The Billionaire Bundle

by Michele De Winton

But he had never actually told her he loved her, or even approached anything close to saying that. Then again, she had never said she loved Luc. Maybe he did care for her, but how could it ever be enough to overcome the betrayals of the past? And what would happen if her father did turn up? Could she stand by and see Luc destroy him? She had always hated him, but he was still her father. He was also Mike’s father. What would it do to her little brother? Luc had told her that anything he did would be legal, but that still wouldn’t prevent it from being splashed all over the newspapers. It was better for Mike that his father stay away from them all as he had done for the past ten years.

  The thoughts kept going around and around in her head. Luc’s mother would never accept her, that was for sure, and even if Luc did care for her, Lia didn’t have the right to cause a rift between the two when her family was already responsible for so much.

  Almost mechanically, she got to her feet. The envelope Luc’s mother had given her was still clutched in her hand, and she placed it carefully in her handbag. She opened the wardrobe and pulled out the suitcase, then pushed it back. The clothes weren’t hers. She would take nothing with her.

  She scrawled a quick note; she had to say she was sorry. Leaving it on the dressing table, she pulled off the ring Luc had given her and laid it on top.

  …

  “Are you alright?”

  Lia glanced up; a middle-aged woman was standing over her. “Sorry?” she asked not having heard the question.

  “It’s just that my husband,” the woman nodded over in the direction of a man sitting across from them, “noticed you were crying.”

  “What?” Lia reached up and wiped her hand across her face. Her cheeks were damp, and she realized she had been sitting quietly weeping and hadn’t noticed. She forced her lips into some semblance of a smile.

  “I’m fine,” she murmured. “Really, just some bad news, but I’m okay. It was nice of you to ask. I’ll go clean up.”

  She got up and hurried away, feeling their eyes watching her. In the ladies’ room, she splashed cold water on her face, dried it off with paper towels, and then slipped a pair of sunglasses on over her reddened eyes. When she came out, she wandered across to the other side of the lounge and took a seat at the end of a row. She still felt as though she was being watched, so she got up and bought a paper at one of the bookshops. She returned to her seat and burrowed her nose in it, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself. The words were a jumbled mass of unintelligible shapes in front of her, and it was in Italian anyway, but at least she felt camouflaged. Almost like a normal person, not one who felt as though she’d been ripped apart.

  She allowed her mind to drift over the previous evening. How Luc had looked, how he had felt when he made love to her, the promise in his eyes.

  “Lia?”

  It was as though she had conjured him up. He stood over her, dressed as he had been that morning, his long, lean frame elegantly encased in a light gray silk suit, a white shirt open at the neck. For a moment, she couldn’t bring herself to face him, and she peered past. The woman who had spoken to her earlier was openly staring, as were many other women. Luc always had that effect. Finally, she gave in to temptation and peeked up. His dark hair was ruffled as though he had run his hands through it, his eyes were grim, and lines of strain were etched around his sensual mouth.

  “Lia, why did you leave? Why didn’t you wait and talk to me?”

  She blinked and shook her head as if coming out of a stupor. “Your mother came to see me.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I know. I’ve just come from speaking with her. She had no right.”

  “She bought me a ticket,” Lia said. “I didn’t want to miss my flight, and she arranged everything so well. A boat, a car, now an airplane. She really wants me gone. And who can blame her?”

  Lia felt the tears starting again and blinked frantically behind her dark glasses.

  Luc reached out a hand but then let it fall to his side. “We need to talk.”

  “We’ve had plenty of time to talk. You should have told me before I...” She broke off, realizing with horror that she had been going to say before I fell in love with you.

  He was silent for a moment. “There’s something I need to tell you.” When she didn’t move, he continued. “Lia, it’s important.”

  She had been staring at his beautifully shod feet. Now she forced her eyes upward once more. “Then tell me.”

  “We can’t talk here.”

  He reached out a hand and took her arm. She allowed herself to be pulled almost gently to her feet. Not wanting to make a scene, she let him steer her through the airport.

  They weren’t even questioned as he led her through a door and into the first-class lounge. It was blissfully quiet after the bustle of the main area, and Luc pushed her down into a seat in the corner.

  “I’ll be back,” he said.

  Everything seemed at a distance; she knew she was in shock and tried to pull herself together. Whatever it was Luc wanted to speak to her about, she needed her wits about her. Why hadn’t he told her before? If she had known the truth from the start, she would have known there could never be a future for them.

  “Here,” Luc said, sinking into the seat beside her, “drink this.”

  He placed two glasses on the table. Whiskey, she could smell the spirit, and she lifted one to her lips, grateful for something to do. The drink burned down her throat.

  “I was going to tell you,” Luc said when she remained silent.

  “When?”

  “Soon.” He sighed and took a swallow of his own drink. Lia studied him closely and realized in amazement that he was actually as shaken as she was. “I didn’t want to spoil our time on the island. I was going to tell you as soon as we returned to London. But Lia, what your father did, it doesn’t matter.”

  Lia stared at him in amazement. “He was responsible for your father’s death.”

  “The life my father led, he was always going to come to a bad end eventually.”

  Lia shook her head. “How can you say that now? Can you deny that the sole reason you took me from The Crazy Frog that night was for revenge?”

  Luc smiled slightly. “Yes, I can deny it. Lia, I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”

  “But admit it. That was just a bonus. You saw me as a way to get to my father. A way of finally getting your revenge. Revenge, which according to your mother was the one driving force in your life.”

  He ran a hand through his already ruffled hair. “Maybe at one point. I was very young when my father died—impressionable—but by the time I met you, I’d put it behind me. Lia, it’s beside the point. You are not your father. What he did is in no way down to you; how could it be?”

  “And what happens if he turns up?”

  Luc took a deep breath. For the first time he seemed reluctant to speak. “He won’t turn up.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  He reached out and took her hand. “Lia, your father is dead.”

  Lia stared at him. “What did you say?”

  “Your father is dead. He’s been dead for nearly nine years.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “We followed up on those letters you gave me. He was living in Marbella under a different name, but it was easy once we knew where to search. He was killed in a car crash about a year after he left you and your mother. You were right—he had always intended to send for you.”

  “How long have you known this?”

  “A couple of days after you gave me the letters.”

  “And you didn’t think I’d be interested?”

  He stood up and she watched as he paced the room for a few minutes.

  “I thought you would go. You told me you would stay and help me find your father. I believed that if you knew he was dead you would leave, go home.”

  “Would that have been so bad?”

  He sank back down onto the chair beside her. “I didn’t want yo
u to go.”

  She didn’t speak and he took a deep breath.

  “Lia, I love you.”

  God, how she would have loved to have heard those words that morning. Would she have given credence to anything Luc’s mother had told her if she had been certain of Luc’s feelings?

  Now, she couldn’t be sure he wasn’t using the declaration to manipulate her. As her father had done so often with her mother. Just say the magic words and everything else could be forgotten. She shook her head again. It was too late.

  She knew there was truth in what he was saying, but she had been hit by too many surprises today, and her poor battered brain couldn’t take much more. All she knew for certain was that Luc had withheld something so important from her, purely to get his own way. How could she trust him, and how could there be any hope for them without trust?

  She was also battling an unexpected sense of grief. Why would she grieve for a father she had always despised?

  Her mother waiting, hoping, believing he would come back to her all those years, and all that time he had been dead. Would her mother’s life have been different if she’d known?

  “Lia?”

  Luc was waiting for some response to his declaration, but she really didn’t think she could give him one, certainly not the one he wanted or probably expected. She knew she loved him, but she wasn’t sure that was enough.

  Love hadn’t made her mother happy.

  She looked at him carefully. He was beautiful; she wanted him with a pain that was almost physical, and she forced it down. She needed to get away, get some distance between them.

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Lia, don’t go. We’ll work through this.”

  “Just give me some time,” she whispered.

  For a second, his fists clenched at his side, then the tension drained from him. “I’ll give you two weeks.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You know,” Lia said to the horse she was grooming, “two weeks isn’t long in the scheme of things.” She sighed. “So why does it feel like forever?”

  It was actually ten days ago that she had walked away from Luc at the Rome airport. Walked away and regretted it with each heavy step she had taken. It seemed like a lifetime. And four more days to go. Could she bear to wait that long?

  She realized now that she had been in shock that day, unable to see things rationally, but her mind had cleared in the time since. She’d spent long hours going over and over what happened, and it always came back to an immutable truth—she loved Luc, and she believed he loved her in return. She’d never wanted love, been terrified it would turn her into a clone of her mother, but she wasn’t her mother, and Luc certainly wasn’t her father.

  Her father had been a cruel man, and she had always believed her mother was a fool for loving him. Strangely, though, over these last weeks, she had come closer to understanding her mother than she ever had while she lived, and that tore at her heart. She’d been so hard, so unforgiving. She’d never understood why her mother couldn’t move on, forget about her father, and get a life, and she’d made her views perfectly clear. Now, she winced at the guilt that ate at her because she’d discovered for herself that love wasn’t something you could switch off at will. She had always believed she didn’t want love, but would she really turn her back on these feelings? With Luc, she had felt complete. Now it was as though the very center of her was missing. A big, gaping hole only Luc Severino could fill.

  Right from the beginning, she had told herself that there was no future for her and Luc, but it had been fear. She had been terrified of falling in love, of giving over her hope of happiness to a man who she had sensed from the start had the ability to take her over, body and soul.

  When his mother had come that last day, it was as if Lia had expected it, but even so the truths she told were worse than anything Lia could have imagined, and it had knocked her feet out from under her. If only Luc had told her himself—but then she realized with an almost blinding insight that perhaps Luc had been afraid as well. It seemed an impossible concept, but she remembered his face at the airport. The pain in his brilliant green eyes.

  How could she do this to him? She had never even told him she loved him.

  She didn’t want to speak to him on the phone. She needed to see him face-to-face. Would he even be in the country? Should she go to his office?

  She hurried inside and picked up her bag, searching through it until she found the card from The Crazy Frog. Her fingers were trembling as she pushed the numbers.

  “Can I speak to Harley Watson, please?”

  She sank down into the seat behind her while she waited. Her hands tightened around the phone as she heard the receiver being picked up at the other end.

  “Mr. Watson, it’s Lia Brent.”

  He was silent for a moment, and Lia swallowed trying to clear the lump in her throat.

  “Lia? What do you want?”

  He sounded unfriendly, and Lia swallowed again and forced herself to go on.

  “I want to see Luc. I thought you might know where he is. If he’s back in the country.”

  “He’s back. He was here a couple of nights ago. Not in good shape.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that and remained silent.

  He sighed then spoke again. “Give me a bit of time and I’ll chase him down for you. Call you back.”

  Lia released her breath then gave him her number. “Thanks,” she muttered.

  “Just make sure you put things right.”

  She was about to put the phone down when he spoke again. “Lia?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry about your mum,” he said. “You should have told me.”

  “I know.”

  “And your dad.” He was silent for a moment. “Well, maybe I’m not sorry about him.”

  Lia put down the phone slowly. Just talking to Harley seemed to bring Luc closer, and for the first time since they had parted she felt a sense of excitement.

  Her mind refused to concentrate on anything after the phone call. Now that she had made the decision, she was in a frenzy of anticipation.

  …

  She had a lesson at two o’clock, and Harley hadn’t called. She got changed and still no phone call. If he didn’t call back by the time she finished work, she was going into London anyway. She would go to Luc’s office, to the apartment. She would hunt him down, and whatever he felt now, she would tell him she loved him, that she would trust her life to him.

  Her pupil, Molly, was one Lia had worked with before, and she forced herself to concentrate, finally managing to immerse herself in the work. She heard a car drive up but ignored it.

  “Lia?”

  She spun round. He was leaning on the wooden fence, dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt, and red tie, incongruous in these surroundings, as though he had just stepped out of an office. For a moment, she wondered if she had conjured him up. His face was expressionless, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, but she could sense him watching her.

  “Harley said you phoned.”

  She nodded.

  “You wanted to see me. I drove down as soon as Harley called me.”

  His voice was as expressionless as his face, but his hands gripped the railing, his knuckles tight with tension.

  She walked slowly toward him, coming to a halt just in front of where he stood. Reaching up, she removed his glasses. She needed to see his eyes.

  “I wanted to tell you I love you.”

  He was silent, but his green eyes were searching hers, waiting for her to continue.

  “I never actually told you, and it seemed important. I was going to come and see you tonight.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

  He reached across the fence and picked up her hand, holding it against his chest. “So tell me,” he said.

  She bit her lip. Her heart was thundering against her rib cage, and she took a deep breath. “I love you.”

  There,
it was done. And not so difficult. She searched his face for some sort of answer. It was clear in his expression. He opened his mouth, but they were interrupted by a loud cough from behind them. Lia turned. It was Molly, still sitting on her horse, waiting.

  “Molly, I’m sorry, I...”

  “Forgot me? Don’t worry, it’s entirely understandable.” She cast a quick glance at Luc. “But I think I’ll get off now and put Buster away. No need to come, I know where.”

  Lia hurried over to the gate and opened it so Molly could lead the horse through.

  When they were alone, she turned back to Luc. His gaze slid down over her body, lingering on the long length of her legs.

  “I love that outfit,” he said, his voice low and husky, and shivers ran through her body.

  She peered down at herself in confusion. “What?”

  “The first time I saw you in it, I had an almost overwhelming urge to...” He paused. “Never mind. Anyway I’ve been having the most outrageous fantasies ever since.”

  Lia licked her lips, felt his gaze follow the movement. “Fantasies?”

  “Hmm…stables, bales of straw, you...”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat seemed to have dried up. She coughed, swallowed. “I know where there’s a stable. I could probably even find a few bales of hay.” Reaching out, she stroked her fingers down the scar on his cheek. “My father did this.”

  Luc put his own hand over hers and pressed it to his cheek. “Not personally. Besides, it gives me an air of mystery. Helped me attract women when I was younger.”

  Lia smiled at the thought of Luc ever having difficulties attracting women. “What about when you’re older?”

  He pulled her hand down to his mouth and kissed her palm. “You tell me. You’re the only woman I’ll ever want.”

  Lia melted at the words. Suddenly she needed to touch him, to feel him against her, convince herself this was really happening. She glanced around the yard. It looked deserted, only the horses watching from their stables. Still it was way too open for what she wanted to do.

  “Come on,” she said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To that stable of course.”

  He took her arm in a hard grip. “Which one?”