LITMIR.BIZ

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I won’t.’ She had to paste a smile on her lips as she looked down at him. ‘But you rest now and later you can meet Liev.’

      As she walked back to the suite, the guilt of deceiving her grandfather weighed heavily on her mind. What would he say when the engagement ended? He would be heartbroken for her; she knew that much. What would anyone say when it became public knowledge? Would all the effort she’d put into Liev’s acceptance by society be wasted as soon as word got out they were no longer engaged?

      She could hear Liev talking on the phone as she opened the door to the suite. The Russian words were so alien to her that she had to stop and listen, but the coldness of his tone could not be mistaken. Whoever was on the other end of the phone had definitely angered him.

      He met her gaze and ended the call. ‘My assistant in St Petersburg.’

      ‘Not bad news, I hope.’

      ‘No, not all.’ He stood and looked at her for a moment, as if seeing her for the first time. ‘How was your grandfather?’

      The fact that he’d asked knocked her emotionally off balance and she blinked back the urge to give in to the tears which had prickled in her eyes since she’d left the old man’s rooms. She wished there was another way to get the bracelet. Not only was she lying to her grandfather and entire family, but she’d lost her heart and her virginity, given them away to a ruthless blackmailer who wasn’t even capable of love.

      ‘Frail, but looking forward to meeting you.’

      ‘Are any of your brothers or sisters here too?’ he asked as he sat down on the elegant white sofa, looking so relaxed it could almost be his home.

      ‘No. It’s just us here this evening.’ She thought of Allegra and wished she was here to guide her, though not with dealing with Liev and his blackmail tactics. That she could manage herself. What she needed help with was the way he made her feel, the way her heart leapt and her pulse raced just from thinking about him. The way she missed him when he wasn’t around. The way he’d awakened the woman within. It was all too real.

      ‘You look tired,’ he said as he stood up and came to her, guiding her to the sofa he’d just been sitting on. The genuine concern in his voice almost finished her. ‘Sit down and relax.’

      She sat down, a little surprised when he sat next to her, his knee touching hers as he moved closer. ‘I know you don’t have brothers or sisters, but do you have cousins or other family?’ His mention of her family made her realise they still knew very little of each other. It shocked her to realise she wanted to know more about him, more about his family, his home.

      ‘No, I was an only child, which was hard when my parents died.’ He looked at her and she saw sadness in his eyes, the same sadness she felt when she thought of her parents. For him it was different. Not worse, just different. She could barely remember hers; he would have formed many memories with his.

      Suddenly the need to talk washed over her like an incoming tide. ‘I can hardly remember my mother and the only images I have of my father are from photos. I did have brothers and sisters though. You had nobody. That must have been hard.’

      * * *

      Liev watched her beautiful face. She looked so defenceless his heart constricted with pain, for her loss as well as his. She had weaved a spell on him, bringing him physically nearer to his goal, but emotionally further from it. Right at this moment, as he looked into the blue depths of her eyes, he wasn’t sure if he still wanted the revenge on ICE he’d planned for so many years.

      No. He pushed that thought away. Revenge was the only option, the only way to put right the past.

      ‘I had nobody and that had unsavoury consequences at the time, but it made me the man I am today. It made me stronger.’ He couldn’t help but compare the time he’d spent on the streets of St Petersburg with her life here, growing up like a cosseted princess. Just being in this house dragged them further apart.

      ‘It’s strange how an event can shape your whole life,’ she said earnestly, obviously thinking back to some hardship she had had to endure. Then he remembered what she’d said about her prom night. It had obviously affected her badly. He recalled how she’d ranked him as bad as that man. But he knew he was worse.

      ‘At least you had a home and your grandfather.’ He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice and his mind on the present. While she’d been living in luxury he’d been living through the hell of the regimented life of prison and all because his father had fallen victim to ICE, the company her brother now headed. Getting close to Dario would enable him to seek out those responsible for his father’s downfall. ‘And your brothers and sisters.’

      She smiled at a secret memory and he felt strangely excluded. ‘The twins were so naughty, although I think Dario has settled down now.’

      Exactly the topic he wanted. ‘The owner of ICE?’

      ‘Yes.’ She looked at him, surprise in her face briefly. ‘But then being in the same market, you know all about him, I’m sure.’

      ‘Not all.’ He laughed softly, anything to keep the anger from boiling over. ‘We are not competitors for business. Our products could complement each other’s.’

      ‘You should talk to him.’

      ‘Oh, I intend to, but now may not be a good time. Isn’t he about to launch his latest product? Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about it. There is, after all, client confidentiality.’

      She smiled at him, her guard dropped by happy memories being in her home had evoked. ‘It seems you know anyway. It’s what I’ve been working on for the past two weeks, and with just two more weeks to go, it’s going to be a busy time. Just as well this interview should get you what you want. Then I can concentrate on that instead of playing the role of your fiancée.’

      The barb hit home but he took it knowing he was finally getting to what he really needed to know.

      ‘He took over the company and made it into a bigger success, I believe. Highly commendable.’ Except for his ethics in pushing the company’s past dealings under the table without any compassion for those who’d lost and suffered due to being all but robbed by ICE. His parents weren’t the only ones. Finally he would get past Dario and confront those responsible.

      ‘I should arrange a meeting for you with him.’

      This was too easy. She was telling him all he needed to know in order to finally achieve his goals, even offering to arrange a meeting with Dario. ‘I’d appreciate that.’

      She stood up and looked down at him, and again he marvelled how the layers of her defences seemed to be coming away, almost before his eyes. How long would it be before he saw the real Bianca again?

      He watched as she walked away to her room. He’d wanted to call her back, to pull her into his arms and tell her she didn’t have to be alone tonight when they finally returned to New York, that he would keep her safe, but he stopped himself just in time. She’d never be safe from him.

      * * *

      Just one more charade to get through and that would be the hardest one. She had to convince her grandfather that what she and Liev were doing was real, that they did love one another. Under no circumstances did she want him worrying about her when he was so ill.

      ‘This will mean a lot to my grandfather,’ she said quickly, her mask of indifference returning, even if only briefly. With her hand still in Liev’s, she made her way to the large lounge the family always entertained guests in.

      ‘I don’t want my grandfather tired. He is not well. All I want is to make his last days as happy and worry free as possible.’

      She felt Liev glance at her as they walked but she didn’t dare look at him. If she did and saw sympathy in his eyes, she might dissolve into a heap of tears right here.

      ‘I will do my best not to upset him, although meeting your granddaughter’s fiancé can’t be easy.’

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