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With an effort she tore her avid gaze away and looked back to his eyes, narrowed on her. She started again. ‘Andreas.’
He arched a brow.
‘Things are…different now. I owe you a huge sum of money.’ Siena blushed. ‘I didn’t feel comfortable taking the jeweller
y, or cashing it in, but I felt as if taking care of Serena was more important than my guilty conscience.’
She steeled herself, but it was hard when Andreas was like a lounging pasha in the bed.
‘But now I won’t feel comfortable unless you let me come to some agreement. I can’t. It’s not right. Not with everything else that has happened. I’d prefer to let you have your money back and try to take care of Serena myself than let you pay.’
Andreas sat up. ‘That is not an option. Not now that I know what her situation is. You will let me pay, Siena.’
Siena wrung her hands and all but wailed. ‘But can’t you see? I’ll be beholden to you for ever. I can’t have that. My father was a tyrant…he owned us.’ She saw a dangerous look on Andreas’s face but rushed on. ‘I’m not saying you’re the same…but I couldn’t bear to go back into that kind of…obligation.’
Andreas rested his arms on his knees, still managing to look intimidating despite his being naked under the sheets.
‘You weren’t so conflicted when you walked away with a fortune in jewellery.’
Siena’s face grew hotter. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. I only took it because I thought I was making the best choice—that the end justified the means.’ She hitched her chin. ‘You were only too happy to let me walk away. And it’s not as if you got nothing in return.’
His eyes flashed, but he said silkily, ‘That’s true. After all I got the precious DePiero innocence. But now I want you to come back to me.’
‘Come back to me.’ Siena felt weak. Questions reverberated in her head: For how long? Why? Is it just about the sex?
A voice answered her. Of course it was just about the sex.
‘I—’ Siena began, but Andreas cut in harshly.
‘We both know I can have you flat on your back moaning with need in seconds—don’t think I won’t prove to you that you can’t just walk away from this.’
Andreas didn’t like the feeling of panic that gripped him when her eyes grew wide. He had nothing to hold Siena now. Not really. Only a complete lowlife would make her pay him back for her sister’s treatment.
So quietly that he almost didn’t hear her, Siena said, ‘If I come back to you I want things to be different.’
Andreas went still, not liking the way his blood surged. She looked serious, and heart-stoppingly beautiful with her hair feathered over her shoulders.
‘I want to find a job—a better job if I can—and start paying you back.’ Andreas opened his mouth but Siena held up a hand, stopping him. ‘That’s non-negotiable. I have some skills…I can type and file. I used to act as my father’s secretary when his PA was off or on leave, and I worked sometimes at a local school, helping the special needs assistants. I’m hoping that will count for something.’
‘Also, I don’t want any more jewellery.’ She shuddered slightly. ‘I don’t want to see another piece of jewellery as long as I live.’
‘Anything else?’ Andreas prompted, seeing her biting her lip and feeling the rush of need make him harden again.
‘As soon as this…chemistry…whatever it is…is over it ends. Because it won’t last for ever, will it? It can’t…’
There was a tinge of desperation to her voice that resonated in Andreas and he held out a hand. ‘It’s not over yet… Come here, Siena.’
She stood stubbornly apart. ‘Do you agree? To what I’ve said?’
‘Yes,’ Andreas growled, his need making his voice sound harsh. ‘Now come here.’
Six weeks later
‘’Night, Siena. See you on Monday. Have a good weekend.’
Siena smiled. ‘’Night, Lucy. I hope your little girl feels better soon.’
The other woman left and the door swung shut behind her. Siena looked around and stretched. She was the only one left in the typing pool. She was due to receive her very first paycheck next week, and it was almost embarrassing how excited she was about it.
