At the Ruthless Billionaire's Command

by Carole Mortimer

  She leaned back against one of the kitchen cupboards, arms crossed defensively in front of her chest.

  ‘Of course.’

  Gregorio stood up in what was now a very tidy apartment. All the boxes had been emptied and removed, the furniture was neatly arranged, and several photographs of Lia and her father had been placed in prominent places.

  ‘I liked your father very much—but obviously you choose not to believe that,’ he said impatiently, acknowledging her sceptical snort.

  ‘I have no reason to believe anything you say.’

  ‘And I have no reason to lie to you.’ He scowled. ‘Lia, De la Cruz Industries did not withdraw from the negotiations to purchase your father’s company.’

  ‘Of course you did—’

  ‘No,’ he stated evenly. ‘Your father was the one who withdrew from our offer.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous.’ Lia pushed away from the kitchen unit, her movements restless as she walked into the larger area of the sitting room. ‘Why on earth would he do that when he was on the verge of bankruptcy and so badly needed to sell Fairbanks Industries?’

  ‘In light of the current FSA investigation into the company, I think we may assume it was because he had discovered some...discrepancy.’

  ‘What sort of discrepancy?’

  ‘I believe several million pounds were transferred from the company accounts to offshore bank accounts.’

  ‘You believe or you know?’

  ‘I know,’ he confirmed quietly.

  ‘My father did not steal from his own company, if that’s what you’re implying!’ Her hands were clenched at her sides.

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Then who did?’

  Gregorio shrugged his shoulders. ‘Only a limited number of people had the means, and access to the bank accounts affected.’

  She frowned as she thought over what Gregorio had told her.

  He’d said her father had withdrawn from the negotiations to sell Fairbanks Industries. That he had done so because he had discovered someone had been stealing from his company.

  But who?

  As Gregorio had said, only a few people had access to the company bank accounts.

  Her father, obviously.

  And Lia, as a precaution—in case anything should ever happen to him and she needed access, he’d explained. How ironic that was, in the circumstances.

  The two vice presidents of the company...

  The accounts department only had limited access—not enough to be able to transfer funds from company accounts to another one.

  There was no one else except—

  Lia gave Gregorio a startled glance. ‘Do you happen to know who he suspected?’

  ‘I think you have already guessed the answer to that question.’

  There was only one answer, if she eliminated everyone else. But it simply wasn’t an answer Lia could give any credence to.

  David had not only been her father’s lawyer but her fiancé when the embezzlement had supposedly taken place. Besides which, his family was incredibly wealthy. There was no incentive for David to steal money from her father’s company.

  Lord knew she had no reason to think kindly of David, after he had let her down so badly, but she simply couldn’t believe the man she had intended to marry was capable of the things Gregorio had just revealed to her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘YOU’RE WRONG.’ SHE gave a firm shake of her head.

  Gregorio had watched the play of emotions on Lia’s face. Puzzlement. Dawning realisation. Shock. Doubt. Followed seconds later by this outright denial.

  ‘Are you saying that because you know I’m wrong or because you hope that I am...?’

  She looked at him blankly for several seconds. ‘I’ll admit David ultimately proved not to be the man I thought he was when I agreed to marry him, but he isn’t the thief you’re implying he is either.’

  ‘Again, I ask—is that because you know for certain I’m wrong or because you don’t want to believe I’m right?’

  She straightened her shoulders defensively. ‘David comes from a wealthy family. He’s a partner in one of the most prestigious law firms in London. His father owns that law firm, for goodness’ sake.’

  ‘And you consider that proof of his innocence?’

  ‘Well. No. Of course it isn’t proof.’ She shot Gregorio an impatient glance. ‘But there is absolutely no reason why he would have stolen from my father.’ Her chin rose in stubborn denial. ‘David is a wealthy man in his own right.’

  ‘My sources tell me that Richardson has a serious gambling habit.’

  ‘Then your sources are wrong.’ She gave a disgusted shake of her head. ‘I went out with David for a year, was engaged to him for three months. David doesn’t gamble.’

  ‘I’m afraid he does. Excessively so. I am reliably informed that he lost over sixty thousand pounds in one casino alone last month.’

  She gave a pained frown. ‘But I never saw... There was never any hint... Can I really have been so wrong about him?’

  Gregorio had known this was going to be a difficult conversation, and that was the reason he had delayed having it for as long as he could. He had known Lia would have a problem believing her ex-fiancé was guilty of theft on a grand scale, despite the other man having deserted her when she’d needed him. It was for this reason that Gregorio had been skirting around the edges of the subject for the past three days. He had known that once his suspicion was out in the open he would have no way of retracting it. That Lia would hate him all the more because of it.

  Gregorio had no doubt the FSA would eventually find the missing funds, and the offshore bank account, but that would be the end of their investigation. They would have absolutely no jurisdiction in another country.

  Gregorio wasn’t hampered by such legalities. His own security people were even now following the money trail to the offshore bank account in the name of Madras Enterprises. He had no doubt they would eventually unravel the maze surrounding this mysterious company, and when they did Gregorio was sure they would be able to identify the owner of that company as being David Richardson.

  If Richardson was involved, then he had probably considered it prudent to distance himself from the Fairbanks family after Jacob’s death—starting with breaking his engagement to Lia. There was also the fact Lia was no longer wealthy, and Richardson was going to need a very wealthy wife with his obsessive gambling habit to satisfy.

  ‘If—Whoever is responsible... My father died because of the strain he was put under!’ Tears glistened in her eyes.

  Gregorio’s mouth thinned. ‘I will get to the bottom of who is responsible, Lia, this I promise you,’ he assured her grimly. ‘And when I do they will be made to pay for what they did.’

  ‘It won’t bring my father back.’

  ‘No.’ What else could he say to a statement like that?

  She dropped down into one of the armchairs. ‘Then it really doesn’t matter who’s to blame, does it?’

  She leaned her head back, closed her eyes.

  It mattered to Gregorio. If David Richardson was responsible for the embezzlement then he couldn’t be allowed to get away with what he’d done to the Fairbanks family. Nor could he be left in a position of power where he could do the same thing to other clients who put their trust him as their lawyer.

  ‘Did you tell me these things so that I won’t hate you any more?’

  Gregorio’s eyes narrowed as he looked across to see Lia now watching him guardedly. He could read nothing from her expression.

  ‘I told you so that you would know the truth,’ he said cautiously.

  ‘But also so that I don’t hate you any more?’

  ‘Is this a trick question?’ He eyed her warily. ‘Do I damn myself whichever way I answer it?’

  ‘Probably.’ She gave a humourless smile as she stood. ‘I think you should leave now. My head is buzzing with all that you’ve just told me, and I need to get my things ready for work in the m
orning.’

  His gaze became searching. ‘Are you going to be okay?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Lia wished she felt as positive as she sounded. The things Gregorio had told her tonight were disturbing, to say the least. She still didn’t believe David was involved, but if her father really had discovered that someone was embezzling funds from Fairbanks Industries, and had withdrawn from the de la Cruz offer because of it, then she very much doubted that both men could be wrong in their suspicions.

  She had only just started to put her life back together, and now she felt exposed and vulnerable again.

  Moving in to her apartment and starting a new job had been positive things. A fresh start. Moving forward after weeks of feeling as if she were stuck in a quagmire of emotions with no way out.

  Gregorio had given her a lot of information to think about tonight. Information about David that, if true, meant he was responsible to driving her father to his death. It also seriously brought into question the reason he had pursued her and asked her to marry him.

  And her own ability to know if a person was trustworthy or not.

  She had trusted David, and even if it turned out that he was innocent of Gregorio’s accusations, David had still let her down by leaving her to deal with her father’s death alone.

  She had distrusted Gregorio the first timeshe met him, and yet he had done nothing but try to help her. Albeit for reasons of his own, he had apparently been protecting her this whole time—had been instrumental, she was sure, in helping her to acquire her job. By doing that he had given her back some of the pride and confidence in herself she had lost.

  Was it possible that the good guy was really the bad guy and the bad guy was really the good guy?

  Lia was giving herself a headache, trying to make sense of it.

  ‘I’ll walk you to the door,’ she offered distractedly.

  Gregorio knew he had no choice but to accept that it was time for him to leave and he slowly followed Lia down the hallway to the apartment door.

  Lia had a lot of new information to think about. But he didn’t doubt for a moment that David Richardson was involved in this up to his pretty-boy handsome neck.

  ‘Thank you.’

  Gregorio blinked as he focused on Lia standing hesitantly beside the still closed door to her apartment. ‘Sorry?’

  She lifted her chin. ‘I appreciate it must have been difficult for you to tell me those things.’

  Gregorio drew in a slow and steadying breath, aware that Lia was placing a tentative trust in him.

  ‘That doesn’t mean I forgive you.’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘Only that for the moment I’m cautiously giving you the benefit of the doubt.’

  He couldn’t help but smile at her begrudging trust. ‘I can live with that.’

  ‘And call off whoever you have following me,’ she added with a frown. ‘It makes me uncomfortable to think of someone watching my every move.’

  Gregorio would rather Lia felt a little discomfort than any harm came to her. If Richardson thought for one moment she knew of his duplicity there was no knowing what he would do. For the moment the other man felt secure, with his funds in an offshore company, but if Richardson ever began to doubt that security that might quickly change.

  ‘Gregorio?’

  He grimaced. ‘Your father would have wanted someone to take care of you.’

  She raised auburn brows. ‘I doubt he ever imagined it would be you.’

  ‘No,’ he conceded wryly. ‘Am I allowed a goodnight kiss?’

  Lia burst out laughing. Which was pretty incredible after the conversation she’d just had with this man. But she couldn’t help her response. It was so ludicrous for a man like Gregorio to ask if he could do something he had decided he wanted to do.

  ‘When did you last ask a lady’s permission to kiss her?’

  ‘Never,’ he acknowledged dryly.

  She continued to chuckle. ‘That’s honest, anyway.’

  ‘Your answer...?’

  Despite the lightness of Gregorio’s tone, Lia could sense his inner tension. It was there in his expression, in the stiff set of his shoulders and the hands clenched at his sides.

  Long and elegant hands she had found herself studying as they ate dinner together. Everything about Gregorio was elegant and controlled. The way he moved. The way he ate. The way he talked. All calmly and elegantly done, and all firmly under his control.

  A part of Lia wanted to shake that control—if only for a few minutes.

  Besides, it was very narrow in this hallway, and made even more so by Gregorio’s physically overwhelming presence. She could feel the heat of his body so close to her own, and breathe in that seductive aftershave...

  ‘Yes.’ She looked directly into his fathomless black eyes.

  His brows rose. ‘Yes?’

  Lia felt a smile parting her lips. It felt good to smile again. In a genuine show of happiness rather than the polite curving of her lips she had been showing everyone for months now. Besides, she had just succeeded in surprising the hell out of Gregorio.

  ‘Yes,’ she repeated, more firmly.

  She didn’t need the warmth of another human being tonight, she wanted it—and not just anyone’s warmth either. Gregorio’s. She very badly wanted to know how it felt to be held and kissed by Gregorio de la Cruz.

  Gregorio hesitated no longer and moved in closer to Lia, his hands moving up to cup her cheeks as he lifted her face, his gaze holding hers as he slowly lowered and tilted his head to claim her lips with his own.

  Soft lips parted slightly beneath his as he continued to kiss her. Tasting. Sipping. Lia’s hands moved up to grasp hold of his wrists and she moved up on tiptoe to increase the pressure of her lips against his.

  Gregorio felt as if he had been in a constant state of arousal for days...weeks—which he had—and now he was actually kissing Lia again he never wanted to stop.

  His arms moved about her waist and he pulled her body in tight against the hardness of his as he deepened the kiss. His tongue swept lightly across and then between her lips to enter the welcoming heat beyond.

  It felt as if he was inside Lia as she sucked his tongue in deeper still, her cheeks hollowing around his invading tongue in a parody of how it would feel to have him thrusting between her thighs. Hot and wet, and oh-so-good.

  Gregorio gave a groan and began to stroke his tongue in and out of her mouth, his arousal throbbing hot and heavy in response as he placed his hands on Lia’s bottom and pulled her body in even tighter against his own.

  Lia gave a low moan, her breathing ragged as she felt the length of Gregorio’s arousal pressing against the softness of her abdomen. Heat built between her thighs in response. Her nipples felt hard as unripe berries, and achingly sensitive against the restricting lace of her bra.

  She pressed in closer still as she released Gregorio’s wrists to slide her hands up his chest, until her fingers became entangled in the dark and silky hair at his nape. She couldn’t seem to get close enough—she wanted more, ached for so much more.

  Gregorio broke the kiss to trail his lips hotly down the arched column of her throat. ‘Can I stay?’ he asked throatily. ‘Please, Lia, let me—’

  ‘Yes.’

  She didn’t even allow him to finish. She didn’t want to talk—she wanted...wanted...him. She wanted Gregorio, and the mindless pleasure she already knew they would have together.

  David had been her only lover to date, and Lia had always assumed that her lack of orgasm was a fault on her part, not his. Had thought that they needed time to adjust and become accustomed to each other in that way. That pleasure would come with the physical familiarity of being married to each other.

  But just a few minutes of being in Gregorio’s arms, of having his lips and hands on her, and Lia felt as if she was about to spontaneously combust. As if something inside her was about to burst free, taking her to a place she had never been before.

  ‘I said yes.’ She frowned as Gregorio continued to
look at her searchingly.

  ‘Are you going to hate me again in the morning?’

  ‘I might hate you again later on tonight, but right now hate is the last thing I’m feeling. Can we not dissect this, Gregorio?’ She frowned as those black eyes continued to question her. ‘Conversation is very overrated, you know.’

  His tension broke as he smiled. ‘You are going to be bossy in bed,’ he decided with satisfaction.

  ‘I’m going to be bossy out of bed if we don’t go to my bedroom very soon!’

  Gregorio chuckled softly as he placed his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her up off the floor. ‘Wrap your legs around my waist,’ he encouraged.

  ‘Now who’s being bossy...?’

  Lia trailed off, her breathing becoming erratic as Gregorio turned to walk down the hallway towards her bedroom.

  ‘Oh, God...’

  Her arms clung tightly about his neck and she buried her face against his throat as each step he took ground her body sensually against his, sending wave after wave of pleasure coursing through her body.

  ‘That is so... Gregorio!’

  She gasped as the tension between her thighs intensified before suddenly being released, engulfing her in heat and an overwhelming pleasure that caused the whole of her body to tremble and shake as she rode out that release to its last shuddering throb.

  So that was what the ultimate in physical pleasure felt like!

  That connection men and women throughout the ages had killed for.

  Lia now understood every one of those emotions.

  Her orgasm had been a pleasure such as she had never dreamed of. Pure ecstasy. It had connected her to Gregorio in a way she had never experienced before with anyone else.

  There was none of the awkwardness or embarrassment she had always felt with David as Gregorio carried her across her darkened bedroom and lay her down on the bed before lying on his side next to her.

  ‘Are you okay?’ He lifted a hand to caress the hair back from her temple.

  ‘Better than okay.’ She nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

  ‘Light on or off?’ he queried softly.

  ‘On,’ Lia decided, and she turned to switch on the lamp on her bedside table.