A tight smile angled across his lips. ‘I’ll drink to that,’ he said, tilting the glass to his mouth. He swallowed down half the brandy, and then he swung his leg to the floor. ‘How have you been, Danielle?’
She stared at him. ‘Did you come all the way from Buenos Aires to ask after my health?’
Lee laughed. ‘At least that hasn’t changed,’ he said, drinking down the rest of the brandy. ‘You still know how to get straight to the point.’ He rose and started towards the kitchen. ‘Mind if I help myself?’
‘I’ll do it,’ she said, hurrying after him. ‘You just sit and…’
But he had already reached the kitchen and picked up the bottle. ‘I don’t need mollycoddling,’ he said sharply.
Danielle’s mouth tightened as she watched him. The lights were brighter in here; they illuminated his face with cruelty. He looked even worse than she’d thought. There was dark stubble on his cheeks and chin, but under it his skin had a greyish cast.
What in God’s name was he doing here?
‘What do you need, then?’ she asked.
Lee stared at her. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
She swallowed. ‘Just what I said. You—you don’t look very well. And now you—you turn up in my living room and…’ She inhaled sharply. ‘Are you ill? Are your legs—?’
He put the brandy bottle down on the counter. ‘Do you care?’
His voice was cold. The sound of it sent a chill along her flesh. No, she wanted to say, just as coldly, no, I don’t care a damn. If you’ve come here for my help, you can go straight to hell.
Her shoulders sagged. It was a nice, satisfying thought—but it was a lie. Lee despised her. He’d made that clear enough. Still, if he was hurting, if he needed her…
No. She loved him, but she couldn’t help him. Not this time. The price was too high.
She turned away from him. ‘If you’ve finished your brandy,’ she said, ‘I think you’d better—’
Lee covered the distance between them quickly, and his hands closed on her shoulders.
‘Dammit!’ He spun her towards him and glared down at her, his eyes dark and dangerous. ‘I spent eight and a half hours on a plane to Miami, another God knows how many in a rental car—’
‘Is that supposed to be my fault?’ she said, lifting her eyes to his. Yes, she thought, get angry with him. Remember how he treated you that last day. It’s better than—than…
‘Aren’t you even going to ask me why I’m here?’
She took a breath. ‘All right,’ she said quietly. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I was going to fly,’ he said, glowering at her, ignoring the question he’d demanded she ask. ‘I’d have been here hours ago if I had, and my damned legs wouldn’t be reminding me that they’re a hundred years old, even if the rest of me isn’t.’
‘Then why didn’t you?’ she said. ‘And stop trying to make it sound as if it’s my fault you left Argentina, my fault you drove all that rotten distance, my fault you—’
‘Flying was too quick,’ he said angrily, his eyes sweeping across her face. ‘I wanted to get here, but—but not until—not until…’ He fell silent and stared at her while the seconds ticked away, and then his hands dropped to his sides. ‘God,’ he said softly, ‘I went over this a dozen times the past thousand miles. I had it all planned—what I was going to say, how I was going to say it…’ He drew in his breath. ‘That’s why I drove. I needed the time to work things out. But—but…’
Danielle stared at him. ‘To work what things out? You’re not making any sense at all.’
Lee nodded. ‘Yeah. I know. I…’ He paused. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘maybe I’d—maybe I’d better leave. I—I shouldn’t have walked in on you this way.’
‘No!’ Her cry of desperation startled her as much as him. It wasn’t what she’d meant to say; she’d meant to tell him that leaving was a good idea. Their eyes met, and Danielle swallowed drily. ‘I mean, you—you’ve had a long trip. You might as well…’ Her voice trembled, then broke. ‘Don’t go,’ she whispered. ‘Stay for a little while. Just for a—for a…’
She turned away quickly and put her hands to her face. Oh, God, where was her pride? She’d been so determined to remain in control, not to let him glimpse the pain in her heart.
‘Why should I?’ Lee’s hands bit into her shoulders. ‘You couldn’t wait to get rid of me the last time we were together.’
‘That’s not true. It was you who—’
He swung her towards him. ‘I want answers,’ he said sharply. ‘And I want them now.’
Danielle’s chin rose. ‘You can’t always get what you want, Lee. Maybe it’s time you learned that.’
His eyes flashed a warning. ‘Why did you let me make love to you that night?’
Danielle stared at him. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said. ‘Is that what this is all about? Did you come all this distance to start that nonsense again?’
‘I asked you a question, dammit. And I want an answer.’
‘Well, you’re not going to get one. Go away, Lee. Go back to Buenos Aires and—’
‘A few minutes ago, you begged me to stay.’
‘I didn’t beg,’ she said quickly. But she had, and they both knew it. Danielle felt her courage leak away like air from a balloon. Her gaze slipped from his and she looked down at the floor. ‘Do us both a favour,’ she said quietly. ‘Just—just go away.’
‘Look at me,’ Lee demanded.
‘No. For God’s sake, haven’t you humiliated me enough? Must you—?’
His hand cupped her face. ‘I said look at me, Danielle.’
The pressure of his fingers was impossible to withstand. Her head came up slowly, but not her eyes. Whatever game he was playing now was the cruellest one of all. She wouldn’t—she wouldn’t…
‘Danielle.’ His voice was soft, as was the touch of his hand as he wiped away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. ‘Danielle, sweetheart, look at me. Please.’
Slowly, slowly, she raised her eyes to his. Her heartbeat quickened. He was smiling, a sweet smile as intimate as any he’d given her on that faraway night.
‘Lee?’
Her whisper hung in the air, a thousand questions dancing within it, and he answered them all by kissing her.
Danielle trembled. This was crazy. What was going on here? A man whose life was excitement and glamour wouldn’t walk away from a Grand Prix, fly across a continent, then drive who knew how many miles just so he could kiss a woman he’d taken to his bed one long-ago night during a hot summer in Provence.
Her eyes opened slowly as he took his mouth from hers. His hands clasped her face and he smiled again.
‘You still haven’t answered my question,’ he said softly. ‘Tell me why you made love with me in Provence.’
‘That’s—that’s a stupid question. I don’t have to answer—’
Lee’s expression became serious. ‘Yes, you do.’
‘I don’t. And I won’t.’
She struggled wildly as he bent towards her. His mouth closed over hers and he kissed her slowly, deeply. No, she told herself, no, don’t kiss him back.
But it was too late. She was melting against him, losing herself in his kiss. Lee’s hands slid to her shoulders, then to her back. His arms went around her, gathering her tightly to him. Danielle lifted her arms and twined them around his neck. It had been so long since she’d held him, so long since she’d felt the silken stroke of his mouth on hers.
A smothered sound caught in her throat, part-sob, part-laugh. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe she really was tucked into her own bed, imagining everything.
‘Danielle.’ Her eyes opened slowly as Lee cupped her shoulders and put her from him. He was watching her, a funny little smile on his face. ‘It’s true, isn’t it?’
‘What’s true?’ she said. But she knew. She knew.
‘You’re in love with me.’
Danielle’s mouth trembled. ‘I’m not.’
&nb
sp; He laughed softly, triumphantly. ‘You are. You have been, all along. That’s the reason you came into my arms that night.’
She shook her head. ‘No. I don’t know why you’d think such a ridiculous thing.’
His hands moved to clasp her face again. ‘I can give you one very good reason,’ he said. ‘Because I’m in love with you.’
The world stood still. She was afraid to move, afraid to breathe—surely, if she did, this magic moment would vanish. But Lee’s breath was warm on her cheek, his fingers gentle as they traced the curve of her mouth, and suddenly a wild elation filled her.
‘I think I should warn you,’ she said, her voice shaking just a little, ‘that if you’re a dream, Lee Bradford, I’m going to be very angry when I wake up.’
Lee laughed. ‘If I’m a dream,’ he said, dropping light kisses along the curve of her cheek, ‘I’m the first I ever heard of whose legs feel as if they might fall off any minute.’
‘Oh, Lee!’ Danielle clasped his hand and tugged him after her to the sofa. ‘Your poor legs.’
He sank down on the sofa and pulled her into his lap. ‘Never mind my legs,’ he said. His eyes grew dark. ‘Where I come from, a woman’s supposed to make an appropriate response when a man says he loves her.’
Danielle smiled. ‘I love you,’ she said, and then she threw back her head. ‘I love you,’ she repeated, ‘I love—’
Lee pulled her to him and silenced her with a kiss. When it ended, he scowled at her.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he demanded. ‘That night, the next morning—’
‘Why didn’t you tell me? Where I come from, a man says those words first.’
‘But I did tell you. Hell, I’d spent the night telling you I loved you.’ His mouth narrowed. ‘I was sure you loved me, too. But the next morning, when I asked you…’
Danielle stared at him. ‘Asked me what?’
‘Don’t you remember? I asked you to admit the truth.’
The breath rushed from her lungs. Tell me, he’d said, give me the satisfaction of hearing you say it. And she’d misunderstood, she’d thought—she’d thought…
Danielle shook her head. ‘I didn’t understand. I—I thought you were boasting.’
Lee’s eyebrows rose. ‘Well, that, too. It had been a night to boast about, hadn’t it?’ He smiled and drew her closer. ‘Danielle,’ he said, his smile fading, ‘what went wrong that morning? Why did you let me think you’d made love to me out of some misguided sense of compassion?’
She sighed. ‘I was a fool,’ she said softly. ‘I thought you felt grateful to me.’
‘Of course I was grateful. You brought me back to life.’ He kissed her gently. ‘Loving you was the reason I’d worked so damned hard to get well.’
She ran her tongue over her lips. ‘And—and then I heard you on the phone with Val. You made a date with her…’
Lee sighed. ‘Val called because Wexler had told her my cast was coming off that day. He wanted some information from me, and she offered to collect it. I guess she’d decided it wouldn’t hurt to see if I was going to be myself again or not. She said she would take a taxi to the cottage—but I didn’t want anyone or anything to intrude on us. The only way I could get rid of her was by agreeing to meet her. I suppose it was stupid not to tell you—but I knew how uncomfortable she made you feel.’
‘It was because I knew—I knew the two of you had been lovers,’ Danielle said softly.
Lee shook his head. ‘We were never lovers. Val made it obvious that she wanted to sleep with me,’ he said, his gaze steady on hers. ‘She’d already worked her way through the director and the second male lead. But I wasn’t interested. She collects men instead of autographs, and I had my fill of that kind of thing a long time ago.’
Danielle’s eyes searched his. ‘And—and you’d already phoned for a taxi. You’d planned on leaving me behind when you went to Nice.’
He nodded. ‘Yes. The cast was coming off—that was going to be my moment of truth, and I had to face it alone.’
‘Alone? Why did you have to do it alone?’
‘For the same reason I didn’t tell you I loved you. I was afraid I might be crippled. And I didn’t want to tie you to half a man.’
Danielle’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. ‘You’re a fool, Lee Bradford,’ she whispered. ‘Don’t you know I’d love you and want you no matter what?’
He smiled and stroked the curls back from her temples. ‘I’ve dreamed about you these last months,’ he said. ‘I hated you and loved you at the same time, and it was killing me. How could she have come to me that night without loving me? I kept thinking. How could she have seen me through those awful weeks without caring?’
‘Oh, Lee. I did care. And I loved you.’
‘Hush,’ he whispered, kissing her tenderly. ‘I know that now.’ He sighed. ‘I wish I could say it came through some stroke of brilliance, darling. But the truth is that I was lying awake the other night, thinking about you, remembering how it had been between us—and suddenly I remembered what had happened just before the accident, when you and I were together.’
Danielle’s smile dimmed. ‘How you hated me that evening,’ she said softly. ‘It broke my heart when I saw the way you looked at me, the disgust in your eyes—and then, that last morning at the cottage, I saw that same terrible expression on your face. No,’ she said quickly, putting her hand over his mouth, ‘don’t try to explain. Whatever it was, is over. I don’t want to know about it.’
Lee kissed her palm, then caught her hand in his. ‘But you’re wrong, my love. I never hated you, not for a second. Yes, you saw disgust in my face the night of the crash—disgust for myself. I was going to seduce you—it was why I’d brought you to the inn.’ He smiled at her. ‘But then I kissed you, and I couldn’t take you inside, even though I knew you would go with me.’
‘I would have,’ she said. ‘I wanted you so, Lee. I was in love with you already, even though I hadn’t admitted it to myself.’
‘You came into my arms as if—as if you’d waited all your life for me to find you. You kissed me as if you wanted to belong to me forever.’
Danielle nodded. ‘Yes. I remember.’
‘It was the same the night we made love at the cottage. And when I realised that, I saw the truth. I knew I’d made a terrible mistake, that you’d loved me and wanted me before I’d been hurt, before you’d become my angel of mercy.’ He smiled into her eyes. ‘And I knew that pity wasn’t what had brought you into my arms.’
Danielle smiled back at him. ‘I’ve always loved you,’ she said softly. ‘Somehow, I think I must have loved you all my life.’
Lee’s arms tightened around her. ‘I said such awful things to you that last day. I didn’t mean any of them. It was just that my heart was broken.’
She looped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his. ‘I said some foolish things, too. Eddie—Eddie had nothing to do with why I wanted to help you recover, Lee. I did it because I loved you.’
He smiled. ‘I’ll forgive you if you’ll forgive me. How does that sound?’
Danielle laughed softly. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, tilting her head back and looking at him. ‘You might have to convince me.’
Lee grinned. ‘Maybe we can work something out.’ He shifted her in his arms and got to his feet. ‘Which way’s the bedroom? We can start our negotiating in there.’
‘That way,’ she said. ‘But I warn you, I drive a hard bargain.’
‘You won’t get anywhere until you agree to the ground rules,’ Lee warned as he carried her through the living room. ‘First, you have to promise to stick with me even though I’ve decided to give up racing.’
Her heart soared. ‘Give it up? Oh, Lee, I’m so glad. I mean, I know you love racing. But I’ve worried so these past months…’
He paused beside her bed and gave her a deep, lingering kiss. ‘The second part of the bargain’s tougher,’ he whispered. ‘You have to agree to marry me.�
�
Her eyes glistened. ‘I don’t know,’ she said with a toss of her head. ‘That might take some convincing.’
Lee smiled as he lowered her to the bed. ‘How much?’
Danielle caught his face between her hands and brought his mouth to hers. ‘Hours’ worth,’ she murmured. ‘Until dawn, at least.’
He laughed softly as he came down beside her. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’
Danielle sighed as Lee’s arms closed around her. After a lifetime of searching, the quest was ended.
She had found Lee—and she had found love.
* * * * *
If you loved this Sandra Marton title, you will love the newest 8 book series from Harlequin Presents®…
The Billionaire’s Legacy
A search for truth and the promise of passion!
For nearly sixty years, Italian billionaire, Giovanni Di Sione has a kept a shocking secret. Now, nearing the end of his days, he wants his grandchildren to know their true heritage.
He sends them each on a journey to find his “Lost Mistresses,” a collection of love tokens—the only remaining evidence of his lost identity, his lost history…his lost love.
With each item collected the Di Sione siblings take one step closer to the truth…and embark on a passionate journey that none could have expected!
Find out what happens in
The Billionaire’s Legacy
Di Sione’s Innocent Conquest by Carol Marinelli
The Di Sione Secret Baby by Maya Blake
To Blackmail a Di Sione by Rachel Thomas
The Return of the Di Sione Wife by Caitlin Crews
Di Sione’s Virgin Mistress by Sharon Kendrick
A Di Sione for the Greek’s Pleasure by Kate Hewitt
A Deal for the Di Sione Ring by Jennifer Hayward
The Last Di Sione Claims His Prize by Maisey Yates
Collect all 8 volumes!
ISBN: 9781460398548
The Ruthless Billionaire’s Redemption,
originally published as GARDEN OF EDEN
Copyright © 1990 by Sandra Marton
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
The Ruthless Billionaire’s Redemption Page 17