Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire

Chapter Five



“Three weeks is not a long time in the whole scheme of things,” Lia told the horse she was grooming. “I need a little longer, that’s all.”

Given enough time she was sure she would get over this. So what if she went to bed every night and dreamed about him, then woke every morning hot, sweaty, and frustrated? She would get over it. She had to because she refused to end up like her mother. There was no way she was going to wallow in misery over some man for the rest of her life.

“Maybe for a little bit longer.”

Looking back, she couldn’t actually believe she had come up with such a stupid plan, that she had thought for one minute she could pull it off, but when she had found those old letters from her father and realized what he’d done, she’d been furious. Ten years ago, he had taken out a mortgage on their home and then promptly disappeared, taking the money with him. And she needed it back or else risked losing her home.

All she’d wanted was to find him, make him take some responsibility for his family. He hadn’t even met Mike, had never even bothered to visit the son he had fathered before he left.

So, she had been going to put everything right. It didn’t occur to her that her mother had been searching for her father for more than ten years without success. Lia had thought she could walk in and Harley Watson would tell her everything she needed to know. She now realized she had been naïve and foolish to think things would work out so neat and tidy, but she had been desperate and still hurting from her mother’s death.

She couldn’t quite believe that she was going to lose the home she had lived in all her life.

Over the last three weeks, she’d racked her brains trying think of another way out of her problems. She’d even been back to the bank, but she knew it was no good. There was no way they were going to give her a bigger mortgage when she couldn’t even make the payments on the one she already had. The house had been in her mother’s family for generations, but she was going to have to face the fact that she had to sell their home and find somewhere else for her and Mike and Sally, their housekeeper, to live.

The only good thing about the whole mess was that at least now she could forget her father ever existed. And if she could do the same for Luc Severino, erase him from her mind as easily as she could her father, then perhaps she could get on with her life. So far, it wasn’t happening.

She realized bitterly that she hadn’t stood a chance from the moment he’d first touched her. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the way he’d made her feel. She’d been in the hands of an expert, and he had played her with an ease that made her cringe in retrospect. Lia hadn’t known anything could feel that good. A frisson of sensation ran through her at the memory, and she slid down the wall to sit in the straw, hugging her knees to her chest.

The first time he had taken her had been like a storm, like riding a wild stallion, bucking and rearing so all she could do was hold on.

The second time had been slow and gentle and relentless. He had stretched her so tight, taking her to the limit of her endurance time and time again, until she had finally snapped and exploded into a thousand pieces. And, unfortunately, three weeks later she still wasn’t back together again.

She dropped her head to her knees. She had to stop thinking about this. It was only sex. Absolutely spectacular, mind-shattering sex, but still only sex. He was obviously very good at it, but then, he’d probably had plenty of practice. With his looks, he could have any woman he wanted. Except her. Not ever again anyway; and if she was frustrated, well then she could go shopping and buy herself a vibrator.

“Lia?”

She jumped and glanced up at the sound of a voice. Pete leaned over the stable door, a grin on his face, and Lia scrambled to her feet, brushing the straw from her back.

Pete opened the door and came in, patting the horse as he passed. “Are you hiding in here?”

She shook her head. “Not really, just thinking.” About vibrators!

“How’s the wrist?” he asked.

Lia held it up in front of her and wriggled her fingers. “Better.”

She’d fallen while training a couple of days ago. Pete had accused her of not concentrating, and he’d been right. Luckily, it was only a sprain, but the doctor had banned her from riding until her wrist healed, so she didn’t even have that to take her mind off things.

“Maybe you should take some time off,” Pete said. “You haven’t taken a holiday in years, and you’re not yourself at the moment.”

No, she wasn’t, and she knew exactly who to blame for that. “I’d rather keep busy.”

Pete was her boss and her trainer. He’d been a successful event rider himself when he was younger, though he’d told her he’d lacked the drive to make it big. Now he trained horses for other riders as well as training her. He was good; she would never have made it this far without him.

He stood in front of her, hands in his jeans pockets, a small smile playing across his familiar features. Lia had known him forever, but it occurred to her now, for the first time, what a good-looking man he was—tall, rugged, his blond hair tousled.

“I have some news,” he said. “Good news. But first, I want you to know that it isn’t charity.”

“What isn’t?”

“I want to buy the piece of land beside your house.” He put up a hand to forestall her comments. “Before you say anything, hear me out. You know I’ve wanted that land for ages. I even talked to your mother about it years ago, but I couldn’t raise the cash back then.” He paused and looked at her expectantly. “So what do you think?”

Lia frowned. “Are you sure?”

“I told you, it’s not charity,” he said. “Since you had that last big win, the business is doing great—everyone wants my horses. And I need the extra grazing. I’ve had a quick chat with some people and they’ve given me an idea of the value.”

He named a figure, and Lia closed her eyes. It wasn’t enough to pay off the mortgage, but it would solve her financial problems for the next few years. And Pete had talked about expanding the farm. They could stay at the house; they wouldn’t have to move.

A wave of relief flooded through her; she really could forget about finding her father. Forever. She need never give him another thought.

“And I should hear about the sponsorship deal any day now,” Pete said. “They’re being slow, but you’re just the clean-cut image they want. I think they’re going to go for it.”

“That’s wonderful.” And it was. The deal would change everything. So far, she’d stuck to competitions in the United Kingdom, but with the sponsorship money she could enter all the big international competitions as well.

Following Pete out of the stable, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Why are you so good to me?”

“It’s got nothing to do with being good. It’s straightforward business.”

“Of course it is.” She leaned across and kissed him on the cheek.

Pete smiled then glanced down the drive. “Looks like we’ve got customers.” He whistled softly. “Nice car.”

Lia followed his gaze. A black, low-slung, sex machine of a car had come to a halt across the yard. Unfortunately, the man who sat in the front was as instantly recognizable as his car. A sharp stab of excitement pierced her, followed closely by a tidal wave of shock. She had to force herself not to turn and run the other way.

Pete seemed not to notice her reaction. “I’ll have to leave you to deal with them—I have an appointment at the bank. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Lia watched him walk away, wanting to cling to him. Instead, she turned and slipped back into the stable. Crouching behind the door, she peered out at the stable yard through a knot in the wood.

Crap! How’d he find her? What the hell was he doing here?

“Come on out, Lia.”

Lia straightened, her gaze flickering warily over his tall figure.

He was dressed more casually than when she first met him, this time in black jeans and a black linen shirt, open at the throat, the sleeves rolled up. The last time she’d seen him he’d been naked, sprawled on the bed. Asleep he’d appeared younger, the hard lines of his face smoothed out, a hint of vulnerability in the curve of his full lips. Lips that had given her such pleasure.

She’d had to walk away that night; she couldn’t stay. Luc was supposed to have been a means to an end, nothing more, but somehow he’d turned the tables on her. He’d asked about her father. Lia knew what sort of man her father had been and now it seemed as though Luc was somehow connected, which couldn’t be good. Besides, if she found a way through this, she was determined to put that part of her life behind her.

So she had run.

Now, it seemed he had caught her, and she needed to understand why. She searched his face, but his expression was concealed behind dark sunglasses.

“You found me,” she said. “Why?”

“Why what?” His voice was without emotion.

“Why did you bother? I know I left without saying good-bye, but it must have been obvious I didn’t want your job.”

“Maybe I was curious as to why you changed your mind.”

His eyes were hidden, but she knew he was watching her closely, examining her from behind his dark glasses, and she squirmed. She was finding it almost impossible to believe she had ever been intimate with this stranger.

“I don’t normally do that sort of thing.”

“What sort of thing would that be?” he asked.

He wasn’t going to make this easy on her and staring into that hard blank face, it was slowly dawning on her that for some reason he was angry. Coldly, furiously angry, and again, she couldn’t understand why. So, she had left without saying good-bye. That was hardly a crime. He’d probably left dozens of women in the same way.

“Sleeping with men I’ve only just met.”

“I’m aware of that. Your lack of experience was obvious.”

What the hell could he possibly mean by that? That she’d been no good? She shook her head. “Anyway, all I’m saying is that I was off-balance that night. I was scared, and you sort of saved me and…” she floundered.

“…and you slept with me to say thank you,” he said. “How sweet.”

Lia winced at the sarcasm in his voice.

“Or perhaps,” he said, “the truth is, you slept with me so you would get a chance to search my office, and if that’s the case—” He paused and took off his dark glasses. “—then I’m curious to know just what it is you were hoping to find.”

Lia stared into those icy, green eyes and shivered.

“What were you looking for, Lia?”

Her heart plummeted. This was a nightmare. It had to be. How could he know? He must be guessing. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Luc laughed, but the sound held no amusement. “You were caught on CCTV.”

“On what TV?”

“There’s a closed circuit TV camera set up in my office. I have you on film.”

Lia turned away to give herself a moment to think. A truly horrible thought struck. She turned back to face him. “Just your office?” she croaked.

Luc smiled. “Don’t worry, your performance in the bedroom wasn’t caught on camera.”

Relief flooded her. The thought of what they had done being filmed was enough to break her out in a cold sweat. The thought of him watching it made her flood with heat.

“Mind you,” he said, “even putting aside the idea of industrial espionage, which I’m sure the police would be more than willing to investigate, there are a couple of extremely good shots of you—pretty much naked—that might possibly make a good pinup.”

“What?”

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Lia? Treacherous, deceitful, but basically a good girl.” He made the words sound like something dirty. “Or at least I’d bet the people you work with think you are. How would you like those pictures posted on the Internet?” He paused, no doubt to let the idea sink in. “Perhaps e-mailed to your friends, colleagues, the local newspaper.”

Lia shook her head, bewildered. “Why would you do that?”

“I won’t need to if you tell me what I want to know.”

Faintness washed over her. “You wouldn’t.”

He didn’t reply, and looking at that hard, implacable face, Lia knew he was capable of anything. The nausea rose suddenly, hot and bitter in the back of her throat, and she reeled away, stumbling in her need to put distance between them. She retreated into the stable and threw up until her stomach was empty then stood leaning against the wall for support.

“Lia?”

She thought about ignoring him, but knew he was unlikely to go away. “What?” she asked bitterly.

“What were you looking for?”

He was remorseless, and she felt the first stirring of anger. She couldn’t believe he had taped their meeting and was threatening to publish pictures of her. If they got out, there would go her clean-cut image and her chance at the sponsorship deal. She glared at him, in hatred. Even though he might be despicable, she had to tell him something.

“I need a drink. Come on.”

When he didn’t immediately follow, she stopped. “Look,” she said, “I promise I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Her brain was working furiously as she led the way across the yard to the room they used for breaks. She switched on the coffee machine and took a bottle of water from the fridge. Ignoring Luc, she went to the small bathroom and splashed her face with water, then rinsed her mouth out over and over again until the sour taste was gone. In the mirror, she appeared pale, her eyes huge and shadowed. What she needed was a plan, but her mind refused to cooperate.

Luc rapped on the wood. “Lia, come out of there.”

Finally, she opened the door.

“Are you all right?” he asked

“Like you care.” She wanted to rant and rage, but it wasn’t going to help—she had gotten into this herself—so it was up to her to get out of it.

“Do you want a coffee?” she asked and was pleased at the surprised glance he threw her way. It was good to get him off-balance.

He nodded. “Black, no sugar.”

As she went to walk past, he touched her arm and she flinched. “What now?”

He nodded to the strapping on her right wrist. “Your arm—you’ve hurt it?”

“I fell off. It’s nothing.”

“Fell off? Fell off what?”

“A horse.” What the hell else would I fall off?

Lia made the coffee, adding milk and sugar to her own. She handed him his mug, took hers over to her favorite seat, and sank down. He remained standing, but Lia refused to be intimidated further.

“Is that why you slept with me?” she asked. “Did you have this planned?”

“No, cara.” he drawled. “But I could hardly resist such a willing offer.”

She stared at him, making no attempt to hide the hatred in her eyes. “Would you really publish those pictures?”

He didn’t answer, just took a sip of his coffee, and stared at her.

“Stupid question,” she muttered more to herself than Luc.

“Tell me what you were looking for, Lia.”

“I was looking for my father. I thought you might have some information about him. You said you knew him.”

Luc studied her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “So you really don’t know where he is?”

“Why the hell would I be looking for him,” she said slowly, enunciating each word, “if I knew where he was? Are you being purposefully obtuse or just stupid? I do not know where my father is.” She sighed. “Look, Mr. Severino…”

“Don’t you think we’ve gone a little past such formalities?”

Lia gritted her teeth at the reminder. “Luc,” she said, “I haven’t seen my father in over ten years.”

“Letters? Telephone calls?”

“I haven’t seen him, heard from him. Nothing. I went to see Harley Watson because I remembered him from when we lived in London. I thought he might know where my father had been for the last ten years.”

“Why didn’t you just ask? Why the charade about the job?”

She glared at him incredulously. “I didn’t know my father well, and I hardly knew Mr. Watson at all. But I do know something of what he was, what they both were, and I couldn’t just walk in there and ask.”

“Why did you leave with me?”

Lia looked away and shoved her hands in her pockets. “For the same reason. You said you knew my father and…” She cast him a bitter glance, “at the time I believed you were the safer bet. Anyway, I thought you might have some information. You said you were an acquaintance. I don’t know anything about you apart from that. Then we…” she paused at a loss for words.

“Had wild, mind-blowing sex,” Luc said, and she glared at him again.

“Anyway, I felt uncomfortable, so I ran, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I told you the job was separate, nothing to do with sleeping with me.”

“And I told you I don’t want your stupid job, I only wanted to find my father.” She looked at him and suddenly realized that it had all been for nothing anyway. “You don’t know where he is either, do you?”

Luc sipped his coffee. “No, but I want to find him.”

“Why?”

“Unfinished business.”

“What sort of unfinished business?” she asked.

“That’s unimportant. So, why do you want to find him now after all this time?”

Lia thought for a moment. She didn’t want him to know her financial situation; it was none of his business.

“I promised my mother,” she said at last.

“Why?”

“My mother loved my father. She was very upset when he left. And my father hasn’t even met Mike, my brother, he’s only ten—he was born after my father disappeared. My mother wanted him to see Mike, and I promised I would try to find him.”

“Very admirable. But what’s changed? Why now?”

God, he was persistent. “My mother died six months ago.”

“You told Harley she was fine.”

“I thought Mr. Watson might not help me. He and my mother were friends, sort of, but I was nothing to him. Look, my mother’s dead, and I wanted to find my father, that’s not a crime.”

“Do you love your father?”

“Of course,” Lia said, lying.