Exquisite Revenge

by Abby Green

  He ignored her and came to steer her into a chair; he poured her some wine. ‘Just … relax, Jesse. We’ll eat and then talk, okay?’

  Jesse watched him as he went back to tend to the food. She might almost have imagined that he sounded nervous, and those emotions in her belly grew a lot more tangled and volatile.

  For once Jesse was happy not to push it, afraid of what he might say, and a couple of minutes later Luc served her up a delicious-looking plate of penne in a simple tomato sauce, with crusty bread.

  They ate, and it was the most surreal meal Jesse had ever had, with neither of them saying a word.

  When they were finished Jesse cleared the plates. A strong feeling of déjà-vu caught her unawares, making her stumble slightly. Past and present were dangerously meshed. She had to grip the sink for a moment.

  Luc was beside her instantly, arms around her. ‘What is it?’

  Jesse felt herself responding helplessly and emotion surged dangerously. She pushed herself free, terrified Luc would see how much it was affecting her to be back here.

  She backed away from him, eyes huge. ‘Is this some kind of elaborate sick joke, Luc? The last laugh is on you because you’ve managed to kidnap me?’

  He shook his head. His eyes were intense. ‘No, it’s not a joke, Jesse. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.’

  Suddenly Jesse blurted out, ‘Stop it—stop making me think that—’ She couldn’t finish. She turned and fled the kitchen, needing to hide her raw emotions from Luc.

  But he followed her to the den, to the couch where he’d first made love to her. It sat between them, reminding her, making that emotion crack open even more.

  ‘Making you think what, Jesse?’

  She swallowed, desperately clinging on to whatever flimsy control she had left. ‘What are we doing here, Luc? Why did you do this? More punishment? You weren’t satisfied that I’d quite got the message?’

  He winced, and his face took on a slightly ashen hue. ‘Jesse, if I could go back in time to when we met again, to that last night in particular, and change what I did and said, I would. I was unforgivably cruel and a coward.’

  Jesse put her hand to her belly, feeling sick to remember it. ‘You didn’t have to bring me all this way just because you feel bad about how you ended it, Luc, or bad about what happened. I knew it was never going to be anything more.’

  He smiled then, but it was bleak. ‘Did you, Jesse? Then you knew more than me—even though I told myself I knew what I wanted, knew what I was doing.’

  Jesse was getting confused. Luc looked almost sad now.

  ‘I brought you here, Jesse, because this is where it ends … if it has to end.’

  Jesse’s heart spasmed. ‘I thought it had ended.’

  To her surprise Luc said, ‘That night when we first met, over a year ago. You were there because your father was there, weren’t you?’

  Jesse nodded. ‘It was the first time I’d seen him since I was a child. I’d gone there because I needed to know what I was up against.’

  Luc ran a hand through his hair, tousling it. His eyes speared her to the spot. ‘It started between us that night, Jesse, and then afterwards when you came to my office. It’s so ironic that we wanted the same thing, yet both of us were so used to trusting only ourselves we didn’t even think to consider that option.’

  Jesse grimaced. ‘The evidence pointed towards us each believing the other wanted to go into business with my father … I couldn’t afford to let you know my motives because I didn’t want anyone to know about my relationship with him.’ She bit her lip. ‘It felt like such an ugly part of me … How could I articulate that? Or why I wanted to destroy him?’

  Luc was shaking his head. ‘After you left here … left me here … I spent those two days devising every torture possible to inflict upon you when I saw you again. And then when I learned that O’Brien was really gone, that you’d got him, I realised that I wasn’t even angry about that—after years of wanting to avenge my father. O’Brien had stopped being a priority for me around the same time as I got off that plane and realised you’d kidnapped me. That’s how quickly you made me forget nearly everything. I was angry about something else entirely. Angry at how easily you’d managed to make me forget everything I’d believed was important. Angry at how hurt I was that you couldn’t trust me.’

  Luc continued before Jesse could interject.

  ‘So to cope with that knowledge I simply blocked you out completely. I shut down. If I could have had an operation to erase you from my memory bank I would have, because I knew how dangerous you were to me by then. I dated a different woman every night in some kind of effort to feel normal again, and within five minutes of meeting each woman I wanted to claw my own eyes out from sheer boredom.’

  Shakily Jesse said, ‘That’s a pretty strong reaction.’

  ‘Yes.’ Luc was grim. ‘Because pretending you hadn’t ever existed was slowly driving me insane—and then I saw you, at that function … To try to avoid how I was really feeling about seeing you again, I told myself I wanted revenge for what you had done. But really I wanted revenge for how you made me feel. For making me relegate everything that had been important in my life to the periphery—like my mother and sister. You waltzed into my office like a tiny tornado, wreaking havoc, and I should have known then that I was in trouble.’

  Jesse needed to sit down. Her legs felt wobbly. She looked behind her and saw a chair and sank into it. Luc came closer and she was glad she was sitting down. He pulled the matching chair close and sat down too. Jesse found it hard to breathe.

  She needed to speak, to say something. ‘You said that there was no trust between us because there was no relationship.’

  Luc just looked at her, searching her face as if for a clue. And then he said heavily, ‘I wanted to hurt you in return for not trusting me, so I said that. But it was cruel and untrue …’

  Jesse forced herself to be strong, not to let her heart take flight to a place that might not even exist, no matter how mesmerising Luc’s eyes were. ‘I know you just seduced me to try to manipulate me, though. You can’t deny that.’

  Luc shook his head. ‘No, I can’t deny it. But I soon forgot why I’d wanted or needed to seduce you in the first place. That’s why it hurt so much when you left that night. It hadn’t even occurred to me that you might not trust me …’

  Feeling threatened and exposed, Jesse sprang up and started to pace. Luc was too close, too distracting.

  She turned around. ‘That day … the day you realised the truth about my father … I felt like I was coming to my senses. It terrified me how much I’d lost track of everything and to realise how close I’d come to trusting you completely when you still had the power to save my father. I was afraid you were making everything up.’

  Jesse’s hands clenched together.

  ‘I told myself I couldn’t believe in anything that had happened. I’d forced us into this situation. You told me yourself you’d do anything to get off the island. And then when you told me about your father …’

  Jesse felt emotion rising inexorably and looked at Luc. He stood up, and she faced him squarely and leaped into the terrifying darkness.

  ‘The truth is that I wanted to believe in you so badly, and I wanted to believe in what had happened here, between us … wanted to believe it was more than just manipulation or seduction … and that scared me to death. I didn’t want to go back to reality with you and find out that once you were free you’d walk away …’

  ‘I wouldn’t have walked away, Jesse, and realising that only made me want to punish you more,’ Luc said softly.

  She put a hand to her mouth to stifle an emotional sob.

  Luc seemed to be holding himself very still. And then he said, ‘I’ve been cynical and mistrustful for a long time. I thought I knew women—knew how to handle them. I had no expectations, nor did I want anything more after Maria had burnt me. Until I met you. Within days you shattered every wall I
’d built around myself. Every time I thought I had you in my sights, conforming to what I expected, you’d turn everything—me—on its head. You’ve turned my life upside down and inside out. And I thought I didn’t want that. That I didn’t need it.’

  His mouth twisted and he looked disgusted.

  ‘I sleep-walked through the last two weeks of hell, trying to convince myself of that. I crossed the globe twice in an effort to stay out of your orbit. And then in New York, when I saw you under siege on the news, I felt as if someone had shocked me back to life. The thought of you alone … the thought of something happening to you … I couldn’t bear it.’

  He took a deep breath.

  ‘I love you. Just that. I love you, but those words can’t even begin to convey the depth and breadth of how much I love you. I want to start over—right here and now. Wipe the slate clean. I want to seduce you all over again, and I’m warning you now that I’ll play dirty if you resist.’

  Feeling very shaky, Jesse said, ‘How do you know this isn’t just Stockhausen Syndrome … or whatever it is?’

  Luc smiled. ‘It’s not Stockholm Syndrome. Apart from getting me here rather ingeniously, you were a pretty rubbish kidnapper.’

  Jesse could see the nerves behind his smile, and it cracked her heart open. She believed him. ‘So how do we start again?’

  He held out a hand and said, ‘I’m Luc …’

  Jesse didn’t wait. She flew across the space dividing them and straight into Luc’s arms, legs wrapped around his waist, arms around his neck. The impact drove him back, but he held firm, arms like steel around her waist.

  She finally pulled back, smiled through her tears and said, ‘Hi, I’m Jesse.’

  Luc smiled a sexy smile, and she could see his innate cocky confidence returning.

  ‘You’re a bit eager, aren’t you? But I think I like it.’

  Suddenly Jesse was serious. She cupped Luc’s face with her hands and pressed a kiss to his mouth. She drew back. ‘It terrifies me to admit it, but I love you too, Luc Sanchis. I think I love you more than life itself.’

  Luc mock-groaned, but she could feel the effect of her words as his chest swelled against hers. ‘Only think? That’s not good enough. I think you need some serious convincing …’

  Jesse pressed kisses down Luc’s neck as he started walking out of the den and up the stairs. She said, ‘Try to convince me, Sanchis. See how far it gets you.’

  Luc growled softly. ‘I’ve already got you, Moriarty, and I’m never letting you go again.’

  Jesse looked up at him as he laid her back on the bed and touched his jaw with her hand. Her voice was husky. ‘Is that a promise, Sanchis?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said briskly, ripping off his polo shirt before divesting Jesse of her sandals and trousers. His impatient hands were soon on her top, lifting it up. ‘And how many times have I told you we’ve gone way beyond second names?’

  When her top had sailed off, to land on the floor somewhere, Jesse wrapped her arms around Luc’s neck and dragged him over her, spreading her legs so she could feel him hard against her.

  Luc stopped moving for a moment and Jesse rolled her hips. He cursed softly and then said, ‘Jesse Sanchis—now, there’s a name …’

  Jesse stilled, her heart tripping. She looked at Luc and felt dizzy. ‘I might need convincing of that too. I’m very attached to Moriarty, and the way you say it …’

  Luc pulled down one cup of her bra, thumbing her nipple. He looked at her, and at the hectic colour rising in her face, and his heart swelled with awe and adoration for this woman.

  ‘That’s a lot of convincing I have to do … I think we’ll have to resign ourselves to the fact that we may be on this island for some time …’

  Jesse smiled, and it wobbled precariously. ‘That’s fine by me. Take all the time you need.’

  A Year Later …

  Luc sat back in his chair at his desk and stretched. Dusk was settling over London outside. He glanced at his watch and stood up, taking his jacket in his hand. He left his office after bidding his secretary, Deborah, good evening and took the elevator down two floors.

  When he stepped out he saw the glossy sign which read ‘JMS Games Ltd’. Jesse Moriarty Sanchis. Though for everyday purposes she went by Jesse Sanchis.

  She’d restructured her company in the previous year, to accommodate what she really wanted to focus on, and had moved her offices into Luc’s building. The only problem with that was there was plenty of potential for distraction—which Jesse had become very adept at.

  They’d sold her apartment and his townhouse to buy a house in Richmond with a huge garden, which a much bigger Tigger now patrolled with all the possessiveness of a very well loved cat.

  Luc went and stood at the door to Jesse’s office and smiled. Her hair was almost to her shoulders now, and pulled up in a loose bun with tendrils trailing down her neck. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by a group of teenagers, and she was saying passionately, ‘It’s the higher hidden level which you only reach by achieving a certain score that makes it so brilliant. It’ll be a word-of-mouth-thing—like an urban legend …’

  Jesse stopped when she felt that deliciously familiar tingle of awareness and saw a few of her focus group’s eyes go over her head. She savoured this moment each day when Luc would wait for her—unless, of course, she went up to wait for him … She got hot just thinking about what invariably happened in those situations.

  The kids started to pack up their things, and Jesse swivelled around on the floor and held out her hands to Luc, who came forward to pull her up.

  He put a possessive hand on the seven-months-pregnant belly under her smock top. ‘Much movement?’

  She rolled her eyes and put her hand over his, savouring the intensity of his gaze—for her. It never failed to take away her breath. ‘Unbelievable. I think it must have been the chilli in the sandwich I had at lunch.’

  Luc teased, ‘My wife, the gourmand …’

  Mock-injured, Jesse said, ‘I have never claimed a sophisticated palate.’

  Luc grabbed Jesse’s hand, suddenly wanting to be alone with her, and all but dragged her from the room.

  She called back, ‘Bye, guys, see you same time next week.’

  They chorused, ‘Bye, Jesse—bye, Mr Sanchis.’

  When they were in Luc’s car, and Jesse was curled into his side, Luc said, ‘Why do those kids insist on calling me Mr Sanchis?’

  Jesse smiled and affected a note of disbelief when she spoke. ‘Because for some reason they find you intimidating.’

  ‘You never found me intimidating,’ he grumbled good-naturedly.

  Jesse curled into him even more and Luc tightened his arm around her. She relished the intensely physical and tactile nature of their relationship.

  He kissed the top of her head after a few seconds’ silence and said, ‘Okay?’

  Jesse nodded. She knew what he was talking about, of course. Her father had been sent to gaol the day before for fifteen years—a landmark sentence for someone like him, partly due to the fact that Jesse had gone on the stand to testify against him. Something she couldn’t ever have considered doing without Luc’s support.

  ‘I’m just happy it’s finally over … but I’m sad too—for the loss of something I never had. And I’m sad for your father, and my mother.’

  Luc tipped her face up and pressed a kiss to her mouth. ‘No more sadness. I won’t allow it.’

  Jesse smiled up at her husband and their baby kicked in her belly. She took his hand and put it there, so he could feel the kicks too.

  No, there was no need for sadness any more.

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  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not
even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  First published in Great Britain 2012

  by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.

  Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,

  Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Abby Green 2012

  eISBN: 978-1-408-97462-9

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Excerpt

  About the Author

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Copyright