by Lynne Graham
‘I’m just asking you to be reasonable and examine these papers and you won’t even do that for me.’ Lily regarded him with reproachful blue eyes. ‘That’s not so much to ask…surely? Why are you treating me like this?’
‘Like…what?’ Rauf asked in the same cool tone.
‘Like we’re enemies or something….’ Lily muttered uneasily.
‘There’s nothing deader than a dead love affair, except perhaps an affair that never was,’ Rauf spelt out with cutting clarity.
Lily went very still and paled as though she had been struck. She stared with strained intensity at the papers he had refused to scrutinise while she fought to hold back the lowering tears stinging the back of her eyes. There it was, confessed in his own words: the truth of why he had lost all interest in her. An affair that never was. It was so belittling to appreciate that what she had believed they’d shared had meant nothing to him without sex. She had always suspected it but that direct confirmation truly hurt. She snatched up her glass of pure orange and took several sips to ease the aching fullness in her throat. Reminding herself that she had much more important matters to concentrate on, she struggled to pull herself back together again.
‘Time’s running out.’ Rauf steeled himself against the artful way she was sitting bolt upright in the chair with the brave but vulnerable aspect of a punished child. As he had already learnt to his cost in the past, she was a very convincing actress and her sole objective then as now had been his wallet, not the wedding ring he had once naively assumed.
Swallowing hard, Lily lifted her head and breathed in deep. ‘I’m willing to admit that since we last met, Harris Travel may not have been run quite the way it ought to have been. Two years ago, after a spate of ill health, my father retired and Brett took over. Now he’s gone and it’s my sister, Hilary, who is managing the business. You say that the contract has been broken and you won’t allow any leeway for human error. But if you insist on reclaiming your stake in the agency right now, it may well bankrupt it.’
‘Business can be tough. I’m sorry but I’m not prepared to sit through the plucking of a thousand violin strings,’ Rauf said very drily, wondering with revulsion where Brett Gilman had ‘gone’. The grave? To employment elsewhere? He would not allow himself to ask.
‘Brett went off with Hilary’s best friend, Janice,’ Lily extended heavily and he noted that, just as he recalled from the past, even now when she referred to her sister’s husband her eyes were carefully screened in a secretive way. ‘Hilary and Brett are divorced now.’
So that was why Lily had come all the way out to Turkey to beg his indulgence and bat her fawn-like eyelashes in his direction! Smarmy Brett had scarpered with yet another foolish woman. His lean, strong face taut, Rauf’s handsome mouth compressed with distaste. Look beyond the illusory purity of her beauty and Lily was revealed for what she was: an unscrupulous, greedy little schemer, ever ready to tell lies when it suited her to do so. Once, she had been stupid enough to lie to him and in lying had convicted herself with her own tongue.
‘I get this feeling that you’re really not listening to anything that I say, but what I’m saying is so very important,’ Lily emphasised in a low intense plea. ‘If those payments which you say were never made—’
‘I know for a fact that they were never made.’ Rafe’s aggressive jawline squared. ‘Do we have to keep on going over the same ground?’
‘Well, if they weren’t made, then it was a case of a genuine mistake. Surely you have enough understanding and patience to allow Harris Travel to sort it out?’
‘Why should I be patient?’ Rauf dealt her an enquiring glance in which the milk of human kindness was most noticeable by its unapologetic absence. The Turkish builders defrauded by Harris Travel had also practised patience and much good it had done them!
‘I don’t know you like this…’ Lily mumbled sickly, sinking ever deeper into a sense of shock over the extent to which he seemed to have changed. Had Rauf always been so cold, callous and unfeeling? Had she only imagined that she’d seen other finer and more sensitive qualities in him?
She tried afresh to reach him. ‘I’m only asking for some more time—’
‘No.’ Rauf uttered the word in a tone of crushing finality. ‘You’ve wasted enough of my time.’
‘Look, I didn’t come out here prepared for this awful situation!’ Lily protested, her voice rising in spite of her attempt to keep it level, and a flush of embarrassment covered her face as Rauf elevated an ebony brow in meaningful rebuke. ‘Couldn’t you help me with this? I don’t have the resources to check out this bank account mix-up from here.’
Lily down on her knees and begging. Rauf liked the idea even though he knew that he would still pull the plug on the travel agency and cut that last reminder of her out of his life. For his own amusement, would he play along for a little while with her absurd stories and excuses? What would he discover? That she and her family were a set of outright thieves? Reckless thieves too, unable to look ahead and spot the obvious fact that their dishonesty would inevitably be exposed. Then he reminded himself that his own newspapers were full of tales of such foolish fraudsters, who, regardless of the obvious consequences, were quite unable to resist temptation.
Sensing that she finally had his attention, Lily pushed the documents across the table again. ‘Please look these over…and I can offer one concrete promise—whatever happens, you will be compensated. Brett built two luxury villas near Dalyan and I have to arrange for them to be sold. Harris Travel does have some assets,’ she proclaimed in desperation.
But the biggest asset of all was seated just feet away from him, Rauf conceded, looking direct into her pleading violet-blue eyes, a kind of wonderment laced with cold, deep anger rising at volatile force inside him. He could not credit her gall! How dared she feed him such falsehoods? How could she think that he would have agreed to their meeting without having all the facts at his disposal? That Lily should face him with outright lies proved beyond all doubt that she was involved up to her throat in blatant deception! That was the moment that Rauf decided to take a harder line with Lily.
Anxiety holding her taut, Lily noted how very still Rauf had become and her attention lingered on the semi-screened shimmer of his unreadable gaze. Then even as she watched Rauf reached out and swept up the Harris Travel documents he had earlier disdained, sending a surge of hope travelling through her. ‘I’m not making any promises,’ he asserted in a dark, deep, honeyed drawl that sent the oddest little shiver down her spine.
‘Oh, no, of course not…I wouldn’t expect that at this point,’ Lily hastened to assure him, almost sick with relief at his change of heart and certain that he would be more sympathetic once he had gone over those papers.
‘But the amount of time that this tangled affair will consume only comes at a price.’ Rauf moved in for the kill, knowing just how much he would revel in making Lily dance to his tune while he kept her in suspense. Hadn’t she once done the same to him in a much more primitive way? With raw contempt, he recalled the pseudo-nervous squeaks he had been made to suffer that summer while she had swerved between brief bouts of melting enthusiasm to keep him hooked and sudden attacks of timidity. She had played him like a violin virtuoso, convincing him one hundred per cent that he’d been dealing with a very nervous virgin. But on this occasion, he had the whip hand.
‘A…price?’ In confusion, Lily frowned, her heart hammering as she noted the gleam of gold in his arresting gaze.
Rauf angled his arrogant dark head back with the measured and confident timing of a hunter about to spring a trap. ‘In this world everything comes at a price…haven’t you learnt that yet?’
‘I’m not sure I follow…’ Her oval face taut, a frown marked her smooth brow.
A faint sardonic smile lightened Rauf’s lean, dark features. ‘It’s very simple. If I have to go through these documents in detail, I need your help.’
Her frown evaporating at that statement, Lily sat forward
with an air of eagerness, soft blue eyes brightening. ‘Certainly…that’s not a problem. How could you think it would be?’
‘I’m only here in Bodrum for a few hours. Since I have a board meeting in Istanbul tomorrow, I’ll be flying back there this evening. Later tomorrow, however, I’m going to my country estate and I suggest that you join me there and stay for a few days,’ Rauf murmured levelly. ‘It would be more convenient to have you on hand to answer any queries I might have and assist in my inquiries.’
As Rauf delivered that bombshell Lily had parted her lips several times as if she’d been about to speak, but on each occasion caution had made her bite her tongue. She was unnerved by the prospect of staying as a guest in Rauf’s country home. However, in the circumstances, his request was a reasonable one. She could hardly expect him to fly back to the coast just for her benefit.
‘Yes, all right,’ Lily conceded tautly.
Rauf had had no doubt that she would agree and her obvious discomfiture surprised him not at all. Naturally, she could not refuse the opportunity to keep an eye on the course of his inquiries because she would be afraid that he might turn up evidence that would incriminate her and might even be hoping for the chance to bury it again. At the same time, however, she had to continue to play the innocent. Before he took her to Sonngul, he would ensure that they made an unannounced detour to view the ‘villas’ she had proffered as assets. Even the cleverest liar could not hope to lie her way out of what he intended to confront her with!
‘When would you like me to come to your home?’ Lily prompted uncomfortably. ‘Is it far from here?’
‘Quite some distance. I’ll make arrangements for you to be picked up at your hotel tomorrow morning at eleven. I’ll meet you at the airport, so that we can travel on to Sonngul together.’ Studying the soft pink fullness of her lips, Rauf was picturing her splayed like a wanton temptress across his magnificent bed at the old house where he had, out of respect for his family, never taken a woman. Would he…or wouldn’t he take advantage of her present eagerness to please? No, he decided with fierce determination, he would not. He would take no woman to his bed on such sordid terms.
‘Thank you. I appreciate your kindness in making time for this.’ Lily felt her lips tingle from his glinting scrutiny and a wave of slow, painful colour warmed her fair complexion. In the pulsing atmosphere, her mouth ran dry and her breathing pattern quickened. She recognised her own excitement, her longing for him to touch her, was shamed by it but not to the degree she had once been when her own contrary physical responses had scared and confused her. But that had not been Rauf’s fault or, indeed, even her own fault, she conceded with pained regret.
Rauf was offended by that unsought and forbidden image of Lily ornamenting his bed, and his lean, strong face was grim. He could not give credence to the smallest doubt of her guilt now: she had played her part in defrauding him. Once he had assembled the necessary evidence, he would hand her over to the police. He would do what was right and would not be swayed by her desirability or his own lust into compromising either his own ethical code or the honour of the Kasabian family. There should be no distinction between his treatment of Lily and any other wrongdoer. In daring to approach him with her lies and invite his investigation of the facts, she would discover that she had merely precipitated her own punishment and, even worse, had done so in a country with a judicial system far less liberal than that of her own.
That decision etched in stone on his soul, Rauf rose upright, his brilliant dark eyes cool and bright as a mountain spring. ‘I’m afraid I must close our meeting here—I have a lunch engagement to keep.’
Disconcerted by that sudden conclusion to their meeting, Lily scrambled up in even greater haste, but by then she had already lost Rauf’s attention. Following his frowning gaze, she saw a tiny silver-haired old lady with a stick moving towards them, a helpful young man by her side.
Rauf ground his teeth together as his great-grandmother approached with all the unstoppable determination of a stick-propelled missile. One of the hotel staff must have let drop that his appointment was with a young and beautiful foreigner. That exciting disclosure would have been all it would have taken to shoot Nelispah Kasabian into the penthouse lift and down to the ground floor to satisfy her lively curiosity.
‘Mrs Kasabian says…’ The hotel executive acting as Nelispah’s guide and translator skimmed Rauf a strained glance of apology before turning to address Lily. ‘Mrs Kasabian says…what a lovely dress you are wearing!’
Rauf blinked and then scrutinised the billowing folds of Lily’s shroud. Yes, he supposed a dress that only hinted that an actual female body existed beneath it was right down his very modest great-grandmother’s street. The entire family and their staff conspired to ensure that Nelispah’s delicate sensibilities were protected from the shocking moral laxity of a world that would distress her for her heart was weak. Fortunately, she did not watch television or even read the family newspapers because she believed that her late husband would not have approved of her engaging in either activity.
‘I have the honour of introducing you to my great-grandmother, Nelispah Kasabian…Lily Harris.’ Rauf performed the introduction with gritty reluctance but spoke in soft, gentle Turkish to the little woman, who barely reached his chest in height.
‘Please tell her how very happy I am to meet her.’ Lily returned Mrs Kasabian’s big, beaming smile with warm appreciation.
Resting a frail hand on Rauf’s supportive arm, Nelispah chattered on in Turkish while Rauf employed a fast covert signal to send her translator into silenced retreat. ‘Lily hanim has a sweet smile. I like what I see in this young woman’s face,’ his great-grandmother confided with alarming enthusiasm. ‘Would she like to join us for lunch and tell us about herself and her family?’
Striving not to wince at the threat of what might emerge were Lily to come into contact with the matriarchal inter-rogation team, Rauf depressed that hope and, with a quiet word of apology to Lily, he walked the old lady back towards the lift. Seeing the affection that had softened his stunning eyes, Lily glanced away again, pained by that contrast to Rauf’s abrasive treatment of her.
But then this was a business matter, not a personal one, she reminded herself doggedly. Evidently, Harris Travel had messed up big time when it came to that contract. Had Brett been responsible for that? Although Lily loathed her sister’s ex-husband, she knew that both Hilary and her father had been very impressed, not only by the efficient way in which Brett had run the family business, but also by the long hours he had worked. Profits might have sunk to a dismal level but nobody had blamed Brett for that reality. After all, it was hardly his fault that another travel agency had opened up in competition in the same town.
Whatever, Lily was uneasily aware that Rauf had only been willing to relent after she had mentioned the villas that were to be sold. What was going to happen if those payments made into the wrong account could not be tracked down and retrieved? And if the cash from the sale of the villas had to go to Rauf rather than Harris Travel, would Hilary still be able to stay in business? Deciding to wait until she had concrete facts at her disposal before passing on any bad news to her sister, Lily tensed as Rauf returned to her side.
‘My limo will take you back to your hotel,’ Rauf imparted, shortening his long, fluid stride to her slower pace to walk her outside.
On the pavement, she hovered and stole a strained glance up at him, intimidated and troubled by his continuing detachment. ‘This business stuff aside…can’t we still be friends?’ she heard herself ask in a rush.
As he met her beautiful blue eyes seething derision at that appeal flamed through Rauf’s big, powerful frame, hardening his superb bone structure, firing his fantastic eyes to raw, shimmering gold. It infuriated him that once upon a time he had swallowed her every mushy sentence. ‘I’m not five years old and neither are you.’
Lily flushed in embarrassment and cringed for her own impulsive tongue.
‘O
n the other hand, güzelim,’ Rauf growled soft and low as he reached for her with two lean, purposeful hands and pulled her to him on a surge of anger so strong he did not even question what he was doing, ‘I hate to disappoint a woman.’
Pinned into startling connection with six feet four inches of hard, masculine muscle and power, her heart pounding like crazy, Lily gasped, ‘Rauf—?’
His wide, sensual mouth came down on hers with explosive force, all the passion of the volatile nature he usually kept in check powering to the surface to drive that kiss. For an instant Lily froze in total shock and then, without any mental prompting she recognised, she stretched up on tiptoe and wrapped her slim arms round his neck. As the first wild wave of response rocked through her trembling length, she loosed a low moan, angling her head back, letting the erotic plunge of his tongue feed from the sweetness of her mouth.
With an abruptness that left Lily in a turmoil of confusion, Rauf set her free again. A dark line of febrile colour scoring his taut cheekbones, he was appalled both by his own reckless disregard of his surroundings and by her unexpected encouragement. Trust Lily to change her game plan when he could least afford her to do so! Such public displays were frowned on by his people. What the hell had come over him?
Her lush mouth reddened from the fiery imprint of his, Lily focused on Rauf with dazed eyes and a helpless surge of pride in herself. She had stayed in his arms without succumbing to an attack of unreasonable fear. Finally making herself acknowledge those disturbing feelings and openly discuss what had caused them with a counsellor the previous year had worked.
‘That will not be repeated,’ Rauf breathed with icy emphasis, yanking open the door of the long silver limo waiting by the kerb with his own hand. ‘There is nothing between us now.’
Then why had he touched her in the first place? Stiff with hurt bewilderment, Lily climbed into the opulent car. She wished she had pushed him away, indeed done anything other than thrown her arms round him in encouragement. She was furious with herself. Here she was almost twenty-four years old, still a virgin and still, it seemed, as immature as an adolescent. Obviously Rauf had reacted to the willing signals that she must have been putting out! On the strength of that demeaning conviction, Lily stopped being angry and felt that she had asked to be humiliated.