Jacqueline Baird - Mediterranean Tycoons - Masterful & Married

‘And would your chairman, Sir David Janson, agree to your proposition?’ she prompted with an enviable touch of cynicism, considering the tall, dark presence of Lucas was within touching distance; the familiar scent of him that filled her nostrils had her nerves at screaming-point.

‘It would depend on the proposition, would it not, Clive?’ Lucas’s deep voice queried sardonically.

‘Oh, I’m sure Amber and I could work out a mutually satisfactory arrangement.’ Clive’s blue eyes, gleaming with very male appreciation, didn’t leave Amber’s as he tagged on, ‘And Sir Janson, of course.’

‘I’m sure Amber does not want to talk business all night with you men,’ Christina inserted, smiling across at Amber. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a party.’ Then she added, ‘Let’s go find the rest room, and we can have a gossip. I love your dress, and your necklace and earrings are gorgeous; you must tell me where you got them.’

The bluntness with which Christina changed the subject stopped the conversation dead. Lucas’s black eyes clashed with Amber’s over the top of Christina’s head, and she saw the warning glint in their depths, but she ignored it. Boldly she held his gaze, contempt blazing from her hazel eyes. For the first time that evening she felt in control.

‘They were a birthday and Christmas present.’ Amber smiled down at Christina. ‘And, yes, I’ll come with you,’ she said, taking the young girl’s arm. Let the swine sweat, let him wonder if she would tell his innocent girlfriend exactly who had given Amber the jewellery, she thought bitterly. Her rage was the only thing that kept her going as she walked out of the party and along the quiet hall to the powder room.

‘Thank God we’ve escaped,’ Christina groaned as they entered the powder room together, and, walking across to the row of vanity basins and dropping her purse on the marble top, she admired herself in the mirror above. ‘An hour of my father and his friends and I feel like climbing the walls.’ Turning to Amber, she added, ‘You’re lucky Spiro is young and doesn’t take himself seriously. Lucas can be mind-bendingly boring, you’ve no idea.’

Shocked into silence, Amber watched the younger girl pull at the pink satin bodice of her dress. ‘I ask you, Amber, would you be caught dead in a dress like this?’

‘Well…’ How to be diplomatic? Amber pondered. ‘You must like it.’ A high-pitched laugh greeted her comment.

‘You’re joking. I hate it, but then you are not Greek so you would not understand.’

Slowly Amber crossed to stand beside Christina. Her eyes met the other girl’s in the mirror, and suddenly Christina seemed so much older and harder. ‘Understand why you wear a dress you hate?’ Amber prompted.

‘Because my father expects me to look like his innocent young daughter, and of course Lucas expects his fiancée to look like a shy young virgin, otherwise I would not be caught dead in pink satin.’

‘Your fiancé!’ Amber exclaimed, unable to disguise her horror.

‘Yes, didn’t Spiro tell you?’ And, not waiting for an answer, Christina continued, ‘Next weekend at our home in Athens my father is holding a huge party for my betrothal to Lucas and three weeks later we are getting married. He would have announced it tonight except it looks a bit too blatant even for a Greek to sign the business deal and sell your daughter in one afternoon.’

So it was all true. Amber’s brain reeled under the shock. Spiro had not been exaggerating. She looked into the face of her rival and asked the question uppermost on her mind. ‘Do you love Lucas?’

Christina laughed. ‘No, but he loves me, or so he says, and it does not really matter anyway. I want to get married, the quicker the better.’ Christina fiddled nervously with the clip of the small satin purse on the marble bench. ‘Once I am married, I’m free. I get the money my mother left me, and, to give Lucas his due, he is renowned as a shrewd operator, so I have no doubt he will greatly increase the wealth of the family company. Therefore mine,’ she said with some glee, and, finally noticing the look of shock and horror Amber could not hide, Christina laughed out loud. ‘Don’t look so shocked; it is a typical Greek arrangement.’

‘But…but…’ Amber spluttered ‘…you are so young.’

‘I have just spent a year in a Swiss finishing-school, and those ski instructors are something else again. I’m not that young,’ she offered with a very adult smile. ‘Though I know what you mean—Lucas is a bit old. But Spiro did me a favour this afternoon. I think he was trying to warn me, but actually I was delighted when he told me Lucas apparently keeps a mistress, so I don’t think he is going to be bothering me much in bed even when we are married.’

‘You really don’t mind?’ Amber said slowly, the callousness of Christina’s statement ringing in her ears. ‘You don’t care if your husband is unfaithful to you?’

‘Not in the least, why should I with a fortune at my disposal?’ And, picking up her purse, she opened it and withdrew some rolling tobacco. ‘Do you want a smoke?’

Amber looked at the girl and the tobacco. ‘No, I don’t smoke.’ Amber wondered why with her wealth she rolled her own.

‘Pity.’ Placing a hand on Amber’s arm, Christina said, ‘Don’t look so surprised, and do me a favour, go out and tell Lucas I will be another five minutes. He does not know of my little vice.’ She chuckled as she urged Amber towards the door.

Amber found herself out in the corridor without realising how she had got there.

‘Where is Christina?’ Lucas’s deep voice demanded. Amber lifted her head, her stunned gaze meeting his dark brooding eyes. He was standing in the middle of the hall, his large body tense, waiting… But not for Amber…

‘She said give her five minutes,’ Amber stated bluntly. ‘She also said you are her fiancé. How can that be, Lucas?’ she hissed furiously. ‘You live with me, it has to be a horrible mistake.’

‘It is not a mistake.’ The dark-lashed brilliance of his eyes clashed with hers; she was too upset to try and hide the hurt and anger in her own gaze. His expression hardened. ‘I regret you had to find out this way. But then I had no knowledge of your continued association with my nephew or that he would bring you here tonight…’

Amber’s mouth opened but no sound came out. The colossal arrogance of the man! Lucas was as good as saying it was Spiro’s fault, that she had discovered his wicked betrayal.

‘Look, Amber—’ he laid a large hand on her arm, and furiously she brushed him off ‘—we have to talk.’

‘A bit late for talk,’ she snapped.

He straightened, squaring his broad shoulders. ‘Keep your voice down,’ he commanded, his dark eyes narrowing on her flushed, furious face. ‘I will call tomorrow morning as arranged and explain.’

‘My surprise,’ she whispered, realising the full horrific extent of his betrayal. ‘Christina was going to be my surprise!’ Her voice rose an octave.

‘Someone talking about me?’ Christina came sauntering out of the cloakroom, her dark eyes almost feverishly bright, her smile brilliant.

Immediately Lucas curved a protective arm around Christina’s shoulder, making it very clear where his loyalty lay. ‘We were just discussing the engagement party next weekend. It was supposed to be a secret, you’re very naughty.’ He chided the young girl with such indulgence Amber felt sick.

Spiro sauntered up and slipped an arm around Amber’s waist. ‘What’s all this? Plotting in corridors now.’ He chuckled, and Amber clung to him like a life raft in a storm-tossed sea. Her knees were buckling and she thought she would faint; there was only so much hurt one body could stand and she was at the limit. Spiro, sensing her desperation, tightened his grip on her waist and listened as Christina, seemingly inexhaustible, went on at great length about the following weekend and extended an invitation to the party.