My hottest Billionaire a Boss

Twelve

Liza?’ His voice was puzzled, questioning. ‘Are you all right?’

And it was the sound of her name that brought her back into the real

world, seeming to hit her in the face like a bucket of cold water dragging

her away from the sensual delirium that had possessed her and bringing

her up sharp with shock. Only one person in the world called her Liz in

spite of her constant protests that she really preferred the full version

of her name. It was something that had always niggled her and she

supposed that it would never change.

Lee…’ she managed on a gasp. ‘I’m sorry—I…’

Dear Lord, no! How could she admit that in the moments after she had

got the door open she hadn’t known quite who he was? How had Edward

managed to scramble her brain so completely with one kiss that she

hadn’t been able to recognise her fiancé?

‘I…I was busy and I didn’t hear the bell…’ she managed, hating herself for

the lie, hating Edward for putting her in the position of having to make

it. Hating the way that she suddenly felt as if her fiancé was a stranger to

her—someone she didn’t know, who didn’t belong in her world.

Guilt had done that to her, she realised. Guilt at the way that she had let

Edwards kiss her, hold her. And it had all meant nothing to him. He had

stated his aim right from the start…

‘Let’s test this…’ he had said, challenging her assertion that she was

engaged to be married to a man that she loved.

And she had been so confident that she could prove that assertion and

meet any test he could throw at her. She’d told herself with foolhardy

assurance that she would meet him, match him, be able to pass his test

with flying colours. She had even convinced herself that she would be

able to fling some nicely calculated barbed remarks in his face to prove

how unmoved she was and to even the score after their last encounter.

Instead of which she had fallen right into his hands like a ripe plum just

ready for the picking, He had baited his trap with care, even warning her

it was there, but she had still tumbled headlong into it like a naïve,

unthinking fool.

And she didn’t like the way that made her feel.

She felt dirty, tainted, guilty. Once more it seemed that the malign

influence of the Angel had reached out to invade her world and

damage everything that was good in it.

The sun had already disappeared far below the horizon when Liza

finally arrived back home…

…Back to the House . She forced herself to amend the thought

with a painful twist of her heart. This house was no longer her home and

it never would be home to her again.

So where would she be able to call home? she wondered as she crossed

the polished wooden floor of the hall, letting the big oak door slam to

behind her with a resounding bang. She didn’t care if it disturbed

Edward, or dragged him away from whatever plans he was making to run

the estate in the future. The heavy, echoing, almost sepulchral sound

suited her gloomy mood and the depths of her new despair.

She hadn’t thought that today could get any worse, but she had been

proved wrong. In fact it had gone downhill further and further with

every moment that passed until now she had no idea which way to turn or

where she might possibly end up. The future stretched ahead of her like

a long, dark, dismal tunnel with no hint at all of any light at the end.

‘You’ve been out a long time.’

Edward’s voice she had expected—she had fully anticipated that he

would complain about the noise—but she hadn’t expected him to appear in

the doorway of the library, a powerful dark form silhouetted against the

light, and comment on her late return in a voice that sounded as critical

and reproving as that of any parent. More than any parent, she reflected.

Jety had never been like that. ‘I’ve been out all day, to be precise,’ she flung at him in a tone that made

it plain she considered it no business of his. ‘Not that that has anything

to do with you.’

If she expected to rile him, then she failed. She couldn’t see the

expression on his shadowed face but his voice was quite calm and even

when he replied.

‘I wasn’t sure if you planned to be home for dinner or not, so I asked Mrs

to save something for you. Have you eaten?’

‘I’m fine, thanks.’

She forced herself to say it though the truth was that she hadn’t

touched a thing since—since the night before, she realised on a wave of

shock. She’d left the house without breakfast and, after the way things

had developed, she hadn’t been able to even think of putting food in her

mouth. She would probably have choked trying to get it down—or brought

it straight back up again as soon as she’d swallowed.

Edward had changed his clothes, she realised. No longer dressed as

casually as he had been earlier in the day, he was now wearing a fine

white shirt and black trousers, a tailored jacket fitting his broad frame

perfectly. The more formal clothing took her by surprise, making her

pause to wonder if he had been expecting someone—and if so, who?

‘The boyfriend not with you?’

Edward leaned one powerful shoulder against the door frame as he

spoke, obviously relaxing in order to have a chat—and equally obviously determined not to take the broad hint in her tone and leave her alone as

she wanted.

Liza corrected automatically, fighting back the gasp that

almost escaped her at the twist of pain deep inside as she did so. The

terrible sense of betrayal was too new, too raw to allow her even to

probe it herself, let alone reveal anything about it to the Angel.

‘And no, he’s not here. I didn’t think it would be exactly—proper to bring

him back here without your permission. This is your house, after all.’

‘You don’t need my permission. And I would have been intrigued to meet

him.’

The deliberate emphasis on that ‘intrigued’ caught on something raw in

Liza’s thoughts, but when she turned sharply to stare at Edwards his

expression was bland and unrevealing, giving nothing away.

‘I don’t think that will happen for a long time. I won’t be inviting him back

here…’

And not for any reason that Edward might possibly expect.

‘And you’re getting married very soon—how long is it till the wedding?’

‘A month.’

Liza had to force the words out, flat and low. The wedding day was supposed to be exactly a month from today. She had been so excited, so

happy when she’d planned it. The future had seemed so bright, so full of

promise. Now it simply seemed as if she had been stacking up her

dominoes ready for fate to come along and knock them down.

First Jety, then field and now…

‘Mr Nelson wasn’t what I expected.’

‘You were spying on me!’

It was a splutter of indignation—at least that was how she prayed that

he heard it. The truth was that she hated the thought of those black,

knowing eyes watching her awkward greeting of Lee, the struggle she

had had to regain any degree of composure after the kiss that had sent

her brain into meltdown. She could only imagine the grim satisfaction he

had gained from seeing her stumbling behaviour, her awkward words.

And, even worse, she could imagine just what he would be thinking, the

interpretation he would put on her flustered behaviour.

‘But are you engaged here…?’ he had said, touching her heart. And that

was even before he’d kissed her. So what had he read in her face, in her

eyes, that had told him something different?

‘Hardly spying,’ Edwards drawled and the faint touch of laughter in his

voice stung with deliberate mockery. ‘The side windows of the

conservatory look out over the courtyard. I could not miss seeing you.’ ‘So what did you expect?’

‘Not some middle-aged father figure, that’s for sure!’

‘He’s not a father figure! And he’snot middle-aged! He’s—he’s…’

But she couldn’t go any further. The memory of Lee’s face, the bitter

sting of his words destroyed her ability to think, to speak.

‘He’s what?’ Edward challenged, leaving her in no doubt that he had

caught the hesitation in her voice and was aiming right for the c***k in

her emotional armour that he believed he had found.

If only he knew. If only he realised that he had no need to attack.

‘He’s not like you!’ she snapped, not caring if she avoided the truth or

even out and out lied. She only knew that she’d had enough of Edward

and his questions, of the cynically mocking tone, the sardonically raised

eyebrow.

She’d had enough of today altogether and all she wanted was to head

upstairs and retreat to the sanctuary of her bedroom.

Except that her bedroom was no longer the refuge she thought it. It

wasn’t even hers any more; it belonged to Edward and, in spite of his

offer that morning, she really didn’t think that he would be prepared to

let her stay for anything other than the bare minimum of time it took her

to find somewhere else to live. And, after today, that was going to be much harder than she had ever

imagined.

But Edward had moved on that last question, coming out into the hallway

so that he was now between her and the big curving staircase that led up

to the first floor. To escape, she would have to get past him and right

now that felt as attractive a prospect as edging her way past a hungry

tiger, one that was just waiting for its prey to come close enough to

pounce.

‘In fact he’s the exact opposite—he’s…’

She couldn’t get any more words out, finding instead that anything she

might have wanted to say had tangled up in a knot at the base of her

throat and was threatening to choke her.

He’s kind and honest and totally straightwere the things she would have

said—sheshould have been able to say! They were the things she would

have flung at Edward even that morning, and she would have known—

would have believed that they were true.

But this afternoon had shown her that they too would have been a lie.

That the love she had believed Lee had for her was nothing but a

pretence, a cynically calculated ploy to get what he wanted, using her

along the way.

‘I need a drink.’

Head down, bitter tears stinging her eyes, she blundered past Edward’s watchful figure, heading into the unlit sitting room and crossing to where

the cabinet was still filled with a selection of Jety’s favourite wines.

For a moment she thought that the corkscrew would be beyond her but

there was already a bottle of red wine opened and she splashed some of

it into a glass, lifting the drink to her lips as Edward appeared in the

doorway.

Immediately reality gave her another hard slap in the face with a

reminder of just what her position was here now.

‘Oh—I’m sorry—’ The sarcasm of her tone took any real apology out of

the words. ‘I suppose I should have asked.