Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance

‘Thank you for that vital information,’ she said ruefully.

‘It is vital. He’s a catch, sweetie. Don’t let him get away.’

‘See you some time tonight, Kara. Bye.’ She hung up and immediately switched her phone to ‘voicemail’. No more calls for her today!

‘What vital information was that?’ Russell asked as she slipped the phone back into her bag.

Nicole decided to be as honest as he was reputed to be.

‘Kara’s been asking around about you.’

‘And?’

‘Her mum said your family must have money because you went to school with James Logan and Hugh Parkinson.’

Russell’s heart lurched at this reminder of the expensive education that had pushed his father further into debt.

‘I was a scholarship boy from the country,’ he said truthfully enough, not adding that such scholarships hardly touched the sides of the expenses associated with going to such a school. ‘My family were far from rich. What other misleading information did she uncover?’

‘Her dad said you had a good reputation in the real-estate world.’

‘Well, I’d like to think that was true.’

‘Yet you don’t network much in a social sense.’

He flicked her a frowning glance. ‘Is that comment from you, or Kara’s dad?’

‘Kara’s dad. But Kara and I already knew you weren’t big on Sydney’s social scene, because we would have met you before if you were.’

‘I’ve never been one for dinner parties. Or gallery openings. Like I said, I’m a country boy.’

‘And there I was, thinking you were a playboy.’

Russell smiled. ‘You’re mixing me up with Hugh.’

‘Yet you’re good friends with him and James Logan, both of whom love socialising, not to mention the limelight. You can’t open a glossy without seeing a photo of one of them.’

‘We were forced to share a room together at school,’ Russell explained. ‘I think it was a case of opposites attracting, because we soon became firm friends. Then, after we left school, we flatted together at uni. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Nicole. They’re both great guys.’

‘If you say so.’

‘So that’s it, is it? No more vital information about me?’

‘Pretty well.’

‘You’re leaving something out.’

Nicole sighed. ‘OK. Kara also said you were a great catch and I wasn’t to let you get away.’

‘Really.’

‘Look, that’s Kara talking, not me. Girls like Kara think the answer to their future happiness is a seriously rich husband.’

‘And you don’t agree?’

‘I might have. Once. Please don’t be offended, but I’ve come to the conclusion that seriously rich guys are all arrogant, ruthless, selfish bastards with absolutely no conscience at all.’

Russell only just managed to hide his surprise at this unexpected statement. Once again, he wondered if she meant what she said. Or was she being super-clever by pretending she wasn’t on the lookout for a rich husband?

‘That’s a rather sweeping generality, don’t you think?’

‘Is it? Yes, you’re probably right. My bad experience with David has made me terribly cynical. I’m sure there are several seriously rich men out there somewhere who are nice. Kara’s dad is a darling,’ she conceded.

‘And then there’s me, of course,’ he said with a superbly straight face.

‘Just because you were once a country boy, Russell, doesn’t mean you haven’t been corrupted.’

‘What will it take to prove to you that I’m not a playboy?’

Nicole shrugged. ‘I think what happens today will speak for itself.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Well, you’re not bringing me to your fancy bachelor pad overlooking the harbour just for breakfast, are you?’

His fancy bachelor pad …

Russell had to laugh. Life could be very perverse, no doubt about that. ‘You might be in for a surprise or two.’ ‘I don’t think so.’

‘We’ll see,’ he said for the second time that morning.

‘We certainly will,’ she countered firmly.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

‘SO WHAT do you think?’ Russell asked Nicole when she finally made it back to his kitchen.

He’d sent her off to inspect his modest two-bed-roomed apartment whilst he got on with breakfast, knowing that seeing was believing.

‘Not quite what you were expecting?’ he added with a wry smile when he saw the surprise in her face.

‘Not quite,’ she agreed as she slid up onto one of the two kitchen stools. ‘It’s no playboy pad. But I love it.’

‘You love it?’ Scepticism abounded in his reaction.

‘Yes, I do,’ she reaffirmed with a saucy toss of her head. ‘It’s in a great position, and has everything you would ever need—an en suite bathroom, an internal laundry with a dryer and a quite spacious kitchen. OK, so you only have the one living room, but most people don’t use dining rooms these days. And the view from the balcony is incredible.’

‘The very small balcony,’ he pointed out. Surely she had to be on the make. No girl who lived the life of luxury Nicole Power had lived would rave over this modest place.