‘A denial will only increase their speculation,’ he reasoned. ‘The fact that I’m leaving your apartment with you now gives the impression I spent the night here.’
‘But you didn’t!’ she gasped.
He gave her a pitying glance. ‘And who do you think will believe that?’
‘Anyone who knows me!’
‘And everyone else, the people who know me?’ he pointed out mockingly.
She looked at him with hate in her eyes, tears glistening there. ‘God, how I despise you,’ she told him vehemently. ‘I despise everything about you. But especially this. I’ll never forgive you for it. Never!’
‘Danielle—’
‘Don’t touch me,’ she evaded his reaching grasp. ‘You probably arranged all this just to compromise me into going out with you!’ she added accusingly.
He shook his head. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I hate this sort of publicity as much as the next man.’
‘Then how would that reporter have known to come to my apartment?’ she scorned.
Nick shrugged, sighing deeply. ‘He could have followed me—’
‘Or he could have been told precisely where you would be,’ she finished pointedly.
‘Not by me,’ he grated.
‘And certainly not by me,’ she snapped.
His mouth thinned. ‘That leaves only one person who could have even guessed I would be coming to see you today. Audra!’
Danielle’s eyes widened as he rasped the other woman’s name. It would be the sort of thing the other woman would do, but that didn’t mean that she had. Although someone had directed that reporter to her apartment. ‘I don’t care who it was,’ she told Nick sharply. ‘I just don’t want to be caught up in your publicity ever again!’ She turned on her heel and walked over to her parked car.
‘Danielle. …’
She turned to look at him briefly before getting into her car, the sunlight giving his hair an ebony sheen. ‘Yes?’
‘Have a nice day?’ he called softly.
She gave a snort of disgust before climbing into her car, watching as he swung lithely inside the sleek Ferrari parked at the roadside, the black model of the past replaced by this silver one. He drove past her with a brief wave of acknowledgment.
Danielle drove more slowly than him, giving herself time to think, intending to go to her parents’ house now that she was out of the apartment.
Nick had been adamant that he had had nothing to do with the reporter being outside her apartment, and she believed him. He knew her well enough by now to know how she would react to such publicity, how she liked to keep a low profile. That only left Audra and the threat she had made yesterday evening. The reporter trailing her and Nick was another warning; she had a feeling things could get a lot rougher.
God, how she wished she had followed her instincts that day Lewis brought her this latest commission, wished she had refused it and stayed as far away from Nick as she could. If she weren’t careful he would destroy her life a second time, and there wouldn’t be a thing she could do to stop it.
Her parents were pleased, if surprised, to see her again so soon after she had spent the evening with them on Friday, and she saw her father giving her several probing glances. Tall, and still handsome in his mid-fifties, her father hardly looked the part of the successful businessman he was, people who didn’t know him personally often mistaking him for one of his own accountants. But he could be ruthless if the occasion merited it, and where his family was concerned he fiercely guarded his own.
‘Your mother is worried about you,’ he was looking at her closely.
The two of them sat together in the garden of her parents’ Richmond home, her mother just having gone into the house to check on when the lunch would be ready. ‘That’s strange,’ Danielle gave him a teasing smile. ‘Mummy said the same thing about you when we went shopping yesterday.’
He pulled a face. ‘I forget how astute you are. All right,’ he nodded. ‘We’re both concerned about you. Your mother tells me you’ve become involved with Nick Andracas.’
Danielle relaxed back in the garden chair, at ease now that she was with her family. ‘I’m sure Mummy didn’t tell you any such thing,’ she sipped her sherry. ‘I’ve already explained to her that he’s just a client of mine.’
‘Hm, well I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to have met him at all.’
‘Why?’
‘I know the sort of man he is,’ her father looked grim. ‘He always wants what he can’t have, and that includes women as well as business.’
Danielle frowned at this correct description of Nick. ‘I didn’t realise you knew him?’
‘I don’t, at least, not personally. He tried to take over my company a couple of years ago, and he didn’t mind what he paid to get it.’
‘I didn’t realise that,’ she said dazedly.
‘No, well I don’t like to bother you and your mother with business. But I haven’t been unaware of the relatively solitary existence you’ve lived in recent years,’ he told her softly. ‘And to a man like Andracas you would be a tremendous challenge.’
‘I’m not interested,’ she dismissed.
‘I wasn’t interested in selling either,’ he said ruefully. ‘But he damn nearly got me. I don’t want to interfere in your life, Ellie, I just don’t want you hurt again.’
‘I know that,’ she touched his arm gratefully. ‘And I can assure you, I won’t be.’
Which was easy to say, but she still remembered the awareness she had felt very briefly this morning. It had been a definite sexual awareness, one she had thought never to feel again, one she didn’t want to feel again. Her father was right, Nick was a very dangerous man.
He was also waiting for her when she got back to her apartment later that afternoon! And from the look of him he had been waiting some time.
‘I know, I know,’ he held up his hands defensively as he climbed out of the car and came towards her. ‘You don’t want to see me here again. But I thought I should let you know that I tracked down the reporter that was here this morning. I’ve been waiting over an hour,’ he cajoled.
Her eyes widened that he had taken the trouble to look for the other man after telling her it wasn’t worth it. ‘You had better come upstairs.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Nick taunted at her lack of enthusiasm for the idea. ‘He isn’t here now, lurking behind a car or something.’
She gave him a scathing glance. ‘You had better come up anyway.’
He was still wearing the same clothes he had had on that morning, the shirt now a little damp against his back in the heat of the day. Danielle felt the frisson of awareness down her spine once again.
She faced him across the room once they had entered her apartment. ‘What did the reporter say?’
Nick had sprawled himself in one of her armchairs, looking relaxed and at home. ‘He works freelance, and had already sold the story and photograph by the time I found him,’ he grimaced.
Danielle paled a little. ‘Do you have any idea what the article will say?’
He shrugged. ‘The usual trash, I would imagine.’
She gave a deep sigh. ‘Thank you for taking the time to let me know,’ she said dully.
‘Hey, look, I really am sorry,’ he sat forward in the chair. ‘I offered to buy the story off him myself, but I was just too late. And the newspaper, as you can imagine, just didn’t want to know.’
‘Which one is it?’
He named one of the more gossipy daily newspapers. ‘They’ll be printing it tomorrow,’ he revealed reluctantly as he saw how upset she was.
She nodded. ‘Thank you for trying, anyway.’
He shrugged. ‘Don’t thank me, I couldn’t do a thing, except probably make things worse, as I warned you it would. I don’t suppose you feel like making me a sandwich, do you?’ he looked at her encouragingly. ‘I didn’t have time for lunch running around after the reporter.’
The logic in her told her to say no, to
tell him to go to his own home and get something to eat. And yet he had chased around London trying to stop the reporter selling his story. A sandwich wasn’t a high price to pay for that, even if he hadn’t succeeded. ‘I’ll get you something,’ she moved towards the kitchen, glancing back to find him immersed in the Sunday newspaper.
He looked so completely at home in her lounge, as if he spent a lot of his time there. She was mad to have agreed to getting him something to eat!
In the end she shared the chicken salad with him that she had meant for her own dinner, bread something she rarely bought, which meant she couldn’t make him a sandwich. It was very unnerving sitting down to eat with him, gave a normality to their relationship that she would rather hadn’t been there. The way they had met in the past, Nick picking her up at a party and then casually sleeping with her was how she wanted to think of him; eating dinner together made Nick seem human, when she knew he was inhuman.
‘You can even make coffee,’ he appreciatively drank the last of his creamless sugarless brew. ‘You’re a woman of many talents, Danielle Smith,’ he smiled at her, a warmly intimate smile.
‘Miss McDonald doesn’t cook?’
‘I never asked,’ he derided. ‘But I know my ex-wife couldn’t even open a can.’
It was the first time she had heard him refer to Beverley since the night seven years ago when he had spoken of her so bitterly. He didn’t seem bitter now. ‘Can you?’ she derided.
He looked scandalised at the question. ‘I’m Greek, remember?’ he mocked. ‘Mama made sure all her children could cook—and not out of a can either.’
‘How many children are there?’ she was curious in spite of herself.
‘Six,’ he grinned at her wide-eyed look. ‘Five girls, and only one boy.’
Her mouth quirked with humour. ‘Which means you were a spoilt little boy too.’
‘Too?’
‘You’re definitely a spoilt big boy,’ she mocked.
Nick chuckled softly. ‘Mama didn’t believe in spoiling children, I had to do my share of the chores. Although with so many of us it wasn’t too bad.’
She turned away, realising how easily she was succumbing to his charm. ‘I’m an only child. I wouldn’t know.’
‘That’s a pity. For you, I mean.’
‘What you don’t have you never missed,’ she shrugged. ‘You have no children of your own?’ she asked the question, but she already knew the answer. He and Beverley had been childless.
His mouth firmed. ‘I have dozens of nieces and nephews, ranging from all ages.’
‘I can imagine you have, but it isn’t the same as children of your own, is it?’
He shrugged. ‘I doubt I would make a very good father, anyway. You could hardly have a spoilt father and a spoilt child,’ he said self-derisively. ‘Is there any more coffee?’ he abruptly changed the subject.
Danielle moved to get it for him, deep in thought as she went into the kitchen. He spoke so dismissively about children of his own, and yet she sensed a steel edge beneath the lightness of his voice, a pain he didn’t want to talk about. And she disagreed with him about the sort of father he would make, knew he would be firm but loving with his children, as most Greek men were.
He was standing over by the window when she came back into the lounge, the broadness of his back a tautly rigid line. As she watched him, Nick unaware of her presence for the moment, he ran a weary hand around the back of his nape.
‘Your coffee,’ she broke the moment of intimacy, not wanting to feel any compassion for a man who had never felt any for anyone else, who lived his life to suit himself and didn’t give a damn about others. ‘And then I’m afraid you’ll have to go,’ she told him stiltedly. ‘I intend working this evening.’
‘It’s all right, Danielle,’ his mouth twisted into the facsimile of a smile. ‘I won’t overstay my welcome.’
He had done that the moment he arrived; she should never have invited him in. ‘Perhaps after you’ve drunk your coffee …? I don’t wish to seem rude—’
‘But you’re going to be anyway,’ he grinned good naturedly, taking the coffee and swallowing it in one gulp even though it must have been very hot. ‘Thank you for dinner, Danielle, I enjoyed it.’
Her own enthusiasm for their time spent together was noticeably absent. But she couldn’t help it, couldn’t lie even for politeness’ sake. She wanted him out of here, and as quickly as possible, the last couple of hours a complete strain to her, even if they had passed quite quickly.
‘Walk me to the door,’ he quirked his brows encouragingly.
‘It’s just across the room,’ she said dryly.
‘Humour me, hm?’ his eyes were a warm compelling grey.
With a rueful shrug she followed him over to the door, unprepared for the way his head bent and he claimed her mouth in a piercingly intense kiss. She had been out with several men since that night with Nick, had even enjoyed their kisses, but none of them had ever affected her as deeply, or spontaneously, as Nick was doing now.
He stepped back, no triumph in his eyes at the response he must have known he evoked, just a warm glow in the often cruelly assessing eyes. ‘Don’t work too hard,’ he touched her cheek with gentle fingertips.
‘Work …? Oh—oh yes.’ She knew she wouldn’t be able to work tonight, not now. ‘I mean no!’
Nick smiled at her total confusion. ‘I’ll come round and see you tomorrow.’
‘No!’
‘Yes,’ he insisted softly, his steely gaze compelling her to agree.
She turned away. ‘I work during the day—’
‘So do I now,’ he drawled mockingly, smiling as her eyes widened in surprise. ‘I decided to take notice of your advice—’
‘My advice?’ she echoed in an astounded voice, unable to remember ever advising this man about anything.
He nodded, enjoying her confusion. ‘Just over a week ago you pointed out that I’m bored with my life—’
‘Only because you pushed me into saying it!’ she defended indignantly.
‘Why you said it isn’t important,’ he dismissed. ‘That fact that you did, and that it’s the truth, is. As of tomorrow I’ve decided to be more than just a figurehead to my little empire, to take back the reins of power that I gave up several years ago,’ the last came out grimly.
‘I’m sure the business world is quaking in its shoes,’ she said dryly, remembering how ruthless her father had said he found Nick to deal with in the past.
His mouth quirked. ‘Not quite yet,’ he drawled. ‘But they will be,’ he predicted.
She could believe that, although it was a little difficult to believe a scathing remark she had made had effected this change in him. And she said so.
Nick shrugged. ‘The move has been Coming about for some time. Being rich and idle is boring, in fact just being idle is, no matter how much money you have or don’t have. The fact that you don’t like my lifestyle did come into it, though. You’ve made your contempt for my image obvious, so I’m cleaning it up.’
‘I doubt it will make any difference to me,’ she told him honestly, shaking her head.
‘Maybe not,’ he accepted. ‘But having a purpose in life again will make a difference to me. Cheer up, Danielle,’ he mocked her frowning expression. ‘You’ve done me a favour even if you won’t go out with me.’
For the first time she realised that he was different today, that the bitterness she had known in him in the past, the cynical derision about everyone and everything that she had come to expect from him, were no longer there, that they had been replaced with a lighter, less grim Nick, one who no longer ordered with that familiar arrogance, but cajoled and teased instead. She wasn’t sure she was up to handling this new Nick, didn’t completely understand him. It also made it difficult for her to continue hating him when he was no longer the cold man of the past.
‘Why give it all up in the first place if you’re looking forward to returning to it so much?’ she asked stiltedly.
His mouth thinned. ‘I had my reasons at the time. But they seem less important now,’ he shrugged off those reasons. ‘I’m not sure what time I’ll get here tomorrow—’
‘I’d rather you—’
‘Didn’t come at all,’ he finished softly. ‘I know. But tonight wasn’t so bad, was it?’
Besides the fact that she found being alone with him like this unnerving, the evening had been quite a pleasant one. And that was what she was afraid of!
‘If you won’t go out with me then I’ll stay in with you,’ he didn’t wait for her reply. ‘And tomorrow I’ll bring the food and the wine.’
‘But—’
‘Now don’t get in a panic, Danielle,’ he mocked. ‘It’s only a meal and a chat, like tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he touched her cheek once more before leaving.
Danielle was left feeling as if she had been hit by a car travelling at high speed; as if she had been bulldozed down in its path! She had been wrong about Nick, the arrogance was still very much there, although heavily concealed by the sudden charm.
What she was going to do about him she didn’t know, he still wouldn’t take no for an answer!
The article and photograph of them together the next morning in the newspaper made her wish more than ever that he weren’t coming back to her apartment tonight. The photograph was very deceptive, making it look as if she were in Nick’s arms instead of being protected from the photographer by him, her face buried against his chest. They had the look of two lovers who couldn’t stop touching each other!
And the article written with it was even more damning, stating that Nick had arrived in the early hours of the morning and that the photograph showed the two of them leaving together the next day. This was exactly the sort of innuendo and suggestion this newspaper specialised in, lying by omission. If the reporter had seen Nick arrive at her apartment at two o’clock in the morning then he must also have seen him leave again a few minutes later, as he must have seen him arrive again shortly before ten. The article implied they had spent the evening and night together. And as Nick had predicted, his efforts to get the story stopped had only added to their speculation of how serious the relationship was.
A Past Revenge Page 7