Laura Wright - The Apollonides Mistress Scandal / Rich Man's Vengeful Seduction - The Apollonides Mistress Scandal / Rich Man's Vengeful Seduction

The Apollonides Mistress Scandal by Tessa Radley

“If you’d behaved better,” Angelo said, “you might not be in this predicament .”

Surely Angelo wasn’t suggesting they might still be together? Not when Gemma knew the kind of man he was. A playboy. A man who traded one beautiful woman for another, as soon as her sell-by date was over.

Her lip curled. “You mean if I were still your mistress? Putting up with your demands, your – ”

“I thought you’d forgotten everything. So how do you remember how demanding I was?” His tone held a sensual rasp, belied by his shrewd gaze. He reached out and put a finger under her chin. He put enough pressure to tilt her head up, so that he could stare down into her eyes.

The sudden flare of heat that followed in the wake of the touch of that one finger shocked her. No. He was the last man on earth to whom she could afford to be

A spoiled playboy who’d had a fortune handed to him on a plate. A dilettante who destroyed without compunction.

“You tempt me to prove you a liar,” he said.

Rich Man’s Vengeful Seduction by Laura Wright

“ Are you trying to get rid of me , Tess?” Damien asked .

“My partners are on their way over here and they know – ”

“Nothing about me?” Damien finished for her, a flash of venomous pleasure lighting his eyes.

“They know nothing about my life before we started the company.”

He considered this for a moment, then nodded. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tess.”

She looked up. “What?”

“I’ll be at your office tomorrow at one.”

“No!”

Damien leaned in close to Tess’s ear, the heat from his breath making her hair stand on end and her heart twist painfully. This she remembered and, long ago, this she had loved.

“I’m not here to reminisce about old times,” he uttered darkly. “I’m here to collect on a debt that was never paid.”

TESSA RADLEY

LAURA WRIGHT

www.millsandboon.co.uk

by

Tessa Radley

TESSA RADLEY

loves travelling, reading and watching the world around her. As a teenager Tessa wanted to be an intrepid foreign correspondent. But after completing a bachelor of arts and marrying her sweetheart, she became fascinated with law and ended up studying further and practising as an attorney in a city law firm.

A six-month break travelling through Australia with her family reawoke the yen to write. And life as a writer suits her perfectly; travelling and reading count as research and as for analysing the world…well, she can think what if all day long. When she’s not reading, travelling or thinking about writing she’s spending time with her husband, her two sons – or her zany and wonderful friends. You can contact Tessa through her website www.tessaradley.com.

Dear Reader,

As a teenager I read romances that I discovered in the garage…and later in the library and bookshops. There were all sorts of stories. Reunion stories, stranded at sea stories, secret baby stories…some of them seemed quite far-fetched to me. But it didn’t matter how unrealistic a story might be, I finished it to discover the happy ending.

In those days I used to horse ride a lot. I’m told one day I fell off a horse – I don’t remember. Or rather I remember getting onto the nag early that morning. It had been giving me a little bit of trouble and I was supposed to sort it out – well, three hours later I was in hospital, lights out. I came round the next morning with a killer headache. The funny part of it all is that the guy who saw me fall off and who called my mum, summoned help and did all the things a hero should is now my husband – and I don’t remember the first time we ever met.

Every time I fell off a horse afterwards, I waited for the jolt to bring my memory back, like in romances I’d read – it never did. But I still got my happy ending!

I hope you enjoy The Apollonides Mistress Scandal . Please visit me at my website www.tessaradley.com to find out more about my new books. I always love hearing from readers!

Take care,

Tessa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the readers on the eHarlequin.com

10,000 Book Challenge boards. You blew my

annual book budget in about a month!:-) But I

thank each one of you for the great

recommendations and lots of fun.

To Melissa Jeglinski, my thanks for valued

advice and thanks to Karen Solem for always

being there for me. And Abby, Karina and

Sandra, what would I do without you?

To my family –

Tony, Alex and Andrew

you guys are simply the best!

One

Gemma Allen was back.

Forcing himself to snap out of the shock that held him rigid, Angelo Apollonides strode across the pale sand towards the woman who had betrayed him.

His staff had not lied. The nasty truth was that his beautiful former mistress stood on his beach, on his island admiring one of his sleek, double-hulled catamarans. And Angelo intended to find out precisely why she had chosen to return.

“What are you doing here?” Angelo fought to keep his voice even, to keep the string of ugly curses from escaping. “I never expected to see you again. Particularly not here on Strathmos.”

She turned, her tawny eyes wide and startled. The first week of November had passed, the evenings on Strathmos had begun to cool. The sea wind caught at Gemma’s dark red hair, whipping it across her face, hiding her expression for a beat of time. When she brushed it back, she’d recovered her equilibrium and her eyes were wary.

“Angelo.” Gemma’s voice was cool, composed. A world away from the alarm that had flickered in her eyes only seconds before. “How are you?”

“Forget the pleasantries. You have nerve showing up at the Palace of Poseidon.” Angelo pressed his mouth into a tight, forbidding line. “I couldn’t believe it when I was told you are performing in the Electra Theatre.”

She shrugged. “It’s a free world. I can work where I want.”

“Anywhere except on Strathmos. This is my world, run by my rules.” The island was more than his world; it was his home. The resort had been created from his dreams. Today he’d returned after a hectic month away to find that Gemma had already been working here for over a week.

“Do you really want to be faced with an unfair-dismissal action?” Her wariness had been replaced with attitude.

Angelo froze. He was known to be a fair employer, hard but just. He didn’t need the headache of an industrial action—and there was a good chance she’d succeed. Frustrated, he stared at the face that had grown more beautiful in the years since they’d been apart. Her hair was longer…wilder, her eyes glowed brighter and as for her mouth…that lush red mouth taunted him with fighting words. He jerked his attention away from her provocative mouth and gave her slender body an insultingly slow once-over. “Singer is certainly a step up from exotic dancer.”

“It’s been three years. Things change,” she pointed out.

“ I haven’t changed.” He widened his stance and put his hands on his hips.

“No, you haven’t changed one little bit,” she agreed.

He assessed her through slitted eyes, not liking the bite in her tone. “So what do you want, Gemma? A second chance?”