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‘Ronan—don’t!’
Ronan wished he could wring Davey’s neck. The little wretch had to know that today was Lily’s birthday, so would it be too much to ask that he consider her feelings for once, instead of his own? Her sudden pallor when she had heard his voice, the unshed tears that were making her honey-coloured eyes unnaturally brilliant were all eloquent testimony to the distress she felt. She didn’t deserve a brother like Davey, and he—in a very different way—didn’t deserve to have a sister like her.
Ronan’s breath hissed in between clenched teeth as he fought to control his instinctive response of blind fury. The way Lily looked twisted something savagely in his guts, with a reminder of the way that he, too, had once felt about Davey Cornwell. He had been full of admiration and, yes, affection for the little so and so. He had actually liked him a lot and had been determined to pull out all the stops for him, only to have it flung right back in his face.
But was it possible that there was some sort of explanation for what had happened? If the little fool would just come home, then perhaps they could do something about sorting out this hellish situation once and for all. He should tell him…
But then he looked into Lily’s face again, and what he saw there drove away every reasonable thought.
‘Cornwell!’
His tone sent shivers down Lily’s spine. She could just imagine how Davey must feel, hearing it when he was somewhere completely alone and feeling lost already. ‘Where the hell are—? Hell and damnation, he’s gone!’
‘And what else did you expect?’
Tension stretched Lily’s voice tight as a guitar string. Her legs felt unsteady beneath her and she flung out a hand to clasp the wooden banisters in order to support herself.
‘Anyone would have done the same if they were subjected to an attack like that! What’s the matter, Ronan?’ she went on as he slammed the receiver back into its cradle, a dark scowl twisting his face. ‘Did your prey get away from you again?’
Prey was right, she thought nervously, seeing the ferocious glare he turned on her. Right now Ronan looked like nothing so much as some hungry tiger, unexpectedly thwarted of a kill he had anticipated with cruel confidence.
‘Were you hoping to keep him talking until your hired thugs could track him down? Have you put a tracer on my phone or are you having all my calls tapped?’
‘Don’t be stupid!’ Ronan snapped. ‘I’m doing no such thing.’
‘No? Well, I wouldn’t put it past you! Where Davey’s concerned you’re so eaten up with hate you can’t see straight. Well, you know what they say about revenge, don’t you? That it has a nasty habit of going sour on you. That it can turn round and bite you when you least expect it.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Ronan drawled, in a voice dark with undertones she couldn’t begin to interpret.
‘Going sour’ just about summed it up, he reflected. What had happened to the strength of purpose, the conviction that he was right which had driven him from the start? He seemed to have lost it somewhere along the way, and with that loss had come the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps things had not been quite as black and white as he had believed. And that was a thought that didn’t make for a comfortable conscience or an easy relationship with Lily.
‘So, seeing as you’ve decided to number me amongst the devil’s spawn, at least as far as your precious brother is concerned, does that mean today’s trip is off?’
‘You couldn’t be more right!’
It was only when she heard the words spoken aloud that Lily was forced to reconsider. Was he really as much the villain in all this as Davey had led her to believe? Reluctantly she recalled that night in the wine bar, when she had commented on the terms of the offer he had made to Allie Gordon.
‘It was no more than Davey got,’ he had said. But at the time she hadn’t taken him up on that point, and since then the sheer physical intensity of their relationship had driven all other thoughts from her mind. Now she was forced to think about it, and to wonder.
‘You never did buy that other place,’ she said slowly.
Ronan frowned his confusion at her abrupt change of subject, but a couple of seconds later he realised just what she was talking about.
‘The club? No. It was OK, I suppose, but nothing really special.’
She was getting better at reading his face now. She knew him well enough to realise that behind the almost throwaway comment lurked other things he hadn’t said. Things he didn’t want to say.
‘And was Davey special?’
Ronan’s eyes were clouded and stormy, revealing more than he wanted to, she was sure of that.
‘Davey was special,’ he confirmed sombrely.
‘Tell me…’
‘Not now!’ It was an angry snarl. ‘You may want to ruin your birthday by dragging your brother into the conversation at every turn, but quite frankly I am sick of the sound of his name. Today was supposed to be for you, but you’ve made it clear you don’t want any of it. You’d rather die than go out anywhere with me—so I take it you won’t want this either?’
It was only when he lifted his left hand that Lily realised how all this time he had been holding a small square package wrapped in beautiful silver paper.
‘What’s that?’ It was impossible to suppress her curiosity, and one corner of Ronan’s mouth curled up in response to the unguarded question.
‘A birthday present.’
‘For me?’
‘Of course for you. That is what usually happens on birthdays. Family and friends—even husbands sometimes—buy gifts for the person whose birthday it is.’
He held it out towards her, temptingly just out of reach. Those indigo eyes were fixed on her face, that expressive mouth twisting slightly as he watched the conflict between natural curiosity and wary suspicion move across it.
‘But if you think it would be like selling your soul to accept it, then…’
To her shock and consternation he moved abruptly, dropping the parcel into a nearby wastepaper bin where it fell with an ominous thud.
‘Ronan!’ The protest came automatically. ‘You can’t do that!’
The shrug of his broad shoulders dismissed her objection carelessly.
‘I just have done. I bought it for you, but if you don’t want it…’
‘Oh, but I do!’
The words were out before she had time to consider if they were wise. The thought that he had gone out and chosen something just for her, something so personal that he was fully prepared to throw it away if she didn’t want it, meant so much. She didn’t know just what it signified on Ronan’s part, but it had to mean something.
‘I should have known no woman could resist a present.’
Lily had to struggle to ignore the sardonic bite of the comment as she retrieved the parcel from the bin into which he had so ignominiously dumped it. But she looked up quickly enough to catch the amused smile that he hadn’t been able to suppress as he watched her.
Suddenly it occurred to her that she had been skilfully out-manoeuvred, carefully distracted from the matter in hand, so that he didn’t have to answer awkward questions. But for the sake of peace she decided it was better to leave things as they were. Perhaps they could enjoy today after all. There would be all the time in the world to talk tomorrow.
And so she pushed all her worries to the back of her mind as she ripped the wrapping paper off the parcel she held.
‘Oh, Ronan!’
She had expected perfume, perhaps, or jewellery. The sort of present men turned to when they had no idea what else to buy for the women in their lives. But what she saw was an old leather-bound book on gardening, filled with the most beautiful hand-coloured prints of all the flowers. It was the sort of thing she would have bought for herself if she had been able to afford it—which was unlikely, because it was obvious that it was a first edition and so very costly indeed.
‘It’s wonderful! Gorgeous!’
Her voice cracked slightly on the word. The book must have taken some tracking down, and it was much more carefully chosen than she had ever expected.
‘I don’t know how to thank you.’
Which was nothing more than the truth. The impulse to throw herself into his arms, press an ardent kiss onto the lean plane of his cheek was almost overwhelming, but she forced herself to resist it. Ronan would not welcome it, and she didn’t think she could cope with any display of obvious lack of enthusiasm, the withdrawal she felt sure would follow.
‘I can think of a way.’
Some of Lily’s delight evaporated and she eyed Ronan warily, meeting his dark blue gaze with more than a little suspicion.
‘Oh, Lily, you are so transparent!’ Ronan laughed. ‘Is that the only thing you can think I’d want from you? There are other things in life.’
‘Such as?’ Lily demanded gruffly. There might be other things in life, but sex was all he ever seemed to want from her.
‘Let’s call a truce,’ Ronan said, taking the wind out of her sails completely. ‘Just for today let’s forget about your brother, pretend he never existed. Let’s forget everything and let it be as it was the first time we met.’
But then he had sought her out deliberately. He had already had his cruel plan of revenge fully formed in his head, while she had been innocent, naïve and easy prey to his predatory, cynical seduction.
