At The Ruthless Billionaire's Command
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‘None of your damned business!’ There was a flush to her cheeks. ‘Go away, Mr de la Cruz, before I call the police and ask them to forcibly remove you.’
He arched a dark brow. ‘For what reason?’
‘Stalking. Harassment. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something suitable by the time they get here,’ she threatened.
‘I am not worried,’ he assured her calmly. ‘I merely wish to speak with you.’
‘You have nothing to say that I want to hear.’ She glared at him, her eyes a deep metallic grey, the black rings wide about the irises.
‘You cannot possibly know that.’
‘Oh, but I do.’
Gregorio was not known for his patience, but he had waited for two long and tedious months before seeking out this woman again. Two months during which he had hoped her emotions would not be quite so volatile. Obviously time had not lessened her resentment towards him. Or the blame she felt he deserved for her father’s death at the age of only fifty-nine.
To say he had been shocked by Jacob Fairbanks’s demise would be an understatement. Although it must have been a strain for the man—and his company—to have been under close scrutiny of the FSA financial regulators. They were still investigating, and all of Jacob Fairbanks’s assets would remain frozen until their investigation was complete.
Gregorio had no doubt that it had been the withdrawal of De la Cruz Industries’ offer to buy Fairbanks’s company that had caused the FSA’s investigation. But he would not be held responsible for the bad business decisions that had brought Jacob Fairbanks to the brink of bankruptcy. Or the man’s fatal heart attack.
Except, it seemed, by Amelia Fairbanks...
‘No bodyguards this evening?’ she taunted. ‘My, aren’t you feeling brave? Facing a five-feet-two-inches-tall woman all on your own!’
Gregorio’s mouth tightened at the jibe. ‘Silvio and Raphael are waiting outside in the car.’
‘Of course they are,’ she scorned. ‘Do you carry a panic button you can press, if necessary, and they’ll come running?’
‘You are being childish, Miss Fairbanks.’
‘No, what I’m being is someone attempting to get rid of an unwanted visitor.’ Her eyes flashed. ‘Now, take your damned foot out of my doorway!’
His jaw tightened. ‘We need to talk, Amelia.’
‘No, we really don’t. And Amelia was my grandmother,’ she dismissed. ‘My name is Lia. Not that I’m giving you permission to use it. Only my friends are allowed that privilege,’ she added with a sneer.
Gregorio knew he was most certainly not one of those. And nor did ‘Lia’ intend for him ever to become one.
It was unfortunate for her that Gregorio felt differently on the subject. He didn’t only want to be Lia’s friend, he had every intention of becoming her lover.
When his parents had died twelve years ago they had left their sons only a rundown vineyard in Spain. As the eldest of the three brothers, Gregorio had made it his priority to rebuild and expand, and now he and his brothers owned a vineyard to be proud of, as well as other businesses worldwide. He had done those things by single-mindedly knowing what he wanted and ensuring that he acquired it.
He had wanted Lia from the moment he’d first set eyes on her. He would not give up until he had her.
He almost smiled—but only almost—at the thought of her reaction if he were to state here and now that that was his intention. No, he knew to keep that to himself. For now.
‘Nevertheless, the two of us need to talk. If you would care to open the door and put some clothes on...?’
‘There are two things wrong with that demand.’
‘It was a request—not a demand.’
She raised auburn brows. ‘Coming from you, it was a demand. I don’t care to open the door, or go and put some clothes on. And nor,’ she continued when he would have spoken, ‘as I’ve already said, do you have anything to say that I want to hear. Because of you my father is dead.’ Tears glistened in those smoky grey eyes. ‘Just leave, Mr de la Cruz, and take your guilty conscience with you.’
Gregorio’s jaw clenched. ‘I do not have a guilty conscience.’
‘Silly me—of course you don’t.’ She eyed him scornfully. ‘Men like you ruin people’s lives every day, so what does it matter if a man had a heart attack and died because of you?’
‘You are being melodramatic.’
‘I’m stating the facts.’
‘Men like me?’ he queried softly.
‘Rich and ruthless tyrants who trample over everyone and everything that gets in your way.’
‘I was not always rich.’
‘But you were always ruthless—still are!’
For the sake of his brothers and his own future, yes, he had become so. Had needed to be in a business world that would have eaten him up and spat him out again if not for that ruthlessness. But ruthless was the last thing he wanted to be where Lia was concerned.
He shook his head. ‘You are not only being overly dramatic, but you are also totally incorrect in your accusations. In regard to your father or anyone else. As you would know if you would allow me to come in and talk to you.’
‘Not going to happen.’ She gave a firm shake of her head.
‘I disagree.’
‘Then be prepared to take the consequences.’
‘Meaning?’ Gregorio’s lids narrowed.
‘Meaning I’m being extremely restrained right now, but if you persist in this harassment I promise you I will take the appropriate legal steps to ensure you are made to stay away from me.’
He raised his brows. ‘What legal steps?’
‘A restraining order.’
Gregorio had never experienced this much frustrated anger with another person’s stubbornness before. He was Gregorio de la Cruz, and for the past twelve years no one had dared to oppose him. Lia not only did so, but seemed to take delight in it.
He had never felt so much like strangling a woman and kissing her at the same time, either. ‘Would you not have to engage the services of another lawyer in order to be able to do that?’ he retaliated.
Colour blazed in her cheeks at his obvious reference to the fact that David Richardson was no longer her family lawyer or her fiancé.
‘Bastard!’
Gregorio had regretted the taunt as soon as it had left his lips. At the same time as he couldn’t take it back when he only spoke the truth. David Richardson had left this woman’s life so fast after her father’s death and Fairbanks Industries being put under investigation, Gregorio wouldn’t be surprised if the other man hadn’t suffered whiplash.
He took his wallet from the breast pocket of his jacket before removing a card from inside. ‘This has my private cell phone number on it.’ He held out the white gold-embossed business card to her. ‘Call me when you are ready to hear what I have to say.’
Lia stared at the card as if it were a viper about to strike her. ‘That would be never.’
‘Take the card, Lia.’
‘No.’
The Spaniard’s jaw clenched as evidence of his frustration with her lack of co-operation. She doubted many people stood up to this arrogant man. He was far too accustomed to telling people what to do rather than asking.
Lia had acted as her father’s hostess for years, so she had met high-powered, driven men like him before. Well...perhaps not quite like Gregorio de la Cruz, because he took arrogance to a whole new level. But she had met other men who believed no one should ever say no to them. Probably because no one ever had.
She had no problem whatsoever in saying no to Gregorio.
Lia didn’t remember her mother, because she had died in a car crash when Lia had still been a baby. But for all Lia’s life her father had been a constant—always there, always willing to listen and spend time with her. Their bond had been strong because of it. When her father had died Lia hadn’t just lost her only parent but her best friend and confidante.
‘I’m asking you to leave one last time, Mr de la Cruz.’ She spoke flatly, sudden grief rolling over her, as heavy as it was exhausting.
Gregorio frowned at the way Lia’s face had suddenly paled. ‘Do you have anyone to take care of you?’
She blinked in an effort to ward off her exhaustion. Which in no way stopped her from continuing to fight him verbally. ‘If I tell you that I’m alone are you going to offer to come in and make hot chocolate for me? Like my father did whenever I was worried or upset?’
‘If that is what you wish.’ He gave an abrupt inclination of his head.
‘What I wish for I can’t have,’ she said dully.
Gregorio didn’t need her to say that her wish was to have her father returned to her, because he could already see the truth of that in the devastation of her expression: the shadowed grey eyes, those pale cheeks, her lips trembling as she held back the tears.
‘Is there anyone I can call to come and sit with you?’
‘Such as...?’
Not her ex-fiancé, certainly. David Richardson could not have truly loved Lia, otherwise he would have remained at her side and helped her to weather the storm that had followed her father’s death. Instead he had distanced himself from any scandal that might ensue once the investigation into Jacob Fairbanks’s finances was complete.
Gregorio had no such qualms. He had no interest in the outcome of that investigation, nor in what other people might or might not choose to say about Lia or himself. His private life was most definitely off limits. He might not be in love with Lia but he certainly wanted her, and he would be pursuing that desire.
Lia appeared to be swaying now, and there was not a tinge of colour left in her face. She looked so fragile that a puff of wind might knock her off her bare feet.
What had she been doing when he’d arrived? She was obviously naked beneath the towel wrapped about her, but she claimed she was alone so she obviously wasn’t entertaining a lover. The obvious explanation was that Lia had been taking a shower or a bath in order to wash away the dust of having moved in to her apartment today.
The loosely secured hair and the droplets of water that had now dried on the bareness of her shoulders would certainly seem to indicate as much.
‘Take off the safety catch and let me in, Lia,’ Gregorio instructed in his most dominating voice. It was a voice that defied anyone to disobey him.
She attempted a shake of her head, but even that looked as if it was too much effort. Her head seemed too heavy to be supported by the slenderness of her neck.
‘I’m not sure I can,’ she admitted weakly.
‘Why not?’
‘I... My fingers don’t seem to be working.’
Gregorio stepped up close against the partially open door. ‘Move your right hand slowly, then slide the catch along until it releases.’ He held his breath as he waited to see if she would do as he asked.
‘I don’t want to.’
‘But you will,’ he encouraged firmly.
‘I... It’s... You...’
‘Move your hand, Lia. That’s it,’ he encouraged gruffly as she hesitantly moved her hand towards the safety chain. ‘Now, slide the lock along. Yes, just like that,’ he approved softly. ‘A little more—yes.’
Gregorio breathed softly as the safety chain fell free and he was able to push the door open. Not quickly or forcefully, but just enough to allow him to enter the apartment.
To be alone with Lia at last.
CHAPTER TWO
THE APARTMENT LOOKED to be in absolute chaos to Gregorio’s gaze. There were boxes everywhere, and furniture stacked haphazardly in the tiny sitting room. The kitchen looked as if there had been an explosion of cooking utensils in its midst, and not a single surface was visible beneath pots and pans and cutlery.
Gregorio had never seen this side of moving to a new home before. The vineyard in Spain had belonged to his family for years, and the three de la Cruz brothers had grown up there. The rambling ranch-style house was full of family heirlooms as well as memories. And he had hired an interior designer to decorate and furnish the apartments he had acquired in New York and Hong Kong, as well as his houses in Paris and the Bahamas.
No wonder Lia was exhausted.
Lia managed to rouse herself slightly as she heard the finality of the closing of the door to her apartment. She wasn’t completely sure how, but Gregorio de la Cruz was now standing inside her apartment, rather than outside in the hallway.
She remembered now... She had opened the door and let him in. Not because she’d wanted to but because she had felt compelled to. His voice, deep and mesmerising, had ordered her to unlatch the safety chain, and because she had been consumed by that black exhaustion she had done as he’d instructed.
He seemed taller and larger than ever in the confines of her untidy apartment. Taller, darker, and just plain dangerous. Like a huge jungle cat preparing to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.
The almost-black hair was in that tousled style again, and his face was set in harsh lines. His shoulders looked huge beneath the tailored suit, his chest defined and muscular, waist slender, hips and thighs powerfully muscular.
Lia could smell the aftershave he wore, easily recognising it as one that cost thousands of pounds an ounce. Even so there was a fine stubble on his chin, as if he was in need of his second shave of the day.
Her gaze moved quickly upwards and was instantly ensnared by glitteringly intense almost black eyes. ‘I—’
‘You need to sit down before you fall down.’ Gregorio stepped across the room to remove several items from one of the armchairs before lightly grasping Lia’s arm to support her until she was seated. ‘Do you have any brandy?’
She somehow looked more fragile than ever seated in the chair.
‘Wine,’ she answered with a vague wave of her hand in the direction of the kitchen area.
Wine would not revive her as well as brandy, but it was still alcohol and better than nothing. Gregorio found a half full bottle of red wine on the breakfast bar, a used glass beside it. Predictably, it wasn’t one of the de la Cruz vintages.
‘Here.’ Gregorio held the glass of wine in front of her until she took it from him with slender fingers that shook slightly. ‘Have you eaten anything today?’
‘Um...’ Her forehead creased as she gave the matter some thought. ‘A bowl of cereal this morning and some toast this evening. I think...’ she added doubtfully.
He scowled his displeasure before turning on his heel to stride through to the kitchen area. There was a loaf of bread on one of the units, a tub of butter and a carton of milk—and nothing else when he pulled open the fridge door and looked inside.
‘You do not have any food.’ He closed the fridge door in disgust.
‘Maybe that’s because I only moved in a few hours ago.’
Gregorio held back a smile at the return of her sarcasm. Evidence that Lia was feeling slightly better? He hoped so.
‘Which begs the question—how did you know I’d moved in here today?’ She eyed him suspiciously.
Gregorio had known about the apartment in the same way he’d known about everything Lia had done in the two months since her father’s death. He was given daily reports on her movements by his head of security.
No doubt it was an intrusion into her personal life that Lia would take exception to if she knew about it. But it was Gregorio’s belief that the Fairbanks’s situation was not yet over, and until it was she would accept his protection whether she wanted it or not.
‘Drink your wine,’ he ordered dryly as he took his cell phone from his pocket.
‘Look, Mr de la Cruz—’
‘Gregorio. Or Rio, if you prefer,’ he added huskily. ‘That is what my family and close friends call me.’
‘Of which I’m neither. Nor do I intend to be,’ she added dismissively. ‘What are you doing...?’ She frowned as he made a call.
‘I had intended inviting you out to dinner, but now that I see how tired you are I am ordering dinner to be delivered to us here instead.’ Gregorio put the cell phone to his ear, his gaze remaining challengingly on Lia as he waited for the call to be picked up.
Lia was starting to wonder if she had fallen asleep in the bath and was having another nightmare. Because Gregorio de la Cruz couldn’t really be in her apartment, ordering dinner for both of them. Could he?
He certainly seemed real enough. Tall, muscular, and bossy as hell.
It seemed surreal after the months of torment she had just suffered through. Because of him.
Being a little unfair there, Lia, a little voice taunted inside her head.
Gregorio wasn’t responsible for the decline of her father’s company, nor the ailing economy. He had also been perfectly at liberty to withdraw his interest in buying Fairbanks Industries if he had decided the company wasn’t viable.
Lia did believe it was the withdrawal of that offer which had resulted in her father’s company being put under investigation, though, and only weeks later in her father’s heart attack and premature death.
She had to blame someone for all that, and Gregorio de la Cruz was the obvious person.
He had ended his call now, and was once again looking at her with those fiercely penetrating black eyes.
Lia’s heart skipped a beat. Several beats. The blood rushed hotly through her veins as she saw something stirring in the cold depths of those dark orbs. Gregorio continued to stare at her. Something that looked like a flickering flame was growing stronger, hotter by the second, and was sucking all the air from the room as well as Lia’s lungs.
She swallowed. Her heartbeat was now sounding very loud to her ears. So loud that surely Gregorio could hear it too? Lord, she hoped not! This man had kissed her once, and although Lia had slapped his face for it she had never forgotten it.
‘I’m really not hungry.’ She stood up to place the empty wine glass on the breakfast bar. Only to falter slightly as she realised how close to Gregorio she was now standing.
‘I doubt you have felt hungry for some time now,’ he acknowledged softly. ‘That does not mean your body does not need sustenance.’
Why did that sound so...so intimate—as if Gregorio wasn’t talking about food at all?
Maybe because he wasn’t?
Lia recognised the flame in his eyes for exactly what it was now. Desire. Hot, burning desire. For her. A desire he had demonstrated four months ago and which he obviously still felt.
She took a step back—only to have Gregorio take that same step forward, maintaining their close proximity.
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘I think you should go now.’
‘No.’ He was standing so close his breath was a light caress across the soft tendrils of hair at her temples.
‘You can’t just say no.’
‘Oh, but I can. I have,’ he added with satisfaction.
Lia blinked up at him, her heart thumping wildly now, her palms feeling damp. ‘This is insane.’ She was insane. Because a part of her—certain parts of her—was responding to the flickering flames in those coal-black eyes.
Her skin felt incredibly sensitised. Her nipples were tingling and between her thighs she was becoming slick with arousal.
‘Is it?’ Gregorio raised a hand and tucked a loose curl behind her ear before running his fingertips lightly down the heat of her cheek.
‘Yes...’ she breathed, even as she felt herself drawn to leaning into that caress.
Her father’s death and David’s defection meant it had been a long time since anyone had touched her, held her, apart from Cathy’s brief reassuring hugs. Lia’s body cried out for another kind of physical connection.
From Gregorio de la Cruz?
This man was a corporate shark who felt no compunction in gobbling up smaller fish. He was also a man who had a different woman on his arm in every news photograph Lia had ever seen of him. He bought and sold women—usually tall and leggy blonde women, who looked good on his arm and no doubt filled his bed at night—as easily as he bought and sold companies.
Lia wasn’t tall, leggy or blonde.
Nor was she for sale.
She stepped back abruptly—only to give a shiver as she immediately felt the loss of the heat of Gregorio’s body.
‘I’m going to my bedroom to dress. I advise that you be gone by the time I come back.’
His sculpted lips curved into a smile. ‘I make it a rule always to listen to advice, but I rarely choose to take it.’
Her chin rose challengingly. ‘Is that because you’re always right?’
His smile widened, revealing even white teeth. ‘I have a feeling that however I answer that question you will choose to twist it to suit your own purposes.’
He was right, of course.
As always?
‘Or should I say to suit the opinion you have formed of me without actually knowing me,’ he added harshly.
Lia eyed him impatiently. ‘I know enough to know I don’t want you here.’
‘And yet undoubtedly here I am,’ he challenged.
‘That’s because you... Because I... You know what? Get the hell out of my apartment!’ Her earlier agitation had returned, deeper than ever. ‘Whatever sick game you’re playing, I want no part of it.’
He sobered. ‘I do not play games, Lia, sick or otherwise.’
‘That’s odd, because I’m pretty sure you’re playing one now.’
Gregorio drew in a deep and controlling breath. Lia made no effort to hide her distrust and dislike of him. And right now her body couldn’t hide her physical reaction to him.
Her breasts had plumped, her nipples hard as they pressed against the covering towel, and Gregorio’s nostrils flared as they were assailed with the scent of her sweetly perfumed arousal.
Lia might distrust him, might think she had every reason to dislike him, but the response of her body told him she also desired him as much as he desired her.
He could wait to satisfy that desire. If he had to. And for the moment it seemed he must.
‘I agree—you should go and put some clothes on.’ He nodded abruptly. His self-control was legendary, but even he had his breaking point. And Lia, wearing only a towel to cover her nakedness, was it.
‘Thanks so much, but I really don’t need your permission to do anything!’
A nerve pulsed in his tightly clenched jaw. ‘Dinner will be here shortly.’
‘I’ve already told you I don’t want any.’
Gregorio’s eyes narrowed. ‘Did your father have a line over which it was not safe to cross?’
‘Oh, yes,’ she recalled, with a wistful curve of her lips.
‘And I am sure you knew to the nth degree how close to that line you might venture?’
‘Yes...’ She eyed him warily now.
‘I have now reached my own line,’ Gregorio informed her calmly.
‘Is that supposed to scare me?’
Her bravado was admirable. Unfortunately it was nullified by the rapidly beating pulse visible in her throat: Lia was well aware of exactly how close she was to crossing over his line. And to paying the consequences for that trespass.
Gregorio’s mouth thinned. ‘You are—’ He broke off as the doorbell rang. ‘That will be Silvio, delivering our dinner.’
Her eyes widened. ‘Wow, you must be a regular customer for the restaurant to have delivered so quickly.’
Their dinner had been prepared at and delivered by the staff at Mancini’s, one of the most exclusive and prestigious restaurants in London. If Lia thought they were going to dine on pizza or Chinese food she was mistaken.
‘Go and dress,’ he instructed harshly. ‘Unless you wish Silvio to see you wearing only a towel.’
Lia had a feeling the thought of that bothered Gregorio more than it bothered her. She was half inclined to remain exactly as she was—if only so that she could annoy Gregorio even more than he already was.
The fact that she knew she would feel more comfortable fully clothed was the deciding factor in her turning on her heel and walking down the hallway to her bedroom. But she was aware of Gregorio’s devouring black gaze following her every step of the way.
Once in her bedroom, Lia slumped back against the closed door and drew in several deep breaths. Exactly what was going on here? Because something most certainly was.