LITMIR.BIZ

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dry lips, realising too late that Draco had seen and marked that tiny act of self-betrayal.

      She hurried into speech. ‘And that’s how you discovered my father’s—difficulties, I suppose?’

      ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But they are hardly “difficulties”. Your father is facing total ruin.’

      ‘I know that,’ she said. ‘Which is the reason I’m here today.’

      ‘No,’ he said. ‘You are here because you ran away. Because you left me without a word. You are here to explain.’

      ‘My father collapsed,’ she said flatly. ‘He was in Intensive Care. I—had to come back.’

      ‘Without one word to the man you had just promised to marry?’ His voice bit.

      Cressy’s hands were clenched so tightly in her lap that her fingers ached. She said, ‘I didn’t think that either of us took that seriously. A lot of women have—flings on foreign holidays.’

      ‘Ah.’ Draco leaned back in the tall leather chair. ‘So you saw our relationship as some trivial, transient affair. A thing of no consequence.’ His tone suggested courteous interest, but she wasn’t fooled.

      ‘In some ways,’ she said uncertainly.

      He said slowly, ‘If that was true, I would have taken you on the beach that first afternoon and you would have spent the rest of your holiday in my bed.’

      ‘And eventually gone on my way with a diamond necklace, I suppose,’ Cressy flashed.

      ‘Perhaps.’ He sounded indifferent. ‘If you’d pleased me sufficiently.’

      ‘I can’t think why you held back.’

      ‘Because I was fool enough to respect your innocence, Cressida mou.’ His tone was harsh. ‘I did not see it was just a physical attribute. That, in reality, you were just as calculating and heartless as your namesake.’

      Cressy leaned forward. ‘You think I’ve treated you badly,’ she said hotly. ‘But you weren’t honest with me either. You deliberately let me think you were poor. Why?’

      ‘An unaccountable need to be wanted for myself only, and not for my worldly goods,’ he drawled. ‘It was so refreshing to meet someone who had no idea who I was, pethi mou.’

      ‘And how long did you plan to go on deceiving me?’ She realised now why Maria had tried to warn her. To tell her that she was involved with a man who was not only very rich, but powerful. A man who would live up to his name if crossed.

      ‘It would have been over as soon as you returned from Alakos. You see, agapi mou, I had planned a big party for our engagement at my house.’

      She stared at him. ‘It belongs to you, doesn’t it? That wonderful villa on the headland?’

      ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘My family and friends were flying in from all over the world to meet you—my future wife—there.’

      ‘Oh.’ Cressy felt sick.

      ‘At first I thought you had simply missed the ferry,’ he went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘I called the hotel, and they told me you had checked out, so I waited for a message. I waited a long time. I cannot remember the precise moment I realised you were not coming back.’

      ‘My father needed me,’ she said desperately. ‘I had to get to Athens—to go to him.’

      ‘And it never occurred to you to turn to me—the man you’d professed to love?’ His mouth twisted contemptuously. ‘What a mistake, Cressida mou. My helicopter would have flown us to Athens. My private plane would have taken us on to London. You would have been there in half the time.’

      ‘But I had no means of knowing that,’ she protested.

      ‘If you had come to me you would have known. Only you didn’t. And that is the worst thing of all. To know that you were in trouble—in pain—yet you didn’t want to share this with me. Even if I’d been as poor as you thought, at least I had the right to put my arms around you and hold you.

      ‘As it was, I could have taken you straight to your father and been with you to comfort and care for you, as a man should with his woman.’ He paused, the dark eyes merciless. ‘Tell me, pethi mou, had you any intention of contacting me again—ever? Or was I simply to be—erased, like an unfortunate mistake in a calculation?’

      Cressy shook her head, feeling tears thickening in her throat. ‘Draco—I don’t know—I was worried—confused…’

      ‘Then let me tell you the answer,’ he said. ‘You didn’t love—and you didn’t trust either. That was the bitter truth I had to learn. I was poor, so I could be discarded, as if I had no feelings. And one day you will discover how that feels. Because I shall teach you.’

      He smiled at her. ‘You will discover, Cressida mou, that I am not so easily forgotten.’

      She said in a low voice, ‘I suppose you mean to use my father’s problems against me. Well—I’m prepared for that.’

      ‘Are you?’ he asked softly. ‘I had originally intended to present the settlement of his debts as a gift to you when we announced our engagement. Since then I have had time to think again.’

      She said urgently, ‘Draco—whatever you think of me—please don’t punish my father any more. He’s a sick man.’

      ‘And when he leaves hospital he will need a home to go to,’ he said. ‘The house that now belongs to me. Is that what you’re trying to put into words?’

      She said on a note of desperation, ‘I could pay rent…’

      ‘Yes, you will pay,’ he said quietly. ‘But not with money. I have enough of that already.’

      ‘Then how?’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

      ‘Don’t you know?’ he said. ‘Don’t you understand that I still want you?’

      The room was very still suddenly. She stared across the desk at him. At the hard bronze face and the cool mouth that looked as if it would never smile again. Watched and waited for some softening—some warmth. But in vain.

      She swallowed. ‘You mean—in spite of everything—you’re going to marry me?’

      His laugh was harsh. ‘No, not marriage, my sweet. I will not be caught again. This time I’m offering a less formal arrangement.’ He added cynically, ‘And spare me the pretence that you don’t understand my offer.’

      ‘I understand.’ Her voice seemed to come from a long way away. ‘You’re saying that if I—sleep with you—you won’t enforce the mortgage or my father’s other debts.’

      ‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘I am saying exactly that. And what is your answer?’

      She said hoarsely, ‘Draco, you can’t mean this. If you loved me, you wouldn’t…’

      ‘I said that I wanted you, Cressida mou. I did not mention love.’

      Pain ripped at her, tearing her apart. She hadn’t realised it was possible to hurt so much. Or to be so afraid.

      She said, her voice shaking, ‘Is this your idea of revenge? To rape me?’

      ‘No,’ he said. ‘Because you will come to me willingly, Cressida, as we both know.’

      ‘Never.’

      He shrugged. ‘Then regard it simply as a business transaction. You understand those better than you know yourself, I think.’

      ‘Business?’ Her voice cracked. ‘How can it be that?’

      ‘I have something you want.’ His smile mocked her. ‘You have something I want. That’s how deals are made.’

      ‘You make it sound

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