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‘All right, pretend you’re innocent, I don’t really care. But, put simply, the will Spiro made when you invested in his art gallery made you his heir if anything happened to him.’
‘Oh, no!’ Amber exclaimed, a horrible suspicion making her face pale. It couldn’t be. But one look at Lucas’s dark countenance confirmed her worst fear. When she had given Spiro the money he had insisted on making a will naming her his heir as collateral for the loan, until he could pay her back.
‘Oh, ye-es,’ Lucas drawled derisively. ‘Spiro never changed his will. You are now, or very soon will be, the proud owner of a substantial part of Karadines.’
He was watching her with eyes that glittered with undisguised contempt and something else she could not put a name to.
Amber simply stared at him like a paralysed porpoise, her mouth hanging open in shocked horror. How typical of Spiro. He would get a bee in his bonnet about something, do it and then forget all about it. His business sense had always been negligible, but Amber hadn’t seen it until it was too late.
Lucas laughed, but there was no humour in it. ‘Struck dumb; how very typical of you. The silent treatment might have worked for you in the past with Spiro,’ Lucas drawled, a smile creasing his firm mouth, ‘but not this time. I am a totally different male animal to my late nephew.’
He’d got that right! Amber had a hysterical desire to laugh—a more ruggedly aggressive macho male than Lucas would be impossible to find. Her lips quirked, while she damned Spiro for landing her in this mess.
‘You find something amusing in this situation?’ he challenged icily.
The ring of the telephone saved her from answering. ‘Yes, Sandy, what is it?’ she asked briskly. ‘Clive.’ She glanced sideways at Lucas and caught a thunderous frown on his dark face.
‘Tell him two minutes, my client is just leaving,’ she informed Sandy before turning towards Lucas. ‘My lunch date has arrived, I’m afraid I must ask you to leave.’
‘Clive Thompson, I might have guessed—he was lusting after you the first time he met you,’ Lucas opined bluntly. His dark eyes swept over her cynically. Her wide, oddly coloured gold eyes, and the full sensual lips that begged to be kissed. Her startling beauty combined with a slender yet curvaceous body was enough to make a grown man ache. Lucas was aching and he bitterly resented it. ‘Obviously he has succeeded, but by your ringless fingers I see you have had no success getting him to the altar yet,’ he taunted.
The arrogant bastard, Amber thought angrily. He was still of the opinion she was good enough to bed, but not to wed. Well, he was in for a big surprise.
‘Ah, Lucas, that is where you are wrong.’ Amber smiled a deliberately slow, sexy curve of her full lips. ‘Clive appreciates my talents.’ Let the swine make of that whatever his lecherous mind concluded. ‘He has asked me to marry him, but I have yet to give him my answer—perhaps over lunch,’ she said. ‘So, if you will excuse me.’
He moved so fast Amber didn’t have time to avoid him. One minute there were six feet of space between them, and the next she was hauled against the hard-muscled wall of his chest. Before she could struggle, one large hand slipped down over her buttocks, pressing hard against his thighs, and she felt the heat of him searing into her even through her clothes. ‘No, I won’t excuse you,’ he rasped.
Amber’s throat closed in panic. The years since they had last met might never have been. It was as if Lucas had rolled back time, his sexuality so potent that it fired her blood, making her once again the young girl who had been a slave to her senses. Then his dark head descended and he kissed her.
‘Lucas, no,’ she managed to croak as his mouth plundered hers, as he ground the tender flesh of her lips back against her teeth in a brutal travesty of a loving kiss. But even as she hated him, her body flooded with a feverish excitement and she fought the compulsion to surrender with every ounce of will-power she possessed, but it was not enough. The sexual chemistry between them had always been explosive. The years had not dulled the effect, and with a hoarse moan she responded. Lucas’s hold relaxed as he sensed her surrender, and, realising how completely she had betrayed herself, she swiftly twisted out of his arms.
‘Get out,’ she ordered in a voice that shook, her arms folded protectively across her breasts as she put as much space between them as her office allowed.
‘Christo! It was only a kiss—since when have you ever objected to a kiss?’ he derided savagely. ‘I was wrong, you haven’t changed. You can’t help responding. It is to be hoped Clive knows what he is taking on.’
The cruelty of his attack drove every last vestige of colour from her face.
His narrowed eyes studied her pale face for a long moment before a self-satisfied smile tilted the corners of his mouth. ‘Well, well, you haven’t told Clive about you and I.’ He was far too astute; he had seen the answer in her lowered gaze.
Lifting her head, she looked straight at him. ‘There is no you and I,’ she declared angrily. ‘There never was, as you were at great pains to point out when you married Christina.’ Her eyes sparkled with cold defiance.
His temper rose as swiftly as her own. ‘Leave Christina out of this,’ he commanded. ‘And if you want Clive to stay in ignorance…’ he paused, his narrowed gaze cold on her lovely face ‘…you will have dinner with me tonight. I will pick you up here at six and we will continue our talk. We have a lot to discuss.’
Panicked by his kiss, her lips tingling with the taste of him, Amber had forgotten Lucas’s real reason for seeking her out. There was still the will to discuss…
‘All right,’ she said curtly. ‘I’ll check with New York this afternoon. The sooner this matter is settled, the better.’ The thought of Lucas back in her life filled her with horror and fear.
‘Amber, darling.’ Clive strolled into the office, saw Lucas and stopped. ‘Lucas Karadines.’ And he held out his hand for Lucas to shake. ‘Thinking of changing bankers yet again?’ Clive asked conversationally.
‘No, nothing like that. A private matter concerning my late nephew Spiro. Now, if you will excuse me…’ Lucas glanced at Amber, his dark eyes holding a definite threat ‘…until later.’ And he left.
Clive quickly crossed to Amber’s side, and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. ‘I forgot to tell you when I spoke to you yesterday. I heard about Spiro a week ago. I know he used to be a good friend of yours; it must have been a shock.’
A tragedy. A calamity that Amber had a sinking feeling was only going to get worse.
Lunch was a disaster. Amber toyed with the food on her plate, her mind in turmoil. One kiss from Lucas Karadines, and her carefully considered decision taken after two weeks in Italy to accept Clive’s proposal of marriage was shot to hell…
Clive was very understanding when she told him she needed more time. But she saw the hurt in his blue eyes when they said goodbye outside her office building, and she hated herself for it. He was a true friend.
CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_5a79811d-d678-5937-9f54-f3bb0aae5a6b)
RETURNING from lunch, Amber stopped at her secretary’s desk. ‘Sandy…’ she looked hard at the pretty brunette ‘…what possessed you to let Mr Karadines walk straight into my office? You know the rules. No one gets in unless they have an appointment, especially not Mr Karadines, you must inform me first. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Sorry.’ Sandy apologised and then grinned. ‘But he said he was an old friend and he wanted to surprise you, and I couldn’t resist. I thought you would be pleased. I know I would. Smart, charming and sexy as hell; what more could a girl want?’
‘He is also a domineering, chauvinistic pig, with the mind-set of a medieval monarch,’ Amber declared with a wry grin. Sandy was an excellent secretary but a hopeless romantic. ‘Now get back to work,’ Amber commanded and walked into her office, closing the door behind her. She couldn’t blame Sandy. Lucas had a lethal charm that few women, if any, could resist…
A fax to New York was her first priority and then Amber spent all afternoon trying to work, but without accomplishing much. It was five in the afternoon when she finally received a reply to her fax. She read it, and groaned; her worst fear was confirmed. Lucas, damn him, was right! She was Spiro’s sole heir, and clarification of what that entailed would follow by mail.
Amber did not need to know. She’d made up her mind that whatever Spiro had left her she would give to Lucas. She wanted nothing to do with Karadines ever again…
She’d been badly burnt once and only a fool put their hand in the flame a second time. Ruthlessly she squashed the wayward thought that Lucas was a single man once more. He probably wasn’t, she thought dryly. Lucas had a powerful sex drive, he was not the sort to do without a woman for very long, and there were millions of women out there only too ready to fall into bed with the man.
She was walking out of her personal washroom when the telephone rang. Crossing to her desk, she pressed the button on the intercom to hear Sandy at her most formal announcing the arrival of Mr Karadines.
‘Send him in,’ Amber responded briskly.
A moment later with an exaggerated flourish Sandy flung the door wide open. ‘Lucas Karadines.’ Strolling past Sandy, Lucas gave the girl a smile and a thank-you.
Even though Amber was ready for him, her heart still missed a beat, and anger with herself made her tone sharp. ‘Thanks, Sandy, you can leave now. I will see Mr Karadines out myself.’
‘As I have no intention of leaving without you, your last statement was rather superfluous, wouldn’t you say?’ Lucas queried sardonically.
Amber forced herself to meet the mockery she knew would be in his eyes. ‘Not at all. I think when you hear what I have to say, this meeting will be over in a few minutes.’ She was slightly reassured when she realised he was still wearing the same charcoal suit as before. Like her, he had not bothered to change; with a bit of luck, she could avoid having dinner with him.
‘Really?’ he drawled silkily. ‘You intrigue me.’
‘Yes, well. I have checked with New York, you were right about Spiro’s will. I don’t have the details yet, but it does not matter, because I have decided to sign everything over to you.’
‘Such generosity, Amber.’ He was laughing at her, she could see it in the sparkle in his black eyes. ‘But then you were always very generous, at least in one department,’ Lucas drawled softly, a flick of his lashes sending his gaze skimming over her with deliberate sensual provocation.
She shivered, with what must be cold, she told herself as she stared at him in silence for a second, then lowered her gaze to the desk and picked up her briefcase. She was over Lucas. She had been for years. He had humiliated her, and caused her more pain than any woman should have to bear. So why? Why did the sight of him, the sound of him, still have the power to disturb her? With no answer, she continued as though he had never spoken.
‘That being the case, I don’t think there is anything for us to discuss at this time. When I am in possession of the full facts of Spiro’s legacy, I’ll have my lawyer contact yours as soon as possible.’ Clutching her briefcase, she stepped forward, about to stalk past him, but his hand reached out and his fingers bit into her shoulder. Instinctively she froze.
‘It is not that simple, Amber, and you promised to join me for dinner,’ he reminded her pointedly. ‘I’m holding you to that.’
She wanted to deny him, but his closeness, his hand on her shoulder were a brittle reminder of her own susceptibility to the man. She was not indifferent to Lucas, no matter how much she tried to deny it. Whenever he came near her she was rigid with tension. Her heart pounded and her mouth went dry, a throwback to the time they’d spent together, and something she’d thought she’d got over long ago.
‘If you insist,’ Amber managed to say coolly, and, shrugging her shoulder, she slipped from under his restraining hand. ‘But it is totally unnecessary. I’ve told you, you can have the lot.’
‘If only it were that easy. You’re a businesswoman, Amber, you should know better,’ Lucas opined sarcastically. ‘But now is not the time to discuss it. Unlike you, I missed lunch and I’m starving. Let’s go.’
She didn’t really want to go anywhere with Lucas, but one glance at his granite-like profile and she knew it would be futile to argue. Much better to go along with him now, than put off the discussion to another day. ‘Okay,’ she agreed, and preceded him out of the office. Entering the lift, she tried to ignore Lucas’s brooding presence lounging against one wall, apparently content to remain silent now he had got his own way.
Her mother had always told her it was better to take bad medicine in one go, and Lucas was certainly that where she was concerned. How bad could it be? A couple of hours in his company and then she never need see him again. Amber consoled herself with the thought as the lift hummed silently to the ground floor, and she stepped out into the foyer, her chin up, her expression one of cool control.
‘There is quite a nice little Italian restaurant just around the corner from here,’ she offered with a brief glance at Lucas, tall and indomitable at her side.
‘No, I have already made arrangements.’
Amber shot him a sharp glance. She didn’t like the sound of that, but as they were exiting the building the early rain had given way to brilliant sun and dazzled her eyes for a moment. When she did focus, Lucas was opening the door of a black BMW parked illegally at the kerb.
She stopped. ‘I have my own car, tell me where we are going and I’ll follow you.’
‘Not necessary. Get in, I can see a traffic warden coming.’ His large hand grasped hers, urging her forward. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll bring you back.’
Amber didn’t want to get in his car, but a brief glance along the road told her he was telling the truth, at least about the traffic warden, so she did as she was told. It was only as he deftly manoeuvred the car through the rush-hour traffic that she realised to a man of his wealth a traffic ticket was nothing. When he stopped the car outside the impressive entrance to the Karadines Hotel, Amber’s face paled. Lucas had to be the most insensitive man alive, or else he had brought her here deliberately and was just plain cruel.
‘Why here?’ Amber queried as Lucas helped her out of the car. She didn’t want to put her hand in his, but she did, refusing to let him see how much he still affected her. ‘Not very discreet of you.’
‘It is too late for discretion, you own part of the place.’ Lucas’s hard, intent gaze held hers. ‘So follow my lead and behave.’
She stared at him, their eyes warring for a second, and she was the first to look away. ‘All right.’
The foyer was relatively empty, but even so the hotel manager appeared and greeted Lucas effusively. Amber, to her consternation, was urged forward and Lucas insisted on introducing her to the man as a partner in the business.
‘What did you do that for?’ she snapped as soon as the man took his leave of them. ‘I have not the least intention of—’
‘Keep it till we get to the suite.’
‘Wait a minute. I am not going to any suite with you.’ She stopped dead and looked up into his cold dark eyes. ‘The restaurant will do perfectly well.’
‘And run the risk of some employee tuning into our business discussion?’ he drawled sardonically. ‘I think not, Amber.’
‘Then you should not have brought me here in the first place,’ she snapped.
Lucas’s dark head bent towards her. ‘I thought you would appreciate somewhere you knew,’ he suggested softly, his breath feathering across her cheek as his hand settled in the middle of her back and he urged her across to the bank of lifts and into a conveniently empty one.
‘You thought wrong,’ she declared angrily, twisting away from his hand, her body taut with tension. She stared at his broad back as he pressed the required button and the doors closed, entombing them in the small space.
Slowly Lucas turned and lounged back against the carpeted wall, his dark eyes narrowing speculatively on her furious face. ‘It can’t be the place, because you are familiar with the hotel. So why the anger, Amber? I could almost believe you are afraid of me.’
He hadn’t moved, but all at once the atmosphere had become charged with sexual tension. Amber’s mouth was dry, the blood moving rapidly through her veins. ‘I’m not afraid of any man.’ She raised her eyebrows, her air of sophistication firmly back in place. ‘And I am not familiar with the hotel,’ she said sweetly. ‘I have only been here twice, and both times were a disaster. The first you dragged me into bed, and the second you drove me out.’ She managed to say it all with a light, even tone of voice, and she watched with interest as a red tide of colour ran up under his skin. ‘Or had you forgotten in the old days you had a preference for discreet little restaurants, as I suggested earlier?’
The lift came to a halt, and Amber had the distinct impression Lucas was relieved he did not have to respond. Stroke one up for her, she thought irreverently as she followed him down a short corridor, and brushed past the door he held open for her without a glance.
The elegant sitting room was exactly the same with its luxury fitted carpet and period furniture. The large patio doors leading out onto the terrace were wide open and she had a glimpse of a table set for two. Some of her hard-won sophistication evaporated as she recalled the only other time she had been in this suite. The first time they had made love.
She stared at the floor with unseeing eyes. She had been a virgin, and totally ignorant of the power of love. She had been shy at first but so desperately eager. She felt the colour rise in her cheeks at the memory. A few passionate kisses and he had carried her into the bedroom and she had let him strip her naked—helped him, in fact. Then he had told her to undress him, and she had fumblingly complied. With breathtaking expertise he had taken her to the heights of ecstasy over and over again, and from that night on she had been completely addicted to the man. She had been madly in love, and willingly she had followed where he’d led. With hindsight she realised she should have guessed then for Lucas it had only been sex. She felt a deep ache in the region of her heart, and gritted her teeth. She hadn’t expected the memory to hurt so much…
Lucas walked past her, discarding his jacket and tie on a low velvet-covered sofa, and headed straight for the drinks trolley. ‘What will you have?’ he asked, and only then did she lift her head and glance at him.
‘Nothing,’ she croaked. With his shirt half open and a tantalising glimpse of silky black chest hair exposed and his pleated trousers resting snugly on his slim hips, he looked exactly as he had all those years ago.
One ebony brow rose enquiringly. ‘You must, I insist.’
‘No, I’m driving later.’ She swallowed hard and looked away. ‘A fruit juice, maybe,’ she amended.
A moment later Lucas was handing her a glass of orange juice. She took it with a steady hand but made sure her fingers did not come into contact with his.
‘You look hot,’ he opined, his dark eyes searching on her flushed face. ‘Let me take your jacket.’
‘No, no.’ With a glass of juice in one hand and her briefcase in the other, there was no way she could remove it, and he certainly wasn’t going to. She had no faith in the fine silk of her blouse hiding her body’s reaction to his intimidating male presence.
‘Please yourself, but at least let me take this.’ And before she could react, his large hand prised her fingers from the death-like grip she had on her briefcase. ‘We are eating on the terrace. Are you sure I can’t persuade you out of your jacket? It is a warm night.’
Warm did not begin to describe how Amber was suddenly feeling and she almost fell over her feet to rush out onto the terrace, and take a great gulp of air.
A moment later Lucas followed her out with a glass of whisky in one hand, and, casting a sardonic glance at her stiff body standing by the balustrade, he pulled out a chair at the perfectly set table.
‘For heaven’s sake! Sit down and relax, Amber. I’m not about to jump you.’
‘I never thought you were,’ she responded with admirable poise and took the seat he offered.
Surprisingly Amber enjoyed the meal, probably because she had hardly eaten any lunch, but also because Lucas was at his charming best. Not a hint of innuendo, or mention of the past. The conversation was topical; some politics, the latest show to open in the West End, which Amber had seen, Lucas had not.
‘I didn’t know you liked the theatre,’ Lucas remarked. ‘I never thought to take you when we were together.’
Sitting back in her chair, sipping at a cup of black coffee, Amber almost choked. He was back to personal and she did not like it. ‘You never took me anywhere,’ she said flatly, draining her cup.
‘You’re right. Except to bed, of course, as I recall we had the greatest difficulty leaving the bedroom.’
Hot colour flooded her face but Amber wasn’t touching that one with a bargepole. ‘Shall we stick to business? I meant what I said earlier—whatever Spiro has left me, you can have. I know the will must have been an oversight on his part, or laziness. Either way you are the rightful heir. I don’t see any problem.’
‘Even if I believed your offer, there are several huge obstacles,’ Lucas intoned cynically. ‘Never mind the death duty, which will be quite substantial, his medical bills are enormous.’
‘Did he die of Aids?’ Amber asked, but she’d already guessed the answer.
‘Of course, after a protracted illness,’ Lucas stated flatly. ‘I gather you have not had much contact with Spiro.’
‘I hadn’t spoken to him in four years,’ she said, nervously fingering the waist button on her jacket and slipping it open. She felt terribly guilty, though she knew deep down it wasn’t rational. Spiro had been a law unto himself.
‘Okay. In that case I’d better fill you in.’
For a brief second she imagined his long body, naked, literally doing just that, and to her horror her own body betrayed her, a wave of heat washing over the surface of her skin, her breasts swelling against the constraint of her bra. Thankfully Lucas did not seem to be aware of the effect his simple statement had aroused.
‘Well, you know Spiro,’ Lucas prompted, exasperation lacing his tone. ‘From taking control of his inheritance, he spent money like a madman. He bought most of the pictures in his art gallery from the artists himself. “Friends”, he called them. For the last few years he has hired a house on Fire Island every summer, apparently a very popular place with the gay community, and he always took a crowd of pals along to share it with him. He sold off twenty per cent of his share of Karadines without my knowledge. I don’t think he did it deliberately to harm the company, but it didn’t help. He needed money fast and a friend fixed it for him.’
