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‘I will do my best to convince your grandfather I am worthy of calling myself your fiancé.’ Why it mattered to him when all he wanted was to avenge his parents was beyond reason right now, adding to those exposed emotions he was desperate to hide.
‘Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I must just go and see my grandfather quickly.’
* * *
Bianca rushed from the room, desperate to calm herself before she saw her grandfather, but with the hum of desire still heating her body and the anger at herself for having responded to Liev’s expert touch, she doubted the short walk to her grandfather’s suite would do that. The hours on the plane, then trapped with Liev in his car, had been too much. The memory of her night in his bed was burning in her mind, so much she doubted it would ever fade.
Unnerved by how she’d all but begged him to make love to her, she smoothed down her dress and took a deep breath before knocking on her grandfather’s door. His frail voice called her in and her insides contracted, sure he would want to know if she had made any progress with the bracelet.
‘Hi,’ she said as she walked in, trying not to show how shocked she was by his ever-weakening health. Damn Liev and his blackmail. That emotion mixed uncomfortably with the passion she and Liev had shared and guilt added to the potent cocktail.
‘Bianca,’ he said with a smile, and he gestured for her to come closer. He took her hands in his and looked at the large diamond ring on her finger. ‘It is true, then. My Bianca has finally succumbed to love.’
‘Don’t.’ She smiled down at him, knowing he was only teasing. It was just a little too close to the truth. How had she even fallen for a man who used such underhand tactics as blackmail?
‘I just want you to be happy, Bianca, and whatever you do, don’t waste a chance of love if it comes along.’ His words, though frail, were steeped in deeper meaning.
‘No, 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 ev
ent 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.’
