‘GOOD MORNING, LIA.’
Lia felt all the colour drain from her cheeks as she stared up at the man standing on the other side of the reception desk at the London Exemplar Hotel.
She had always thought that a person feeling the colour leeching from their face was a ridiculous concept: people couldn’t actually feel the colour leaving their cheeks.
Except Lia just had. In fact the blood seemed to have drained from her head completely, settling somewhere in the region of her toes and leaving her feeling slightly light-headed as she continued to gape across the reception desk at Gregorio de la Cruz.
He tilted his head, a mocking smile playing about those sculpted lips as he saw her reaction to his being here. ‘I did warn you that in future you should anticipate seeing me where and when you least expected to do so.’
Yes, he had—but it hadn’t occurred to Lia that Gregorio might turn up at her new place of employment.
Deliberately so?
Or was it purely coincidence that Gregorio had come to the Exemplar Hotel on the morning she began working there?
Lia very much doubted that. With a man as powerful and well-connected as Gregorio there was no such thing as coincidence.
Which meant he had known she would be here. How he knew was probably by the same means he had acquired the address of her new apartment.
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you having me followed, Mr de la Cruz?’
‘Followed? No,’ he dismissed. ‘Am I ensuring your safety? Yes,’ he admitted without apology.
Lia’s brows rose. ‘Why on earth does my safety need ensuring?’
‘You are now alone in the world.’
‘We both know why that is!’
‘Lia—’
‘Is there a problem here—? Mr de la Cruz!’ Michael, the hotel manager, quickly hid his surprise as he greeted the other man warmly.
‘Good morning, Michael,’ Gregorio returned smoothly as the two men shook hands. ‘And, no, there is no problem. I just came down to say hello to Miss... Faulkner,’ he finished, with a knowing glance at the badge Lia had pinned on the left lapel of her jacket.
It was a surname Gregorio knew didn’t belong to her.
And he also apparently knew the manager of this hotel by his first name’
An uneasy feeling began to churn in Lia’s stomach, growing stronger by the second and making her feel slightly nauseous.
There was no such thing as coincidence where Gregorio de la Cruz was concerned.
Which meant he had known exactly where she would be starting her new job this morning.
He really was having her followed—might he even have had some influence in her attaining this job too?
For what reason?
The churning in Lia’s stomach became a full-blown tsunami as she searched for the reason Gregorio was doing these things.
That guilty conscience she had accused him of having?
No, he had denied feeling any guilt in regard to her father’s death.
The only other reason Lia could think of was to make her feel beholden to him. Not just beholden but trapped, when she badly needed to keep this job in order to pay her rent and bills as well as to buy food.
Trapped enough to give him what he wanted?
Namely herself.
‘Of course.’ Michael accepted Gregorio’s explanation. ‘If you would care to take your lunchbreak early, Lia, I’m sure we can accommodate—’
‘No! No,’ she repeated in a calmer voice as she realised how rude her previous vehemence must have sounded. ‘I’m sure a busy man like Mr de la Cruz has somewhere else he needs to be right now.’ Her eyes glittered in challenge.
Whatever was going on here, and whether or not Gregorio had had a hand in her acquiring this job, she did not want her co-workers seeing her on the receiving end of deferential treatment from the manager on her very first morning. There were already several curious glances being sent their way—goodness only knew what conclusions the people she had only just started working with were drawing about this conversation alone!
‘Thank you for the offer, Michael.’ Gregorio answered the other man smoothly. ‘But, as Lia says, I have another appointment in a few minutes.’
‘Oh. Okay. Fine.’ The other man looked slightly flustered. ‘I’ll leave the two of you to talk, then.’ He hurried off in the direction of his office behind the reception area.
‘I do not like your hair pulled back in that style.’
Lia raised an irritated gaze. ‘I really don’t give a—’
‘Language, Lia,’ Gregorio drawled.
‘Down?’ she repeated abruptly. ‘You told Michael you had come down to say hello to me...’ she said as Gregorio raised a questioning brow.
‘I occupy the whole of the penthouse floor of the hotel,’ he admitted without apology.
Lia’s heart sank down to wallow in all the blood that had already drained and congealed in her feet. ‘Is it possible that you own the Exemplar Hotel?’
‘It is part of the De la Cruz Hotel Group, yes.’ He gave a smile of satisfaction.
Trapped!
Lia had absolutely no doubt now that for reasons of his own Gregorio was involved up to his arrogant neck in her being given this receptionist job.
Gregorio’s satisfaction faded, his eyes narrowing as he recognised the flush gathering in Lia’s cheeks for exactly what it was. Anger. White-hot burning fury.
‘Do not do anything you will regret,’ he warned softly as she stood up.
‘The only thing I regret is actually thinking you were being nice to me on Saturday.’ She bent to retrieve her bag from under the desk, her eyes glittering accusingly as she glared across at him. ‘I’m going to take that early lunchbreak, after all. Perhaps you would like to clear that with your buddy Michael?’
‘He is not—’
‘Stay away from me, Gregorio!’ she hissed, leaning across the desk so that only he could hear. ‘Find some other mouse to ensnare in your trap, but leave me alone!’
Her cheeks were ablaze with colour as she marched the length of the reception desk, appearing on the other side of it before striding the length of the hotel lobby and out through the front door.
Gregorio very much doubted it was the right time to tell Lia that the staff of the Exemplar Hotel were not allowed to use the front entrance.
Well, that hadn’t gone as well as he might have hoped.
Hope.
That seemed to be all he had where Lia Fairbanks was concerned, when she continued to resist and deny him at every turn.
Maybe ensuring she was employed at one of the de la Cruz hotels hadn’t been his best idea, but at the time, knowing of her lack of funds and the problems she was having finding suitable employment, it had seemed the right thing to do. Besides which, he knew Lia could do the job standing on her head.
She was warm, gracious, well-spoken, beautiful... And, having been her father’s long-time hostess and companion, she knew exactly what was required of a receptionist in a prestigious hotel.
He should have waited until a more suitable time, of course, to inform her that he owned the hotel where she now worked. But, having spent a frustrating day yesterday, wondering what Lia was doing and who she was with, and knowing she was downstairs working in the lobby of the hotel, Gregorio hadn’t been able to resist coming down at least to look her again.
Once he had seen her—as cool, calm and collected as he had known she would be—he hadn’t been able to stop himself from actually speaking to her.
Considering Lia’s fury when she left, he wasn’t sure she would be coming back.
* * *
‘So, how was your first morning at work?’ Cathy prompted excitedly the moment she sat down at the table where the two women had arranged to meet for lunch. ‘Met any gorgeous unmarried billionaires yet?’ she teased as she made herself more comfortable by shrugging off her jacket.
Oh, yes, Lia had met an unmarried billionaire. But Gregorio de la Cruz’s looks were compelling rather than pretty-boy gorgeous.
But he was a manipulator. He was having her followed. He had arranged for her to be employed at his hotel. He had literally taken away all her options. Until he owned her body and soul.
Body and soul?
Lia would be lying to herself if she didn’t acknowledge her physical reaction to Gregorio. She only had to glance at him to be totally aware of him. Only had to look into those dark and compelling eyes to feel her body heating from the inside out.
Much as she might wish it wasn’t true, she was physically attracted to Gregorio de la Cruz.
‘Never mind,’ Cathy sympathised, obviously misunderstanding the reason for Lia’s silence. ‘It was only your first morning, after all.’
For some reason, when the two women had spoken on the phone yesterday Lia hadn’t told Cathy about Gregorio’s visit to her apartment the evening before. Usually she told Cathy everything—had done since the two of them were at school together—but when it came to the subject of Gregorio, Lia didn’t know quite what to say.
Maybe because yesterday she had still been a little uncertain in her conjecture as to the reason for Gregorio’s visit the evening before—had still been wondering if perhaps she wasn’t imagining things...desires...that simply hadn’t been there.
On Saturday he had said he wanted to talk to her—which he hadn’t. He had told her he would feed her dinner—which he had. And he had almost kissed her. He would have kissed her if Lia had allowed it.
His appearance at the hotel this morning—the hotel he owned—left her in no doubt that for reasons of his own Gregorio was weaving a spider’s web about her. One made out of expensive dinners and the job she desperately needed, but still a spider’s web.
Was he only doing these things because he wanted her?
Because he knew he couldn’t have her any other way?
Lia found it hard to believe it was because Gregorio desired her. She had been complimented on the way she looked since men had first begun to take notice of her in her mid-teens. But she didn’t fool herself into believing Gregorio was so bedazzled by her he would go to any lengths to have her. He only had to snap his fingers to have any woman he wanted, when he wanted her, so why bother even trying with a woman he knew had every reason to continue resisting him?
Maybe, despite his denials, he did feel some guilt in regard to her father’s death?
‘You okay, Lia?’
‘Fine.’ She determinedly shook herself out of her mood of despondency as she picked up the menu. ‘Let’s order, shall we?’
Until she knew what Gregorio was up to she had no intention of telling Cathy she had even seen him again, let alone that he was now pursuing her.
Relentlessly.
* * *
‘Can I offer you a lift home?’
‘No, thank you.’
Lia didn’t need to look at the driver of the dark sports car driving slowly beside the pavement she was walking along to know it was Gregorio. Illegally kerb-crawling, of course—but then he seemed to be as cavalier towards the law as he was to everything else.
‘You would prefer to take public transport rather than be driven home in the comfort of my car?’
‘I would prefer to crawl home on my hands and knees than accept a lift from you!’
‘You are being childish.’
‘I am being the independent woman I now am—despite your efforts to make me otherwise!’ Lia’s hands clenched as she turned to glare through the open passenger window at Gregorio.
She had half expected to see him at the hotel again when she’d returned from lunch, and had breathed a sigh of relief when the afternoon had passed by without any more unwelcome interruptions from him.
She should have known he wouldn’t give up that easily.
The car came to a stop and she stepped forward to bend down and talk to him directly through the open window. ‘I realise you’re a man accustomed to taking what he wants, and to hell with anyone else’s feelings, but let me assure you I can’t be bought or seduced into your bed with a few expensive dinners and a job—What are you doing?’ she gasped as Gregorio turned off the car’s engine before opening his door and climbing out of the low-slung vehicle.
His expression was dark and thunderous as he strode round the back of the car towards her. Lia instinctively took a step back.
He was dressed less formally than Lia had ever seen him before, in a black polo shirt open at the throat and worn beneath a soft black leather jacket, with jeans resting low down on his hips. The former emphasised the broadness of his shoulders and toned chest and abs, and the latter added to that rugged attraction. Gregorio looked breathtaking in a formal suit, but in casual clothes he was even more dark and dangerous.
Gregorio took a tight grasp of her arm as he opened the passenger door of the car. ‘Get in,’ he bit out between gritted teeth.
‘I—’
‘Get in the damned car, Lia, before I pick you up and put you there.’ His voice was low and controlled. As if he might start shouting if he allowed himself to speak any louder.
It made Lia even more reluctant to put herself in the vulnerable position of being alone in his car with him. At least out here in the street she had somewhere to run.
She raised her chin challengingly. ‘I believe you are stepping way over my line now.’ She reminded him of their conversation on Saturday.
Those black eyes glittered dangerously. ‘You just made an outrageous accusation. One I do not intend to dignify with an answer when we are standing out here in the street, where anyone might overhear our conversation.’
Her cheeks warmed. ‘You made the purpose of your interest in me obvious on Saturday evening. Or am I wrong in thinking you want me in your bed?’
A nerve pulsed in his clenched jaw. ‘No, you are not wrong.’
She nodded. ‘Which is why, after discovering you’re now my employer, I have come to the conclusion I have.’
Gregorio never lost control. Never. He considered it a weakness to do so. And weakness could be exploited...manipulated.
Nevertheless, he knew he was seriously in danger of losing control at this moment. No one had ever accused him of the things Lia just had. No one would ever dare. No matter what she believed, he had no reason to manipulate her into an intimate relationship with him.
Not when he knew she felt the same desire for him that he felt for her...
Even if it was a desire she obviously didn’t want to feel.
Gregorio’s only motive in protecting and helping her was the fact that she no longer had anyone else in her life who would do so. The wealth she had grown up with and no doubt taken for granted was no longer there as a buffer either.
So, yes, Gregorio might have put in a word with Michael Harrington regarding employing Lia at the hotel, but his only reason for doing so had been an effort to give her back some of what she had lost.
For Lia to have reached the conclusion she had, that he was blackmailing her into a relationship with him as a result of his actions, was unacceptable. An insult of a kind Gregorio had never faced before.
The nerve in his jaw throbbed. ‘We are having dinner together.’
‘Did you not hear what I just said?’
‘Of course I heard you,’ Gregorio snapped. ‘How could I do otherwise? But, as I said, I will not answer any of your accusations on a public street.’
His bodyguards had parked their SUV behind his sports car and the two men were now standing on the pavement a short distance away, watchful and alert to any and all danger.
‘I have no intention of being alone with you. Anywhere,’ Lia added with finality.
Gregorio stilled to regard her through narrowed lids. That last remark had been made so vehemently...
Lia’s eyes were glittering brightly, her cheeks flushed and her lips full and pink. The evening was warm, and she had removed the jacket of her business suit as soon as she’d left the hotel. The cream blouse beneath was so sheer Gregorio could see the outline of her light-coloured bra. Her breasts were quickly rising and falling as she breathed deeply, the plumpness of her engorged nipples showed as a darker pink through the lace of her bra.
Gregorio slowly moved his gaze back up to her face. ‘You want me too,’ he stated.
‘That’s a lie!’ Lia recoiled as if Gregorio had struck her, pulling her arm from his grasp as she did so. ‘How could I possibly want you?’ Her breathing became even more erratic. ‘When you’re the callous man who helped hound my father to his death?’
Lia heard herself say the words, saw Gregorio’s reaction to them—his expression hardened and his eyes were once again those fathomless black pits—and all the time knew Gregorio was right. That she’d spoken so vehemently because she did want him. And she shouldn’t. For all the reasons she had just stated.
Except her traitorous body was refusing to listen to her. Her breasts felt fuller and more sensitive and she felt the ache of arousal between her thighs.
‘You are lying to yourself, Lia,’ Gregorio dismissed scornfully. ‘We both know that.’
‘Your arrogance is only exceeded by your conceit!’
He gave a hard smile. ‘When you are ready to hear the truth about your father I suggest you give me a call. Until then...’ He turned to nod at the two bodyguards, indicating his intention of leaving.
‘The truth about my father?’ This time Lia was the one to place a restraining hand on Gregorio’s arm, able to feel his tension through the soft material of his jacket. ‘What are you talking about?’
He looked at her between narrowed lids. ‘As I said, call me when you are ready to listen.’
‘And my job...?’
He drew himself up to his full height, a couple of inches over six feet. ‘Your continued employment is not conditional upon you agreeing to see me or listen to me. Or anything else.’ His mouth was a thin line.
Lia’s hand slowly dropped back to her side. ‘I don’t understand you...’
‘Perhaps that is because—as you admitted the other evening—having now spoken with me, you find I do not fit with the preconceived prejudice you felt towards me?’ he taunted.
There was some truth in that. No, there was a lot of truth in that, Lia conceded heavily. Gregorio was arrogant, and used to having—taking—whatever he wanted. But equally there had been no doubting his anger when Lia had made her accusations about his manipulating and trying to force her into a relationship with him.
He had also been considerate and unthreatening at her apartment on Saturday evening. If he really was as ruthless as Lia had thought him to be, then surely he would have forced the issue of wanting her then? He wouldn’t have taken no for an answer when there had been a convenient bedroom just down the hallway.
After all, she might not have been aware of it at the time, but Gregorio had already known he held all the power.
And now he had implied that he knew something about her father that she didn’t.
Lia gave a slight nod as she came to a decision. ‘I’ll have dinner with you in exchange for you telling me what it is you think you know about my father that I don’t.’
She held her breath as she waited for Gregorio’s response.