Fiona Brand - A Tangled Affair

He was jealous.

The thought reverberated through her, but for the first time in two years, what Lucas wanted wasn’t a priority. Her rules had just changed. From now on it was commitment or nothing.

Her chin firmed. “No. I have an escort. He can take me back to the party.”

For a long, tension-filled moment Carla thought Lucas would argue, but then the demanding, possessive gleam was replaced by a familiar control. He nodded curtly, then sent her escort a long, cold look that conveyed a hands-off message that left Carla feeling doubly confused. Lucas didn’t want her, but neither did he want anyone else near her.

And if Lucas no longer wanted her, if they really were finished, why had he bothered to search her out?

Dear Reader,

The second story in THE PEARL HOUSE series centers on Lucas Atraeus and Carla Ambrosi—both gorgeous and high profile, but actually pretty nice beneath all the media hype. They’ve chosen to keep their passion secret because of the tension and hurt surrounding Constantine Atraeus and Sienna Ambrosi’s broken engagement two years previously.

With a wedding for Sienna and Constantine suddenly in the mix, all the obstacles to true love and happiness for Carla and Lucas finally seem to be dissolved. But Lucas has other ideas.

Wary of a past mistake and the fatal attraction to Carla that has seen him breaking every one of the emotional rules he had sworn to live by—and the streak of niceness that makes it hard for him to say no to women and fluffy pets—Lucas needs a foolproof strategy. But no matter what lengths he goes to to finish things with his ex, Lucas can’t seem to stay away from an unexpectedly vulnerable Carla. Let’s face it, he’s dazzled. To the extent that he has to ask himself the question …

What if, this time, the fatal attraction is the real thing?

Fiona Brand

FIONA BRANDlives in the sunny Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Now that both her sons are grown, she continues to love writing books and gardening. After a life-changing time in which she met Christ, she has undertaken study for a bachelor of theology and has become a member of The Order of St Luke, Christ’s healing ministry.

A Tangled Affair

Fiona Brand

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For the Lord. Thank you.

The kingdom of heaven

is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.

—Matthew 13:45

The vibration of Lucas Atraeus’s cell phone disrupted the measured bunch and slide of muscle as he smoothly bench-pressed his own weight.

Gray sweatpants clinging low on narrow hips, broad shoulders bronzed by the early morning light that flooded his private gym, he flowed up from the weight bench and checked the screen of his cell. Few people had his private number; of those only two dared interrupt his early morning workout.

“Si.” His voice was curt as he picked up the call.

The conversation with his older brother, Constantine, the CEO of The Atraeus Group, a family-owned multibillion-dollar network of companies, was brief. When he terminated the call, Lucas was grimly aware that within the space of a few seconds a great many things had changed.

Constantine intended to marry in less than a fortnight’s time and, in so doing, he had irretrievably complicated Lucas’s life.

The bride, Sienna Ambrosi, was the head of a Sydney-based company, Ambrosi Pearls. She also happened to be the sister of the woman with whom Lucas was currently involved. Although involved was an inadequate word to describe the passionate, addictive attraction that had held him in reluctant thrall for the past two years.

The phone vibrated again. Lucas didn’t need to see the number to know who the second caller was; his gut reaction was enough. Carla Ambrosi. Long, luscious dark hair, honey-tanned skin, light blue eyes and the kind of taut, curvy body that regularly disrupted traffic and stopped him in his tracks.

Desire kicked, raw and powerful, almost overturning the rigid discipline he had instilled in himself after his girlfriend had plunged to her death in a car accident almost five years ago. Ever since Sophie’s death he had pledged not to be ruled by passion or fall into such a destructive relationship ever again.

Lately, a whole two years lately, he had been breaking that rule on a regular basis.

But not anymore.

With an effort of will he resisted the almost overwhelming urge to pick up the call. Seconds later, to his intense relief, the phone fell silent.

Shoving damp, jet-black hair back from his face, he strolled across the pale marble floor to the shower with the loose-limbed power of a natural athlete. In centuries past, his build and physical prowess would have made him a formidable warrior. These days, however, Medinian battle was fought across boardroom tables with extensive share portfolios and gold mined from the arid backbone of the main island.

In the corporate arena, Lucas was undefeated. Relationships, however, had proved somewhat less straightforward.

All benefit from the workout burned away by tension and the fierce, unwanted jolt of desire, he stripped off his clothes, flicked the shower controls and stepped beneath a stream of icy water.

If he did nothing and continued an affair that had become increasingly irresistible and risky, he would find himself engaged to a woman who was the exact opposite of the kind of wife he needed.

A second fatal attraction. A second Sophie.

His only honorable course now was to step away from the emotion and the desire and use the ruthless streak he had hammered into himself when dealing with business acquisitions. He had to form a strategy to end a relationship that had always been destined for disaster, for both of their sakes.

He had tried to finish with Carla once before and failed. This time he would make sure of it.

It was over.

Lucas was finally going to propose.

The glow of a full moon flooded the Mediterranean island of Medinos as Carla Ambrosi brought her rented sports car to a halt outside the forbidding gates of Castello Atraeus.

Giddy delight coupled with nervous tension zinged through her as the paparazzi, on Medinos for her sister’s wedding to Constantine Atraeus tomorrow, converged on the tiny sky-blue car. So much for arriving deliberately late and under cover of darkness.

A security guard tapped on her window. She wound the glass down a bare two inches and handed him the cream-colored, embossed invitation to the prewedding dinner.

With a curt nod, he slid the card back through the narrow gap and waved her on.

A flash temporarily blinded her as she inched the tiny rental through the crush, making her wish she had ignored the impulse that had seized her and chosen a sensible, solid four-door sedan instead of opting for a low-slung fun and flimsy sports car. But she had wanted to look breezy and casual, as if she didn’t have a care in the world—