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‘Not exactly,’ Leanne managed in polite response.
‘Is this a family tête-à-tête? Or may I join you?’
‘Leanne and I were just about to leave,’ Dimitri imparted smoothly.
‘Surely you could stay,’ Shanna suggested persuasively. ‘There’s a group of us, just friends—we’d love you to join us.’
‘Thank you—but not tonight.’
The maître d’ hovered discreetly as Dimitri signed the credit slip, then moved unobtrusively out of sight.
Shanna’s eyes moved to the empty champagne bottle. ‘Celebrating a recent success, darling?’
‘You could say that,’ he responded, shooting Leanne a musing smile. ‘Personal, not business.’
‘You’ve aroused my curiosity. Is it confidential?’
‘I’ve persuaded Leanne to marry me.’
Shanna’s smile slipped for the space of a second, and Leanne could only commend her superb control, for, although the brunette’s features portrayed surprised pleasure, her eyes held a darkness that contained bitter disappoint-ment.
‘You must tell me how you managed to convince Dimitri to make a commitment,’ she said to Leanne.
A degree of humour was the only way, and Leanne tempered her reply with a musing smile. ‘He simply slid a ring on my finger.’
Dimitri stood and held out his hand to Leanne. ‘You’ll excuse us, Shanna?’
Leanne had no recourse but to follow his lead, and she felt a certain sympathy for the attractive model. Rejection hurt like hell. Hadn’t she suffered at Dimitri’s hands more than four years ago? As she would again, a tiny voice taunted. How long after Paige’s passing would he retract the engagement—a few days, a week?
‘You’ve burned your bridges,’ Leanne said as the Jaguar picked up a cruising speed, and she incurred Dimitri’s dark glance.
‘There were no bridges to burn,’ he replied with deliberate mockery.
‘She was your—’ She couldn’t say it.
‘Lover?’ he prompted.
‘Yes!’
‘We visited the opera on a few occasions, took in the theatre, and attended several parties and functions.’
‘I don’t care what you did together.’
‘No?’
‘You could have bedded a hundred women, for all I care.’
‘I’m very particular as to who shares my bed.’
She was unable to resist the taunt, ‘I’m not the one you should be attempting to reassure.’
He didn’t answer, and there was something heady about having the last word. It lifted her spirits, and prompted an appraisal of her surroundings.
A dark indigo sky with a sprinkling of stars was at variance with the light summer shower that was as sudden as it was fleeting, necessitating only a few swishing turns of the wiper blades. Bright neon street-lights provided inter-mittent illumination, and cast long, deepening shadows from numerous trees standing guard on both sides of the suburban road.
There was the slight but distinctive sound of tyre-treads traversing wet bitumen, then the car slowed and paused as Dimitri activated the remote-control module that electronically opened the gates.
Within minutes another button released the garage doors, and the Jaguar slid to a halt between Paige’s Mercedes and a luxurious four-wheel drive.
Once inside, Leanne made her way towards the stairs.
‘Will you join me in a nightcap?’
‘No,’ she declared evenly. ‘I’m going to bed. I’m tired and I have a headache.’
‘I’m disappointed,’ he said with studied indolence. ‘I imagined the instant we reached the house you’d fly at me in a rage.’
‘I want to,’ Leanne assured him tightly. ‘Badly. Unfortunately I don’t possess the energy to launch an attack.’
A slight smile curved his mouth, and there was a gleam apparent in his dark gaze. ‘In that case, I’ll see you at breakfast.’
The words she wanted to hurl at him remained unsaid, and she ascended the stairs to her room where she undressed and removed her make-up before slipping between the cool, freshly laundered sheets.
She should have fallen asleep the instant her head touched the pillow. Instead, her mind was filled with a host of images, not the least being Paige herself, and the inimicable man who had temporarily taken charge of her life.
She had little comprehension of how long she lay staring at the darkened ceiling as the painful throbbing in her head deepened until she began to feel physically ill. Her body broke out in a sweat, then began to cool, and she knew any attempt at sleep without some form of medication would be useless.
Slipping out of bed, she crossed to the en-suite bathroom and rummaged through the bathroom cabinet for some pain-killers, only to curse softly on discovering that there were none.
She lifted a hand and pressed it wearily against her temple. Maybe there was something in the cabinet in Paige’s suite. If not, she’d have to venture downstairs.
It took only a few minutes to discover that there was nothing stronger available than paracetamol, and she closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them again in restrained exasperation. Maybe if she took two now it would take the edge off the pain sufficiently so that she could sleep.
There was a tumbler on the marble-topped vanity unit, and she half filled it with water only to have it slip through her fingers and crash down into the marbled basin.
‘Dear God,’ she whispered shakily at the explosive sound of shattering glass. It was enough to wake the dead. The last thing she needed was to have to face Dimitri at this hour of the night.
Yet he appeared in the doorway within seconds, his features dark and forbidding.
She could visualise the scene through his eyes. A slight figure attired in a long cotton nightshirt, dishevelled hair, and pale features overshadowed by large eyes darkened with pain.
‘I’m sorry the noise woke you.’ Her eyes felt heavy and impossibly bruised. She lifted a hand, then let it fall helplessly down to her side. ‘I’ll pick up the glass.’
‘Leave it,’ Dimitri instructed brusquely. ‘Eleni can attend to it in the morning.’ His eyes swept to the foil strip of tablets, then to her pale features. ‘Headache worse?’
‘Yes.’ She winced painfully, closing her eyes against his forceful image and the degree of sexual magnetism he exuded. The white towelling robe he’d hastily donned merely enhanced his height and breadth, and she was in no fit state to arm a mental defence against him. ‘I’ll just take these, then go back to bed.’
Without a word he leaned forward, extracted another tumbler, half filled it with water, then placed it in her hand.
When she’d swallowed the tablets, she replaced the tumbler, then made to move past him only to give a gasp of surprise as he leaned forward and lifted her into his arms.
‘Put me down.’ The protest was adamant, for the shift in gravity had caused her nightshirt to ride dangerously up her thighs, and she was acutely conscious of a loss of modesty.
His strength was palpable, and this close she could smell the faint muskiness of his skin mingling with a trace of aftershave. She had only to turn her head fractionally for her lips to come in contact with the edge of his neck.
‘I can walk. There’s nothing wrong with my legs.’ Even a severe headache couldn’t diminish the heightened degree of sensual awareness she felt at being held so close against him. ‘Put me down!’
‘Why so nervous?’ Dimitri queried lazily as he gained the hallway and headed towards her suite.
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ Leanne accused, choosing to emphasise her point by balling a fist and aiming it at his shoulder. A totally ineffectual gesture that reminded her of a butterfly senselessly batting its wings against a tiger.
‘You possess an over-active imagination.’
He sounded amused, darn him, and she aimed a more forceful punch. ‘Put me down, damn you!’
They reached her room, and he crossed to the bed and settled her carefully between the covers. ‘I’ll fetch the tablets in case you need them through the night.’ Leanne closed her eyes against the sight of him, and prayed she might be asleep by the time he returned.
A hopeless appeal, for she was acutely aware of the moment he re-entered the room.
Her eyes flew open at the touch of his fingers as they brushed idly down her cheek.
‘Sleep well,’ he bade with teasing amusement, then he turned and left the room before she was able to summon a stinging response.
CHAPTER THREE
LEANNE woke feeling refreshed and without any lingering trace of a headache. Quickly tossing aside the sheet, she crossed to the large expanse of panelled glass and drew back the drapes.
It was a beautiful day, the sun bright, the sky clear of any clouds. Without pausing for thought she caught up a swimsuit and made for the en suite, emerging five minutes later to pull on shorts and a T-shirt before making her way down to the kitchen.
‘Morning, Eleni.’ She greeted the older woman who was busily occupied scouring a skillet at the sink.
An affectionate smile creased Eleni’s features as she dried her hands and turned to give Leanne her undivided attention. ‘Ah, how is the headache this morning?’
‘Gone, thank goodness,’ Leanne said with relief, and, crossing to the large refrigerator, she extracted fresh orange juice and filled a glass, then sipped from it with undisguised appreciation.
‘Dimitri has already left for the city.’
Thank heavens for small mercies, Leanne said silently. Facing Dimitri at the start of her day would have been too much.
‘He intends calling into the hospital this morning,’ Eleni continued, relaying the message she’d been requested to convey. ‘And he’ll be home at six, so you can both go and visit Paige together.’ Her dark eyes filled with expressive warmth. ‘The news you are to marry gives me much joy.’
It was on the tip of Leanne’s tongue to take Eleni into her confidence and reveal that the engagement was a sham conceived entirely for Paige’s benefit. Except that something held her back, and she accepted the housekeeper’s af-fectionate hug with equal warmth.
‘Thanks, Eleni.’ It was difficult to look suitably starry-eyed, but she managed a credible smile.
‘What can I get you for breakfast? Eggs? French toast?’
Eleni adored making a fuss, and Leanne’s smile widened as she wrinkled her nose in silent negation. ‘We play this game every time I come home,’ she responded musingly. ‘A banana, toast and coffee will be fine, and I’ll get it after I’ve had a swim.’
It was almost ten when she slid behind the wheel of the Mercedes and drove to the hospital. Frequent short visits would prove less tiring for Paige, and Leanne divided up the day accordingly.
If anything, her mother seemed a little brighter, and, although pale, her features no longer looked quite so drawn.
‘Darling, let me have a look at your ring,’ Paige requested within minutes of Leanne’s entering the suite, and Leanne dutifully extended her hand. ‘It’s simply beautiful, and a perfect fit.’
She managed a suitable rejoinder, and endeavoured to display a degree of fascinated pleasure in the diamond’s multi-faceted brilliance.
Paige’s eyes assumed a faint, dreamy expression. ‘I saw the announcement in this morning’s papers.’
Leanne hadn’t thought to look. She’d spent ages in the pool, enjoyed a late breakfast, then rushed upstairs to shower and change.
‘A small, private ceremony held at home next week,’ her mother relayed wistfully. ‘In the gardens. Isn’t that wonderful?’
‘Yes, wonderful.’ What else could she do but agree?
‘Have you decided what you’ll choose to wear?’
‘Not yet.’ There was a rack of gowns in her wardrobe, any one of which would be eminently suitable for an informal engagement party.
‘Dimitri has already conferred with my doctor, and, with a nurse in attendance, there’s no reason why I can’t be at the house for a few hours. A wedding-gown is so special,’ Paige enthused gently. ‘You’ll look stunning in white.’
Wedding. Who said anything about a wedding? The feeling of panic momentarily robbed the breath from Leanne’s body. ‘Paige—’
‘I wish I was able to go shopping with you,’ her mother continued wistfully. ‘There’s that lovely boutique in Toorak, and you must ring Vivienne. She’ll put everything aside and give you her undivided attention.’
A sense of disbelief washed over Leanne’s body, and she felt stunned...but not for long. A slow-burning anger ignited and began to flare, coursing through her veins until she was consumed with it.
‘Paige,’ Leanne began, making every effort to maintain control. ‘Dimitri and I—’
‘Have known each other for years. Ten in all.’ Beautiful blue eyes glowed with the immensity of Paige’s pleasure. ‘This wedding will be so special. I’ve longed for the day you get married, and I’m overjoyed that you’re bringing the date forward for my benefit.’ She lifted a hand and covered Leanne’s fingers. ‘I’m going to have Vivienne bring in some gowns so I can make a suitable selection for myself as mother of the bride.’
Dear God. What had begun as a harmless conspiracy was now raging out of control. The question was, why?
She had to remain calm. No matter how angry she felt, she couldn’t allow Paige to suspect that things were not as they seemed.
‘Has Dimitri been in to see you this morning?’ she queried gently, and her mother gave a slight nod.
‘Early, darling. On his way into the office.’
Dimitri was incapable of being manipulated, not even by the circumstances of Paige’s illness. Which meant he had to be a willing participant.
It killed her to smile, but she managed a credible facsimile. ‘I shall take him to task for breaking the news.’ The chiding amusement in her voice masked the threat of intent. She planned to slay him. She also had to get out of Paige’s suite before her animosity became visible.
‘I’ll leave you to rest for a while,’ she said in a light voice. ‘I have to ring Vivienne, and begin some serious shopping. I’ll be back after lunch.’ Leaning forward, she touched her lips against her mother’s cheek, then swallowed quickly against the lump that rose in her throat as she glimpsed the faint misting of tears which was evident.
The moment she left the suite a cold, hard anger rose from within her, and by the time she reached the car she was so maddened it was a minor miracle that she reached the city without incident.
The Kostakidas corporation had offices on a high floor in an ultra-modern steel and glass tower that held the ultimate in executive furnishings.
