The Ruthless Billionaire’s Redemption

‘It’s about all the town has going for it. Well, that and its antiquity. It’s a handsome little place—if you’re into fifteenth-century houses and quiet lanes.’

Danielle smiled. ‘I gather you’re not.’

Lee shrugged again. ‘They’re all right, I suppose.’ His hand flexed on the steering wheel, and she noticed how lightly it seemed to lie there, how little effort it took for him to control the powerful automobile. ‘But I’m used to a different kind of life. Racing circuits tend to be where the lights are brightest. Monte Carlo, Le Mans, Mexico City—that’s what I’m used to.’ He grinned at her. ‘Wexler says Ste Agathe’s peaceful. But I keep telling him that a tomb is peaceful, too.’

Danielle smiled in return. Yes, she thought, looking at him, a man like this would be unhappy tucked away in a quiet village. She knew little about Lee Bradford, but what she sensed told her that he craved excitement, that he needed it as some men needed food or drink. There’d be no bright lights in a place like Ste Agathe, no fast cars, no beautiful women to drape themselves around him as she knew they must in the real world.

She blinked. Wexler? Did he mean Barney Wexler? It had to be. How many Wexlers would you find in a place the size of Ste Agathe?

‘Lee?’ He glanced at her and she touched her tongue to her lips. ‘Are you with the film crew?’

He sighed and looked back at the road. ‘Unfortunately, the answer’s yes.’

Danielle frowned. ‘But you said you’re a racing driver.’

‘Yeah.’ He shifted uncomfortably. ‘That’s what I keep telling myself.’

‘I don’t understand. If you’re a driver…’

He laughed softly. ‘Forgive my immodesty, love, but I’m not a driver, I’m the driver. Well, last year’s, anyway, although I’m trying my damnedest to come out on top two years in a row. I had more championship points than anyone else, I won more races…’ He looked at Danielle’s blank face and laughed again. ‘You’re bad for my ego, do you know that? You keep looking at me as if I were talking Martian.’

‘I’m sorry. But I told you, I don’t know anything about…’

Lee sighed. ‘Neither does Wexler, which is why he asked me to serve as technical adviser on his film. Somebody introduced us at a party in New York, I guess it was. And then we bumped into each other again at a bash in Zurich.’

‘Zurich,’ Danielle repeated. She watched him, remembering what he’d said about speaking Martian. He’d meant it as a jest, but it was true enough. They might as well have come from different worlds, she thought, and a strange sadness tightened her throat.

He grinned. ‘I think it was Zurich. Hell, maybe it was Barcelona. I’m not really sure. Not that it matters—I just wish I’d been sober when Wexler tendered the invitation.’ Danielle’s eyebrows rose and his grin became a rueful smile. ‘That’s what I tell myself, anyway. It makes me feel better to think I was drunk when I agreed to sign on as his technical adviser.’

Danielle shook her head. ‘I really don’t understand at all. If you didn’t want to accept, why did you?’

‘Who the hell knows? Equal parts stupidity and boredom, maybe.’ His mouth turned down. ‘My business manager thought it might be time I tried something else. Besides, my principal sponsor’s money is in this film, and I have damned near a month and a half before my next race.’ He laughed softly. ‘Believe me, I’m looking forward to it.’

She smiled. ‘You make it sound like—like—’

‘Like heaven and hell combined,’ he said. ‘When I’m on the tour, I want to be somewhere else. And when I’m somewhere else, I want to be on the tour.’

‘You lead a strange life,’ she said with a smile.

He shrugged. ‘It’s been interesting, anyway.’

‘And the film? Have you enjoyed working on it?’

Lee shrugged. ‘It’s different, I have to say that.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, I’m sure it is. Working on a movie sounds pretty exciting.’

‘Believe me, it isn’t.’ He lifted his right hand and ran his fingers through his dark hair. ‘But things will pick up by the end of the month. We’ll be changing locations.’

Danielle looked at him in surprise. ‘Changing locations?’

‘Yeah. Wexler wants to shoot some racing footage in Monaco. I can hardly wait—it’ll be good to get behind the wheel of—’

‘Monaco? But I thought…’ Danielle drew a deep breath. ‘There must be a mistake. Val told me she’d be here all summer. She said—’

Lee stared at her. ‘Val?’

‘Yes. Valerie Cummings, do you know her? She’s—’

He laughed softly. ‘Oh, yes, I know her, all right. You might say we’re old acquaintances.’

Something in his voice made Danielle look up sharply. The sun was shining directly overhead, and it seemed to beat down on Lee Bradford’s face. But his eyes were on the road ahead, and she could see only his profile. Suddenly, he turned towards her.

‘Of course,’ he said, ‘I should have guessed. You’re Val’s cousin.’

Danielle nodded. ‘That’s right. But how did you—?’

Lee’s mouth narrowed. ‘She said you’d show up, but I didn’t believe her.’

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t…’

His eyes fixed on her face. ‘She said all she had to do was tell you she needed you and you’d come running.’ He paused. ‘And it looks as if she was right.’

‘Did she, really?’ Her voice was cold.

‘The little Mississippi cousin,’ Lee said. ‘Well, well, well.’

‘Missouri,’ she said, even more coldly, ‘I’m from Missouri, not Mississippi.’

‘Does it really matter?’ For some reason, he sounded angry. ‘Val’s little farm girl…’

‘I am none of those,’ Danielle said curtly. ‘I’m not Val’s, I’m not from a farm, and I’m not a little girl. And I’ll thank you to keep all three in mind. I—’ She broke off as a white shape stepped delicately into the road. ‘Lee!’ Her voice rose in horror. ‘Look out—there’s a goat!’

Lee stepped down hard on the brakes. The acrid stench of burning rubber and the squeal of the tyres grabbing for purchase on the road surface filled the air. The car skidded across the narrow road, coming to rest on the dirt shoulder.

Danielle stared out of the window and her stomach rose into her throat as a stone, dislodged by the tyres, clattered down the steep hillside behind them. Picking up speed, it rolled towards the edge of the cliff and plunged over the side on its way to the valley floor, hundreds of feet below.

Silence filled the car, and then Lee was beside her, his fingers brushing lightly against her breasts as he unbuckled her seat belt.

‘Danielle.’ His arm closed around her and he drew her towards him. ‘Danielle. Are you OK?’

She nodded. ‘Yes,’ she whispered, ‘I’m fine. I just—I just…’

He put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up to his. ‘Are you sure? No bumps? No bruises?’

She shook her head as his hand skimmed lightly over her cheeks and her temples, then moved into her hair.

‘No. Honestly, I didn’t bang against anything. I…’ She swallowed. His arm was still around her, holding her close to him. The silence seemed to grow louder. The scent of wild flowers filled the narrow space, making her dizzy. There was another scent mixing with the flowers—Lee’s scent, a heady combination of sun and sweat and maleness.