The Blackmailed Bride (9 page)

‘Did you try?'

An unreadable expression, that might have been his equivalent of a violent emotional outburst, flickered across his taut features. ‘What is this, a counselling session?'

‘I see you did, but she wouldn't. Wow! I'd really like to meet her!' she responded incautiously.

‘You shall. Sarah has agreed to be a witness at our wedding tomorrow.'

K
ATE
blinked several times and waited until the room appeared the right way up once more before hoarsely responding. ‘Come again…'

‘
Come again…?
I am not familiar with the term.'

‘My eye! The ignorance card isn't going to get you off this hook, mate!' Kate exploded. ‘You must be out of your tiny mind if you think I'm going to agree to marry you so you can inherit the family store!'

Javier coughed; it took him several moments to adjust to hearing a multi-billion empire dismissively referred to as the ‘family store.' ‘It will cause you the minimum of inconvenience—a paper arrangement, no more.'

He was clearly unbalanced. ‘I hope this Aria of yours is no relation, because I'm getting the strong impression here that there's already been a bit too much in-breeding in your family. Cousins marrying cousins, that sort of thing, if you get my drift…?'

‘I thought you wanted the photos.'

A pained expression of regret crossed Kate's face, but perhaps it was best this way; maybe it was time Susie started taking responsibility for her own actions.

‘I care for my sister.' Her eloquent sniff managed to intimate that he didn't know the meaning of the word. ‘I'd do a great deal for her…'

His eyes touched the bruised area on her temple. ‘Most people would say you already have.'

‘But marrying a blackmailing lunatic is not one of them.'

‘My grandfather will really like your candour.'

Kate threw up her hands. What I really need to do, she
decided, is take a deep breath and stand back from all this
weirdness.
Far enough away, this situation might even have a funny side…?

‘Are you not listening to me?' Silly question—of course he wasn't; he obviously didn't listen to anyone. ‘I'm not going to marry you!' she delivered firmly, drawing a shaky hand threw her damp hair. ‘Not even if you send those photos to the newspapers, but you might like to reflect when you do it that when it comes down to it you're no better than that scumbag who drugged my sister and took them!' Bosom heaving, lip curled in contempt, she met his eyes.

What she saw on his face made her catch her breath and hold it. Maybe she'd gone too far, she reflected, as he visibly fought to control the rage that contorted his lean features… She watched as inch by inch he gained control until only the throbbing pulse beside his mouth was left to remind her of that blaze of consuming fury.

‘They're yours.'

Kate stared at the packet he placed on her lap suspiciously. ‘Is this some sort of trick?'

‘I am not interested in shaming a family because of the mistake of one member and, as for Gonzalez, he will not escape justice.'

From any other man, Kate might have taken this as an idle boast but when Javier said it there was nothing idle or boastful about it—he was just stating fact, and she found herself accepting it as such.

She picked up the buff envelope and found her fingers were trembling—there had to be a catch. ‘Isn't this your bargaining chip in the negotiation we were talking about? It hardly makes sense for you to give it away.'

‘I am a tough negotiator, not a petty criminal,' he replied, the pride that had remained unruffled by her clumsy attack
on his masculinity clearly offended by her opinion of his business acumen.

‘Then I don't understand…' A small scornful smile curved her lips. ‘Oh, you probably think everyone has their price…! Yes,' she mused letting her glance move over him from head to toe and back again, ‘you would.'

The dark fan of lashes lifted from his cheek; his expression radiated confidence. ‘It's just a matter of discovering what it is.'

The sinister implication that he had found hers made Kate shiver. She dismissed the idea as foolish; she had many sins but avarice was not one of them.

‘You shouldn't judge everyone else by your own standards. You see, I don't want your money…' she revealed, injecting a note of pity into her tone that brought a satisfactory flare of annoyance to his eyes.

‘Not for yourself, perhaps…'

Kate frowned. ‘What do you mean…?'

‘I was thinking about the project to provide an extension on the burns unit at the children's hospital you yourself were treated at, and the new accommodation facilities in the existing unit so that families of patients having long-term treatment can stay with their children…'

Kate surged to her feet, her body rigid with suspicion. Though it might be important to her and others involved, their fund-raising activities on behalf of the unit barely rated a mention in the local press, let alone any journal he might have read. Unless she talked in her sleep, there was no way he could know about them.

‘What do you know about that?' she demanded, hardly able to hear herself past the alarm bells clanging in her head. ‘H-how did you find out…? Did my parents tell you or…?'

‘I have not seen your parents since last night.'

‘Then how?'

‘The how is irrelevant.' He dismissed her questions with a fluid gesture.

Kate's full lips compressed. ‘Not to me it isn't.' She raised a hand to her spinning head and tried to think straight.

‘It's not complicated. Information is easy to find at any time of the day if you know where to look, and who to ask.'

And he clearly did. What was obvious normal practice for him appalled her.
Implacable,
the word flashed into Kate's head as she met his impassive stare with one of incredulity.

‘It's easy to invade someone's privacy, you mean,' she corrected, her distaste for his questionable tactics written clearly across pale, outraged features as she lifted her eyes to his.

‘Someone in my position knows only too well how easy,' he agreed heavily. ‘One learns the hard way how to protect oneself from intrusions.'

His hypocrisy was staggering! ‘Clearly you don't believe in the principle of treating others as you would be treated yourself,' she observed contemptuously. ‘What other questions did you ask about me when you were grubbing around in my life?'

‘Only relevant ones.'

On anyone else, Kate would have been inclined to believe the slight flush along his cheekbones might have been a reflection of discomfort. ‘Such as?'

‘I know that you have no lover who might be an obstacle to our plan.'

As her knees sagged, Kate's hand closed over the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be Javier's forearm; it immediately stiffened to offer her extra support.

‘
Our
plan…?
Your
plan!' she contradicted, wanting to disassociate herself with this absurd scheme straight off.

She stared at the image of her white-knuckled fingers digging into crisp cotton; she stared so hard everything else swam out of focus. Underneath the thin material she was conscious of the crisp texture of fine body hair, the heat of his skin and overlying everything else the sinewy iron strength. The stab of sexual energy that sizzled through her body was so unexpected, so shockingly intense, it took her breath away. Kate removed her hand as if burnt as her stomach took a great diving lurch downwards.

Head bent, hands braced on her thighs, she exhaled in a series of short panting breaths before she dared to lift her eyes to his. It was mortifying to discover she was so sexually receptive to someone she despised so completely, someone to whom she was no more than a tool to be callously manipulated for his own financial gain.

When she did angle a wary glance up at him, she was dismayed to see a flicker of something perilously close to sympathy in his eyes. That look seemed to say he understood her reactions better than she did herself. Not that that would be so damned hard, because at that moment Kate had never had less insight into what she was feeling or why!

Determined that, if nothing else, she would at least show him she was not another silly female who swooned at the sight of him, she returned the look with one of smouldering derision.

‘What would you have done if I had had a boyfriend, Javier, arranged for him to have an
accident?
' she asked sarcastically. Her glance slid over his tall figure and hard, ruthless features and suddenly it didn't seem such a joke any more—he looked capable of
anything.

‘Now you are being hysterical,' he observed, his attitude that of someone getting bored with the entire discussion.

Kate gave a disbelieving laugh—was he for real…? ‘No, but I'm getting there,' she told him grimly. ‘And your in
formation is wrong. I do have a boyfriend, Seb Leigh…' She served a smug little smile. ‘He's a QC and he's—'

‘I'm sure his CV is as impressive as your own,' came the cool contradiction. ‘However, Mr Leigh
was
your lover, isn't that so, Kate? Your second serious relationship, I believe…?' He appeared to interpret the choking sound that emerged from Kate's throat as confirmation of this. ‘But he is out of the picture. You split up a year ago and he is now married to someone else. Does that bother you?'

Kate stood there seething and feeling as foolish as anyone would caught pretending to have a relationship. What made her angriest was the impression it gave that she felt somehow inadequate and incomplete without a man, when nothing could have been farther from the truth.

‘You mean your sources didn't supply you with that information? How annoying.'

‘It is not actually relevant,' he conceded. ‘I was just wondering if you have any regrets… Of course, many women like yourself delay marriage, concentrating their energies on building their career, not a family.'

‘I intend to have both one day.'

‘Unlike many career-minded women you seem to have retained an oddly naïve quality,' he observed thoughtfully.

‘What's so naïve about thinking you can have both?' she began aggressively.

Javier acted as though she hadn't spoken. ‘It is not unattractive,' he revealed in his rough velvet drawl.

He held her startled gaze for long enough to see her shock register on her face before allowing his gaze to drop.

This unexpected development ambushed Kate's wits. Her pulses went haywire; she went hot, she went cold; for several seconds the only thing she could do was tremble and admire the luxuriant sweep of his lashes as they brushed against his high cheekbones.

And why?
she asked herself.

Just because he's deigned to say you're not totally repulsive! How sad it is that? A bit of mild ego-boosting and you start thinking with your hormones, which can't be a bad thing from his point of view; someone smitten with lust is going to be a lot more pliable. The last thing she wanted to do was make Javier Montero's life easier!

‘But not your type, obviously…' If an insult was pending, Kate made it her rule to get in first.

The iridescent blue gaze landed back on her face and stayed there.

Kate suffered a second searing jolt in as many minutes.

Being a sensible woman meant that she didn't read anything personal in the smouldering intensity she encountered when their eyes locked. Sensuality was innate to him; it was revealed in his slightest movement, the proud angle of his head, his voice… Another shiver snaked on her spine at the thought of his honeyed, husky drawl.

Her body either couldn't or didn't want to hear what she was telling it, because it responded brazenly to the glitter in his spectacular eyes. As she struggled to control the violent fluctuations of her breathing, she was acutely conscious of the burning sensitivity in her engorged nipples and the ache low in her belly.

‘I wouldn't contemplate marrying anyone I found repulsive,' he revealed.

‘Neither would I,' she retorted instantly. ‘
Normally.
What's so funny?' she demanded.

‘You are a very bad liar.'

‘No, I'm not!' she retorted indignantly. Amusement flared afresh in his eyes and Kate bit her lip. ‘That is, I'm not lying.'

For what seemed like a long time he surveyed her with that air of inscrutable calm she found so exasperating; finally he shrugged. ‘If you prefer for your own reasons to pretend you are totally unaware of the sexual chemistry that
exists between us, I will naturally accept your wishes. These causes you espouse,' he continued seamlessly. ‘They do require funds?'

There was a twenty-second time lag before his words made much sense to Kate, who had a lot more trouble than he appeared to have in shifting her turbulent thoughts from personal to business.

‘We are raising money. The raft race, the sponsored—' she began numbly.

Sexual chemistry,
he'd said. She swallowed hard as her eyes darted furtively towards his mouth. Oh, hell, Kate why did you deny it, act as if it was some big deal? Why didn't you just shrug it off? Maybe because you knew you couldn't?

He clicked his fingers. ‘A drop in the ocean,' he responded dismissively.

‘We'll get there.' Of course, an awful lot of sick kids would have grown up by then—the lucky ones anyway.

‘You'll get there a lot faster if I make up the shortfall,' he interrupted casually.

Kate laughed shakily. ‘Have you any idea how much that is? We're not talking hundreds or even thousands, we're talking—'

‘Millions—yes, I know,' he interrupted calmly.

Kate's jaw dropped. ‘And you'll pay for that?' She gulped—this man had taken moral blackmail to another level! What he was offering would mean so much to so many people. The injured children, the parents, the highly trained team of staff whose hard work and dedication could only partly compensate for a chronic lack of investment in the burns unit. How will I feel the next time a child is turned away because there is no spare bed, if I know that I could have made the difference…?

‘If you agree to marry me I'll sign the cheque now… You fill in the amount.' He watched, arms folded across
his chest, as the conflicting emotions tripped across her face.