; she couldn’t wait for him to get home to ask her. Of course, she would have to pretend she didn’t know. ‘I spoke to Lucas this afternoon and I was disappointed because he can’t make it back from New York until Saturday.’ Her golden eyes sparkled like jewels in her flushed face. ‘But he did say he had some news for me, and I never guessed.’ Her not-so-subtle hint about giving up work when she was married and pregnant had obviously worked after all, she thought ecstatically.
‘According to Grandfather, Lucas has news for you, all right, but—’ Spiro started to speak but was cut off in mid-flow by Tim.
‘Shut up, Spiro. Amber does not need to know second hand.’
‘Please, Spiro, tell me what your grandfather said. I have only met him the one time we were all in Greece but I thought he liked me.’
A harsh laugh escaped Spiro. ‘Oh, he likes you, all right, but not for what you think.’
‘Spiro, no. It is none of your business,’ Tim interjected again. ‘We are having a good time—leave it.’
‘Why? Amber has been our friend for years—she deserves to know the truth. Do you really want her to find out cold?’
Lost in her dream of wedded bliss, she was only half listening but it slowly began to dawn on Amber that the two men were arguing. ‘What’s the matter?’ She glanced from one to the other. They looked serious. Straightening up in the seat, she drained her glass and placed it on the floor at her feet. ‘Come on, guys, find what out cold?’ she demanded cheerfully.
The two men looked at each other, and then Tim nodded. ‘You’re right, she deserves better.’
‘Better than what?’ Amber queried.
Spiro jumped to his feet. ‘Better than my bastard of an uncle.’
‘Oh, please, Spiro, not that again. Why can’t you just be happy that Lucas and I love each other? We accept you and Tim are partners, why can’t you return the favour and accept Lucas and I are partners just the same, instead of bleating on about him being a bastard?’
When she’d first told Tim and Spiro she was moving out to set up home with Lucas, Spiro had tried all ways to get her to change her mind. Finally, in a rage, he’d told her Lucas was the illegitimate child of his grandfather, and his mother was little better than a prostitute, notorious in Athens for her string of lovers, and Lucas was no better. Amber had refused to listen then and she refused to listen now. ‘In case you’ve forgotten, I never knew my father. So what does that make me?’
Spiro, his anger subsiding, looked at her with glistening brown eyes full of compassion. ‘I didn’t mean it literally, though that is true. I meant it figuratively, Amber. Lucas does not consider you his partner. He considers you his mistress, nothing more, and easily dispensable.’
‘Only married men have mistresses, Spiro,’ Amber snapped back. ‘You know nothing about my relationship with Lucas.’ Her face paled at Spiro’s hurtful comments. ‘And I think it’s time I left.’ Rising unsteadily to her feet, she glanced down at her old friends. Tim was watching her with compassion, and that hurt more than anything else did. Tim had known her since infant school, surely she should be able to count on his support? But apparently not.
‘Listen to Spiro, Amber. It’s for your own good,’ Tim said quietly.
‘Lucas is good for me and to me, and that is all I need to know.’ Picking up her purse, she slipped her shoes back on her feet.
‘Wait, Amber.’ Spiro stood up and caught her arm as she would have moved towards the door. ‘You are a lovely, highly intelligent girl, with a genius for picking winners in the money markets, but you’re hopelessly naive where men are concerned. Lucas is the only man you have ever known.’
‘He is the only man I want to know. Now, let go of my arm.’
Reluctantly Spiro let her go. ‘Just one more thing, Amber. I know who Lucas intends marrying, and it is not—’
Amber cut in angrily. ‘I am not listening to any more of this,’ an inexplicable fear made her yell. Spiro was half drunk and he was lying, he had to be. ‘You’re lying, and I know why—you can’t bear to see Lucas and I happy together. You want to hurt Lucas by trying to break us up, just because he won’t give you your inheritance ahead of time. I can read you like a book, Spiro, you have to dominate everyone around you. Tim might be happy to let you get away with it, but Lucas won’t and that is what sticks in your craw. Grow up, why don’t you?’
Spiro shook his dark head. ‘You’re blind, Amber, plain blind.’ His dark eyes sought Tim’s, his exasperation showing. ‘Now what?’
Tim grimaced. ‘Give it up, Spiro, she will never believe you.’
‘All right, Amber, think what you like.’ Spiro held his hands up in front of him. ‘But do me one favour—I am dining with my grandfather at the hotel tomorrow night. He is having a bit of a party to celebrate a business deal and hopefully his return to good health. He has asked me to bring you along, and, as you say Lucas will not be back until Saturday, there is nothing to stop you. Will you come?’
Amber was torn. She didn’t want to go anywhere with Spiro, but on the other hand… ‘Your grandfather actually asked you to invite me?’ she queried.
‘Yes, in fact he was insistent.’
‘In that case, yes.’ How kind of him, Amber thought, the old man must know Lucas was not in London, and so had asked Spiro to bring her to his party.
‘Good, I’ll pick you up at your place at eight.’ She never saw the gleam of determination in Spiro’s eyes, that made him look uncannily like his uncle for a fleeting instant, as she said her goodbyes and left.
Later that night as she slipped a satin nightgown over her head she walked restlessly around the large bedroom she shared with Lucas. Spiro’s bitchy words had upset her more than she wanted to admit. She slid open one of the wardrobe doors that lined two walls, and let her hand trail across the fine fabric of a couple of Lucas’s tailored suits. The faintest lingering trace of his cologne teased her nostrils, and somehow she was reassured. Lucas loved her, she knew he did, and on that thought she climbed into the king-sized bed and sleep claimed her.
Amber glanced at her reflection for the last time in the large mirrored doors of the wardrobes that formed one wall of the bedroom. She looked good, better than good. Great, she told herself. Her hair was washed and brushed until it shone dark gold, and she had clipped the sides up into a coronet on top of her head, while the rest fell down her back like a swathe of silk. She had opted for a classic black DKNY dress—the fine black silk jersey clung to her body like a second skin, the sleeves long and fitted, the skirt ending inches above her knees. The low-cut square neckline exposed the gentle curve of her firm breasts, setting off to perfection the emerald and diamond necklace she had clasped around her throat. The matching drop earrings glinted against the swan-like elegance of her neck. Both had been presents from Lucas. On her feet she wore three-inch-heeled black sandals, adding to her already tall stature.
Picking up her purse and a jade-green pashmina shawl, she walked down the spiral staircase to the vast floor area of the apartment. She loved the polished hardwood floor, and the carefully arranged sofas that picked out the colour in the cashmere rug. In fact she loved her home. But where was Spiro? He was ten minutes late.
She crossed the room to a large desk, her hand reaching out for the telephone. She would try one last time to ring Lucas in New York. Picking up the instrument, she dialled the number. Two minutes later she replaced the receiver, the same reply as she had got earlier echoing in her head. ‘I’m sorry but Mr Karadines is not in the office today, if you would like to leave a message…’ She had also tried his suite at the Karadines Hotel in New York, and got no reply.
The bell rang and she had no time to worry where Lucas was. Spiro had arrived.
Two minutes later she was seated in the back of a taxicab with Spiro looking very elegant in a conservative black dinner suit and white shirt; the only hint at his rebellious personality was a vibrantly striped bow-tie in red, green and blue.
‘You look rather nice,’ Amber said with a grin. ‘Though I don’t know about the bow-tie.’
‘And you, dear girl, look as stunning as ever.’ But there was no smile in his eyes as he reached out and caught both of Amber’s hands in his.
‘Where to now, Gov?’ the taxi driver asked.
‘Hold it a minute or two,’ Spiro responded, then, glancing back at Amber, he added, ‘You must listen to me and believe me. Tim made me promise that I would tell you before we arrive at the hotel so if you want to cancel you can do so. I am sorry, truly sorry, Amber, but Lucas will be at the party.’
Her hands jerked in his hold but he did not set her free. His brown eyes held hers, and there was no doubting the sincerity and sadness in their depths.
‘How…?’ All the blood drained from her face. ‘How do you know?’ she asked quietly.
‘Because, a rare occurrence for me, I admit, I actually went to work for a few hours this afternoon in my capacity of Assistant Manager at the hotel. I saw Lucas arriving with two guests, Alex Aristides and his young daughter Christina. They went to Grandfather’s suite. Ten minutes later I escorted the two family lawyers to the same suite. Karadines have bought out the Aristides Corporation. The deal was signed this afternoon. Needless to say they didn’t need my signature, although I own half the company. My trustees did it for me. I was given the task of amusing the teenage daughter for an hour. An hour spent standing around in the boutiques in the hotel lobby. The girl could shop for the world.’
‘So it was business—Lucas said he was tied up with business, he would not lie to me,’ she declared adamantly. Though he had lied by omission—he had led her to believe he was staying in New York…
‘Stop, Amber.’ Spiro squeezed her hands in his. ‘Please don’t do this to yourself. Christina Aristides is eighteen years of age and obviously part of the deal.’
‘No, no, Spiro, you’re wrong. Lucas would never do that to me,’ Amber said firmly, but deep down inside a tiny voice of dissent was telling her he might.
‘He is a chip off the old block, as you English say. How do you think Grandfather made his money? As a young man he went to sea on a cruise liner as a waiter. Twelve months later he married the owner’s daughter, a woman ten years older than him, but for a waiter that was some step up. To give him his due, under his control the firm went from strength to strength. But my grandmother was no fool—she knew he had several mistresses and Lucas’s mother was one of them. So she kept the stock in her name, and on her death half went to Grandfather and half to her son, my father. Do you really think Grandfather would have risked his whole business on taking Lucas in, and giving him his name, if my grandmother had still been alive? My parents did not object because they already had half the business.’
‘But that does not mean Lucas would marry for money. He does not need to,’ she defended him staunchly.
‘Amber, Grandfather wants this deal, and Lucas is exactly like him. They are both very Greek, very traditional. Everything is business to them. Lucas will marry the girl. You have no chance, Amber. Believe me, you never did.’
‘You don’t know Lucas as I do. He might just be stringing the girl along until the deal was signed…’ She stopped, realising how desperate she sounded, as if she would rather think of Lucas as a ruthless, manipulative businessman than face the fact he might leave her.
‘Well, I suppose it is a possibility and if that is what you want to believe…’ Spiro shrugged his broad shoulders…‘we might as well go.’
‘You say Tim told you to tell me this.’ She looked at Spiro with icy eyes. ‘I don’t believe you. Tim would never be so cruel.’
‘You’re right, of course—Tim has not a cruel bone in his body. I, on the other hand, wanted to walk you straight into the party and let you come face to face with Lucas. In fact I was hoping you would cause a scene in front of my grandfather. Then my precious uncle would be seen for the devil he is, but Tim would not let me.’
‘You actually believe all you are telling me,’ Amber whispered, the full horror of Spiro’s revelation finally sinking into her troubled mind.
‘You don’t have to take my word. You can go back into your apartment and bury your head in the sand like an ostrich for one more night. Or you can come with me and see for yourself.’ A challenging smile curved his full lips. ‘If you have the nerve.’
Amber had never refused a challenge in her life and she was not going to start now. Besides which, she did not believe Spiro. Her heart would not let her…
CHAPTER TWO
AMBER, tall and sophisticated in the black silk dress with jewels gleaming at her throat, handed her shawl in to the cloakroom attendant, and turned back to Spiro.
‘Ready.’ She smiled. Spiro had to be mistaken, she told herself yet again, her golden eyes straying to the wide open doors of the private function room where the party was being held.
‘Take my arm, Amber.’ Spiro picked up her nerveless hand and slipped it through his arm as they walked into the elegant room.
Lucas Karadines saw Amber before she had even got through the door. She looked sensational. Shock held him rigid for a second, then he looked away hastily but not before seeing her companion, Spiro! Lucas’s black eyes closed briefly. Oh, hell! He almost groaned out loud. For the first time in his adult life he felt about two inches tall. He knew deep down he should have made the effort to see Amber some time today and finish their relationship, but he had been reluctant to do so. But what the hell was she doing here? He did not need to ask. Spiro, of course. Spiro would find it amusing.
He felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down into the round open face of Christina. Thank God his betrothal to Christina was not to be announced until next week—at least that would give him time to explain to Amber. He would not wish to hurt her for the world. His dark eyes were fixed on Christina, but more worrying was that in his mind’s eye he was seeing the stunningly sensual naked figure of Amber, the night he had given her the necklace as a birthday present, the emeralds blazing around her neck her only adornment. Brutally he squashed the image, much the way he would like to squash Spiro for putting him in this position. Determinedly he smiled down at Christina, and, slipping an arm around her shoulder, continued the conversation with their respective fathers.
Amber’s golden gaze urgently scanned the crowded room, hoping against hope she would not find the man she was looking for. Then she spotted Lucas. It was two long months since she had seen him, and she could not help it as her eyes drank in the sight of him. Why he was here instead of New York didn’t matter, he was here…now…
He was the tallest, sexiest man in the room. His superbly muscled frame was clad in a black dinner suit, the exquisitely tailored jacket fitted perfectly across his broad shoulders, the pure white of the dress shirt he wore contrasted starkly with his bronzed skin. Her heart squeezed in her chest, her gaze slanting down over the long, elegant length of him with loving, hungry eyes. She knew every inch of his magnificent body as intimately as she knew her own. She would have gambled her last penny that neither one of them could have walked into a room without the other being instantly aware of it. She waited for his head to turn, for those incredible dark eyes to meet hers, for his smile of delighted recognition. But she was wrong… Lucas wasn’t aware of her at all…
She blindly allowed Spiro to lead her slowly through the crowd of guests; she had eyes for no one but Lucas. He was standing at the far end of the room with a group of three other people: his father, another elderly gentleman, and a young girl. He was smiling down at the girl with a look of such tenderness in his eyes that an inexplicable fear made Amber’s blood run cold. His head was slightly bowed, his shoulders curved in a protective attitude towards the girl, and Amber’s heart froze in her breast. She was vaguely aware of the long table they were standing beside; for a second her eyes flickered to the centre point, a magnificent ice sculpture of a sailing ship. Wildly whimsical, she wished she could get in it and sail away, but inevitably her gaze was drawn back to the small group. It was just a business deal, it had to be, she told herself. She dimly felt Spiro squeeze her hand, and heard through the roaring in her ears.
‘I hate to say it, Amber, but I told you so…’
‘Thanks.’ She cast a furious sidelong glance at Spiro; he was enjoying this. ‘But it still does not mean you are right. Lucas might not have had time to call me if, as you say, he had a business meeting this afternoon.’ She had to hope; she could not face the alternative or it would destroy her.
‘If you believe that, you will believe anything. Where’s your pride, girl?’ Spiro queried, raising one elegant brow, but, sensing her distress, he added, ‘Chin up, Amber. Don’t let the devil get you down.’
‘He is not a devil,’ she defended Lucas, but without her usual conviction, and, glancing back at the group, she finally looked at the young girl at Lucas’s side.
She was short and very Greek with an olive-skinned complexion and long black hair tied back in a ponytail. Pretty if a little plump. The dress she was wearing was a concoction in pink satin with a gathered skirt, probably ruinously expensive, but it did nothing for the girl’s figure. The girl was gazing up at Lucas, with a dreamy smile on her face. One of her hands rested on his arm, and the other was on his chest—there was no mistaking the intimacy of the gesture.
‘Is that child Christina Aristides?’ Amber asked. ‘The daughter you mentioned.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you’re wrong, Spiro. Lucas is no cradle-snatcher and that girl is young enough to be his daughter.’ Her gaze strayed helplessly back to the dark head of her lover, and at that moment his head lifted, and his dark eyes clashed with Amber’s.
She stared at the man she loved with all her heart, and she saw the coldness in his hard gaze as their glances locked. He did not even look surprised to see her. But she noticed his pupils dilate slightly, and the flare of desire in his eyes before he lowered his gaze, to sweep down over the shapely length of her and return blandly to her face.
Lucas Karadines shifted uncomfortably and shoved his hand in his trouser pocket. He had thought he had got himself under control enough to look at her again, but his body thought otherwise, much to his disgust. What the hell was she doing here with Spiro, anyway? He had told her to keep away from Spiro and she had deliberately defied him. But then that was Amber—she took a delight in challenging him on every level. A trait he could put up with in a girlfriend but not a trait a man wanted in a wife.
She looked stunning as always, her waist-length chestnut hair gleaming gold in the artificial light, the sleek black dress lovingly clinging to every curve of her magnificent body. Every man in the place was secretly eyeing her, he knew. She was sex personified, and his body had reacted instantly. He cursed under his breath. No man in his right mind would marry a girl like Amber, a girl who would have to be guarded every minute of every day from other predatory males. He smiled down at the young girl by his side. He had made the right decision; Christina would never cause him a moment’s worry. Then he eyed Spiro again, and any guilt he was feeling at his own behaviour he transferred to Spiro. He might have guessed it was his damn nephew’s entire fault. He had done it deliberately to embarrass him.
Amber watched Lucas shove his hand in his trouser pocket and knew he still wanted her. The beginnings of a smile curved her full lips as she waited for him to acknowledge her. But his desire was quickly replaced by anger as his dark eyes moved to narrow on her companion. The smile died from her lips before it was born as Lucas, with a dismissive arch of one dark brow, turned slightly and said something to his father, and then, smiling at his young companion, he took her hand in his and moved through the crowd, stopping as various people spoke to them.
Amber took the drink Spiro handed her and immediately took a long swallow; she needed something, anything. She was shaken to the core; she had never felt so utterly humiliated in her life. It was like being trapped in a nightmare, unable to move, or breathe. A frantic glance around the room, and she was amazed no one seemed to be aware of the enormity of what had just happened. Lucas had looked at her as if she was of no more interest to him than the dirt beneath his feet. It had to be a mistake, and for a wild moment she thought of flying over to him, and snatching his hand from the young girl.
‘Any minute now, Amber, be cool,’ Spiro murmured, his dark head bending towards her, shielding her face from view. ‘Take a deep breath, don’t let him see he has hurt you, don’t give him the satisfaction.’
Hurt didn’t begin to cover how she felt, and a slow-burning anger ignited in the pit of her stomach. She took a few deep, calming breaths, schooling her face into calm immobility.
‘That’s it,’ Spiro said, and moved to her side just as Lucas and Christina stopped in front of them.
‘Glad you could make it, Spiro, and you too, Amber,’ Lucas said smoothly, and proceeded to introduce his companion. ‘Allow me to introduce Christina Aristides. I have just acquired her father’s business, and this evening is to celebrate the deal.’
Amber wanted to smash her fist in his face, scream and yell, demand to know why he had lied to her, but this was neither the time or the place. Instead she straightened her shoulders and pinned a smile on her face as she shook the young girl’s hand. It wasn’t the poor girl’s fault, it was Lucas who was the swine.
Christina smiled demurely, and then, turning to Spiro, she punched him playfully on the arm. ‘My, you are a dark horse, Spiro, you never mentioned that you were bringing your girlfriend with you tonight.’ And then she added for Amber’s benefit, ‘I hope you did not mind me stealing your boyfriend for the afternoon, but Lucas was too tied up with business to go shopping with me.’ The inference being Lucas was her boyfriend.
The tension between the other three was electric. Amber’s eyes flew to Lucas’s face—surely he would say something, deny it. She saw the cold anger in the depths of his eyes. He was furious she was here. Her presence had obviously upset his glittering celebration, or maybe for the first time in his life he actually felt embarrassed. But in a second Amber knew she was wrong. He stared back at her, his gaze chillingly remote. Amber had seen that look only once before when she’d tried to argue with him about Spiro—it had scared her then, but now it confirmed what she had probably known for the past twenty-four hours but refused to admit.
Shattered by his duplicity, she let her gaze trail over his tall, muscular body. He was the sexiest man alive, but also heartless. She finally saw him as the hard, ruthless Greek tycoon that he had always been, but love had blinded her to his real character. She tilted back her head, her golden eyes challenging him, but he avoided her gaze, his whole attention fixed on the young girl.
‘Don’t worry, Christina. I’m sure Amber didn’t mind,’ Lucas said softly, and, turning to Spiro, he added, ‘Though I did not know you and Amber were still seeing each other.’
‘Oh, yes, Amber is not the sort to desert her friends, are you, Amber, darling?’ Spiro drawled pointedly, and, clasping an arm around her slender waist, he pulled her into his side and pressed a swift kiss on her brow.
Amber let him—in fact she was glad of his support. Her stomach churned and she wanted to be sick as the full extent of Lucas’s betrayal hit her. Her beautiful face lost what little colour she had. How dared he introduce her to Christina as though she were merely an acquaintance, a friend of his nephew, instead of the woman who had shared his bed for the best part of a year?
‘So I see,’ Lucas drawled mockingly. He knew Spiro was gay.
His mockery was the last straw for Amber. Her wild golden eyes clashed with Lucas’s. ‘I wonder, can anyone say the same about you, Lucas? But, no, I seem to remember you telling me once you had no real friends. Perhaps because you only use people.’ She saw his jaw clench, a dark tide of colour surging up under his skin, and a leap of fury in his eyes. Serves him right, Amber thought.
‘My, Lucas, a woman who does not admire you unreservedly, that must be a first,’ Christina piped up.
‘Amber is an old friend, and she and Spiro delight in trying to needle me, it’s just a joke.’ Lucas smiled down at Christina, his voice softening. ‘Nothing for you to worry about.’
Fury such as she had never known sent all the blood rushing back to Amber’s head. Old friend! He had a nerve. The hand holding her glass of wine began to rise. Spiro, guessing her intentions, grasped her wrist.
‘I am starving and I think you need a top up, Amber. Excuse us.’ With his arm at her waist, he urged her away from the other couple. ‘It would have been a futile gesture, Amber, throwing your drink over him—your glass is virtually empty,’ he murmured, turning her back to the crowd to face the buffet table.
Amber was shaking, visibly shaking. She’d never felt such overwhelming rage in her life. ‘I wasn’t going to throw it over him,’ she denied, turning blazing eyes up to Spiro’s. ‘I was going to screw the glass in his arrogant, lying face,’ she confessed fiercely.
She was not a violent person, she had never harmed a living thing in her life, but for a second she had completely lost control. Suddenly she was appalled at her own actions, and her anger subsided. ‘Thank you for stopping me, Spiro.’ She tried to smile. ‘Your better nature got the better of you—you said earlier you wanted me to cause a scene, and I thought you were joking. But the joke is on me and I’ve never felt less like laughing. I want to cry.’
‘No, Amber. Tim was right and I was wrong.’ His arm dropped from her waist and he lifted a hand to her chin and tilted her head up to face him. ‘I should never have brought you here. I have to speak to my grandfather but then I am taking you straight home. Ten minutes at most, can you do it?’
A film of moisture hazed her glorious eyes, and she blinked furiously. ‘I have to, I have no choice.’ Imperceptibly she straightened her shoulders, her back ramrod straight as she fought for control, and won.
Spiro’s hand fell from her chin, his dark eyes admiring her elegant form. ‘You are the most beautiful, elegant lady in this room. You have more class in your little finger than the whole of this lot put together, and don’t you forget it.’
Before Amber could respond old Mr Karadines interrupted them. He gave Spiro a hug and spoke to him in Greek, before turning to Amber.
‘Amber, isn’t it? Good to meet you again, and I’m glad to see you are still keeping this grandson of mine in order.’
‘Hello, and I’m trying,’ was as much as she could manage to say. A blessed numbness had enveloped her. She felt as if she were viewing the proceedings from outside her body—the pain was waiting for her, she knew, but her heart had not broken, it had simply solidified into a hard black stone in her breast.
‘Good, good. I have been hearing great things about you from Clive here. Allow me to introduce you. Clive Thompson, my grandson’s friend, Amber Jackson.’
Amber didn’t have time to wonder why the old man had referred to her as Spiro’s friend as the name of the tall, elegant blond-haired man registered, and she was holding out her hand to him. He was a top manager with Janson’s merchant bank. He was only forty but already his reputation was legendary in the City.
She sensed rather than saw Lucas and Christina walk up and join the group, but she did not dare look. If she did she knew she would break down. Her hand was still held by Clive and she was grateful because it enabled her to find the strength not to tremble at Lucas’s towering presence beside her.
‘I have been longing to meet you as soon as Theo told me your name. Allow me to say you are as beautiful as you are brilliant, if not more so; a truly stunning combination.’ His bright blue eyes smiled down into hers, and, lifting her fingers to his lips, he kissed the back of her hand before letting go.
‘Oh, how gallant, Mr Thompson!’ Christina’s accented voice interrupted.
Amber glanced sideways and saw Lucas had moved closer to her with Christina clinging onto his other arm. Quickly she returned her attention to Clive, and saw his slightly raised eyebrows and brief polite smile at the young girl, before he returned his attention to Amber again and continued as if the other girl had not spoken.
‘Brentford’s are very lucky to have you, is the word in the City. Apparently you got your clients out of…’ and he mentioned a high-tech company whose shares were on the way down and out ‘…even better than I did,’ and he gave her an appreciative smile that Amber returned. They discussed the company in question in some detail. They were like-minded people.
‘I was lucky,’ she finally finished. Anything to do with business and she was not in the least intimidated. It was only in the love stakes she was a total idiot, it seemed.
‘People make their own luck, Amber—I may call you Amber?’ Clive grinned.
‘Of course.’ She heard what sounded like a grunt from Lucas, and felt the slight brush of his trouser-clad thigh against her hip.
Lucas did it deliberately. Inexplicably it angered him to hear Amber discussing business with the elegant Englishman, and he wanted to disconcert her, but she simply moved away. In that moment Lucas recognised the truth and his arm tightened around Christina. Amber did not need a man for anything other than sex and even that, as he knew to his cost, could be delayed because of her work. He had never been in love but his idea of it was to protect and care for his wife and family. Christina needed his protection and in return he knew that as she was a well-brought-up young Greek girl, her husband and children would always come first.
Amber felt as if she could feel Lucas breathing down her neck and carefully moved closer to Spiro as Clive slid one hand into the inside pocket of his jacket to withdraw a gold-edged card. ‘Here is my card—if you ever feel like changing firms, I promise we will offer you a much better package.’
A wry smile curved her full lips; she could not help it. The ultimate irony. From her surprising lunch on Thursday it had been like a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, finally to this, the worst night of her life, when it was taking all her strength to simply keep standing, she was being head-hunted by Janson’s of all firms…
‘And would your chairman, Sir David Janson, agree to your proposition?’ she prompted with an enviable touch of cynicism, considering the tall, dark presence of Lucas was within touching distance; the familiar scent of him that filled her nostrils had her nerves at screaming-point.
‘It would depend on the proposition, would it not, Clive?’ Lucas’s deep voice queried sardonically.
‘Oh, I’m sure Amber and I could work out a mutually satisfactory arrangement.’ Clive’s blue eyes, gleaming with very male appreciation, didn’t leave Amber’s as he tagged on, ‘And Sir Janson, of course.’
‘I’m sure Amber does not want to talk business all night with you men,’ Christina inserted, smiling across at Amber. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a party.’ Then she added, ‘Let’s go find the rest room, and we can have a gossip. I love your dress, and your necklace and earrings are gorgeous; you must tell me where you got them.’
The bluntness with which Christina changed the subject stopped the conversation dead. Lucas’s black eyes clashed with Amber’s over the top of Christina’s head, and she saw the warning glint in their depths, but she ignored it. Boldly she held his gaze, contempt blazing from her hazel eyes. For the first time that evening she felt in control.
‘They were a birthday and Christmas present.’ Amber smiled down at Christina. ‘And, yes, I’ll come with you,’ she said, taking the young girl’s arm. Let the swine sweat, let him wonder if she would tell his innocent girlfriend exactly who had given Amber the jewellery, she thought bitterly. Her rage was the only thing that kept her going as she walked out of the party and along the quiet hall to the powder room.
‘Thank God we’ve escaped,’ Christina groaned as they entered the powder room together, and, walking across to the row of vanity basins and dropping her purse on the marble top, she admired herself in the mirror above. ‘An hour of my father and his friends and I feel like climbing the walls.’ Turning to Amber, she added, ‘You’re lucky Spiro is young and doesn’t take himself seriously. Lucas can be mind-bendingly boring, you’ve no idea.’
Shocked into silence, Amber watched the younger girl pull at the pink satin bodice of her dress. ‘I ask you, Amber, would you be caught dead in a dress like this?’
‘Well…’ How to be diplomatic? Amber pondered. ‘You must like it.’ A high-pitched laugh greeted her comment.
‘You’re joking. I hate it, but then you are not Greek so you would not understand.’
Slowly Amber crossed to stand beside Christina. Her eyes met the other girl’s in the mirror, and suddenly Christina seemed so much older and harder. ‘Understand why you wear a dress you hate?’ Amber prompted.
‘Because my father expects me to look like his innocent young daughter, and of course Lucas expects his fiancée to look like a shy young virgin, otherwise I would not be caught dead in pink satin.’
‘Your fiancé!’ Amber exclaimed, unable to disguise her horror.
‘Yes, didn’t Spiro tell you?’ And, not waiting for an answer, Christina continued, ‘Next weekend at our home in Athens my father is holding a huge party for my betrothal to Lucas and three weeks later we are getting married. He would have announced it tonight except it looks a bit too blatant even for a Greek to sign the business deal and sell your daughter in one afternoon.’
So it was all true. Amber’s brain reeled under the shock. Spiro had not been exaggerating. She looked into the face of her rival and asked the question uppermost on her mind. ‘Do you love Lucas?’
Christina laughed. ‘No, but he loves me, or so he says, and it does not really matter anyway. I want to get married, the quicker the better.’ Christina fiddled nervously with the clip of the small satin purse on the marble bench. ‘Once I am married, I’m free. I get the money my mother left me, and, to give Lucas his due, he is renowned as a shrewd operator, so I have no doubt he will greatly increase the wealth of the family company. Therefore mine,’ she said with some glee, and, finally noticing the look of shock and horror Amber could not hide, Christina laughed out loud. ‘Don’t look so shocked; it is a typical Greek arrangement.’
‘But…but…’ Amber spluttered ‘…you are so young.’
‘I have just spent a year in a Swiss finishing-school, and those ski instructors are something else again. I’m not that young,’ she offered with a very adult smile. ‘Though I know what you mean—Lucas is a bit old. But Spiro did me a favour this afternoon. I think he was trying to warn me, but actually I was delighted when he told me Lucas apparently keeps a mistress, so I don’t think he is going to be bothering me much in bed even when we are married.’
‘You really don’t mind?’ Amber said slowly, the callousness of Christina’s statement ringing in her ears. ‘You don’t care if your husband is unfaithful to you?’
‘Not in the least, why should I with a fortune at my disposal?’ And, picking up her purse, she opened it and withdrew some rolling tobacco. ‘Do you want a smoke?’
Amber looked at the girl and the tobacco. ‘No, I don’t smoke.’ Amber wondered why with her wealth she rolled her own.
‘Pity.’ Placing a hand on Amber’s arm, Christina said, ‘Don’t look so surprised, and do me a favour, go out and tell Lucas I will be another five minutes. He does not know of my little vice.’ She chuckled as she urged Amber towards the door.
Amber found herself out in the corridor without realising how she had got there.
‘Where is Christina?’ Lucas’s deep voice demanded. Amber lifted her head, her stunned gaze meeting his dark brooding eyes. He was standing in the middle of the hall, his large body tense, waiting… But not for Amber…
‘She said give her five minutes,’ Amber stated bluntly. ‘She also said you are her fiancé. How can that be, Lucas?’ she hissed furiously. ‘You live with me, it has to be a horrible mistake.’
‘It is not a mistake.’ The dark-lashed brilliance of his eyes clashed with hers; she was too upset to try and hide the hurt and anger in her own gaze. His expression hardened. ‘I regret you had to find out this way. But then I had no knowledge of your continued association with my nephew or that he would bring you here tonight…’
Amber’s mouth opened but no sound came out. The colossal arrogance of the man! Lucas was as good as saying it was Spiro’s fault, that she had discovered his wicked betrayal.
‘Look, Amber—’ he laid a large hand on her arm, and furiously she brushed him off ‘—we have to talk.’
‘A bit late for talk,’ she snapped.
He straightened, squaring his broad shoulders. ‘Keep your voice down,’ he commanded, his dark eyes narrowing on her flushed, furious face. ‘I will call tomorrow morning as arranged and explain.’
‘My surprise,’ she whispered, realising the full horrific extent of his betrayal. ‘Christina was going to be my surprise!’ Her voice rose an octave.
‘Someone talking about me?’ Christina came sauntering out of the cloakroom, her dark eyes almost feverishly bright, her smile brilliant.
Immediately Lucas curved a protective arm around Christina’s shoulder, making it very clear where his loyalty lay. ‘We were just discussing the engagement party next weekend. It was supposed to be a secret, you’re very naughty.’ He chided the young girl with such indulgence Amber felt sick.
Spiro sauntered up and slipped an arm around Amber’s waist. ‘What’s all this? Plotting in corridors now.’ He chuckled, and Amber clung to him like a life raft in a storm-tossed sea. Her knees were buckling and she thought she would faint; there was only so much hurt one body could stand and she was at the limit. Spiro, sensing her desperation, tightened his grip on her waist and listened as Christina, seemingly inexhaustible, went on at great length about the following weekend and extended an invitation to the party.
Finally when the young girl paused for breath Spiro leapt in. ‘Well, on behalf of both Amber and I, our heartiest congratulations to you, and we hope you both get the happiness you deserve!’ he drawled sarcastically. ‘Now, you will have to excuse us, but we have a prior engagement.’ And within minutes Amber found herself out in the foyer of the hotel.
‘I’m sorry, I am truly, truly sorry, Amber, I should never have brought you here.’ But Amber wasn’t listening. She’d been functioning on shock and adrenalin for the past hour, and now she was as spent as a burst balloon—she wanted to curl up and die.
‘Take me home, Spiro.’ And he did.
Sitting in the back seat of the cab, with Spiro’s protective arm around her, Amber asked bleakly, ‘Why, Spiro? You said your grandfather invited me. Why would he do that knowing Lucas and I…?’ She broke off, to swallow the lump rising in her throat, her lashes wet with tears. ‘How could he be so cruel?’
‘You still don’t see it,’ Spiro said ruefully. ‘I’ve avoided the subject for too long. I should have told you at the time, Amber, but it seemed a harmless enough deceit.’ He glanced apologetically down at her tear-stained face. ‘Remember the first time you saw Lucas, when he arrived at my party madder than hell? Well, it was because he had just discovered I was taking Tim to our villa in Greece for the Easter holiday and I was about to confess to Grandfather that I was gay. Lucas tried to talk me out of it, saying it would kill the old man if he thought his only grandson was gay. Which is why he asked you out to dinner, and asked you to accompany Tim and I on holiday. Lucas is not above using anybody to protect the old man. Consequently, he subtly let Grandfather know you and Tim were like brother and sister. But you and I had a much closer relationship; after all, you had been living in my house for four years. Lucas can be very convincing, as you know.’
‘You mean all this time your grandfather has thought you and I are a couple? But that’s impossible…’ But was it? she asked herself. Lucas had made no approach to her until they had returned to England, and she had never met his father again until tonight.
Then she remembered their very first dinner date. When Lucas had invited her to the villa, he had also asked her to do him a favour. He knew she was close to Tim and Spiro, and he had asked her to use her influence on the pair to tone down their behaviour in front of his father when they were all at the villa. The old man was rather old-fashioned that way. Of course, Amber had said yes.
Now it all made a horrible kind of sense. Lucas would do anything for his father, including marrying a suitable rich little Greek girl. Spiro was right…
‘Think about it, Amber. Has Lucas ever taken you anywhere in public where Grandfather was likely to hear about it? No. While you thought you were building a relationship, a home, with a thoroughly modern man, Lucas had no such intentions.’
Amber’s face was bleak, her mouth bitter and twisted as the full import of Spiro’s revelation sank in. She tried to speak and found herself shivering compulsively. She could not believe she had been so blind, so stupid…
CHAPTER THREE
AMBER knew once she let the first tear fall that she would never be able to stop. Kicking off her shoes, she locked the door and padded across the polished wood floor to the spiral staircase. Grasping the rail, she ascended to the galleried sleeping area like an old woman. Spiro had asked her to go back to his place, but she’d refused. He had done enough for her for one night, she thought bitterly.
Stripping off her clothes, she walked into the huge bathroom. She glanced at the circular white marble Jacuzzi sunk into the floor, and quickly away as too many memories flooded back. Skirting the bath, she stepped into the double shower. She turned the tap on full, and stood under the power jets and let the water pound her slender body. She closed her eyes, but she could not block out the image of Lucas naked on his knees in the shower with her. Soaping every inch of her tender flesh from the tips of her toes to her head in what she had thought was complete adoration.
Why? Why had Lucas done this to her? her mind screamed, and the iron control she had exerted over her emotions all evening finally broke. The tears slowly squeezed from her eyes to slide down her cheeks. The trickle became a flood as she wept out her pain and grief, the tears mingling with the powerful spray until Amber fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around her middle, her head bowed, completely broken, defeated…
Her body shivering, Amber slowly opened her eyes. She was huddled on the floor of the shower. When had the hot water run out and turned to icy cold? She had no idea. She was freezing, her limbs numb. Slowly she staggered to her feet, turned off the tap and stepped out of the shower. Pulling a large bath towel from the rail, she wrapped it toga-style around her shaking body. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the vanity basin—her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her skin pale and cold as death.
She was still wearing the emerald necklace and earrings. Carefully she removed both, and, walking out of the bathroom, she dropped them on the dressing table, then pulled out the seat and sat down. Picking up the hair-dryer, she switched it on and methodically began drying her long hair.
Lucas had loved to see her naked with her hair smoothed silkily over her breasts. Her eyes filled with moisture at the memory, and, leaping to her feet, she staggered across the room and flung herself down on the bed. She turned her face into the pillow, shaken by another violent storm of weeping.
When it was over she felt curiously calm, and as it was just dawn she got to her feet and began to dress. She did not bother with a bra, she had no need for one, but slipped into skimpy white lace briefs. She withdrew grey-and blue-checked trousers from the wardrobe and a V-neck button-through matching blue cashmere cardigan, and put them on. She slipped her feet into soft leather loafers and descended the spiral staircase. She crossed the vast expanse of the living area to the kitchen, and opened the door just as the first rays of sun shone though the window.
Amber switched on the kettle, made herself a cup of instant coffee, and, taking it back with her into the living room, she sat down on one of the soft-cushioned sofas. She picked up the remote control for the television and switched it on. It was the twenty-four-hour news channel. She watched and waited…
Amber heard the key turn in the lock, and, switching off the television, she stood up and slowly turned to face the door.
To the man entering the room, she looked cool, calm and collected, and beautiful. ‘Amber, I am glad you are here. I thought you might have gone back with Spiro after last night,’ Lucas said smoothly, closing the door behind him and striding towards her.
Amber watched him approach. He was casually dressed in faded denim jeans, a cream-coloured roll-neck sweater and tan leather jacket. His black hair was windswept; he had never looked more attractive to her, or more out of her reach.
Her heart hardened against his masculine appeal. ‘Why would I do that, Lucas? This is my home,’ she queried coolly. A bone-numbing anger had replaced her earlier grief.
‘Good, I hoped you would be sensible.’ His long legs slightly splayed, he stopped about a foot away from her, his dark eyes sweeping over her long hair falling loose to her waist, and back up, lingering for a second too long on the proud thrust of her breasts against the soft cashmere sweater.
Amber saw his pupils darken, and the sudden tension in his broad frame. He was not immune to her, that much was obvious, and it simply fuelled her anger. ‘Sensible is not the word I would have chosen,’ she declared bitterly. ‘I don’t feel in the least sensible after last night, I feel madder than hell, and demand an explanation. I thought you were my boyfriend, my partner. We live together, for God’s sake!’ she cried, aware of the consuming bile rising in her throat as she studied his hard features.
Abruptly Lucas stepped back a pace, and she had the satisfaction of seeing his face darken with suppressed anger, or was it embarrassment? He didn’t appreciate being called to account for his behaviour. ‘I agree,’ he said curtly. ‘And I apologise—last night should never have happened. Christina should not have told you we were getting engaged next weekend. But then you should not have been at the party. You have Spiro to thank for last night’s fiasco, not I.’
‘Oh, no, you can’t blame this on Spiro, you lying swine,’ she shot back furiously. ‘You told me you could not get back from New York until Saturday—pressure of work, you said. What a joke!’ Blazing golden eyes clashed with his and what she saw in their obsidian depths sent an icy shiver down her spine.
‘I did not lie. I said I could not meet you until Saturday, which was perfectly true. I had a prior engagement for Friday evening,’ he drawled cynically.
‘An engagement for the rest of your life, if Christina is to be believed. I have never been so embarrassed or humiliated in all my life, and I want to know why? You owe me that much,’ Amber demanded, her voice rising stridently.
Lucas stepped forward and closed a powerful hand over both of hers. ‘Calm down and listen to me,’ he snapped back, his black eyes hard on her lovely face. ‘I had no desire to embarrass or hurt you in any way. I had every intention of telling you our affair was over before announcing my betrothal. I have never in my life begun a sexual relationship with a woman without first divesting myself of her predecessor. It is a rule of mine.’
‘Bully for you!’ she snorted inelegantly, but just the touch of his hand on hers made her pulse race and she despised herself for it. ‘You are so moral,’ she managed to drawl sarcastically. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better that you are dumping me?’
‘Dumping…’ a grimace of distaste tightened his hard mouth ‘…is not how I would have put it. Our affair has reached its conclusion, and I hope we can part friends.’
This is not happening to me, this cannot be happening to me, Amber told herself over and over again. The blind, arrogant conceit of the man was unbelievable. Friends—he wanted them to be friends… Didn’t he know he had broken her heart, destroyed her dreams, her life? She looked up and saw the flicker of impatience in his dark eyes, the aloof expression on his handsome face, and she had her answer. It was obvious he was wondering how to extricate himself as quickly as possible.
‘And what about me?’ Amber asked quietly, amazed that her voice didn’t break.
‘Amber, we have had some great times together, but now it is over, it has to be. I have reached the age—’ he walked away from her, pacing the length of the room ‘—when it is time for me to settle down. I want a wife, a family, a home, and Christina is going to give me all that.’ Then, spinning on his heel, he walked slowly back towards her.
‘You’re bright and ambitious, I know you have a brilliant future ahead of you. But, for me, Christina is the answer. You understand.’
The numbness that had protected her for the past few hours vanished. He was ripping her heart to shreds with every word he spoke. ‘No, no, I don’t.’ She raised her eyes to meet his. ‘I thought we were a couple, and that this was our home.’ Even as she said the words, she saw the gleam of cynical amusement in his dark eyes as he glanced around the room and back at Amber.
‘Oh, come on, Amber, don’t play the innocent, it does not suit you. This was never meant to be a home, a living area with an open-galleried bedroom and a sybaritic bathroom. Could you see me entertaining my family and friends in this place?’ One dark brow arched sardonically. ‘I think not…’
Amber exploded; her hand swung in a wide arc and smashed across his face. ‘I should have done that last night,’ she yelled. ‘You arrogant, conceited, two-timing bastard.’
Lucas raised a hand to his cheek, and rubbed where she had hit him. ‘Perhaps I deserved that, so I’ll let you get away with it, Amber, but only once,’ he declared grimly. ‘Accept it is over between us and move on. I have.’
She watched the dark stain appear on his cheek where she had hit him, and immediately regretted her action. Involuntarily she raised her hand, intending to stroke the side of his face, but her wrist was caught in an iron grip. ‘No.’
She moved forward and lifted her other hand to rest on the soft wool sweater covering his broad chest. ‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured. But the familiar feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers sent shivers of delight arcing though her body. She loved this man with all her heart, and helplessly she tilted back her head and looked up into his darkly attractive face. ‘Please, Lucas.’ She felt him stiffen, and she moved even closer, and slid her hand up over his chest and around the nape of his neck.
‘We are so good together, Lucas, you know we are.’ It had been two long months since she had felt the warmth of his caress and she ached for him. Suddenly she was fighting for her man, and using every skill at her disposal. She saw his pupils dilate as her breasts brushed against his hard chest, and involuntarily her fingers trailed with tactile delight up through the hair at the back of his neck. ‘Kiss me, Lucas, you know you want to.’ Gently she urged his head down towards her eager lips.
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