Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire
Page 16Lia sighed. “I’ll go pack. Wait here.” She shut the door in his face and hurried up the stairs.
…
The door to the apartment swung open, and Luc stood to one side to let her pass. He seemed more relaxed now that he’d gotten his own way. On the drive into London, he’d been silent, but at least the tension appeared to have left him. She’d been expecting him to take her to the apartment in the office block, where they’d been that first night. But they’d headed not for the business district, but into an upmarket residential area in the west end of the city. Finally, Luc had pulled into an underground parking area beneath a modern apartment building, and they’d taken the elevator up to the penthouse.
Luc put her bag down on the floor and held out a hand.
“I’ll show you around.”
She ignored the hand and stood staring around her, eyes widening as she took in the sheer luxury of her surroundings. The place was huge, light, and airy with vast expanses of polished wooden floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. The furniture was sparse but beautiful, elegant and modern, uncluttered. Lia kicked off her shoes, and some of her own anger and bitterness drained from her. It was no good being angry. She never did anything sensible when she was angry, and she needed to be sensible now. But without the anger, she felt a little lost, with nothing to replace it.
“I don’t know why I’m here. Not really.” She knew she sounded forlorn.
“We’re going to find your father.”
His tone was soothing as though he were trying to calm her. Lia didn’t want to be calmed, and she let her irritation rise. “I told you. I don’t want to find him anymore.”
“But I do, and I need you in order to do that.”
“And I suppose that’s what matters, isn’t it? That you’ve gotten what you want.”
She looked at him sharply, but his face was expressionless, bland except for the small smile that played around his lips. She sighed. “So here I am. What happens now?”
“Now, we see if we can’t draw your father out.”
“Can you at least tell me why you want to find him?”
“No.”
She glowered in frustration. “What’s the big secret? It’s unlikely that anything you can tell me is going to surprise me. I already think the worst about you anyway.”
He studied her, his expression speculative. “I doubt that’s true. In which case, you’re going to have to trust me.”
“And just how likely is that? The first time we met, you pretended you wanted to help me, got me drunk, and then seduced me. The second time you blackmailed me into coming here. Not much incentive to trust, now is there?”
He shrugged. He obviously had no remorse at all about how he had gotten her here.
“And I can only stay until my wrist is healed. After that, I need to get back into training. How long are you expecting me to stay?”
“As long as it takes.”
He regarded her curiously. “Do you care?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, just moved into the room, and Lia stared after him. Did she care? She hated her father, but he was a dangerous man, and for some reason the idea of Luc confronting him made her feel weak and shivery. Perhaps Luc was more than a match for her father. Her father was a bully. How would he stand up to someone like Luc? She didn’t want to know. All she could hope for was that her father would stay away. After all, he had managed it very well for the last ten years. Why change now?
Luc picked up her bag again. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’re sleeping.”
She followed him out of the living area, along a carpeted hallway. He paused at a door.
“That’s my room over there.” He nodded at the door opposite. “In case you need anything in the night.”
“In your dreams,” she muttered. Luc smiled then led her into the room. It was beautiful, pale cream and dark blue with a huge king-size bed. She also had her own bathroom with an enormous whirlpool bath.
“There’s no lock on the door,” she said as she trailed behind him. “How am I supposed to sleep at night with no lock on the door?”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t push it, Lia.”
She wanted to push it. Instead, she followed him around the building as he gave her a tour of the place, trying not to appear as impressed as she felt. The kitchen was amazing, enormous, state of the art, with every possible gadget, none of which Lia had a clue how to switch on.
“Do you actually use this stuff?”
“What’s up there?” she asked, pointing at the elaborate wrought-iron spiral staircase that appeared to lead out onto the roof. “I thought we were on the top floor.”
“We are. Come and look.”
The roof garden was out of this world, not so much a garden as a conservatory, the whole place enclosed in glass with a fabulous view out over the city. Tropical plants ran rampant, crimson bougainvillea, hibiscus, and through the plants, she caught sight of the turquoise water of an infinity pool that seemed poised on the edge of the building. “You have a pool on your roof?”
She walked toward it and bent down to trail her fingers through the warm water.
“Feel free to swim,” Luc said.
Lia turned to stare at him. He seemed to belong among the lush tropical splendor, his dark exotic beauty at home in such decadent surroundings. Lia shook her head; this level of wealth was beyond her imaginings. Suddenly, she had an urge to confront him, ask him what he did, where all this money came from. Before she could open her mouth, a noise erupted from among the plants. She jumped as a large ginger tomcat emerged and strolled toward Luc, ignoring Lia completely. He rubbed himself against Luc’s legs, a loud rumbling purr vibrating his whole body. Luc crouched down and picked him up, rubbing his head.
“This is Murphy,” he said.
“You have a cat. I’m surprised.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that. Murphy lives here. This is his domain, so if you want to spend time up here, you’d better make friends.”
Lia shook her head. “I can’t believe you have a cat.”