Tessa Radley - The Executive's Vengeful Seduction / Rich Man's Revenge - The Executive's Vengeful Seduction

She exhaled a long, ragged breath. “You really know how to tighten the thumb screws, don’t you?”

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do but we do them anyway.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll try,” she snapped. “But once my father’s on the mend, I’ll be leaving and going back to Sydney. Don’t forget that.”

“You’ve already made that clear.” But he was more than satisfied.

For the moment .

She placed her napkin on the table and pushed to her feet. “Somehow I’ve lost my appetite. I think I’ll go to my room. Good night.”

It was more than clear she wanted time alone. Time he could afford to give her.

He inclined his head. “Good night, Gabrielle,” he said, watching her walk away with a sway to her hips that would draw any man’s attention. Yet he wasn’t just any man. He’d been her lover, if not her confidant.

And she’d walked out on him without a proper goodbye. It had left a loss he only recognized now that he’d seen her again. A loss that went deeper than he’d expected. And because of it, he could feel an odd sort of anger simmering beneath the surface. An anger he wasn’t ready to face. Perhaps once he had enough of her body he’d never have to face it.

Three

Gabrielle retired to the spare bedroom and stood looking out the window at the harbor. Being around Damien wasn’t conducive to being clear-minded. He always seemed to be watching her, waiting for her to lower her guard. And keeping up that guard was exhausting when she had other things to think about.

God, it was mind-boggling that her father had given her forty percent of the shares in the business. Of course, she thought cynically, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to give her the remaining sixty percent of the shares—not that she wanted them.

No, he’d been hedging his bets. He’d given her limited control of the business, but had withheld twenty percent of the shares for himself just in case his incapacitation had proven temporary. And that was predictably her father. He could never let go of total control.

As for Keiran holding forty percent of the shares, well, that was a justified worry. Her cousin had always had his eye on the main chance, no matter what had been at stake, whether it be tripping her up as a kid so he could jump in the swimming pool first, or trying to suck up to her father during her parents’ separation. She had no doubt Keiran was capable of anything. She disliked him intensely. He was the one person who should not be in charge of a multimillion-dollar business.

As for Damien, it was typical he hadn’t told her about this before now. If she didn’t know him better, she’d think he was just like Keiran, keeping secrets to himself and using them for his own benefit.

Only, she knew he wasn’t like Keiran.

Not at all.

Damien wasn’t underhanded, just arrogant. She couldn’t see Damien tripping anyone to get in the pool first. He just wasn’t that kind of person. Damien would manipulate to get what he wanted—oh, yes, and he was good at that—but there was a difference. Damien wasn’t the type to lie or cheat if confronted over an issue. If Damien said something, he meant it. If he gave his word, he would stand by it.

Heavens, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she’d ever be spending another night sleeping under Damien’s roof. And in separate bedrooms, too. And that was just as well. He’d been a sensual man when she’d met him and she knew he hadn’t changed. She could still feel the sensuality rolling off him in waves. Even now she remembered the force of his desire from the day she’d walked into that function with her father and she’d felt the pull of a man’s eyes from across the room.

Damien .

It had been that strong.

But that’s all it had ever been with him. She’d only ever known him in the physical sense, never the emotional one. For two glorious months over a tropical summer it had been all about sex and attraction on his part, while she’d fallen headlong in love with him.

And she’d wanted him to love her in return, only it was never going to happen. She’d realized that the day she’d left home for good. It had given her the strength not to look back. If she had, she would have weakened and gone running into his arms.

But not into his heart.

It had taken her years to get over him, but time and distance had put things into perspective. It had been lust, not love. Attraction, not affinity. It was important to remember that, she decided as the adrenaline pumped through her veins, taking her a long time to fall asleep. Once she did, exhaustion gave her some blessed relief from the relentless thoughts going through her head, and when she stepped into the kitchen the next morning, she felt more rested than she’d dared hope.

Until she saw Damien standing at the counter, contemplating the mug of coffee in his hands as if it held the secrets to life itself. He obviously hadn’t heard her enter because he didn’t move. Strange, but he looked sort of…lonely.

She must have made a sound because his head shot up, and a seductive glint slid straight into his eyes. “Ah, the prodigal daughter has awoken,” he drawled, his gaze going over her red sleeveless dress cinched at the waist with a belt of the same material, and matching leather pumps.

“And good morning to you, too,” she said coolly, forcing herself to ignore the pull of his physical appearance. So what if he was dressed in dark trousers and a white shirt that looked like they’d been born on him?

A lazy moment passed by as Damien considered her, then he placed his mug on the counter behind him. “I phoned the hospital earlier. Russell’s doing as well as expected.”

Her heart fluttered with anxiety at the reminder of her father. “Thank you. I was going to call shortly myself.” She moved toward the percolator on the counter, badly needing her morning cup of coffee. “I plan on going to see him soon.”

“They said not to come until this afternoon. Apparently they’ve got a couple of doctors checking him over this morning.” He must have seen her give a start. “Your mother said it was nothing to worry about.”

Her panic subsided as she poured coffee into a cup. “Then I can go see Keiran instead. I planned on it, anyway.”

“Aah, so that’s why you’re dressed like that.”

Something in his voice made her look up, and she found his eyes sliding over her again, making her catch her breath. She put the coffeepot back with a shaky hand and tried to act casual. “I’m not about to go into my father’s office in jeans and a tank top.”

“Might get some favorable comments.”

“More likely they’d direct me to the janitor’s room,” she quipped, looking at him over the top of her coffee cup.

All at once he smiled. A rare smile that knocked her off balance. For a moment she could only stare at him across the width of the room.

Then that smile faded and something in those eyes darkened and he moved forward, making her heart drop to her knees. He stopped right in front of her, took the cup out of her hand then placed it on the counter beside her.

“It’s been a long time, Gabrielle,” he said huskily, in a voice so Australian, so thick and delicious, it swirled around her heart like a long-lost friend. “Miss me?”

She swallowed. “Does a bear miss a toothache?” she managed to say, the breathlessness in her voice disturbing her.

He gave a soft laugh and slid his hands over her shoulders with an ease that only an ex-lover can have. “Hmm. I like your hair this length.” Provocatively, one finger coiled around some blond strands that curled below her neck. “It suits you.”

She shivered as his warm breath wafted over her and wrapped her in its minty scent. It seemed like only yesterday when she would have leaned into the hard wall of his chest and relished his strength. And only yesterday that they had made love with a passion that had stolen her breath away.