The Wedding Party Collection. Кейт Хьюит
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the past? She shook her head wildly, trying to dislodge the memories that still tortured her. No. That was all old history. Fliss was dead.
Instantly the urge to provoke Damon withered. Inside she felt flat and empty, worn out by the toll the emotional day had taken.
“Don’t shake your head. Think about it. You can use the money for your business…for the boy.” His gaze roved pointedly around the room, highlighting the tired carpets that needed replacing, the lounge suite that was showing signs of wear. “Surely money won’t come amiss in jazzing up your lifestyle in this dull town. I can’t see why you stay.”
Rebecca stared expressionlessly at him. Going back to Auckland would simply reopen the old wounds. But for a lingering instant she considered the cheque Damon had dangled in front of her this morning. Now he was making it clear that the sky was the limit.
She couldn’t accept payment to arrange Savvas’s wedding. It wouldn’t be right.
But, said a little evil, tempting voice at the back of her head, what might it mean to T.J.?
Although Chocolatique made them a fair living, it was a relatively new business that demanded time and all her resources. And, yes, she had a reasonable lump sum squirreled away in T.J.’s name that she intended to release to him on his twenty-fifth birthday. But what Damon was offering would eliminate years of worrying….
No! Rebecca thrust the temptation away. She couldn’t accept his money, not for arranging an exclusive Auckland wedding. And she certainly had no intention of being in Damon’s debt. Ever.
“My place is here,” she said firmly. “I have T.J. to look after.”
Damon looked flummoxed. It was obvious he hadn’t factored a child into his calculations. But the confusion that clouded his brilliant blue eyes cleared almost immediately. “No problem. Bring the boy, too.”
Rebecca laughed, a light, tinkling social laugh that carefully hid the sudden tightening around her heart. Bring T.J.? That was the last thing in the world she wanted!
“Get real, Damon. What would a child do in the Asteriades household? Destroy the antiques? Wreck the formal borders in the garden?”
Damon stared down his battered nose at her. “Demetra happens to like children. I’m sure she’ll give you a hand if you ask nicely.”
Demetra? His obvious fondness for the woman struck a raw nerve.
“And exactly who is Demetra?”
“I told you.” He sounded impatient. “She is Savvas’s fiancée.”
“I’d forgotten her name was Demetra.” Rebecca tried to ignore the relief that scalded her. And then annoyance kicked in. What did it matter who Damon’s latest lover was?
Damon gave her a level stare. “Demetra is perfect for Savvas. She’s kind, respectable, well brought up….”
Everything she wasn’t. Each word landed like a well-placed barb. Recklessness flooded Rebecca. “Does she know what she’s letting herself in for, marrying into the Asteriades clan?” she lashed out. “At least she’s clever enough to realise what a bigot you are and how much nicer Savvas is.”
“Ah, and you would know, wouldn’t you?” He drilled her with narrowed, bitter eyes. “Savvas told me that the two of you dated after the wedding. How…nice—” he sneered “—were you to my brother, hmm?”
She flashed a wide white smile that didn’t reveal any of the mix of emotions churning within her.
Anger.
Excitement.
And the thrill of danger that sparring with Damon always brought.
Softly, provocatively, she said, “You warned me to stay away from him, but Savvas called, said he wanted to see me. Your little brother liked me for myself. After the way you’d humiliated me, that was…nice.” Staring through her eyelashes at him, she held her breath and waited for his response to the pointed mockery.
He didn’t disappoint her.
His eyes flared brighter. “You little tramp…” He stepped abruptly closer. “You slept with my brother to get revenge on me. Because I married your best friend!”
Pain blossomed, but Rebecca refused to let him intimidate her. “Perhaps you place too much importance on yourself, your effect on the behaviour of others. Savvas lacks your arrogance—another reason why he is worth a million of you.”
“Your mouth drips poison.” He stalked closer still, his eyes blazing. “But I will deal with that.”
The air had become electric, pulsing. Rebecca stood her ground. “Why the double standard? You can insult me with impunity, but when I retaliate…”
After a humming moment that pulsed with old resentments, latent attraction and myriad unspoken emotions, Damon spun on his heel, strode across the worn carpet and dropped down onto the homely sofa. For a long moment Rebecca stared at large, tanned hands clenching and unclenching between his thighs. Hands that could touch with the softness of silk or the cruelty of steel. Hands that made her shiver…and burn.
She forced her gaze back to his masklike face. He’d withdrawn. How she hated that.
“Forget it. I am not coming to Auckland.” Rebecca spoke with finality, and when a sense of calm filled her, she knew she had made the right decision.
Turning away so she didn’t need to see his expression when he realised that he had failed his mother, she closed off her mind to guilt. Damon had a dangerous effect on her. He aroused such reckless cravings she dared not risk being close to him.
“Look, I’m sorry.”
She jumped as he spoke behind her; she hadn’t heard him rise, or cross the room. She swung around. A dark lock had fallen onto his forehead. He brushed it back and sighed. More guilt stirred when she took in the unaccustomed tiredness in his eyes, the deep lines scored beside his mouth.
“I don’t know what came over me. I swore I wouldn’t let—” he shot her a hooded glance “—what happened in the past affect my dealings with you. I meant to be amenable.” He flashed her a smile that might’ve been described as irresistible if it hadn’t been directed at her.
Rebecca’s mind started to click over. “You intended—” her breath caught “—to be nice to me.”
His eyes flickered and a dull, red flush spread across his high cheekbones.
Bingo! Fury rose within her. “How far were you prepared to go, damn you?”
“Wait.” He drew a breath. “Right now Mama is my only concern. She needs—”
She cut across before he could defend himself with clever words. “So you would’ve done anything,” she said in a bitter little voice. “Used charm, seduced silly Rebecca?”
“No,” he burst out. “I wouldn’t have taken it that far.”
Of course not. Sleeping with her was beneath the powerful, oh-so-perfect Damon Asteriades. “Well, fortunately for you it won’t be necessary to go to such extremes. I can give you the name of someone who will plan a wonderful wedding for Savvas. Two someones, in fact. I’m sure the sisters who bought Dream Occasions would love the chance—”
“No!” The look he gave her burned with frustration. “I tried all that, but Mama insists on you. She trusts you and she’s too on edge for me to risk arguing with her.” He raked long fingers through his hair, but the recalcitrant locks fell forward again, dispelling the powerful-billionaire image.
Rebecca closed her mind to his boyish vulnerability and focused instead on the fact that Damon had tried to argue Soula out of asking for her help, on the fact that he truly seemed to believe his mother couldn’t cope.
The trap was closing around her.
“Please