My hottest Billionaire a Boss

Fourteen

He said he’d heard rumours that something was up—the village was

buzzing with your arrival and he wanted to know who you were and why

you were here. You’re the only thing people are talking about, apparently.’

She even managed a laugh and watched as Edward’s sensual mouth

twisted in wry response. But still he didn’t speak, only waited for her to

find the words to go on.

‘Of course I had to explain about Jety’s will—and about the gambling—

how he’d lost everything and how you’d helped him—bailed him out.’ It was harder to speak now. In her mind she could see how Lee’s face

had changed, the way that any light had died from his eyes and his whole

body had stiffened, his hand tensing in hers.

‘He wanted to know what this meant for us—for me. And when he found

out that I wasn’t going to inherit—that there would be no money, no

house…that was when he…’

‘He was only marrying you for your money.’

It was a harsh statement, not a question, but still Liza found herself

nodding, the words suddenly tumbling out unrestrained because now she

had to get the story told. Had to have it all out in the open, vile and

sordid as it was.

‘His business has been doing badly for some time. I knew he was in

trouble but I didn’t know how bad it was. Or how deeply in debt he

actually is.’

Another shaky, uneven laugh escaped from her, a sound of bitter

disbelief.

‘That seems like the story of my life right now—first Jety, now …’

But saying her ex-fiancé’s name was now beyond her and her voice broke

on the word, unable to go on.

‘Now him,’ she managed at last after breathing in deeply and swallowing hard. ‘A—apparently the only real attraction I had for him is that I was

Jety’s daughter and that eventually I was going to inherit. And,

until that happened, he knew that once we were married Jety would

never let my husband’s business go to the wall. So that was why he

wanted the wedding as soon as possible—he needed a ring on my finger

before his creditors closed in. And I th-thought that he just couldn’t

wait to marry me. That he was desperate to get me into his life—into his

bed.’

She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t bring herself to voice the final

humiliation. But it seemed that Edward didn’t need to hear it. His cool,

clear mind had assessed the situation, taking it through to the bitter

conclusion with intuitive accuracy.

‘He had another woman.’

‘Yes.’ It was just a whisper, a thin thread of sound. ‘Those trips to Europe

—the ones he couldn’t possibly get out of—he has a mistress there. He

said she was more of a woman than I’ll ever be and he wanted her for s*x

and me—me for the money.’

The tears she had been fighting all evening—all day, really, she had

refused to let them fall—came now, tumbling in a silent stream down her

cheeks so that she could taste their salt on her lips. Edward swore fluently in savage European as her wineglass was taken from

nerveless fingers and dumped unceremoniously on the coffee table. His

grip tightened on her arm as he swung her round until she was hard up

against the strong wall of his chest, her face pressed against his

shoulder, her nose in the soft cotton of his shirt. ‘No tears,’ he muttered roughly. ‘No tears. He’s not worth it. He’s not

worth a single tear from your eyes.’

‘I know…’ Liza sighed into his shirt, sniffing inelegantly. ‘I know…but I

thought…he didn’t even want me—want me sexually. Not really. He said

that his lover was—’

The words snapped off, dying in shock, as Edward moved again, pulling

her away from her hiding place against his chest and holding her so that

he could look straight into her face, his hands on her shoulders, his dark

gaze intent.

‘The man is a worthless rat—and, even worse, he’s a fool. A lying fool.’

His unexpected vehemence sparked a tiny involuntary smile on to

Liza’s lips, one that wobbled, faded when she saw the blaze of

sincerity in his eyes and heard it echoed in his voice.

‘He’s a fool who doesn’t know a beautiful woman when he sees one.’

‘Thank you for the compliment…’ Liza began but he silenced her with

an autocratic shake of his head.

‘No compliment. I never flatter. You know how I feel about you. I told you

—you’re no longer a little girl.’

Long fingers brushed away the tracks of the tears, erasing the marks

they had made on her skin. ‘So no tears for a man who is not—and never was—worth it.’

‘He betrayed me.’

‘Then get angry.’

Edward’s thumb smoothed a line over her left cheekbone, leaving a trail

of fire in its wake. She felt as if she were drowning in the pools of his

eyes, losing her self and all sense of her surroundings. The silence of the

evening beyond the windows, the fact that there was only the two of

them in the house, isolated, alone, made it feel as if they were suspended

in some little bubble of time, away from all the rest of the world.

‘What is it they say? That living well is the best revenge?’

‘You’re right.’

‘Then live well—and forget him.’

She tried another smile, slightly more successful this time.

‘Thank you…’

Impulsively she leaned forward, pressed a swift kiss against the lean

plane of his cheek, inhaling that citrusy scent again, the warm, slightly

musky aroma of his skin. Under her lips the faint rasp of beard was rough

against her skin and she welcomed the essential maleness of it, her heart kicking slightly against her ribcage. Lee had never made her feel this way, she realised with a sense of

stunned shock. He had never been able to make her feel so intensely

aware of the fact that she was a woman with just a look, just one touch.

But Edward had done it that morning. He had kissed her and she had

gone into meltdown, discovering a whole new sensuality that she had

never experienced before. She had felt only that he was male and that

everything about him called to everything that was most female in her.

It was as if she had been sleeping all this time, like Snow White, and

Edward had woken her with his kiss.

This morning she had told herself that she had been caught off balance.

Edward had made a move when she had least expected it, when still raw

and disoriented from all that had happened. A series of blows to her

mood and her equanimity had knocked all sense of reality out of her head,

and she had responded in a way that would never have happened at any

other time. In any other circumstances.

But here she was in another time, other circumstances, and it was

happening all over again.

And the really disturbing thing was that she knew from Edward’s sudden

total stillness, the way his breathing had changed, deepening and taking

on a ragged edge that matched the uneven throb of her pulse inside her

veins, that he was feeling it too. He was every bit as aware of her as a

woman as she was of him as a man. She only had to turn her head to face him and she would read it in his

eyes.

The question was—did she have the nerve to do so? Because, if she did,

she would then have to answer another deeper, darker question.

Just what the hell was she going to do about it?

Liza’

If she had had any doubt that Edward was feeling the same way as she

was, then the way that he spoke her name would have driven any such

thoughts right out of her mind. His voice had deepened, roughened until

the sound seemed to be forced from a desperately sore throat. It was so

husky that it sounded as if it was fraying at the edges.

On his tongue, her name was a blend of emotions, a sound of sensual

response, of encouragement and interest, but it also held a note of

warning, a hint of the need for care. Never before had she been so aware

of his very personal way of speaking her name and the unusual lilt that his

accent gave to the sound.

And if she had felt that they were isolated and alone before, now it was

as if the world had closed in on them until they were the only people in

existence, in an environment that had been stripped right down to its

basics. To a man and a woman and the most primitive, most basic—most essential

—connection there could be between them.

The connection of need. Of hunger.

Of s*x.

Lust swirled in the atmosphere like the heat from a smouldering fire,

needing only an extra bit of kindling, a breath of air to burst into a

blazing inferno of need.

Liza be sure that you know what you are doing. What you are

inviting. Only do this if you want…’

Edward broke off abruptly as, unable to resist the temptation, she

kissed him again. She had only had such a small knowledge of the taste of

his skin, the scent of his body, and yet it was as if she was already

seriously addicted to them. She needed the tang of his flesh on her lips,

on her tongue. The intensely personal fragrance of it was making her

heart thud heavily, sending her blood pulsing and heating every one of

her senses. This time the feel of him against her lips was not enough. She

let her tongue slide out to touch his cheek, revelling in the faint abrasion

of bristles against its sensitive tip.

And suddenly, in a rush of understanding so profound that it made her

head reel, her heart lurch, she knew that he had been right—so very,

very right—when he had quoted the line about living well being the best

revenge. She had arrived back at the house feeling low and desolate,

seeing no light in her future at all. And yet, from the moment that

Edward had taken her in his arms and held her, everything had changed.

It was as if she had been wearing blinkers and had suddenly ripped them off, seeing life in a whole new way, in fresher, clearer focus.

And what she saw was so exciting and stimulating, it made her want to

reach for it. She had been engaged to Lee for six months and never

once in all that time had he ever made her feel like this .

‘What am I inviting?’ she questioned, murmuring the words against his

jaw.

‘You know…’ It was a low, husky growl.

‘Do I?

If she had been about to say anything more, then it was cut off, crushed

back down her throat as he turned his head and captured her teasing

mouth, crushing it under his own with a force that obliterated thought

and sent her senses soaring.

The world swung around her, almost knocking her off balance so that she

grabbed at his powerful shoulders for support.