The Blackmailed Bride

by Kim Lawrence

  `My eye! The ignorance card isn't going to get you off this hook, mate!' Kate exploded. `You must be out of your tiny mind if you think I'm going to agree to marry you so you can inherit the family store!'

  Javier coughed; it took him several moments to adjust to hearing a multi-billion empire dismissively referred to as the `family store.' `It will cause you the minimum of in­convenience-a paper arrangement, no more.'

  He was clearly unbalanced. `I hope this Aria of yours is no relation, because I'm getting the strong impression here that there's already been a bit too much in-breeding in your family. Cousins marrying cousins, that sort of thing, if you get my drift... ?

  'I thought you wanted the photos.'

  A pained expression of regret crossed Kate's face, but perhaps it was best this way; maybe it was time Susie started taking responsibility for her own actions.

  `I care for my sister.' Her eloquent sniff managed to intimate that he didn't know the meaning of the word. `I'd do a great deal for her...'

  His eyes touched the bruised area on her temple. `Most people would say you already have.'

  'But marrying a blackmailing lunatic is not one of them.'

  `My grandfather will really like your candour.'

  Kate threw up her hands. What I really need to do, she decided, is take a deep breath and stand back from all this weirdness. Far enough away, this situation might even have a funny side...?

  `Are you not listening to me?' Silly question-of course he wasn't; he obviously didn't listen to anyone. `I'm not going to marry you!' she delivered firmly, drawing a shaky hand threw her damp hair. `Not even if you send those photos to the newspapers, but you might like to reflect when you do it that when it comes down to it you're no better than that scumbag who drugged my sister and took them!' Bosom heaving, lip curled in contempt, she met his eyes.

  What she saw on his face made her catch her breath and hold it. Maybe she'd gone too far, she reflected, as he vis­ibly fought to control the rage that contorted his lean fea­tures... She watched as inch by inch he gained control until only the throbbing pulse beside his mouth was left to re­mind her of that blaze of consuming fury.

  `They're yours.'

  Kate stared at the packet he placed on her lap suspi­ciously. `Is this some sort of trick?'

  `I am not interested in shaming a family because of the mistake of one member and, as for Gonzalez, he will not escape justice.'

  From any other man, Kate might have taken this as an idle boast but when Javier said it there was nothing idle or boastful about it-he was just stating fact, and she found herself accepting it as such.

  She picked up the buff envelope and found her fingers were trembling-there had to be a catch. `Isn't this your bargaining chip in the negotiation we were talking about? It hardly makes sense for you to give it away.'

  `I am a tough negotiator, not a petty criminal,' he replied, the pride that had remained unruffled by her clumsy attack on his masculinity clearly offended by her opinion of his business acumen.

  `Then I don't understand...' A small scornful smile curved her lips. `Oh, you probably think everyone has their price... ! Yes,' she mused letting her glance move over him from head to toe and back again, `you would.'

  The dark fan of lashes lifted from his cheek; his expres­sion radiated confidence. `It's just a matter of discovering what it is.'

  The sinister implication that he had found hers made Kate shiver. She dismissed the idea as foolish; she had many sins but avarice was not one of them.

  `You shouldn't judge everyone else by your own stan­dards. You see, I don't want your money...' she revealed, injecting a note of pity into her tone that brought a satis­factory flare of annoyance to his eyes.

  '?Not for yourself, perhaps...'

  Kate frowned. `What do you mean...?

  'I was thinking about the project to provide an extension on the burns unit at the children's hospital you yourself were treated at, and the new accommodation facilities in the existing unit so that families of patients having long ­term treatment can stay with their children...'

  Kate surged to her feet, her body rigid with suspicion. Though it might be important to her and others involved, their fund-raising activities on behalf of the unit barely rated a mention in the local press, let alone any journal he might have read. Unless she talked in her sleep, there was no way he could know about them.

  `What do you know about that?' she demanded, hardly able to hear herself past the alarm bells clanging in her head. `H-how did you find out...? Did my parents tell you or...?

  'I have not seen your parents since last night.' `Then how?'

  `The how is irrelevant.' He dismissed her questions with a fluid gesture.

  Kate's full lips compressed. `Not to me it isn't.' She raised a hand to her spinning head and tried to think straight.

  `It's not complicated. Information is easy to find at any time of the day if you know where to look, and who to ask.'

  And he clearly did. What was obvious normal practice for him appalled her. Implacable, the word flashed into Kate's head as she met his impassive stare with one of incredulity.

  `It's easy to invade someone's privacy, you mean,' she corrected, her distaste for his questionable tactics written clearly across pale, outraged features as she lifted her eyes to his.

  `Someone in my position knows only too well how easy,' he agreed heavily. `One learns the hard way how to protect oneself from intrusions.'

  His hypocrisy was staggering! `Clearly you don't believe in the principle of treating others as you would be treated yourself,' she observed contemptuously. `What other ques­tions did you ask about me when you were grubbing around in my life?

  'Only relevant ones.'

  On anyone else, Kate would have been inclined to be­lieve the slight flush along his cheekbones might have been a reflection of discomfort. `Such as?

  'I know that you have no lover who might be an obstacle to our plan.'

  As her knees sagged, Kate's hand closed over the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be Javier's forearm; it immediately stiffened to offer her extra support.

  `Our plan...? Your plan!' she contradicted, wanting to disassociate herself with this absurd scheme straight off.

  She stared at the image of her white-knuckled fingers digging into crisp cotton; she stared so hard everything else swain out of focus. Underneath the thin material she was conscious of the crisp texture of fine body hair, the heat of his skin and overlying everything else the sinewy iron strength. The stab of sexual energy that sizzled through her body was so unexpected, so shockingly intense, it took her breath away. Kate removed her hand as if burnt as her stomach took a great diving lurch downwards.

  Head bent, hands braced on her thighs, she exhaled in a series of short panting breaths before she dared to lift her eyes to his. It was mortifying to discover she was so sex­ually receptive to someone she despised so completely, someone to whom she was no more than a tool to be cal­lously manipulated for his own financial gain.

  When she did angle a wary glance up at him, she was dismayed to see a flicker of something perilously close to sympathy in his eyes. That look seemed to say he under­stood her reactions better than she did herself. Not that that would be so damned hard, because at that moment Kate had never had less insight into what she was feeling or why!

  Determined that, if nothing else, she would at least show him she was not another silly female who swooned at the sight of him, she returned the look with one of smouldering derision.

  `What would you have done if I had had a boyfriend, Javier, arranged for him to have an accident?' she asked sarcastically. Her glance slid over his tall figure and hard; ruthless features and suddenly it didn't seem such a joke any more-he looked capable of anything.

  `Now you are being hysterical,' he observed, his attitude that of someone getting bored with the entire discussion.

  Kate gave a disbelieving laugh-was he for real.?`No, but I'm getting there,' she told him grim
ly. `And your information is wrong. I do have a boyfriend, Seb Leigh...' She served a smug little smile. `He's a QC and he's-'

  `I'm sure his CV is as impressive as your own,' came the cool contradiction. `However, Mr Leigh was your lover, isn't that so, Kate? Your second serious relationship, I be­lieve...?' He appeared to interpret the choking sound that emerged from Kate's throat as confirmation of this. `But he is out of the picture. You split up a year ago and he is now married to someone else. Does that bother you?'

  Kate stood there seething and feeling as foolish as any­one would caught pretending to have a relationship. What made her angriest was the impression it gave that she felt somehow inadequate and incomplete without a man, when nothing could have been farther from the truth.

  `You mean your sources didn't supply you with that in­formation? How annoying.'

  `It is not actually relevant,' he conceded. `I was just won­dering if you have any regrets... Of course, many women like yourself delay marriage, concentrating their energies on building their career, not a family.'

  `I intend to have both one day.'

  `Unlike many career-minded women you seem to have retained an oddly naive quality,' he observed thoughtfully.

  `What's so naive about thinking you can have both?' she began aggressively.

  Javier acted as though she hadn't spoken. `It is not un­attractive,' he revealed in his rough velvet drawl.

  He held her startled gaze for long enough to see her shock register on her face before allowing his gaze to drop.

  This unexpected development ambushed Kate's wits. Her pulses went haywire; she went hot, she went cold; for sev­eral seconds the only thing she could do was tremble and admire the luxuriant sweep of his lashes as they brushed against his high cheekbones.

  And why? she asked herself.

  Just because he's deigned to say you're not totally re­pulsive! How sad it is that? A bit of mild ego-boosting and you start thinking with your hormones, which can't be a bad thing from his point of view; someone smitten with lust is going to be a lot more pliable. The last thing she wanted to do was make Javier Montero's life easier!

  `But not your type, obviously...' If an insult was pend­ing, Kate made it her rule to get in first.

  The iridescent blue gaze landed back on her face and stayed there.

  Kate suffered a second searing jolt in as many minutes.

  Being a sensible woman meant that she didn't read any­thing personal in the smouldering intensity she encountered when their eyes locked. Sensuality was innate to him; it was revealed in his slightest movement, the proud angle of his head, his voice... Another shiver snaked on her spine at the thought of his honeyed, husky drawl.

  Her body either couldn't or didn't want to hear what she was telling it, because it responded brazenly to the glitter in his spectacular eyes. As she struggled to control the vi­olent fluctuations of her breathing, she was acutely con­scious of the burning sensitivity in her engorged nipples and the ache low in her belly.

  `I wouldn't contemplate marrying anyone I found repul­sive,' he revealed.

  `Neither would I,' she retorted instantly. `Normally. What's so funny?' she demanded.

  `You are a very bad liar.'

  `No, I'm not!' she retorted indignantly. Amusement flared afresh in his eyes and Kate bit her lip. `That is, I'm not lying.'

  For what seemed like a long time he surveyed her with that air of inscrutable calm she found so exasperating; fi­nally he shrugged. `If you prefer for your own reasons to pretend you are totally unaware of the sexual chemistry that exists between us, I will naturally accept your wishes. These causes you espouse,' he continued seamlessly. `They do require funds?'

  There was a twenty-second time lag before his words made much sense to Kate, who had a lot more trouble than he appeared to have in shifting her turbulent thoughts from personal to business.

  `We are raising money. The raft race, the sponsored-' she began numbly.

  Sexual chemistry, he'd said. She swallowed hard as her eyes darted furtively towards his mouth. Oh, hell, Kate why did you deny it, act as if it was some big deal? Why didn't you just shrug it off? Maybe because you knew you couldn't?

  He clicked his fingers. `A drop in the ocean,' he re­sponded dismissively.

  `We'll get there.' Of course, an awful lot of sick kids would have grown up by then-the lucky ones anyway.

  `You'll get there a lot faster if I make up the shortfall,' he interrupted casually.

  Kate laughed shakily. `Have you any idea how much that is? We're not talking hundreds or even thousands, we're talking-'

  'Millions-yes, I know,' he interrupted calmly.

  Kate's jaw dropped. `And you'll pay for that?' She gulped-this man had taken moral blackmail to another level! What he was offering would mean so much to so many people. The injured children, the parents, the highly trained team of staff whose hard work and dedication could only partly compensate for a chronic lack of investment in the burns unit. How will I feel the next time a child is turned away because there is no spare bed, if I know that I could have made the difference...?

  `If you agree to marry me I'll sign the cheque now... You fill in the amount.' He watched, arms folded across his chest, as the conflicting emotions tripped across her face.

  Kate couldn't take her eyes from the cheque and pen he placed on the table. She touched her tongue to the beads of sweat across her upper lip.

  `This money doesn't mean anything to you, does it? The children it could help, they mean nothing to you either? No more than I do?' He responded to her whispered accusation with a shrug-what did you expect? Him to dramatically reveal it's really you he wants, not control of the Montero empire?

  Her trembling lips compressed into a mutinous line. `What if I say I will, then I bank the money and back out at the last minute?' she asked, licking her dry lips.

  His smiled thinly. `I trust you, you are a woman of prin­ciple...' He made it sound like a vice. `One who will put the welfare of others ahead of her own personal desires...'

  Kate lifted her eyes an expression of loathing on her face. 'I'm not a martyr.'

  `No,' he conceded. `A martyr would marry me to save her family embarrassment. You will marry me to help thousands of children have better care in the future, because you care passionately about them.'

  `Are you so sure of me?' she wondered, trying to hide her growing sense of despair.

  `Yes, I am. We can argue for a while if you like-but your decision is inevitable and we both know it.'

  Kate swallowed convulsively. `I have a career.'

  `I'm not asking you to give it up; a short sabbatical should suffice for our purposes.'

  `I'll want everything in writing and you'll give the money to the unit up front?' I'm mad, quite mad...

  `Naturally.'

  `Including a clause that guarantees you don't lay a finger on me?'

  `You can't legislate against passion between two people.' His glance moved over her body in a way that made her aware of it all over again in a very disturbing way. `Will my word not suffice?'

  Kate threw back her head and laughed to hide the fact she was still seriously spooked by his reference to passion. `That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. I wouldn't take your word for it if you told me the sun is going to rise tomorrow.'

  There was real loathing in her eyes as she glared up at him; Javier regretted her animosity but felt it was a small price to pay for letting his grandfather die a happy man ­it was a pity, though. In other circumstances he suspected they could have been friends... Well, maybe not friends, not with the lust factor.

  `And they say trust is the most important thing in a mar­riage,' he sighed.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  JAVIER was sitting tapping his index finger impatiently against the steering wheel when the fair-headed figure fi­nally appeared around the corner. As he watched she gave a quick furtive glance over one shoulder, then the other.

  He half expected her to daub her face with camoufla
ge paint and slither across the courtyard on her belly, com­mando-style, but as he watched she lifted her rounded little chin and took a deep breath; then, shoulders back walked purposefully towards the car as fast as the pair of ridicu­lously high-heeled strappy sandals she wore would allow. Clearly she was too proud to allow him to see her appre­hension, Javier concluded with grudging admiration.

  As Kate approached the long shiny car, the tinted win­dow on the driver's side lowered. A supremely confident Javier, his lean body clad in a dark formal suit, was re­vealed at the wheel. Sometimes the drivers of classy cars were a bit of a let-down, but not in this case!

  Kate stopped dead in her tracks as he slowly lowered the stylish dark shades he wore and looked at her over the top. She felt every muscle in her body grow tense and rigid as she endured his laser like scrutiny.

  Elbow resting on the open window, his long fingers drummed against the shiny paintwork as he waited expec­tantly. `Don't just stand there, get in!'

  Kate flushed at the peremptory tone. `I was just trying to decide whether what I'm doing could be termed elope­

  I meant,' she replied, in an attempt to divert attention from the embarrassing fact she'd been staring at him with all the subtlety of a star-struck adolescent!

  `Or if it's only elopement when star-crossed lovers are involved?' she finished, panting slightly as she took her place beside him in the passenger seat.

  The mild exertion Javier noted had brought a very at­tractive flush to the smooth contours of her cheeks; he couldn't place the perfume but she also smelt rather good.

  `You are late!' he rapped.

  Kate, who had been about to apologise for her tardiness, closed her mouth with a snap. The sudden eye movement as she dealt him a cold look made her conscious of the irritating presence of the contact lenses she rarely wore ­damned things.

  `I had a visit from Susie; I had to wait until she'd gone, or would you prefer I'd brought her along...?'

  She pushed a hank of fair hair from her face with her forearm and wondered if perhaps it might not have been better to put it up after all. Until Susie's comment about the length of her neck-there was too much of it, appar­ently-she had thought the loose chignon was not only cool but quite attractive.