The Helen Bianchin Collection (Mills & Boon E-Book Collections) (8 page)

Alejandro entered the bedroom as she put the finishing touches to her make-up, and with practised ease he attended to the hook on her bra, then assisted her into the dress. The long zip-fastener slid home, and she slowly turned to face him.

‘Stunning,’ he pronounced, his eyes gleaming with indolent appreciation as they roved over her slim curves. ‘Do you need help with your hair?’

‘I thought I’d wear it loose.’

She crossed to the dressing-table and caught up her brush, stroking the length of her hair until it
shone. Ear-rings were too difficult to attach with one hand, so she discarded the idea.

André Valery was a tall, handsome man in his late thirties, charming, with Gallic appreciation for the opposite sex.

‘I have been looking forward to meeting the woman who managed to slip beneath Alejandro’s armour.’ He lifted his glass in salute. ‘I congratulate you.’

Dinner was a success, for not only had Ana excelled herself with superb culinary offerings, but the delicate baiting each man indulged in bore the stamp of a long friendship.

‘You realise our fathers were business associates?
Oui.
It is true. For some years we spent holidays together. Gstaad. St Moritz. One year Alejandro was packed off to join my family in Paris.’ His eyes twinkled with wicked humour. ‘We were young, gregarious, and, I think, a little too adventurous for our own good.’

‘Don’t indulge in tales, André,’ Alejandro drawled, ‘or I may feel compelled to relay a few of my own to Anne-Marie when next I see her.’

‘Anne-Marie,’ André returned, with a Gallic shrug, ‘is in no doubt as to what manner of man I am.’

‘Are you about to destroy my illusions?’ Elise queried lightly, and incurred his slight smile. His eyes, however, assumed inscrutability.

‘What illusions do you refer to,
chérie
?’

‘That you might be an exception to most successful men and have chosen not to have both wife and mistress?’

André’s gaze didn’t waver, and she met it fearlessly, aware of the sudden stillness in the room. ‘If a man values his family, and his wife meets his needs,’ he offered quite gently, ‘why would there be the necessity for him to take a mistress?’

She was stepping into dangerous territory, but she didn’t care. ‘The challenge it represents, perhaps? Excitement?’ She managed a careless shrug. ‘Would you consider it fair for a wife to expect her needs also to be met?’

Alejandro’s voice was pure silk. ‘You are lodging a subtle complaint,
querida
?’

It took all her acting ability, but she managed a light incredulous laugh. ‘How could I begin to fault you?’ She reached out a placating hand, and sat quite still as he took hold of it and raised her fingers to his lips.

It was a deliberate gesture, and she glimpsed the dark gleam in his eyes, a watchfulness that sent warning flares licking the taut edge of her nerves.

He knew. Perhaps not precisely
when
her memory had returned, but there was no doubt he was aware that she had experienced a total recall.

‘Shall we adjourn to the lounge for coffee?’ Alejandro suggested smoothly.

Somehow Elise managed to get through the rest of the evening. If André sensed that her conversation was a little too bright, he gave no indication.

‘You must excuse me,’ André said at last. ‘It is late, and I must return to my hotel.’ He crossed to her side. ‘Thank you for a most enjoyable evening.’ He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, then held it a fraction longer than was necessary. ‘Alejandro must bring you to Paris,’ he said gently. ‘It would give Anne-Marie much pleasure.’

‘Indeed,’ Alejandro concurred as they moved through to the front of the house.

Elise turned away from the door the instant the car’s tail-lights cleared the gates, acutely conscious of Alejandro’s actions as he re-set the alarm system.

Apprehension prickled at the back of her neck as she made for the stairs. The anger that had lain dormant since this afternoon rose to the fore, darkening her eyes and reining her mouth into a firm line.

Entering the bedroom, she slipped off her shoes, then reached for the zip-fastening at the back of her dress.

Alejandro came into the room as she began a third fruitless attempt to slide the fastener down, and she didn’t utter a word as he crossed to complete the task.

With extreme care she stepped out of the dress and placed it over a nearby chair, watching out of the corner of her eye as he discarded his jacket and removed his tie.

‘When did it happen?’

His voice was quiet, deadly, and she turned slowly to face him, unwilling to prevaricate.

Eyes as dark as onyx were filled with a chilling intensity, and her chin tilted fractionally as she prepared to oppose him.

‘This afternoon. In the obstetrician’s waiting-room.’ Her eyes sparked with green fire. ‘A photograph of Savannah in a magazine acted as the trigger, giving me total recollection in slow motion.’

His expression darkened fractionally, and he reached out a hand, catching hold of her chin between thumb and forefinger, tightening his grasp when she attempted to wrench it away.

Elise’s eyes flared a brilliant topaz-flecked emerald in unspoken challenge. ‘
Why?
’ she demanded. ‘Why did you deceive me?’

He held her effortlessly, his expression an inscrutable mask. His silence angered her immeasurably.

‘Dammit,
answer
me!’

His eyes became bleak, and his voice sounded as dark as the depths of his black soul. ‘
When
would you have had me reveal facts?’

She suffered his raking scrutiny with angry defiance as she waited for him to continue.

‘While you lay in a hospital bed injured and afraid?’ he pursued relentlessly. ‘When you first came home?’ His eyes dared her to refute him. ‘Should I have destroyed your trust? Refused you reassurance and affection?’

‘You took advantage with a calculated play on my emotions,’ she cried, raw with pain.

‘We made love,’ Alejandro corrected harshly.

‘We had
sex.
’

‘A carnal coupling?’ His voice was lethal. ‘Based on greed and the gratification of a primitive urge?’

Dear God, it hadn’t been like that. Ever. No matter how hard she fought, she had been entrapped from the moment of confrontation in his office. One look, and she’d been shaken to the very roots of her being by the mesmeric quality of his masculinity. Aware, with the depth of selfknowledge, that Alejandro Santanas possessed the ability to render her helpless as no other man could. She had hated him for it, hated herself for her own vulnerability. But, most of all, she had hated the circumstances that bound her to him.

She wanted to cry out a rejection, but the words choked in her throat. ‘The night of the accident,’ she revealed bleakly, ‘I’d decided to leave you.’

His eyes speared her. ‘How long did you imagine it would take before I tracked you down?’

‘I intended to see a lawyer and file for separation.’

His features hardened measurably. ‘You hate me so much that you would attempt to deny me knowledge of your pregnancy, my child’s existence?’ His voice lowered to a dangerous silkiness that sent tiny shivers along her spine. ‘Or did you plan an abortion?’

‘
No
,’ she jerked out in shocked denial, reasserting in a hushed tone, ‘No.’ The thought had never entered her head.

He was silent for several interminable minutes, and when he spoke his voice was hard and held unaccountable bleakness. ‘The child you carry is as much mine as yours. Uniquely
ours.
Our son or
daughter deserves to be more than someone we fight custody for in a law court.’

‘I married you because I couldn’t stand by and see my father emotionally and financially beaten. It would have killed him.’ She had to take some consolation from the knowledge that the last few months of his life had been happy. ‘You engineered a diabolical game,’ she accused him fiercely. ‘I should have damned you to the depths of hell and walked away.’

He regarded her steadily for what seemed an age. ‘Yet you didn’t,’ he reminded her, his gaze alert beneath partly lowered lids. ‘You accepted the arrangement as a challenge, and attempted to score against me.’

That had been her intention. At first, she had fooled herself that she was succeeding. Except that somewhere along the way she had fallen in love with him.

‘Displaying beautiful manners in public,’ he went on in musing reflection, ‘while behaving like a virago when we were alone.’

Her eyes were dark and accusing. ‘A fact you deliberately withheld from me.’

‘If you remember,’ Alejandro pursued, ‘I made no pretence that we shared an idyllic relationship.’

‘You said we argued occasionally!’ Elise flung, hating his skilful employment of words.

‘Frequently,’ he corrected. ‘The resolving of such arguments was always——’ he paused deliberately ‘—satisfactory, wouldn’t you say?’

That was an understatement. In bed, they had always been in perfect accord. In the beginning it had been a source of anguish, for she found it difficult to condone the degree of her emotional involvement with a man she professed to hate.

‘Our marriage breaks all the rules,’ she offered wretchedly, her eyes stormy with anger, and her hand shook as she lifted it to push hair back from her face.

‘The reason for its existence remains the same,’ he said in a hard voice.

She looked at him carefully, aware of his immense strength of will, the arresting elemental quality that made her feel suddenly afraid. ‘You can’t mean for the marriage to continue?’

‘Indeed,’ Alejandro declared inflexibly. He subjected her to a long, level appraisal. ‘What is more, I insist that you honour the two-year term listed in our pre-nuptial agreement.’

Anger emanated from every pore in her body. ‘That’s barbaric!’

‘Perhaps.’ His smile was a mere facsimile, his eyes dark and forbidding.

‘You expect me to act a part?’ She felt like screaming with indignant resentment. ‘
Pretend
?’

His expression was resolute, and his voice held infinite mockery. ‘You have managed admirably for the past seven months.’

‘
Six
,’ she flung back angrily, incensed by his imperturbability. ‘I cannot be held responsible for the past one and a half.’

He lifted a hand and brushed light fingers along the edge of her jaw. ‘Relieved of the barriers of your animosity for a few short weeks,’ he said, ’there was no reason to generate hatred for your Spanish
esposo.
’

She closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again. ‘There wasn’t meant to be a child!’ It was a cry from the heart.

His voice gentled as he caught hold of her chin and tilted it towards him. ‘Nevertheless, there is. Its unexpected existence is something I refuse to consider as anything other than a very special gift.’ His thumb lightly caressed the lower edge of her lip. ‘For several weeks we were able to dispense with any hostility.’ His eyes darkened measurably. ‘Friends, as well as lovers.’

Her eyes glittered with anger, sheer emerald flecked with gold. ‘We can never be friends!’

A smile tinged with wry mockery tugged the edges of his mouth. ‘Perhaps at this moment you do not believe so.’ Dark eyes gleamed with cynical humour. ‘Why don’t you get into bed?’

Her pulse tripped its beat and measurably quickened—as a result of anger, she assured herself, not passion. ‘I don’t want to go to bed, and I especially don’t want to share a bed with you/

‘We share, Elise,’ he insisted in a dangerously soft voice, ‘as we have done from the beginning.’

His threat wasn’t an idle one, and she looked at him in silent mutiny for several long seconds. ‘If you touch me, so help me, I’ll
hit
you,’ she vouched with low-pitched vehemence, and, turning away
from him, she caught up her nightgown and crossed into the bathroom to remove her make-up.

Her fingers shook so badly that the cream got into her eyes, and she dabbed frantically at it before sluicing her face.

Alejandro was in bed when she emerged, stretched out, his arms crossed behind his head.

Elise eyed him warily as she slipped in beneath the covers and closed her eyes. Seconds later she heard the snap of the bedside lamp as the room was plunged into darkness.

Slowly her lashes swept upwards, and for a long time she stared sightlessly ahead, discerning shadows and a thin strip of moonlight threading between the curtains as her eyes adjusted to the grey light of night.

She was acutely aware of every sound, her own breathing, his, and she knew the moment when Alejandro’s steadied and assumed a deep rhythmic beat.

Tomorrow, she promised as her eyelids became heavy and began to flutter down. Tomorrow she would launch an attack about the depth of his involvement with the glamorous Savannah.

E
LISE
woke late to discover that Alejandro had already left for the city. His absence provided an anticlimax, for there was a fine edge to her inner rage that longed for the satisfaction of a full-scale confrontation.

‘Alejandro asked me to tell you that you are both to attend a formal dinner to aid charity this evening,’ Ana conveyed as Elise sat down to a solitary breakfast.

The Santanas Corporation was a well-known benefactor, and Alejandro lent his personal patronage to selected organisations. Elise had attended several such dinners in the past, and her heart sank at the thought of mingling with Alejandro’s sophisticated coterie of acquaintances.

Without doubt Savannah would be present, and Elise hated being an object of conjecture as certain guests speculated on the latest developments between the Santanas scion, his wife, and the glamorous model who had been his constant companion for years before his sudden marriage to a virtual unknown with no social background.

Elise entertained no doubt that Alejandro’s absence from the social scene for the past six weeks had been duly noted and commented upon, details regarding her accident embellished and explicated.

It seemed coincidental that she was to have the bandages removed from her hand today. After this afternoon, physiotherapy would be reduced to weekly instead of daily sessions. Soon the only evidence would be a thin scar on her hand.

The thought of regaining her independence was a heady one. After today, she would be able to drive again. There were a few friends she needed to contact.
Siobhan.
Realisation suddenly hit her that her dearest friend might be anxious not to have heard from her at all in the past six weeks.

As it was, she had no idea whether Siobhan was still working days at the Royal Children’s Hospital, or if she had crossed over to night duty. If it was nights, the answering machine would be on and she could leave a message.

Elise checked the time, then finished her breakfast and moved quickly upstairs to use the bedroom telephone.

Siobhan picked up on the third ring, her voice jubilant on discovering who was on the other end of the line, and they talked for the best part of an hour before Elise reluctantly had to conclude the call in order to keep her appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon.

‘Let’s meet for lunch—
soon
,’ she insisted.

‘I’m a working girl, remember?’ Siobhan teased. ‘However, I’m off the next two nights. Is tomorrow soon enough?’

Elise gave an exultant laugh. ‘Tomorrow it is. Just name the place, the time, and I’ll be there.’

An hour later José deposited her outside the consultant orthopaedist’s rooms, and thirty minutes later she walked out
sans
protective half-cast and bandages. The specialist sanctioned a return to driving, advised care with her hand, and suggested a further appointment in a month.

Now all she had to do was determine which car she could use as her own. There had been no mention of the white Porsche or its fate. Surely it couldn’t have been smashed beyond repair? With the Bentley out of action, Alejandro was taking the Porsche Targa into the city, which left the Pajero wagon for José. She would have to broach it with Alejandro tonight.

After lunch she went through the contents of her wardrobe in an effort to reach a decision over what to wear to dinner, and after much deliberation she narrowed the choice down to two, eventually selecting a stunning fitted gown in deep emerald. The colour matched her eyes, highlighted the creamy texture of her skin, and proved a vivid contrast to her blonde hair.

It was almost four when José delivered her home from physiotherapy, and at five she took a shower, washed her hair and had Ana curl fat rollers into its length before attending to her nails.

Alejandro entered the bedroom as she began applying make-up, and she met his studied appraisal with equanimity.

‘How is your hand?’ He moved towards her, and Elise felt an immediate awareness of his close proximity.

Without a word she displayed the pink scar. ‘I’m sure you’ve already received the specialist’s report.’ She hadn’t intended to sound quite so cynical.

His eyes narrowed fractionally. ‘Yes.’

‘You also know that I am able to drive again,’ she offered, watching as his head lowered down to hers.

She averted her head so that his kiss landed on her cheek, and almost at once he caught hold of her chin, anchoring it as he covered her mouth with his own in an invasion that brought forth a muffled entreaty he chose to ignore.

When he finally lifted his head she silently damned him to the depths of perdition.

The desire to rage against him was paramount, and, drawing in a deep breath, she launched into attack. ‘I’d like to become independent again, rather than have to drag José away every time I want to go out.’

Alejandro slipped the knot free on his tie and began unfastening the buttons on his shirt. ‘That is part of his job.’

Her eyes assumed a brilliant hue as anger began to unfurl, and it took considerable effort to control her temper. ‘Have you assigned him as my gaoler?’

‘You’re being fanciful.’

‘Am I?’

He looked every inch the power broker… indomitable, lethal, inflexible. ‘Are you intent on having an argument?’

She wanted to throw something at him and have it cause mild bodily harm. ‘I find it difficult to
condone almost everything you do where I am concerned.’

He pulled his shirt free and tossed it down on to the bed. ‘
Almost
everything,
querida
?’ One eyebrow slanted in silent mockery. ‘Should I take that to indicate there is some hope for me?’

‘Don’t be so damned facetious,’ she condemned fiercely, seething with helpless indignation as she glimpsed his amusement.

‘We need to leave in half an hour. Can this discussion wait?’

‘Until when, Alejandro?’ she taunted, holding his gaze without any difficulty at all. ‘Next week, next
month?
’

‘Tomorrow.’

It was a better concession than she had hoped for, and she viewed him steadily for several long seconds as her anger began to dissipate.

‘Where is the dinner being held tonight?’

One eyebrow arched, and his mouth assumed a degree of cynicism. ‘The Sheraton.’

Some devilish imp prompted her to ask, ‘Will Savannah be there?’

‘I imagine so. She likes to attend most of the events.’

‘In order to see
you.
’ It was nothing less than the truth.

‘Savannah has many friends, most of whom are active on the social circuit,’ he drawled, and his faintly mocking tones brought a resurgence of anger.

‘I can’t think why you didn’t marry her.’ Elise endeavoured not to sound bitter. ‘She would have leapt at the chance!’

‘Perhaps,’ Alejandro conceded, watching the play of emotions across her expressive features. ‘I chose not to ask her.’

‘One can only wonder why.’ Her eyes deepened in colour and became faintly reflective. ‘She’s beautiful, poised, and she comes from the right social background.’ It was amazing that her voice sounded so calm.

His eyes gleamed with sardonic humour. ‘Many women of my acquaintance fit that description.’

‘Several of whom are wealthy in their own right,’ she pursued, uncaring that she was treading dangerous ground. ‘Poor Alejandro,’ she added lightly. ‘Were you afraid their prime motivation was an advantageous financial merger? Or, if their independent wealth was sufficient for that not to be a consideration, could there have been distaste that they were merely lusting after your body? Not to mention your——’ she hesitated deliberately, then finished with considered delicacy ‘—impressive skill in the bedroom.’

‘Only in the bedroom,
mi mujer
?’ he mocked cynically. ‘I retain a vivid recollection of several enjoyable…encounters, shall we say?’ he suggested, slanting one eyebrow. ‘When we shared the shower, the spa.’ His eyes gleamed as soft pink coloured her cheeks. ‘Shall I continue?’

‘You’ve had plenty of practice, damn you!’

‘You are jealous,
querida
, that any one of my former lovers might possibly have meant more to me than you do?’

Elise felt her eyes widen with shock. Was she so transparent? Could he be aware of how much she hated the thought of his splendidly muscular body engaged in the act of lovemaking with another woman…?
Women
, she corrected. Past and present.

‘How could I be jealous,’ she countered, with as much pride as she could muster, ‘when you clearly defined the reason for our marriage, allocated a price-tag and specified a time-limit?’

‘That bothers you?’

It bothered her like hell, but she was damned if she would admit to it. ‘About as much as the fact that you’ve chosen to retain Savannah as your mistress.’

‘The term
mistress
conveys a woman kept by a husband while still co-habiting with his wife.’ His eyes were dark, and held latent anger. ‘You imagine I would insult you in such a manner?’

I don’t know. ‘I’d appreciate it if you would at least keep the…
liaison
discreet.’

There was a perceptible pause, one in which it seemed that even a pin falling to the floor would result in cacophonous sound. ‘Am I to understand that you give your sanction to such a relationship?’

No.
The silent negation screamed inside her head. It took tremendous effort to effect a slight shrug. ‘Would anything I say make a difference?’

He appeared to be marshalling his anger, confining it beneath a mantle of superb control. ‘We have a dinner engagement,’ he reminded her icily. ‘I suggest you get changed.’

The thought of sitting through a formal dinner in the company of some of the city’s social glitterati was more than she could bear. ‘Forgive me, Alejandro,’ she said with bitter cynicism, ‘but I can’t bring myself to play pretend tonight.’ Her eyes sparkled with emerald brilliance. ‘I’m sure you can come up with some valid excuse that will explain my absence.’ A devilish imp prompted her to add, ‘Savannah will be delighted.’

He looked at her for what seemed an age, his expression a compelling mask from which she inwardly shrank. ‘You tempt me to the brink of violence,’ he said in a voice that was so dangerously quiet it raised all her fine body-hairs in silent fear.

Without a further word he discarded his clothes and strode into the bathroom. He didn’t slam the door, and she found that infinitely more disquieting than if he had resorted to an outward display of anger.

Ten minutes later he emerged, a towel hitched low over his hips, and she moved hastily to her feet as he began to dress.

‘Ask Ana to prepare you something to eat.’

‘It’s her night off,’ Elise managed in a stilted voice. ‘I wouldn’t dream of disturbing her.’ She crossed to the door. ‘I’m quite capable of fixing something myself.’

She didn’t wait for Alejandro to respond, and on reaching ground level she made her way to the kitchen.

The refrigerator was well stocked, so too was the pantry. It was just a matter of making a decision. An omelette would suffice, with cheese, tomato, ham, mushrooms…Not that she felt in the least hungry. If anything, the thought of food made her ill.

She removed a skillet, assembled the ingredients on the bench-top, then chopped, sliced and diced with methodical stoicism.

Alejandro entered the kitchen as she turned the omelette on to a plate, and she willed her hands not to betray her as she turned down the gas.

His raking appraisal unsettled her more than any words he could have chosen to utter, and she turned away from him as she carried her plate to the wide servery bench, then returned to collect cutlery.

She sensed rather than heard him move, and seconds later she felt his hands close over her shoulders as he turned her towards him.

For one achingly long moment their eyes clashed, then his head lowered in seemingly slow motion, and a strangled cry of dissent lay imprisoned in her throat as his mouth closed over hers in a hard merciless kiss that tore at her defences and reached right down to the depths of her soul.

It became a ruthless invasion that bordered on violation, and when at last he lifted his head, she could only stand in shocked immobility. If he had
wanted to punish her, he’d succeeded, she decided numbly.

She felt raw, her whole body consumed by an emotional pain so intense that it was almost a tangible entity. Her eyes began to ache, then glistened with tears she refused to allow to fall.

His features were harsh, and with a muttered imprecation he turned and strode from the kitchen.

Minutes later she heard the muted sound of a car engine start up, then its refined purr diminished as it reached the end of the driveway.

She hugged her arms together, and tried valiantly to maintain a measure of control.

How long she stood there she had no idea, for she had no sense of the passage of time as she attempted to rationalise the foolishness of pitching her strength against a man whose physical and emotional strength were infinitely superior to her own.

It was only the prosaic need for food that refocused her attention, and with determined resolve she collected cutlery and systematically divided the cold omelette into bite-sized portions, forking them automatically into her mouth.

When she had finished, she cleaned the skillet, rinsed the plate and cutlery, and placed them in the dishwasher.

The house seemed incredibly silent, the lounge much too large for her to sit in alone. Feeling thoroughly unsettled, she wandered into the informal
sala
, collected a magazine, and sank into one of the deep cushioned seats. The pages were
not able to capture her interest, and she discarded the magazine, choosing instead to use the remote module to switch on the television. Surely there would be something she could become involved in, she thought with despair, as she clicked one channel after another.

Two half-hour comedy shows provided some light relief, but her appreciation of the humour portrayed was only superficial, and when they were over she roved between the channels in search of a movie that might prove interesting.