Gemini looked him directly in the eyes. ‘Maybe you should just give her what she wants and take her to bed?’
Drakon drew in a harsh breath at the very thought of having a sexual relationship with the avaricious widow. Not that she was unattractive—if a man did not mind knowing her interest was mainly in his bank balance!
Which, he acknowledged, was something that had never particularly bothered him before. Indeed, it was the reason he had become so cynical and jaded about ever finding a woman who might love him for himself, and whom he could love in return. Years of having women attracted to the Lyonedes name and his excessive wealth had resulted in unemotional and consequently fleeting relationships with women.
His continued attraction to Gemini—a young woman whom he now knew was neither avaricious nor experienced—was unsettling to say the least.
He eyed her dispassionately and nodded abruptly. ‘I will give your suggestion all the consideration it deserves.’ Which, as far as he was concerned, was none whatsoever.
Gemini recoiled as if Drakon had physically struck her. Which, in a way, he had.
For the past four years she had stood back and watched as dozens of men had fallen prey to the allure of Angela’s voluptuous beauty—her own father included—and to think of Drakon, a man whose attraction she seemed unable to resist herself, becoming another one of Angela’s conquests brought a return of Gemini’s earlier nausea.
She frowned. ‘Obviously you must do what you think best…’
Those almost black eyes glittered coldly. ‘I invariably do,’ he rasped harshly.
Yes, she had no doubt that he was a man who answered to no one for any of his actions. And really she had brought this current situation on herself. Out of self-defence and confusion over her attraction towards Drakon, maybe, but nevertheless she had instigated this particular conversation.
‘Thank you once again for your help earlier.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He gave a brief inclination of his head.
‘No doubt you’ll be returning to New York now?’
Drakon had decided earlier that to leave England before the issue of Angela Bartholomew was settled to his satisfaction would be an error of judgement on his part. But this time spent with Gemini, when he had once again found himself unable to resist making love to her, only to learn that she was an innocent, told him that it would perhaps be an even bigger error of judgement on his part if he were to remain. Only perhaps? It could become a catastrophic error of judgement for both of them if he were to remain in England at this present time!
‘No doubt,’ he replied noncommittally as he strolled over and opened the shop door. ‘Lock the door behind me.’
Gemini glared at his autocratic back as she followed him. ‘I have every intention of doing so.’
Drakon looked down at her wordlessly for several long seconds before sighing. ‘Don’t hesitate to call on Markos if it should become necessary.’
Call on Markos, not him, she noted heavily as she shut and secured the door after Drakon left. He couldn’t have told her any more plainly that their own brief association, whatever it might have been, was very definitely over as far as he was concerned.
Drakon waited only long enough to hear Gemini lock the door behind him before taking his mobile out of his pocket and pressing a quick-dial button as he walked the short distance to where he had parked his car earlier.
‘Have Max arrange for a twenty-four-hour watch to be kept on Gemini,’ he instructed economically when his cousin answered the call on only the second ring. ‘And first thing in the morning have him do a thorough check on Angela Bartholomew,’ he added grimly before Markos had time to respond to that first instruction. ‘I also want him to look into the possibility of Miles Bartholomew having drawn up a will dated later than the one that was presented for probate.’ He unlocked and opened the door of the Mercedes and slid into the leather seat behind the wheel. ‘A will that may have left Bartholomew House to his daughter rather than his wife.’
‘Do you think that’s a possibility?’
‘After today, I think Angela is a woman capable of doing anything that is in her own best interests.’
‘Including illegally suppressing her husband’s will?’
‘Including that, yes,’ Drakon confirmed grimly.
‘Hell!’ Markos groaned heavily. ‘That could leave Lyonedes Enterprises in one almighty legal tangle.’
It would also, if it existed, leave Gemini in a position of great vulnerability…‘Yes,’ he agreed tersely.
‘And where will you will be while I’m instructing Max to do these things?’ Markos prompted curiously.
Drakon glanced across at the closed and shuttered flower shop that Gemini owned and ran. His gaze was drawn upwards to where a light had come on in what he now knew to be the sitting room of her apartment. ‘I have decided to leave for New York this evening after all.’
‘Really?’ Markos sounded surprised.
‘Really,’ Drakon echoed dryly. There was no reason for him to return to Lyonedes Tower; he rarely carried luggage with him anyway, as he kept a full wardrobe of clothes in both his New York apartment and the one here in London.
‘But Gemini is okay?’
He frowned his irritation at his cousin’s obvious concern. ‘She appeared to be perfectly well when I left her two minutes ago,’ he snapped.
‘And her stepmother?’
‘Is a bitch from hell, and we should never have entered into a business transaction with her,’ Drakon felt no hesitation in announcing harshly.
There was a brief pause before Markos spoke again. ‘I’ll talk to Max straight away.’
‘Do that.’
Drakon ended the call as abruptly as he had started it. His second call to the pilot of the Lyonedes jet was even briefer as he sat and watched Gemini’s shadowy outline inside her apartment as she moved to pull the curtains across the two windows that faced down onto the street.
He was still sitting there in the silence of the Mercedes fifteen minutes later when a black Range Rover, with Max himself seated behind the wheel, pulled into the parking space behind. He turned in his seat, and the two men nodded brief acknowledgement of each other before Drakon started his engine and drove away.
‘Well!’ Gemini huffed indignantly as she slowly replaced the telephone receiver on its cradle.
‘Problems?’ Jo looked across at her curiously as she came to collect her jacket from the office of the shop in preparation for leaving for her lunch break on what was turning out to be a very busy Friday.
Drakon Lyonedes had been a problem before Gemini had even met him! And he had become even more of one—for totally different reasons—since she had first forced herself into his presence. Had that really only been a week ago? It somehow seemed so much longer.
Gemini still inwardly cringed every time she thought about the last time she had seen him three days ago.
Considering how the time usually flew by when she was at work, it had been a surprisingly long three days. Three days during which Drakon had completely disappeared from her life.
No, not completely…
She had slept badly the night after he’d left her so abruptly. Not because she had wasted any more of her time thinking about that awful scene with Angela, but because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Drakon and her response to him. Consequently it had taken her until late the following morning to notice the black Range Rover parked just down the street from the flower shop, and several more hours to realise that Max Stanford was seated behind the wheel, his steely gaze fixed unwaveringly on the flower shop. On her?
Gemini had decided she was being paranoid, and the Range Rover had disappeared when she’d gone out later that morning to buy her lunch from the deli two doors down the street. And then she had realised that another black car had taken the place of the Range Rover, and the man sitting inside seemed to be watching her from behind concealing sunglasses. By the time she’d shut up shop for the
night the black Range Rover and Max were back, and the other car and its driver had disappeared.
Still feeling ever so slightly paranoid, Gemini had nevertheless felt no hesitation in walking over to the Range Rover and tapping on the window to ask an obviously less than pleased Max exactly what he was doing, parked outside her shop. His curt explanation had been enough to send Gemini hurrying back inside to put a call straight through to Markos.
Charming and roguish as ever, Markos had assured her that he was simply carrying out his cousin’s instructions, and that Max, or one of his security team, was to remain as her protection until Drakon told him otherwise.
Gemini had been stunned. And not a little annoyed. She accepted that Angela had been verbally abusive the last time the two women had spoken, and that Drakon had walked in on that heated scene just in time to prevent her stepmother from actually hitting her, but surely he didn’t imagine Angela would actually try to harm her?
That question had unfortunately remained unanswered, because Gemini’s efforts to contact Drakon in New York had proved as difficult as contacting him at Lyonedes Tower had been the previous week. She had managed to get as far as talking to his personal assistant this time, only to be informed that Mr Lyonedes was unavailable. Nor had Drakon bothered to return her call.
She had now received a telephone call from that same personal assistant, telling her that, ‘Mr Lyonedes has instructed me to inform you that he will be arriving in England later today and will be calling on you at your apartment at eight o’clock this evening.’ It just added insult to injury. Gemini had a good mind to make sure she was nowhere near her apartment at eight o’clock tonight!
Although she accepted that wasn’t likely to achieve very much when the current watchdog parked outside would no doubt tell Drakon exactly where she had gone. Still, it was the principle of the thing that mattered; damn it, Drakon couldn’t just walk in and out of her life and take charge whenever he felt like it! Well…apparently he could. But that didn’t mean that she had to make it at all easy for him.
She looked up now and smiled reassuringly at Jo. ‘It’s nothing I can’t handle,’ she assured her assistant firmly.
At least Gemini sincerely hoped she could handle seeing Drakon again…
CHAPTER NINE
‘ARE you expecting someone to join you?’
Gemini had been aware of Drakon the moment he entered her favourite Italian restaurant. Just as she had been aware of the female interest directed towards him as he inexorably made his way across that restaurant to where she sat at a table in one of the more private booths at the back of the happily noisy and crowded room. A table set for two.
Her own heart had skipped a beat at how dark and dangerously attractive Drakon looked this evening, in a casual black silk shirt, unbuttoned at the throat, and black trousers tailored to the long length of his legs. The darkness of his hair was slightly tousled and damp, as if he had recently taken a shower. Which he probably had, she accepted, if he had only flown in from New York a few hours ago.
She put down her glass of Chianti to lean back against the leather bench seat. She looked up and smiled at him. ‘Yes, I’m expecting someone to join me,’ she confirmed lightly.
Drakon looked more than a little irritated. ‘Did my assistant not telephone you earlier to tell you I would be calling at your apartment this evening?’
‘Oh, yes, he telephoned me,’ Gemini said blandly.
‘Then—’
‘Obviously I had plans for this evening other than sitting at home waiting for the great Drakon Lyonedes to grace me with his magnificent presence,’ she continued as though he hadn’t spoken.
He would have to be blind not to notice the way those sea-green eyes flashed with temper. And unfortunately he wasn’t in the least visually impaired where Gemini Bartholomew was concerned! ‘You are annoyed that I asked my assistant to telephone you.’ It was a statement not a question.
‘How astute of you, Drakon!’ she came back with saccharine sweetness.
If anything Gemini looked more beautiful this evening than when Drakon had last seen her: those sparkling eyes were surrounded by long dark lashes, colour highlighted her cheeks, the fullness of her lips was glossed peach, and her hair was a silky white-blonde curtain about her slender shoulders. The fitted cotton sweater she wore was the same sea-green colour as her eyes, and a short black skirt revealed the length of her legs.
Drakon’s mouth thinned as he realised he was not at all pleased to know she had dressed like that for the pleasure of another man. ‘Are you saying you would rather I had telephoned and spoken to you personally before I left New York?’ he queried.
Her eyes once more glowed with temper. ‘I’m saying I would rather you had bothered to return my call two days ago, or at the very least telephoned me yesterday and asked if it was convenient for us to meet this evening, rather than just having your assistant call and tell me that we were!’
Yes, that would have been the more acceptable, the more polite way of doing things, Drakon acknowledged impatiently. Except he had not been feeling in the least polite—either yesterday or any of the other days he had been back in New York. Because of this woman. Because he had not been able to stop thinking about Gemini and the last time the two of them had been together. Or how much he wished to see her and be with her again…
That knowledge alone had been enough to make his temper and mood unpredictable at best these past three days, and volatile at worst. Nor, he acknowledged irritably, had he been in the least sure of how much she would have welcomed the call if he had been the one to telephone today…
Drakon had accepted long ago that he was a man of strong sexual appetites, but also a man who rarely if ever thought of any of the women he made love to when he was not sharing her body and her bed. Gemini Bartholomew, he had learnt these past few days, was the exception to that rule—and he didn’t like it one little bit.
He had found himself thinking of her far too often for comfort since flying back to New York, both at work and during the long evenings spent at his penthouse apartment in Manhattan. Neither did he have to look far to find the reason for his feelings of frustration where she was concerned.
Gemini’s admission of physical innocence…
Drakon had been stunned. It was incredible, unbelievable, that a woman of her beauty and years should still be a virgin. It also put her beyond the reach of his normal casual affairs. Unfortunately that in no way lessened the desire Drakon felt for her…
Just seeing her again, being with her again, was enough to make his body harden with a ferocious desire!
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake sit down and stop making the place look untidy, Drakon,’ she snapped as the waiter arrived at the table and handed her two menus before departing again.
He frowned. ‘I thought you said you were waiting for someone.’
‘I was,’ Gemini said. ‘And now he’s arrived. I was waiting for you, Drakon,’ she admitted as he continued to stare down at her.
His eyes widened. ‘Me?’
‘I was pretty sure one of your watchdogs would be only too happy to tell you exactly where to find me at eight o’clock this evening,’ she told him. ‘And, as you very kindly gave me dinner at your apartment last time, I thought the least I could do was buy you dinner at my favourite Italian restaurant this evening. Would you care for a glass of red wine?’ She lifted up the bottle of Chianti she had ordered when she arrived and held it poised over the empty wine glass at the place setting opposite her own.
‘Thank you,’ Drakon accepted quietly as he slid onto the bench seat opposite, more relieved than he cared to consider at the knowledge that Gemini was not spending the evening with another man after all. That she had, in fact, dressed this way for his pleasure. ‘I apologise if you found my assistant’s telephone call impolite.’
Gemini looked across the table at Drakon from beneath lowered lashes, knowing she was once again slightly overwhelmed by the sheer presence of this man. Eve
n dressed in casual clothes he exuded that aura of power and authority. ‘Your assistant was perfectly polite, Drakon—you’re the one I consider rude and highhanded in asking him to make the call in the first place.’
Drakon returned her gaze quizzically. ‘You don’t intend to let me off the hook lightly, do you?’
‘Should I?’ Gemini deliberately showed none of the inner turmoil she felt at seeing Drakon again as she casually picked up her wine glass and took a sip of the deliciously fruity red wine.
‘Probably not.’ He shrugged those broad shoulders.
‘Definitely not,’ she corrected pointedly.
Drakon sighed. ‘Very well. I apologise unreservedly, Gemini, for not telephoning you myself and requesting a meeting with you.’
‘You’re forgiven.’ She gave a graciously acknowledging inclination of her head.
‘So this is your favourite restaurant…’ Drakon looked about them appreciatively, finding the warm and cosy atmosphere of the restaurant also to his liking.
There were red-and-white-checked cloths on the twenty or so occupied tables, with candles alight in empty wine bottles on each one, lots of greenery trailing down from above, brightly coloured pictures of Italy adorning the terracotta-coloured walls, and the delicious smells of garlic and Italian sauces coming from the kitchen were enough to make his mouth water.
‘Not what you were expecting?’
Drakon’s gaze returned across the table to Gemini as he heard the amusement in her voice. Inwardly he acknowledged that nothing about this young woman was what he would have expected from the only daughter of the wealthy and influential Miles Bartholomew. Which, he knew, was becoming a serious problem for him; Gemini was rapidly throwing all his previous experience with women off-balance. Throwing him off-balance…
He shrugged as he picked up the menu. ‘I’m sure the food here is adequate.’
She gave an indelicate snort. ‘The food here is fantastic!’
Drakon perused the extensive menu. ‘What would you recommend?’
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