More difficult that he had imagined once he had removed Lia’s jacket, blouse and bra. Which had proved easy enough once he had removed the sling.
The physical removing of Lia’s clothes wasn’t the problem. It was being this close to her when she was completely naked from the waist up, the fullness of her nipples just a tempting breath away. That was enough to tax the restraint of any man—least of all one who had already enjoyed having those succulent nipples in his mouth.
Gregorio attempted to remove temptation by taking the long red T-shirt from the chest of drawers and quickly putting it on Lia before refastening the sling. The nightshirt covered her to mid-thigh.
He drew in a deep, controlling breath as he unzipped and removed her skirt, but his resolve to remain detached was shaken again as he looked at her wearing sexy panties, suspenders and stockings.
He could do this, damn it. He wasn’t an animal or a callow youth. He was a man of sophistication and experience. He shouldn’t be aroused just by looking at an injured woman dressed in an unbecoming red nightshirt—even if she was also wearing sexy suspenders.
Except he was.
Thank goodness the restrictive material of his jeans prevented that arousal from being too obvious.
‘Gregorio...?’
His distraction obviously wasn’t quite so easy to hide!
He dealt with the rest of Lia’s clothing with the minimum of contact with the heat of her silky skin, breathing a sigh of relief once he had her safely tucked beneath the bedcovers and could straighten and move away from the bed.
Lia looked...fragile. Her hair was a silky auburn cloud on the white pillow behind her, and her face was almost as pale. The outline of her body was slender beneath the duvet.
But it wasn’t just a physical fragility. Lia’s eyes were a smoky and unfocused grey, with dark shadows beneath them. No doubt some of that had been caused by the agony of having her arm broken, along with the medication she had been given to relieve the pain. But Gregorio had a feeling it was also an outward show of the turmoil of emotions she had to be feeling inside.
It must have been a shock when Richardson had attacked and threatened her in that way: the animal had broken her arm, damn it. She had intended marrying Richardson once—would no doubt have done so if her father hadn’t died and Richardson hadn’t revealed his true colours by breaking their engagement.
As far as Gregorio was concerned Lia had escaped being married to a man who one day would have become an abusive husband.
Lia, on the other hand, must feel not only foolish for ever having been taken in by Richardson, but also disillusioned with the whole concept of falling in love.
‘Try to get some sleep.’ Gregorio’s voice sounded harsher than he’d intended, and he made a concerted effort to control his anger. It was Richardson he was angry with, not Lia. ‘I will leave the door open, and I’ll be in my office or my bedroom if you need anything.’
‘Thank you.’ The heaviness of her lids was already making them close.
Gregorio hesitated at the door. ‘Would you like the light left on or turned off?’
‘On!’ She half sat up again in the bed. ‘Off.’ She grimaced as she sank back against the pillows. ‘I don’t know...’ She groaned.
‘We will compromise.’ He nodded. ‘I’ll leave the door open and the light on in the hallway, okay?’
‘Okay...’ She sighed wearily.
Gregorio adjusted the lighting before quietly leaving the bedroom. As promised, he left the door open.
Only once he had reached the sanctuary of his office did he release the anger that had been building and building inside him by slamming his fist against the door. It hurt him more than it hurt the wooden door, but he needed the release, the physical pain, after remaining calm for Lia’s sake for so long.
He wanted to hurt someone. And that someone was David Richardson. Because Lia was suffering the emotional and physical repercussions of the other man’s abuse.
He had known she was suffering physically, but her emotional trauma had shown itself in her immediate reaction to the thought of being left alone in the darkness of the bedroom. Lia was frightened, but too determined to appear strong to want Gregorio to see that fear. He had seen it anyway.
His expression was grim as he flexed his bruised knuckles before pouring himself a glass of brandy, carrying the glass across the room to sit in the chair behind his desk.
He swung his booted feet up to rest on the edge of the desk and turned his head to stare out of the window at the night-time skyline. Was Richardson still out there in the city somewhere, hiding? Or had he already left the country? Not that it mattered, because Gregorio wouldn’t give up the search—no matter how far Richardson had run.
Gregorio had no idea how long he sat there, sipping brandy and staring sightlessly out of the window, totally aware of Lia just feet away, almost naked in bed. He felt a certain relief when his cell phone vibrated in his jeans pocket and interrupted his reverie. His thoughts had been going round and round in ever decreasing circles, none of them pleasant.
He took out his cell phone and checked the caller ID before taking the call. ‘Sebastien,’ he greeted his brother tersely.
‘Who’s annoyed you now?’ Sebastien didn’t waste any time on pleasantries.
‘It is too long and too complicated a story to tell.’
‘Try...’ his brother drawled.
Gregorio gave him a condensed—and censored—version of the events of the past week.
The three brothers had always been close, having shared a common enemy: their father’s sometimes overbearing machismo. As adults the siblings had also become friends, and Sebastien was the closest thing Gregorio had to a confidant.
‘So Jacob Fairbanks’s daughter—Lia—is there with you now, in your hotel suite?’ Sebastien prompted speculatively.
‘She is asleep in one of the guest rooms, yes,’ Gregorio stated. ‘She has a cast on her broken arm and no particular liking for me,’ he added firmly. ‘Sebastien...?’ he prompted at his brother’s continued silence.
‘Just give me a second while I choose my words carefully, Rio...’ Sebastien spoke slowly. ‘Our proposed deal with Jacob Fairbanks was called off months ago, and you told me she slapped you on the face at his funeral—so what is Lia Fairbanks doing in your life now?’
Trust Sebastien to go straight to the heart of the matter.
The heart...?
Gregorio had physically wanted Lia from the moment he saw her in that restaurant four months ago. This past week he had come to know the Lia behind that physical beauty. To like her. For her strength. Her principles. Her loyalty—even if it occasionally proved to be misplaced!—and her love for her father and her friends. Her work ethic was also exemplary: Michael Harrington had already told Gregorio he believed Lia would become one of their most competent receptionists.
Had Gregorio come to like her or to love her?
Until this mess was sorted out and Lia was safe he had no intention of delving too deeply into what his feelings for her might be.
‘Taking a long time to answer, there, Rio,’ Sebastien mocked.
‘You are my brother—not my conscience!’
Sebastien chuckled. ‘And...?’
‘I feel a sense of obligation to ensure Lia’s safety,’ Gregorio answered him carefully.
‘Why?’
‘Because she is—Sebastien, her father—the only parent she had—is dead. David Richardson, her ex-fiancé, deserted her when she most needed him. He has now admitted to embezzling from her father’s company, and that is the reason Jacob called off his deal with us. Richardson left Lia alone until he knew the two of us were...acquainted...’ He substituted the word he had intended using. One afternoon in bed together did not make him and Lia lovers, and she had made it clear she didn’t intend to repeat the experience. ‘And then he attacked her, threatened her. He broke her arm, dammit!’
‘And you feel responsible for her?’
�
��Yes, I feel responsible for her,’ he repeated evenly.
Lia, standing outside in the hallway, overhearing Gregorio’s side of the conversation with his brother, hadn’t realised how much hearing those words spoken out loud would hurt until Gregorio said them. It was one thing to think that was what had motivated Gregorio’s continued interest in her—another entirely to hear him state as much to his brother.
She had slept for a couple of hours, only to wake up suddenly, totally disorientated until she remembered where she was and why. Once awake she had realised how thirsty she was, and had got out of bed, quietly leaving the bedroom so as not to disturb Gregorio on her way to the kitchen for a glass of water.
She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on his telephone conversation with his brother, but once she’d heard her name mentioned she hadn’t been able to walk away either.
Gregorio had saved her again this evening. He was always saving her from one disaster or another.
Because he feels responsible for me.
Well, that had to change. Maybe not right now, because it was far too late for her even to think of moving out of the hotel and finding somewhere else to stay tonight, and she was determined not to involve Cathy and Rick in any further acts of violence from David. But tomorrow, when she was feeling stronger and able to make other arrangements, she was going to stop being a burden on Gregorio and take control of her own life—as she had said she was going to.
Tomorrow.
* * *
‘Wake up, Lia! It is not real, bella, only a nightmare. Lia?’ Gregorio prompted more firmly as she continued to scream, the tears streaming from her closed eyes and down her cheeks as she fought off his attempts to take her in his arms.
Gregorio had drunk several more glasses of brandy before going to bed, knowing he was going to need the relaxant if he stood any chance of sleeping at all.
It had taken some time, but he had finally dozed off into a fitful slumber. Only to be woken—minutes...hours later?—by the sound of Lia screaming.
At first he had thought someone—Richardson—had managed to get past his security and Lia was being attacked. It was only once he had entered her bedroom and found her there alone, screaming as she tossed from side to side in the bed, that he realised she was obviously in the middle of some horrendous nightmare.
His efforts to calm her had so far been unsuccessful.
‘Lia!’ He was careful not to knock the cast on her arm as he grasped her shoulders. ‘Open your eyes and look at me, Lia,’ he instructed firmly.
She’d stopped screaming, at least, and her eyes were open, but her body was still being racked by intense sobs.
‘It was just a nightmare...it isn’t real,’ he continued to soothe as he took her in his arms.
It seemed very real to Lia!
She was running, knowing that something...someone...was pursuing her. She couldn’t see him when she dared to take a quick glance behind her, but she could feel him, hear him breathing—could almost feel that hot breath on the back of her neck. And then he was there—in front of her—not behind her at all. An indistinct dark shadow and yet she knew it was a man. Knew it was David. And he wanted to kill her.
‘You are safe now, Lia.’ Gregorio held her tightly. ‘No one will harm you while I am here. I promise you.’
But he wouldn’t always be there, would he? She was just a woman Gregorio felt a fleeting obligation to protect. Because she was alone in the world and she needed his help. He didn’t really care about her. They’d had sex yesterday afternoon, and that was the reason he probably felt even this much obligation. Right now he was probably regretting that he had ever shown an interest in her at all. She brought too much baggage with her, and Gregorio de la Cruz wasn’t interested in a woman with baggage.
‘I’m okay now.’ She was very aware of the fact that Gregorio wore only a pair of loose jogging trousers, and his chest was completely bare. The warm and muscular chest he was holding her against... ‘I’m sorry if I disturbed you.’ His half-nakedness was certainly disturbing her! ‘I’ll be fine now.’
She kept her gaze lowered as she attempted to pull away. Gregorio’s arms only tightened in reaction.
‘Lia, look at me.’
She didn’t want to look at him. At any part of him. Bad enough that her hand that wasn’t restricted by the sling was now pressed against Gregorio’s chest, that his flesh was warm and sensual to the touch.
‘Lia?’
She glanced up at Gregorio’s face and then quickly down again. His hair was tousled from sleep, his eyes black, and dark stubble lined his jaw. He looked incredibly sexy. And he smelt edible. A cross between the lingering aroma of that expensive cologne he wore and something else—a male musk that was uniquely Gregorio.
She felt her body’s response to all that overwhelming male lushness.
Gregorio simply felt an obligation to look out for her, Lia firmly reminded herself. That was the only reason he had been around this past couple of months.
And in return she had slapped him at her father’s funeral, been incredibly rude to him before asking him to leave her apartment, and then yesterday—yesterday she had told him she didn’t want him. That she never wanted to go to bed with him again.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
She could lie to Gregorio, but there was no longer any chance of lying to herself.
She was in love with Gregorio.
Not infatuated, not sexually enthralled by him—although she was that too!—but one hundred per cent in love with him.
He was everything a man should be. Honourable. Truthful. Protective of those he deemed weaker than himself. A man Lia knew instinctively her father had liked as well as respected. And the reason she knew that was because her father had recognised those traits in Gregorio.
In the same way her father had known that David was none of those things. If he had lived, would her father have told her the truth about David? Or would he have continued to lie and cover up for the younger man because he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt Lia by exposing the true nature of the man she loved?
Lia hoped it would have been the former, and that her father would have realised she was strong enough to accept the truth.
None of which changed the fact that she had now fallen deeply in love with a man who was never going to want her as more than a friend with benefits.
‘I’ll be fine now,’ Lia assured Gregorio lightly as she pulled out of his arms. ‘Please go back to bed. Please.’
‘Sure?’ He studied her closely.
‘Sure.’ She nodded, keeping that bright look on her face until Gregorio had left the bedroom.
Which was when Lia closed her eyes and allowed hot tears to fall down her cheeks.
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘MIGHT I ASK what you are doing here, Sebastien?’
Gregorio’s brother had arrived at the hotel just minutes ago. Considering it was only eight o’clock in the morning, Sebastien had to have flown here in the second company jet overnight from New York. Almost immediately after the two men had concluded their telephone conversation the night before, in fact.
His brother stepped back from their brotherly hug. ‘You didn’t sound at all yourself when we spoke on the phone last night, Rio.’
He arched dark and sceptical brows. ‘And that was reason enough for you to immediately fly to London?’
Sebastien gave him a boyish grin. ‘That, and I wanted to see Lia Fairbanks for myself.’
Gregorio tensed. ‘Why?’
Sebastien’s grin grew even wider. ‘I wanted to meet the woman who has my big brother so tied up in knots.’
‘Stop talking nonsense,’ Gregorio snapped. ‘No doubt you would like a cup of coffee?’
He turned away to pour some of the strong brew he always made to accompany his breakfast. He had already drunk two full cups this morning, having been unable to fall asleep again after Lia’s nightmare. He had wanted to stay alert in case Lia needed him again.
‘No changing
the subject, Rio.’ Sebastien made himself comfortable at one of the high stools at the breakfast bar as he accepted the mug of coffee. ‘What’s so special about Lia Fairbanks?’ He kept his eyes on Gregorio as he took a swallow.
Everything.
The thought had leapt unbidden into Gregorio’s head, and once there he couldn’t seem to dislodge it.
Lia was special. Very special. A woman who remained strong through adversity. Most women would have been hysterical after Richardson’s attack last night, but Lia had remained calm. And this was after she had lost her father only two and a half months ago and her engagement had ended—although after the events of yesterday she was probably relieved that it had.
As for the way the two of them were in bed together...
Lia was like none of the women Gregorio had known in the past. She gave not only with her body but with all that she was. Gregorio had never known a lover like her before.
Would he ever know another lover like her again?
‘Perhaps I’ll know the answer to that once I’ve met her?’ Sebastien was still eyeing him speculatively.
Gregorio felt an unaccustomed surge of possessiveness at the thought of Lia meeting Sebastien. Would she find Sebastien attractive, as so many other women did? The two brothers were very alike in looks, with their dark hair and dark eyes, and a similar build and height.
Would Lia find his brother easier to get along with than Gregorio?
That was a given. Gregorio was well aware that he lacked the charm and ease of manner Sebastien could so easily adopt if the need arose. And meeting a beautiful woman was definitely one of those occasions.
The thought of Lia gravitating towards Sebastien was enough to cause Gregorio’s hand to clench at his side and his fingers to tighten about his coffee mug until the knuckles turned white.
‘I’m guessing you don’t like that idea.’ Sebastien grinned.
Gregorio gave his brother an irritated glance. ‘Do not see emotions where they do not exist.’
Sebastien openly chuckled now. ‘If you don’t stop gripping the handle of that mug so tightly you’re going to snap it right off.’
He relaxed that grip. ‘You would be better spending your time thinking of ways to help me locate David Richardson than commenting on things you know nothing about.’
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