by Lynne Graham
‘Are you missing me yet?’ a woman asked in a teasing tone of intimacy.
It was her stepsister’s voice, unmistakably Rochelle in seduction mode, Kerry registered with sick distaste. Detaching herself from Luciano in one sudden movement, she jumped down off the table. She almost cringed at the sight of her discarded panties lying on the floor and walked past them on unsteady legs. The madness of passion had evaporated to leave Kerry reeling in shock and shame at her own behaviour. She had thrown herself at Luciano, encouraged him every step of the way. What had happened to her proud boast that she would not be a woman whom he slept with when he felt like it? It was sheer insanity to get involved with a male still in regular contact with her stepsister. No way was she lowering herself back into some degrading competition for Luciano’s attention!
Only minutes later, Luciano strode into the great hall, where Kerry was clearing away the evidence of the morning tea she had served there earlier. Her every tiny movement made her shamefully conscious of her partial nudity below her dress and she could barely muster the courage to look up when she heard his entrance.
Lean, bronzed features hard, Luciano came to a halt. ‘Don’t do this to me again,’ he breathed impatiently. ‘Surprise me…don’t say a single word about Rochelle phoning me.’
Kerry had nothing to say. If he was expecting a jealous fit, he was in for a disappointment. That Rochelle was still confident enough to purr down the phone to him like a lover hurt and humiliated Kerry. But she had also decided that she had been lucky to receive that wake-up call to her own wits. Why was she allowing Luciano to make a fool of her? Within twenty-four hours he had contrived to devastate her faith in her own intelligence.
‘OK, never let it be said that I can’t take a hint,’ Luciano drawled with sardonic bite. ‘So we just had casual sex again—’
Kerry shot him a stricken appraisal. ‘I don’t do that sort of thing—’
‘You just did,’ Luciano contradicted in a wrathful undertone. ‘You let me screw you on the kitchen table. Isn’t it time you dropped the prudish euphemisms?’
As hot colour stained her fair complexion, Kerry tore her shaken attention from the threat of his glittering gaze. ‘I won’t…I can’t discuss this with you.’
‘Yet you just had sex with me—’
‘Will you stop talking to me like that?’ Angry mortification and a sense of being out of her depth lent Kerry’s voice a shrill edge that made her flinch. ‘For goodness’ sake, I’m supposed to be working for you—’
‘That was work? Your eagerness to meet my every need goes way beyond the average employee’s commitment,’ Luciano derided. ‘But whatever turns you on…I’ll have lunch at one and dinner at seven. I’d also like a list of the most reliable local builders a.s.a.p.’
‘Builders?’ Glancing up in surprise, Kerry collided unwarily with sizzling dark golden eyes that made her mouth run dry. ‘But why?’
‘If you’re playing housekeeper, act like one,’ Luciano suggested drily. ‘Questions of that nature fall into the impertinent category.’
Reddened mouth compressed, Kerry carried her laden tray past him. ‘As does your familiarity…so keep your hands to yourself from now on.’
Luciano almost smiled at that sally. He was very confident that within a very short time he would be enjoying exactly the kind of lifestyle with Kerry that he had envisaged. She couldn’t resist him. Passion had triumphed in the kitchen. Her resistance was crumbling and his terms were attainable. In the meantime, he would forge ahead with his renovation plans for the castle to demonstrate that what he had promised to do, he would do to the letter.
One week later, Ballybawn was surrounded by newly erected scaffolding and workmen were busy both indoors and out. Kerry helped her friend, Elphie, to pack the last of her possessions from the Georgian wing into the van that the other woman had hired for the occasion.
‘I’m looking forward to moving into my new showroom this weekend,’ Elphie said cheerfully. ‘Did I tell you what a prime location it’s in? Luciano has been very generous. I’d have moved out for a lot less compensation than he’s giving me!’
‘I’m just glad you’re not upset about having to move at such short notice—’
‘I’m convinced that I’ll do better business in the town. My father is even more pleased that his tenancy agreement for the farm has been renewed,’ the chirpy brunette confided. ‘In fact, from our point of view, Luciano da Valenza just about walks on water. I suppose it’s pretty tactless of me to tell you that—’
Kerry forced a smile. ‘Not at all—’
‘I know how hard it’s got to be for you to watch someone who isn’t an O’Brien rescue Ballybawn. However, any worries I had about your ex-fiancé went the minute I heard the wonderful rumour that your grandparents would be moving back in as tenants!’ In the awkward silence that followed, Elphie settled her inquisitive gaze on Kerry’s flushed face. ‘I heard that Luciano could be planning to resettle them in the Georgian wing—’
‘And what if I told you that there were rather more personal strings attached to that possibility?’ Kerry was shaken that Luciano could have been so indiscreet and furious that yet more pressure was being put on her.
‘If the other end of the string was attached to Luciano…in your place, I’d jump for joy,’ the other woman declared with frank amusement. ‘He’s drop-dead gorgeous and willing to go to enormous lengths to accommodate your grandparents. If you’re looking for more than that from a guy you once ditched, you could be waiting a very long time.’
Kerry paled at that blunt appraisal.
Elphie climbed into the van and grimaced. ‘I tried to hold that little lecture in but I just couldn’t. You’re breaking your heart over him anyway. What do you have to lose? Are you still speaking to me?’
‘Just about,’ Kerry breathed before her childhood friend drove off with an airy wave.
Was she so transparent? Kerry had never been the type to confide easily in friends and it embarrassed her that her unhappiness had been noticed. Since the day she had shamed herself by acting like a wanton hussy in the kitchen, it had been surprisingly easy for her to avoid seeing much of Luciano. During the day the castle was swarming with workmen, and the architect in charge of the restoration usually joined Luciano for the lunch that she provided. In the evenings, Luciano had professed a desire to escape the dust and upheaval by going out to eat.
But the very fact that he had actually commenced work on Ballybawn had thrown Kerry into total confusion. Did the arrival of the builders mean that, regardless of her refusal of Luciano’s proposition, her grandparents could still become his tenants? Or did it mean that Luciano was determined to put her under such a sense of obligation that she might well end up agreeing for the older couple’s sake? He was ruthless enough to use that kind of pressure on her and she knew he was.
But Elphie’s frankness had turned Kerry’s thoughts in a rather different direction. Was it really her pride and her fear of being hurt again that was coming between her and even the chance of happiness? What relationship came with the guarantee of a future? If she truly loved Luciano, just being with him again was all that should matter, she reasoned tautly. Why had she hidden behind the excuse of how her grandparents might feel about her engaging in a less conventional relationship? Hunt and Viola O’Brien had a remarkable ability to turn a blind eye to anything that threatened their comfort. If she was content, they would neither comment nor interfere.
Kerry went back indoors with her mind clearer than it had been in many weeks. As she entered the great hall, surprise stilled her in her tracks, for a woman was standing by the hearth.
Fixing feline green eyes on Kerry, the stunning blonde sauntered forward. ‘Hi…long time no see, and no regrets either,’ her stepsister, Rochelle, declared in her usual withering style.
CHAPTER SIX
‘WHAT are you doing here?’ Kerry asked before she could think better of it, for Rochelle’s appearance at the castle had left he
r reeling with shock.
‘That’s none of your business. I travelled with Costanza and she tells me that you’re now working here in a domestic capacity.’ Having treated Kerry to a scornfully amused appraisal, Rochelle smiled with satisfaction. ‘Luciano’s being so tough with you and I can’t tell you what a turn-on that is for me. I wouldn’t place too much hope on the Cinderella story coming true at Ballybawn either…no way will I ever play an ugly sister!’
Mortified colour burning over her cheekbones, Kerry wished and not for the first time that she could match her stepsister’s quick, annihilating tongue. Furthermore, much as Kerry would have liked to note that Rochelle’s beauty had faded since their last meeting five years earlier, Rochelle defied the belief that too much drink, too many late nights and too great a fondness for men left their punishing mark on a woman’s looks. Rochelle rejoiced in creamy skin, a mane of naturally blonde hair and a fantastic figure, enhanced by a very short leather skirt and a clingy white gypsy top.
‘Neither am I in search of some mythical prince,’ Kerry murmured tightly, her heart sinking as she found herself making the familiar demeaning comparision between her stepsister’s attractions and her own. Red corkscrew curls and ordinary features could not compete with glorious golden hair and classic beauty. Nor could her own small, very slim body hold a candle to Rochelle’s sexy curves and long, shapely legs.
‘Oh, you definitely were five years back,’ her stepsister sneered. ‘But today I genuinely feel sorry for you.’
Kerry raised a brow. ‘And why would that be?’
‘Well, you’ve missed the boat once again with Luciano…why else would he be flying me in on his private jet? You’re such a loser, Kerry,’ Rochelle mocked. ‘You’ve had a clear field with him for more than a week and I bet you did nothing but whinge at him.’
‘I’m not going to listen to this stuff.’ Kerry turned on her heel.
‘It’s so sad that you’re about to lose all hope of ever regaining the family castle as well…’
Kerry hesitated and then spun back. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘According to Costanza, Luciano has just received an offer to name his price to sell Ballybawn and make a massive profit,’ Rochelle delivered with smug superiority. ‘Now, you tell me, would Luciano turn down a chance like that?’
The revelation that Luciano might be considering some very tempting offer to sell her grandparents’ home to strangers made Kerry’s slight figure tense in rigid rejection. ‘I believe that he would turn it down,’ she contended. ‘If he wants to sell, why would he be having all this work done to the castle?’
Rochelle widened derisive green eyes in apparent wonderment. ‘Oh, dear…oh, dear…you just don’t get it even now, do you? Luciano’s out to take everything that you value away from you. I saw his desire for revenge weeks ago…where have you been? On a different planet?’
In receipt of that chilling assurance from her worst enemy, Kerry lost every scrap of colour. If she was honest with herself, that same fear had occurred to her the instant she laid eyes on her gorgeous stepsister: surely Luciano could only have invited Rochelle to Ballybawn out of a desire to hurt and humble his former fiancée? Was he planning to conduct an affair with Rochelle right under her nose? Her tummy lurched and she started feeling sick.
Did she even have the right to get upset about Rochelle’s arrival? After all, she herself had turned Luciano’s proposition down flat and had been avoiding him to the best of her ability ever since. In fact, when she had told him to treat her as an employee, she had made it very clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him. At that point, Kerry had made a mortifying discovery about herself: she might have said that but she certainly hadn’t meant it! No, she hadn’t meant a word of it, so where did that leave her?
Costanza strolled in and acknowledged Kerry’s presence with an inclination of her elegant head. ‘Luciano would like to see you and your stepsister together.’
‘Kinky!’ Surprised but full of bubbling confidence, Rochelle sashayed past Luciano’s PA into the library.
Angry, terrified curiosity made Kerry follow in the blonde’s wake.
A stray shard of sunshine gleaming over his luxuriant black hair and accentuating his smooth, hard cheekbones, Luciano was poised by the window. In his formal dark grey business suit, he looked incredibly attractive, and her stepsister’s greeting was effusive. Over the top of Rochelle’s blonde head his glittering golden eyes scanned Kerry’s pale, set features and veiled. He was angry with her but too proud to show it. Time was very precious to him yet seven days when they might have been together had already been wasted and he found it hard to forgive her for again subjecting him to the maddening ache of unsated desire. He had finally reached the conclusion that she must still have doubts about his past fidelity and he had decided to settle that issue head-on.
‘You must be bored out of your mind here with only Kerry the nag for company,’ Rochelle quipped. ‘In fact I bet you’re wondering what you did to deserve so much punishment, but rest assured, I’m here now and we’re going to have fun—’
‘Rochelle…’ Lean, strong face sardonic, Luciano said flatly, ‘All fun aside, you need to know why I asked you to come to Ireland—’
Rochelle lowered her lashes with a mock innocence that suggested that she scarcely required an explanation on that score. ‘I…do?’
‘I want you to tell Kerry what happened between you and me thirty-six hours before I was arrested five years ago,’ Luciano drawled, taking both women aback with that request.
Rochelle’s lashes stopped fluttering like fly swats. ‘You’re kidding me…you’ve got to be—’
‘No, I’m not kidding.’ Luciano surveyed the bewildered blonde with cool dark eyes.
‘I get it.’ Rochelle giggled. ‘You want to remind Kerry just how stupid she was—’
‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that.’
As confused as her stepsister had initially seemed by Luciano’s demand, Kerry’s attention skimmed from Rochelle’s malicious smile to Luciano’s hard, bronzed profile. ‘Will someone tell me what’s happening here?’
‘Wise up and wake up,’ Rochelle advised her. ‘I filched those cuff-links I showed you from the warehouse where Luciano had left them. Naturally, he didn’t sleep with me that night the way I said he did. In fact he was an award-winning hero of restraint. When I brought him coffee stark naked, he refused to be tempted and he left the house!’
Kerry gaped at Rochelle. ‘You brought in the coffee naked—?’
‘You’re supposed to pick up on the main issue,’ Luciano intervened with driven impatience. ‘Which is…that your stepsister lied to you the following day.’
‘And if you’re expecting me to feel bad about having lied to you, you can think again.’ Rochelle gave Kerry a defiant glance. ‘Make love not war—’
‘I wasn’t a child of the sixties and neither were you,’ Luciano incised. ‘Who suggested that particular timing to you?’
Rochelle frowned. ‘Sorry…I don’t know what you’re asking me.’
‘Someone told you when to stage that scene for Kerry’s benefit and encouraged you to lie in the sure knowledge that those lies would destroy my relationship with her,’ Luciano countered flatly. ‘Who was it? I deserve all the facts.’
Fully intent on that exchange, Kerry snatched in an uneven breath.
‘I suppose you do, and it hardly matters this long after the event.’ Rochelle gave Luciano an apologetic look of appeal and shrugged. ‘It was Miles—’
‘Miles?’ The sharp interruption was Kerry’s. ‘Why are you accusing Miles of being involved in the dreadful lies you told me about Luciano? That’s nonsense…Miles would never have tried to hurt me like that!’
‘Miles thought Luciano was bad news for you,’ her stepsister derided. ‘And I thought you were bad news for Luciano. Great minds think alike.’
‘That’s enough, Rochelle. You can go now.’ Luciano swung open the door and s
tood back. ‘Costanza’s waiting for you outside. She’ll ensure that you get back to London.’
‘Go…you want me to leave again?’ Rochelle questioned in open disbelief.
‘I can think of no reason why I would want you to stay.’ As Luciano made that crushing statement, Kerry studied him with an astonishment similiar to her stepsister’s.
‘I don’t understand,’ Rochelle said tautly.
In the tense silence, Luciano maintained his cool, level scrutiny.
‘How can you treat me like this after all I’ve done for you?’ Rochelle demanded with stark incredulity. ‘Only a few weeks ago, I risked getting charged with perjury when I spoke at that appeal hearing on your behalf…I’m the woman who dared to admit that I’d signed a statement that I knew was incorrect five years ago—’
‘You’re also the same woman who stood by that false statement in my original trial and let her lies contribute to my imprisonment for crimes I didn’t commit.’
That harsher condemnation of her own past behaviour visibly shook Rochelle.
‘And why did you lie?’ Luciano dealt the stricken blonde a contemptuous appraisal. ‘You lied out of spite and vanity because I rejected you!’
Assailed by unexpected discomfiture, Kerry found herself averting her attention from the shocked humiliation etched in her stepsister’s shattered face.
‘I get it,’ Rochelle gasped accusingly. ‘You only brought me here to play this scene for Kerry’s benefit!’
‘Yes, you finally get it,’ Luciano confirmed without a shade of remorse.
Before she left the room, Rochelle hung back to stare at Kerry with outraged green eyes. ‘Since what you’ve just witnessed is what you’ll suffer too, be warned,’ she said bitterly. ‘In fact, start running now because you needn’t kid yourself that he’s not going to kiss you off with the same treatment or worse somewhere down the road!’
Only when Rochelle departed did Kerry realise that she was trembling.
‘Satisfied?’ Luciano enquired silkily.
‘I think you scare me,’ Kerry whispered truthfully.