Taken for Revenge: Bedded for Revenge / Bought by a Billionaire / The Bejewelled Bride

But how could she have done, even if such a figure had really existed? Whoever she lined up—however rich and however eligible—would fade into humdrum insignificance beside the luminous sex appeal of Cesare.

‘Yes, I am on my own,’ she said coolly, because she had learnt that being defensive about it only made people probe even more. ‘I don’t need a man to define me.’

‘Well, that’s lucky, isn’t it?’ he mocked.

‘Why are you bothering to sit next to me if all you want to do is insult me?’ she hissed.

‘Oh, but that isn’t all I want to do, cara mia.’ The black eyes roamed over her with breathtaking arrogance, lingering on the lush swell of her breasts, and very deliberately he ran the tip of his tongue around the inside of his mouth. ‘There are plenty of other things I’d like to do to you which are far more appealing.’

Sorcha turned her head, desperately hoping that someone might come to her rescue, swoop down on her and whisk her away from him. But no one came, and no one was likely to interrupt them—since the don’t disturb us vibes which were shimmering off Cesare’s powerful frame were almost tangible.

Maybe they needed to have this conversation. She hadn’t seen him since that day when he’d packed his bags and managed—she’d never been quite sure how—to get a helicopter with a stunning woman pilot to land on the front lawn and whisk him away.

And after today she wasn’t likely to see him again. So maybe this really would help her to move on—to eliminate his legacy of being the man whom no other could possibly live up to. Maybe she needed to accept that by settling for someone who didn’t have his dynamism and sex appeal she would actually be happier in the long run.

‘Just say whatever it is you want to say, Cesare.’

It occurred to him that she might be shocked if he gave her a graphic rundown of just what he would like to be doing to her right then, and he ran one long olive finger around the rim of his wine glass.

‘What are you doing these days?’ he questioned.

Sorcha blinked at him suspiciously, like a person emerging from the darkness into light. ‘You want to hear about my life?’ she asked warily.

He smiled up at the waitress who was heaping smoked salmon onto his plate and shrugged. ‘We have two choices, Sorcha,’ he said softly. ‘We can talk about the past and our unfulfilled sexual history, which might make us a little…how is it that you say…? Ah, yes. Hot under the collar.’ His gaze drifted to her bare neck. ‘Not that you’re wearing a collar, of course,’ he murmured. ‘And it would be a pity to taint that magnificent chest with unsightly blotches, don’t you think?’

Sorcha lifted her hands to her cheeks as they began to burn. ‘Stop it,’ she begged, and cursed the debilitating effect of desire which had turned her voice into a whisper.

‘You see? It’s happening already. And it’s all your fault for being so damned sexy,’ he chided, but he realised he had made himself a victim of his own teasing, and that his erection was pushing hard against his thigh. He shifted uncomfortably. Only this time the brakes were off. She wasn’t eighteen any more, but a woman—and he was no longer morally obliged to handle her with kid gloves.

‘The alternative is that we make polite conversation like every other guest in the room. Safer by far, don’t you think?’

Sorcha swallowed as she felt the blood-rush slowly drain from her face. Safer? Today he looked about as safe as a killer shark! Had she been blind to his almost tangible sex appeal before—or just naïve enough to think that he would protect her from it?

And he had, hadn’t he? He had treated her like a piece of delicate porcelain.

Sorcha bit her lip—because what was the point in remembering that? She didn’t want to feel soft and warm about him—not when his eyes were gleaming dark and intimidating fire at her. But she wasn’t going to let him intimidate her, was she? All she had to do was get through this ordeal without showing any further sign of weakness, then it would be over and Cesare would be gone—and with him all the bittersweet memories he evoked.

She watched the bubbles in her champagne glass fizzing their way to the surface. ‘So what do you want to know?’

‘Where are you living these days?’

‘I’m…’ She hesitated. At home made her sound as if she were five years old. ‘Living at the house.’

‘Really? Isn’t that a little—’ he shrugged his shoulders ‘—repressive?’

Now, why did she feel stung into defence? ‘It’s an enormous house—and anyway, I’ve only just moved back. I’ve been living and working in London. I’ve bought a flat up there, actually—but I’m renting it out at the moment.’

‘Really?’ he mocked, and his mouth hardened. ‘And what about your career?’

There was something in his tone which she didn’t like or recognise. Almost as if he were going through the mechanics of asking her questions to which he already knew the answers. Or was she just being paranoid, crediting him with powers he didn’t have simply because his attempts at ‘conversation’ sounded like an interrogation?

But she was proud of her work—and why shouldn’t he damned well know it? ‘I got a job straight after university for one of the best firms in the city and I worked for them until recently. They offered me promotion to stay, but I…’ What was it about his manner which made her reluctant to tell him? ‘I decided to work for the family firm instead. So here I am.’

He raised his dark brows. ‘Ah! That explains it.’

‘Explains what?’ Sorcha frowned. ‘I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.’

‘You don’t? Forgive me, cara—I should have said nothing.’ He lifted the palms of his hands upwards in an apologetic gesture, although his face didn’t look in the least bit apologetic.

‘No,’ said Sorcha coldly. ‘You can’t dangle a carrot like that and then snatch it away.’

‘I can do any damned thing I please,’ he retorted. ‘But I will take pity on you.’ He shrugged his broad shoulders, enjoying seeing the convulsive little swallow in her long throat at his deliberate use of the word pity. ‘It’s just that rumours in the business world…well, you know what they can be like.’

‘I never listen to rumours,’ she said fiercely. ‘Whittakers has had a few problems, it’s true—but we’re undergoing an upturn and things are looking good!’

‘Good?’ Cesare smiled, but it was a hard smile edged with scorn. ‘What a hopeless little liar you are,’ he said softly. ‘Whittakers is going down the pan fast—and if you don’t know that then you aren’t fit to be employed by them.’

If she had been anywhere else but sitting at the top table at her sister’s wedding, wearing enough aquamarine silk-satin to curtain the entire staterooms of a large cruise-liner, then Sorcha would have stood up and left the table. But apart from the obvious logistics of rapid movement in such a voluminous garment—she had a duty to fulfil. She knew that, and he knew it, too.

‘Every company goes through a rough patch from time to time,’ she defended.

‘Some do. It’s just that Whittakers seems to be enjoying a permanent rough patch,’ he drawled.

And suddenly Sorcha wondered why on earth she was tolerating this egotistical man giving her the benefit of his opinion. She hadn’t asked for it, and she didn’t particularly want it.

She glanced across the room as if he hadn’t spoken, to where the brunette was sitting with an untouched plate of food and an empty wine glass, staring at him like a hungry dog.

Sorcha gave him a cool smile. ‘Did you really come here today to discuss the fortunes of Whittakers?’ she questioned lightly. ‘I’m sure you could find more interesting things to do than snipe on about profit and loss!’

He followed the direction of her gaze and smiled. ‘I’m sure I could,’ he murmured. ‘But I’m not looking for a one-night-stand—at least not tonight, and not with her. I’m going to enjoy getting to know my new colleagues instead.’

There was triumph gleaming from his black eyes, and the smile of pure elation which curved his mouth sent Sorcha’s pulse skittering. But this time it was not desire which was making her feel almost dizzy, but fear—a nebulous, unformed fear which was solidifying by the minute.

‘Colleagues? What colleagues?’

He savoured the moment, knowing that in years to come he’d remember this as the moment when his obsession with her had finally lifted.

‘You and I are going to be working together,’ he murmured.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Rupert has brought me into the company as trouble-shooter.’

The chatter of the guests receded and then came roaring back again, so loud that Sorcha wanted to clamp her hands over her ears and stare at Cesare in disbelief.

‘I don’t believe you. He wouldn’t do that.’ Her shocked words sounded as though she was speaking under water.

He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Why wouldn’t he?’