Modern Romance September 2017 Books 1 - 4. Кэрол Мортимер
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Lia wasn’t only his employee.
She was also the woman Gregorio wanted, and he wanted her more the more time he spent in her company.
Which meant it was time—past time—to call one of the women he’d occasionally had lunch with in the past. An afternoon in bed with another woman would certainly ease his physical frustration.
Having made that decision, Gregorio found himself still in his office fifteen minutes later, waiting for the call from one of his security team to tell him exactly who Lia was meeting for lunch.
* * *
Lia hadn’t known how she would feel when she saw David again—the first time they had met since the evening he’d broken their engagement. David had been in Scotland—conveniently?—when she’d buried her father, and his own father had represented Richardson, Richardson and Pope. It had been an awkward situation for both of them, and they hadn’t spoken apart from Alec Richardson’s murmured condolences as he moved along with the procession of other people offering their sympathies for her loss.
Her first thought, when David entered the bistro where they had agreed to meet for lunch, was that he looked different from how she remembered him.
Or maybe she was just looking at him from another perspective? Through lenses that were less rose-coloured? After all, she had once thought herself in love with this man.
What a difference three months could make. What a difference one evening had made: David had shattered every one of her illusions about him when he’d walked out of her life and left her to the mercy of the media wolves.
He was still male-model-handsome. His hair was the colour of ripened corn, his eyes as blue as the sky on a summer’s day. His body looked lithe and fit in his tailored dark suit, and he wore a blue shirt that was perfectly matched in colour for his eyes, and a meticulously knotted navy blue tie.
Yes, on the surface David still gave the appearance of being a confidently handsome lawyer. But Lia was able to look past that veneer today. To see the lines of dissipation beside his eyes and mouth. The slight laxness to the skin about his jaw. To note that his strides through the bistro seemed less purposeful and more full of nervous energy.
Was that an indication that David was far from comfortable with this meeting that Lia had requested when she’d rung him earlier that morning?
It was a meeting he had tried to avoid, and only acquiesced to once Lia had explained that she had found some papers amongst her father’s things she thought David might be interested in seeing. It wasn’t true, of course, but the fact that he had changed his mind about the meeting based on that comment had filled Lia with misgivings. Perhaps the things Gregorio had told her about David were the truth, after all.
David was a thief and a liar...
‘You’re looking well,’ David commented, but he made no move to touch her or to kiss her in greeting before sliding into the seat opposite hers in this relatively private booth at the back of the bistro.
Lia didn’t return the compliment. Mainly because it wasn’t true. ‘I’m very well, thank you,’ she answered with cool formality.
He waited until they had placed their drinks order with the waitress and she had left them menus before asking, ‘Are you still living with the Mortons?’
‘I have an apartment of my own in town now. And a job,’ Lia added.
‘One that pays actual wages or another job at one of your do-good charities?’
Cathy was right, Lia realised. David did condescend. He was doing it right now.
Her fingers itched to wipe the mocking smile off his lips.
When had she developed these violent tendencies?
She had never struck anyone in her life until she’d lashed out at Gregorio in that restaurant. Now she wanted nothing more than to slap David too.
Was it because she knew, deep down, that Cathy’s comments about him had been correct? That Gregorio’s suspicions about David’s involvement in her father’s downfall might also prove to be correct...?
‘I’m a hotel receptionist.’
The words instantly made her think of the morning she had just spent, working in Gregorio’s penthouse suite.
The suite was furnished differently from the others Lia had been shown around on her first morning—it was part of her job as a receptionist to know exactly what each of the rooms had to offer people wanting to stay at the hotel. And the office was definitely personal to Gregorio, indicating that he really did live there all the time.
It made a certain sense. Gregorio had all the conveniences of the hotel—like room and laundry service, restaurants, a spa, et cetera—and none of the inconvenience that came along with owning his own house or apartment.
Even if it had seemed a little strange to know that his bedroom was just down the hallway from where the two of them were working...
‘How the mighty have fallen,’ David sneered.
The gloves really had come off today, hadn’t they?
It made Lia feel slightly foolish for not having seen David’s true nature before now. No doubt he had hidden the worst parts of himself from her while they were dating and then engaged, but even so Lia had always believed herself a good judge of character. Obviously she had been wrong.
Had she been wrong about Gregorio being the bad guy?
She’d already acknowledged that might be the case.
Now she was convinced of it.
Quite what she was going to do about it, she had no idea. Gregorio was...overwhelming. Forceful. And he made no secret of his desire for her.
At least he hadn’t...
But the way they had parted last night, and the stiltedness between them this morning, seemed to indicate he might have put that feeling behind him and moved on.
Could she blame him?
He had been very polite and friendly with Cathy and Rick last night—she was the one who had been rude and dismissive towards him. In front of the other couple. No wonder Gregorio had been so angry.
She owed him an apology, Lia realised.
‘Lia...?’
She narrowed her gaze on the man sitting opposite her. ‘Did you ever love me or were you just using me from the start?’
David looked taken aback by her direct attack. ‘The niceties are over, I take it?’
‘Very much so.’ She nodded abruptly. ‘So answer the question. Were you using me, and my father’s name and wealth, right from the start of our relationship?’
His scowled. ‘I only agreed to meet with you today because you said you had some papers you needed to discuss with me.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘There are no papers, are there?’
‘No.’
‘Damn it.’ He swore softly under his breath. ‘I have no intention of hashing over ancient history—’
‘It’s only been a few months, David,’ she snorted. ‘I would hardly call that ancient anything!’
Their conversation stopped briefly while the waitress put their drinks down on the table. Lia shook her head when the young girl asked if they were ready to eat yet. Lia very much doubted they would get as far as eating anything. Just the thought of food made her feel nauseous.
David leaned forward across the table once the two of them were alone again. ‘I don’t appreciate being spoken to by you in this insulting manner.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘And I don’t appreciate learning that I was going to marry a dissolute gambler!’
David reared back, a look of total shock on his