Bedded by the Italian Playboy (17 page)

“We
have enough, don’t we?” Rachel asked, because whilst she’d been there when
they’d all sat down and pooled their bounties—the money they’d given,
literally, body and soul for—she’d been so confused she’d barely taken much of
anything in. She did know that Penny had secured the full two hundred thousand
from Demetrious. He’d even taken her to the auction to buy The Point and handed
her the deeds. Which was good, it opened up avenues they hadn’t had before.
They could register as a charity now, get some more funding in. And Lyra had
managed to bag over one hundred thousand pounds in jewelry from her prey, which
she’d already pawned to raise the money for the structural and utility work.
Only Rachel had managed to come back with less than she hoped. Just her ring.
The ring she so didn’t want to pawn. Only in the end she’d had to. She had to
do her part. And it had not given them as much as they’d hoped, seeing as
they’d had to go through a dodgy broker.

Less than she hoped…

Well,
less in some ways. Rachel cast a look at her belly. It was looking like it
might be much more in others.

“Of
course we do,” Lyra said quick to reassure. “But just think how many of these
places we could open if we had the right backing. It’s been nonstop, hasn’t it?
Ever since we opened? There are so many kids needing our help.”

“Yes,
there are. I was thinking just this morning how amazing it would be if we could
take milk and fruit down to Little Ducks.”

“You
and those kids,” Lyra laughed. “You were born to be a mother, Rach.”

“She’s
right,” Jan said, distracting Lyra from the haunted look Rachel was sure must
be stamped all over her face. “Them kids need some fruit and milk in their
bellies. If we could do something like that, we’d really make a difference.”

“Course,
we’ll have to stop Rachel trying to adopt them all,” Lyra said, shooting her
sister an indulgent look.

How
she managed to smile back Rachel didn’t know but smile she did, and once the
bread was all buttered and the first of the teens started wandering in, she
found herself alone in the kitchen. She leaned against the counter, lifted her sweater
and brushed a palm across stomach, marveling ever so slightly at the
possibilities and knowing it was time to tell Penny and Lyra her suspicions.
Only…she frowned…not yet. Not until it was too late to make any kind of
decision. Until she knew for sure that there might be a baby.
Dominic’s baby.
Conceived the very first
time they’d had sex she suspected. It was the only time he’d not been obvious
with applying a condom.

Another
stroke on her stomach and it seemed almost that the very heavy weight on
Rachel’s chest lifted ever so slightly. Even the chicken started to smell good
and her stomach grumbled. She needed food. She needed rest and she needed to
prepare herself because she realized that if her period didn’t come within the
next few days she
wouldn’t
be alone.
Soon she’d never be alone again. Never be scared because someone would need
her, someone she’d have to be strong for. And with that thought, Rachel, for
the first time in weeks, felt her heart lighten ever so slightly and something
that felt suspiciously hope made her smile.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“There’s
a Miss Matthews to see you, sir.”

Dominic
was beyond glad that he had his back to the door, otherwise Benjamin would have
seen the shock that hit with those words. Seen his boss’s hands clench, his
body tense and his mouth tighten.

Rachel.

So
here she was after all these months, and he was surprised, had not expected it.
Not at all. “Miss Matthews?” he said slowly, trying to buy himself a moment to
gather his thoughts.

“She
does not have an appointment,” Benjamin added, having no actual idea who Rachel
was. Why would he? After her flight from the hotel, he’d sent Ryan to track her
down, but she was gone, nowhere to be found. She’d simply vanished. It had
angered him beyond comprehension. More than that, it had left him
feeling….something…something that he refused point blank to acknowledge in any
way, and from that moment he’d allowed no mention of her in his presence again.
To pretty much everyone but Ryan, she was simply some girl he’d fucked.

Nothing
more than that.

Except now….

“She
has simply turned up,” Benjamin continued.

“I
see.” Dominic swiveled his chair around and eyed his assistant. No, Benjamin,
seemed to have no idea how badly the thought of Rachel in the next room affected
him. No clue that his chest had tightened, his heart race increased and that he
had to clench his fists to stop from jumping up, racing through to the next
room, and pulling her into his arms.
Idiot.

 
“I told her you were far too busy and you were
not aware she was planning to come here.”

No,
because then he’d have had time to think about it. Hell, he’d have thought
about it constantly. Imagining what she was going to say to him. Why she’d even
decided to come. He’d have driven himself mad thinking about it.
Dios.
“I see,” he said slowly, aware
that he was repeating himself but unable to stop. “What does she want?”

“She
did not say. Only that....”

“Only
what?”

Benjamin
fidgeted, looked at the floor, and fidgeted some more. “She demanded to see
you. and suggested if you were unwilling that next time she would come back
with a reporter.”

He
raised an eyebrow, the only indication that he was surprised. A reporter?
Rachel would be beyond stupid to do such a thing. She wasn’t exactly in any
position to be scrutinized. A mystery woman out to steal his money? A honey
trap? Hell, her name might not even be Rachel! And with that thought he finally
asked himself why she was here, what she was planning. The questions tumbled
through his mind and he had to take a deep breath to get a hold of himself.

“She’s
lying.”

Benjamin
shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir. She is quite fierce.”

Fierce?
Rachel? He almost laughed. Never had he ever met anyone so gentle, so naturally
soft. There was absolutely nothing fierce about the woman who he’d spent those
fateful weeks with. Not even at the end when he’d roared his displeasure at
her. He swallowed down the memory, surprised that it still had the power to
make him feel guilty all these months later. She’d looked so stricken though,
so innocent.

Innocent.
Maybe she was
a liar after all.

“Tell
me exactly what she said,” he demanded.

“Word
for word?”

“Indeed.”

“She
said that she wanted to see ‘that bastard Rimeria’, that if he didn’t see her
she’d make sure he did. Does he want his name splashed over the papers because
she’d be quite willing to do that. In fact, she’d bring a reporter along with
her next time.”

“Is
that all?”

“She
finished by saying you have a lot to answer for.”

Dominic
frowned. “Is that right?”

“Yes,
sir.”

He
closed the lid of his laptop and drummed his fingers on the desk, wondering, if
he was honest, what the hell was going on. There was only one way to find out,
wasn’t there? At that thought his heart quickened, his chest tightened and
adrenaline flooded his system. “Send her in.”

Benjamin
nodded and headed out the door. Dominic stood up, sat back down and then stood
again. He turned to look out of his panoramic window at the view of
London
below him. His
adopted city. The place where Rachel lived maybe? She certainly didn’t live in
that fictitious address in
Chelmsford
that was for sure. How many times had he stood looking out at this view,
wondering exactly where she was? How often did she creep into his mind no
matter how many times he tried to stop her? Goddamn it, how long would it have
been before he put all his pride aside and went visiting every single Rachel
Matthews in the
UK
?

Never.

 
The sound of the door opening was far louder
than it should have been. And though he’d worked so fucking hard to put her out
of his mind, he couldn’t help the anticipation that zinged through him as the
door was pushed open at last.
Rachel.

Only
it wasn’t Rachel at all, and disappointment, keen and cold, crashed through
him. “Who the hell are you?”

The
red-haired woman, who had attitude written all over her, shot him quite
possibly the nastiest look he’d ever received and sat herself down in the chair
opposite his desk. She crossed her very long legs, laid her bag on the floor
next to the chair, and spoke. “Lyra.” Just one word, but it was full of venom,
and he frowned.

“Who?”

“Rachel’s
sister.”

Once
again he didn’t allow any surprise to show but surprised he was. She looked
nothing like Rachel at all. Nothing. Where Rachel was all blonde and
prettiness, this woman screamed fire, and not just because of the hair. “You
look nothing alike.”

Another
nasty look. “We’re not alike, sweetheart. Far from it. You won’t find me as
easy to manipulate as you did her.”

“I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You
seduced her.”

So
she knew. How much he wondered and then the words of that damn email hit all
over again. To her sisters...and yes, there
was
a Lyra, and she had known. Rachel had asked her for help so the redhead was in
on it. “That was her plan,” he said softly. “All of your plan so far as I could
see. You were in on it, were you not?”

“Of
course,” she said, “but that’s irrelevant now, and besides if you want to get
right down to it, you were certainly easy enough to seduce. I mean, it’s not
like you put up a fight. You were
too
easy, Rimeria.”

“
Dios
, you b—”

 
“But the way you treated her afterwards. You
had absolutely no idea what was going on. You, like every rich man I’ve ever
met, just assumed. You’re a class A twat! And it’s time to make up for what
you’ve done.”

The
injustice of that remark stung and Dominic growled. Had he not been the one
tricked? Cheated? Made a fool of? Left feeling like…hell, he didn’t even know
how he felt half the time! And this woman dared to come and upbraid him?

“So
this is why you are here,” he growled. “Simply to reproach me about my
treatment of your sister? It will make no difference to my feelings. I want
nothing more to do with her.”

Liar, liar, liar.
His
conscience laughed at him, because it knew full well that if she hadn’t left, likely
he’d never have let her. Even steamingly angry, burning from head to toe, he’d
wanted her.

Still
did.

Maybe
always fucking would. Wasn’t he already planning to have Lyra followed to
ascertain her address and by default Rachel’s? He cursed inwardly. Yes, that
was already decided

“Well,
isn’t that just jolly fucking great,” Lyra jeered. “You feel fine about it so
everything is okay. Never mind that you treated her like shit.”

Anger
made him speak before he thought the words through. “How would you expect me to
treat a slut?”

He
didn’t even see Lyra move, just felt the stinging slap as her hand made contact
with his face. His ear rung and he clenched his fists to stop himself throwing
her over his shoulder and out the door. “You’ll regret that.”

She
sneered. “I doubt it, sweetheart. Don’t you ever fucking call my sister a slut
again. She was virgin. You know that.”

“A
virgin, yes,” he grated, “but inexperienced…I doubt it.”

“God,
you’re an idiot. She’d barely interacted with men before you. She wouldn’t, not
after….”

“After
what?”

She
shrugged and moved back over to the chair, sitting herself down as if she
hadn’t just slapped him silly, sneering some more and flicking her long red
hair behind her. “Did she tell you where we met?”

“Where
you met?” Dominic frowned and not just because of her words. He was torn
between shaking Lyra until she told him where Rachel was and kicking her out of
his office with a dire warning never to return. “You are sisters. Your words
make no sense.”

“We’re
not biological sisters,” Lyra said with another shrug. “Rachel, Penny and I.
We’re foster sisters. We met in a care home.”

“A
care….” Dominic swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat. He had a sudden
and nasty suspicion he was not going to like the next words out of Rachel’s
sister’s mouth.

“Rachel
was stunning even then,” Lyra said slowly. “So beautiful it was heartbreaking.
The moment I caught sight of her I hugged her. It was just natural to do so.
All that blonde hair and dimples and she was just a little thing. Petite and
curvy. She was a natural target for the older boys. Hell, even for the adults.”