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“So, you’re trying to control me, are you?” About the Author Title Page CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE Copyright
“So, you’re trying to control me, are you?”
Tuna glared at him and continued. “Well, maybe I don’t want to be controlled.”
Justin smiled an evasive smile, quite untouched by the scathing note in Tina’s voice.
“No, you never did. That’s what makes it so enjoyable. I’m really looking forward to having you back in my employ.”
“You mean back in your power! You’re going to torment me and make my life a misery!”
“Sounds good to me.” Justin let his gaze drift over her. “I always did enjoy tormenting you!”
There was something intensely sexual about the way he said it. And Tina found herself utterly powerless to stop herself from responding.
Stephanle Howard was born and brought up in Dundee, Scotland, and educated at the London School of Economics. For ten years she worked as a journalist in London on a variety of British women’s magazines, among them Woman’s Own, and later, was editor of the now defunct Honey. She has spent many years living and working abroad—in Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines and in the Middle East.
www.millsandboon.co.uk
CHAPTER ONE
‘GOOD heavens! I’m so sorry! That was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.’
As she spoke, Tina didn’t even glance at her victim—the man she’d just collided with somewhat violently as she’d hurried across the conference-room full of noisy fellow-journalists. All her attention was fixed on the glass of champagne cocktail which had very nearly been sent flying out of her hand—and most of whose contents were now dripping down her arm.
But then her victim spoke.
‘No need to apologise. It seems to me you’ve come off worst.’
In an instant Tina had forgotten about her impromptu shower. The unexpected sound of that deep velvety voice had instantly rooted her to the spot. A great deal of time had passed since she’d last heard it, but it was not a voice she was ever likely to forget. Her heart hammering, she looked up into Justin Marlowe’s face.
‘Like I said,’ he repeated, smiling, ‘you seem to have come off worst.’
‘Yes, I do.’
It was the only response Tina could manage. She could barely stand for the rush of emotion that poured through her at the sight of that arrogant Greek god face. Suddenly, there was a tempest raging inside her. Suddenly, she was finding it difficult to breathe.
‘Are you OK? You look a little stunned. You haven’t hurt yourself, I trust?’
‘No. I’m OK. Just a little stunned, as you say. That was quite a nasty collision.’
Tina was amazed, and relieved, at how composed and cool she sounded. She hadn’t spoken to Justin Marlowe or been this close to him for three years—for, though she’d seen him from time to time at other receptions like this one, neither had ever even so much as acknowledged the other’s presence. And now she was right next to him, looking into those iron-grey eyes of his that she had believed no longer had the power to affect her, and she was tumbling into an abyss of pain and confusion. In an instant her blood had turned to knives in her veins.
‘I seem to have made a bit of a mess.’
Her fingers tight around her wine glass, she tore her gaze from his and glanced down, only half seeingly, at the wet splashes on her silk blouse. He was right. She had definitely come off worst in their encounter. There wasn’t a mark on his immaculate navy suit. But then, she thought wryly, wasn’t that always the case? Didn’t she always come off worst in her encounters with Justin Marlowe?
That thought was like a splash of cold water in her face. It pulled her up abruptly. Why was she reacting so foolishly? Justin Marlowe was nothing but a cold-hearted bastard. The only emotion he should be capable of inspiring in her was dislike.
‘Here. Take this.’ He had reached into his trouser pocket and was pulling out a folded, spotlessly white handkerchief. He held it out to her, then, before she could protest, he had taken her wine glass and handed it to a passing waiter. ‘You can use it to mop up the worst of the damage.’
Tina’s foolishness had all fled in a flickering instant to be replaced by a quick keen sense of irritation. Who the devil did he think he was, taking over in this fashion? She felt tempted to tell him what to do with his handkerchief. But she let common sense prevail. She rather needed to mop up and she knew she had no tissues in her bag.
So she took the proffered handkerchief, murmuring a curt, ‘Thank you,’ as she did so. Then, looking up into his face again, she observed in a cutting tone, ‘Whatever would I have done if you hadn’t been here?’
‘Well, you wouldn’t have bumped into me, so you wouldn’t have needed my assistance.’
Justin eyed her with those dark eyes of his that could burn holes in paper, his tone amused and lightly mocking. His gaze skimmed over her, over the long blonde hair that fell past her shoulders in platinum ripples, over the tall, model-like figure dressed in cream blouse and matching skirt, to settle on her eyes, the perfect blue of a Ming vase, which currently looked back at him with an expression as cold as porcelain.
‘But don’t worry, it’s always a pleasure to bump into a lovely young lady.’
It was a throwaway line. Barely even a compliment. He was simply spelling out to her how he thought of her these days—unemotionally, distantly, as ‘a lovely young lady’. It meant nothing to him that once they had been lovers.
It meant nothing to her either. Tina detached her gaze from his and dabbed at her wet hand with the folded handkerchief. The only thing that mattered was how much she hated him.
‘So, where were you off to in such a hurry that you ended up ploughing straight into me?’ As Tina. glanced up at him again, Justin smiled amusedly. ‘One thing’s for sure—I know you didn’t bump into me on purpose.’
That was true enough. As he had avoided her over the years, so Tina, equally assiduously, had avoided him. And, to be truthful, she hadn’t even known he was here today. He must have only recently arrived at the reception.
Before she could answer, he added, ‘One minute you were speaking to your friends, and the next you were heading towards me like a bulldozer.’
‘Not heading towards you. I thought I saw someone I wanted to speak to. At the last minute I realised it wasn’t her at all.’
So, Tina was thinking, he was watching me, was he? There was something a little disquieting about that.
Justin was continuing, ‘I suppose you know lots of people here.’ He cast a quick glance round the room in which they were standing—the conference hall of one of London’s top hotels that was currently playing host to a big press reception. ‘After all, you’re someone pretty important these days. No less than the features editor of Scope.’
‘Oh, not so important. Not nearly as important as yourself.’
One perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted over one porcelain-blue eye. Did he think he could mock her and get away with it? Tina wondered. Well, he was wrong if he did. No one did that any more. In the three years since their parting she had grown a little more worldly, a little more sophisticated, a little more smart. These days, with perfect poise, she could hold her own with anyone. And she could certainly hold her own with a skunk like Justin Marlowe.
Tina continued, a light, mocking smile on her lips, ‘You, after all, are the owner of JM Publishing. You must own or be on the point of taking over most of the newspapers and magazines represented in this room.’
‘Not quite.’ Justin smiled sardonically. ‘Only forty per cent. But don’t worry, I’m working on the others.’
Tina did not smile back. He hasn’t changed, she reflected. Still the same old overbearing self-assurance. Once, she had found that side of him exciting. She’d been stimulated and charmed by his unstoppable dynamism. But in the end she’d discovered it was really just pure selfishness. Justin Marlowe cared for no one but himself.
He hadn’t changed much in the looks department either. Now that that moment of foolish turmoil had receded and she was able to look him straight in the face, Tina could see that he was just the same as ever. Perhaps there were a few more lines around the long-lashed dark grey eyes and in the corners of the passionate, well-shaped mouth—as one would expect of a man of thirty-six. But his features were still as arrestingly handsome as ever and the hair that he wore casually swept back from his forehead was still as glossily black as a raven’s wing.
Still beautiful on the outside, she thought, and rotten to the core underneath.
Tina finished drying her hand and held out the handkerchief to him. ‘So, is that why you’re here?’ Her tone was disapproving. ‘On a kind of window-shopping expedition? To see what you’re going to buy up next?’
Justin smiled. ‘I already know what I’m going to buy up next.’
‘You mean Berry’s—the company I work for?’
That was the rumour that was going around. In fact, that was the very subject that Tina and her friends had been discussing with some concern just a few minutes ago, while Justin had been secretly observing them.
And talk about coincidence....! Someone ‘up there’ must have been listening. For Tina had been proposing that it might be a good idea if one of them were to pay a visit to JM Publishing and have a word with Justin Marlowe. For, in fact, there were a number of rumours going around and some of them were deeply disturbing. It seemed there was more than just a simple take-over in the air. And Tina was all for getting to the bottom of it.
Well, here’s your chance, she told herself now. This totally unplanned confrontation wasn’t quite what she’d had in mind, but all the same it was too good an opportunity to miss.
‘So, is that right?’ she pressed him now. ‘Is Berry’s next on your shopping list?’
To her surprise, he shook his head. ‘Actually, I wasn’t referring to Berry’s...’
As he paused, just for an instant a spark of hope touched Tina’s heart. Were these rumours they were all so concerned about just rumours, after all? But the hope was barely formed when Justin shattered it.
‘Berry’s I consider to be already in the bag.’
He took the handkerchief, but did not return it to his pocket.
Tina felt herself blanch. ‘So, the stories are true, then? You really are about to take over Berry’s?’
‘There are still a couple of papers to be signed, but the answer is yes. I am indeed about to take over Berry’s.’ At her sudden pallor he smiled the sadistic smile of a tiger. ‘You may congratulate me. And yourself, of course. You’re about to have a new boss.’
‘How unfortunate.’
Suddenly, there was a lead weight in Tina’s stomach. It grew heavier as he elaborated. ‘Just like old times, eh?’
Old times. Bad times. Tina glared at him. ‘To be frank, I can’t think of anything worse.’ For she had worked for him in the past. That was how they’d . first met. And it was an experience she had no desire to repeat.
But Justin was still smiling his sadistic tiger’s smile. The smile of a tiger lazily sharpening its claws. ‘I was just thinking, as I was watching you chatting to your friends there, how much I’m going to enjoy having you back under my wing.’
‘Under your wing? You mean in your claws!’
And suddenly, as she glared at him, Tina felt another shiver as a new suspicion occurred to her. She hadn’t bumped into him. More likely, he’d bumped into her. He’d deliberately orchestrated this encounter so that he could tell her this bad news to her face and gloat.
She fixed him with a flinty look. ‘I suppose you’re feeling pretty pleased?’
‘Immensely pleased. However, I must say I’m saddened——’ He broke off to smile a smile that was rather more triumphant than sad. ‘Saddened that you unfortunately don’t appear to share my pleasure.’
‘No, I don’t and I’m afraid neither will anyone else at Berry’s. Frankly, this is the worst news you could possibly have given me. Everyone at Berry’s is going to be devastated. Nobody wants you to take over the company.’
‘Really?’ Justin arched one caustic black eyebrow. He regarded her narrowly for a moment. ‘That’s extremely team-spirited of you, I must say, to care about the feelings of your colleagues.’ The eyebrow lifted a little higher. ‘Quite out of character.’
Tina felt a twist inside her as she remembered the episode that had given him that low, and totally unjust, opinion of her. It had been their last bitter encounter, when all she had cared about was paying back some small measure of the huge hurt he’d inflicted on her. She’d been totally out of her mind that day.
But she would never take back the things she had said to him. She knew they’d done no more than slightly bruise his ego, but even that was a source of some satisfaction. And she didn’t give a damn what he thought of her anyway.
She tilted her chin at him and totally ignored his comment. ‘Everyone, on all the magazines at Berry’s, is very much against you,’ she repeated.
‘Are they?’ He looked as concerned as an elephant with a fleabite. ‘Don’t worry, they’ll learn to love me. Everybody does.’
He said it so flippantly, yet looking straight at her, as though he had meant it as a callous reminder of the overpowering love he had once aroused in her.
Tina felt herself recoil. Her heart thudded inside her. ‘If they do, they soon get over it,’ she shot back at him in a harsh tone. ‘It’s not the kind of love that runs very deep.’
That was what she had wanted him to believe of her three years ago. It was why she’d said the things she’d said at their last meeting. She’d had too much pride to let him see her bruised, bleeding heart.
And it seemed she’d done a good job. He flicked a look back at her now. ‘But some people are only capable of the shallowest emotions. They just take what they can get and then cynically move on.’
Then he smiled, his eyes darkening, and let his gaze travel over her. ‘The heart of a vampire in the body of an angel,’ he purred.
This was nothing like the way he had looked at her earlier. Then his gaze had been perfunctory and mocking. But now his eyes lingered, moving like touching fingers, caressing the full, generous curves of her breasts, the dip of her waist, the gentle flare of her hips. And it was a far too familiar scrutiny. Far too knowing. His eyes held the arrogant look of a man taking a stroll over territory he had once known very well.
How dared he? Bristling with anger, Tina opened her mouth to rebuke him. But before she could utter a word she was suddenly freezing to the spot.
For he was reaching out towards her with the handkerchief. ‘You’ve missed a bit here,’ he was saying in an amused tone as he dabbed lightly at the lapel of her cream silk blouse. Then as she tried to move he caught her lightly by the arm. ‘Stand still. How can I see what I’m doing if you move?’
A rush of panic seized her. All at once she had difficulty breathing. It was crazy; they were in a public place, surrounded by people, yet all at once Tina felt like a helpless prisoner. The hand that gripped her arm was like a manacle holding her. A manacle of red-hot burning steel.
‘You don’t need to do that!’
‘It’s no trouble, I assure you.’
‘No, really... But really...’
Her heart was jumping inside her. For not only was he holding her, not only was he touching her, but, much worse, all at once she had suddenly become aware of the light scent of the handkerchief that drifted up to her nostrils.
It was his scent. That cool, clean scent she remembered. And suddenly, like some magic carpet of the senses, it was transporting her back to that time three years ago when she had been as familiar with that scent as with the scent of her own body.
And suddenly, in her mind she was lying naked beside him, caressing him, touching him, pressing against him, dizzy and drunk with desire and love for him.
It was a shattering moment. She felt something crumble inside her as she glanced up, helplessly, into the arrogant dark eyes that looked down on her now, distant and uncaring. For a moment her heart seemed to break all over again. A sense of paralysing loss went flooding through her.
‘There, that’s better.’ Justin was stepping away now, releasing his grip on her arm as he did so. Then he handed her the handkerchief. ‘There’s another spot on the collar. But perhaps I’d better let you attend to that.’
He was mocking her. He had picked up her sudden anguish and it appealed to his sadistic sense of humour. Perhaps, she thought wretchedly, he’d done it on purpose, guessing in advance how she would react. It still amused him to play with her, even after all these years.
At that thought Tina’s anguish turned instantly to anger. She was not his plaything—though he had once treated her as though she were. She was a twenty-five-year-old woman whom no other man in the world would ever have dared to treat so familiarly. And all he was to her was a man she despised with all her heart.
She took a pointed step away from him, her blue eyes chipped porcelain. ‘It’s not like you to be so solicitous,’ she observed frostily. ‘And I can assure you I neither need nor want your help in any way.’
‘But it’s my pleasure.’ Justin simply smiled in the face of her annoyance. ‘As I said before, you’re someone pretty important these days. One feels obliged to offer one’s services.’ A sarcastic look touched his eyes. ‘Though I wasn’t doing you full justice when I referred to you earlier as features editor of Scope. I understand that these days you’re also acting editor.’
‘Only while Maggie’s ill.’ Maggie was Scope‘s editor. ‘It’s only a temporary position.’
‘But one that could lead to greater glory in the future. If you do a good job, who knows what it could lead to—especially with Maggie due to retire in a couple of years?’
Tina was well aware of that and to anyone else she would have admitted it. But not to Justin. He would only twist it.
She told him, deadpan. ‘I don’t expect it to lead to anything. Maggie will be back at her desk in a couple of weeks.’
‘She’s got some stomach trouble, I hear.’
‘Yes, but nothing serious.’
‘So, you didn’t put arsenic in her tea, after all?’ As Tina scowled at him, Justin added, ‘I wouldn’t put it past you. Remember, I know how ambitious you are. And you’re not one to let loyalty or scruples get in your way. No wonder you’ve made such a rapid rise to the top.’
Tina resented that, though, of course, she knew why he’d said it. It was all part of the lie she’d fed him three years ago.
She straightened a little, tilted her chin and defended herself. ‘I’ve got where I am because I’ve worked hard,’ she informed him.
‘Yes, I’m sure you have. Single-mindedly and unstintingly.’ Then he smiled unexpectedly and surprised her as he added, ‘Besides, you have talent.’ His hard expression softened. ‘And I take pride in having been one of the first to recognise it.’
Tina had to hold back a blush as a rush of remembrance poured through her. For it was true; he’d been one of the first to show faith in her. And she’d have felt grateful to him for that if what had happened later hadn’t happened. But the pain he had caused her later cancelled all gratitude out.
She looked back at him, breathing carefully, hiding her emotions. ‘That,’ she told him quietly, ‘was a long time ago.’
‘Indeed it was. You were young and innocent then.’ He smiled a cynical smile. ‘Or at least I thought you were.’
‘I was innocent until I met you.’
She wished she hadn’t said that. It made her sound like an undone virgin, and that wasn’t the accusation she’d wanted to make. For it was not the taking of her sexual innocence that Tina resented, but the destruction of another kind of innocence. He had totally betrayed her trust.
All the time he’d been with her, seducing her and making her fall for him, he had secretly been involved with another woman. A woman Tina had known well. Her immediate boss at JM Publishing. The flaming redhead she and her friends had dubbed the Red Dragon.
And worse. He had even asked the Red Dragon to be his wife.
Remembering, Tina was aware of a plummeting within her. Just for an instant, all the heartbreak of that betrayal was tearing inside her, vivid and real again. For that had been the worst time of her life.
But it was all in the past now. Past and forgotten. She had long stopped caring about Justin and the Red Dragon, the eternally engaged couple, for they still hadn’t married.
She thinned her lips at him. ‘You showed me the ways of the world. The seamier ways of the world, that is.’
‘Oh, I suspect you already knew them. You probably even invented a few of them. And you’ve probably invented a few more in the meantime. After all, look how well you’ve flourished.’
He was quite without remorse, but then he always had been. He had never once apologised for the terrible thing he’d done to her.
But Tina shrugged that off. Hadn’t he, in truth, done her a favour? For after her break-up with Justin she’d banished love from her heart and dedicated herself body and soul to her career. Her work had kept her sane, and without that dedication she would probably never have risen up the ladder so fast.
She hadn’t risen as fast as Justin, though. His rise had been spectacular. Over the past three years JM Publishing had mushroomed. He’d been taking over publishing houses left, right and centre, until these days his greedy wings spread halfway across the globe.
Narrowing her eyes, she observed disparagingly, ‘Judging by the little empire you’ve built for yourself, I’d say you were the one who knows how to flourish.’
‘Then you should be glad I’m taking you over. If I flourish, Berry’s will flourish too.’
‘We’d prefer to flourish on our own, thanks.’
‘But you’re not flourishing, are you? Left on your own, the company will fold within the year.’
‘That’s absolute rubbish!’ Tina’s blue eyes flashed dismissively. She’d heard Berry’s was in trouble, but things weren’t that bad. ‘I know some of Berry’s magazines are losing money. But not all of them are. I know Scope isn’t, for a fact.’
‘No, it isn’t. It’s doing rather well. The only one that is.’
‘So, you see, we could survive very well without you.’
‘We? You mean Scope. The others would go under.’ The dark eyes narrowed and seemed to hook into her face. ‘But you don’t care about that, do you? You only care about yourself.’
This time Tina retaliated. ‘You couldn’t be further from the truth. What I want is for all of Berry’s magazines to survive—which they won’t, for sure, if you get your hands on them!’
Eyes sparking, she accused him, ‘You talk so high and mighty, but I know what’s really at the back of this take-over. You want to take over Berry’s. just so you can get your hands on Scope. We’re doing too well for your comfort, aren’t we?’
‘And what is that supposed to mean?’
Faker! He knew what she meant! For Tina was suddenly absolutely certain that all the other dreadful rumours she’d been hearing were true too. There was a lot more in the air than just a simple take-over. But if he wanted to play dumb, she’d be only to happy to explain.
‘We’re too much competition for Miranda these days. Miranda’s losing readers to us. Everybody knows it. And you don’t like that. That’s why you want to buy us—so you can merge Scope with Minanda and keep your precious flagship afloat!’