Million-Dollar Love-Child

The shower could barely be described as such, but it was sufficient to cool her heated flesh and she washed and dried herself and then slid into clean underwear and collapsed back on to the bed, wishing that the ceiling fan worked.

‘Presumably this is all part of your plan to gain the sympathy vote, staying in a hotel with no air-conditioning in a part of town that even the police avoid.’ His deep, dark drawl came from the doorway and she gave a gasp of shock and sprang off the bed.

She hadn’t even heard the door open.

‘You can’t just walk in here!’ She made a grab for her robe and dragged it around herself, self-conscious and just horrified that he’d caught her in such a vulnerable state. Her hair was hanging in dark, damp coils down her back and she wasn’t wearing any make-up. She felt completely unprepared for a confrontation with a man like him. ‘You should have knocked!’

‘You should have locked the door.’ He strolled into the room and closed the door firmly behind him, turning the key with a smooth, deliberate movement. ‘In this part of town, you can’t be too careful.’

Hands shaking, she tied the robe at the waist, still glaring at him. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I was under the impression that you wanted an urgent answer to your request for funds.’ He strolled across the cramped, airless room and stared out of the smeared window into the grimy, litter infested street below. His broad shoulders all but obliterated the light in the room and she couldn’t see his face. ‘If your finances are in this bad a state, perhaps you ought to be asking me for more than five million.’

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She could hardly breathe, trapped in this tiny, airless room with Luc Santoro, who dominated every inch of available space with his powerful body. He was still wearing the sleek business suit and the jacket moulded to his shoulders, hinting at masculine strength and power. His glossy hair brushed the collar of his white silk shirt, just on the edges of what would be considered respectable in the cut-throat world of corporate finance. His hard jaw betrayed the tell-tale signs of dark stubble and at that precise moment, even dressed in the suit, he looked more bandit than businessman.

He was wickedly, dangerously attractive and with a rush of horror she felt her nipples harden and push against the soft fabric of her robe.

Mortified by her own reaction, she wrapped her arms around her waist and tried to remind herself that none of that mattered. It didn’t matter how her body reacted to this man. This time around, her brain was running the show and all that mattered was her child.

Would he agree to the loan? Would he have come in person if he was going to refuse to help her? Surely he would have sent a minion—one of the thousands of people who worked into the night to ensure that the Santoro empire kept multiplying.

‘I’ve already told you that the money isn’t for me.’ Nervous and self-conscious, she blurted the words out before she could stop herself. ‘I don’t know what else to do to convince you.’

He turned to face her, his voice soft. ‘To be honest, I’m not particularly interested in your reasons for wanting the money. What does interest me is what you intend to give me in return for my—’he lingered over the word thoughtfully ‘—let’s call it an investment, shall we?’

There was something in his eyes that made her suddenly wary and nerves flickered in her stomach, her feminine senses suddenly on full alert. ‘I don’t understand—’

‘No?’ He moved away from the window. ‘Then allow me to give you a basic lesson in business.’ His voice was smooth and he watched her with the unflinching gaze of a hunter studying its prey for weakness. ‘A business deal is an exchange of favours. No more. No less. I have something you want. You have something I want.’

Feeling as though she was missing something important, her heart beat faster and she licked dry lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘I have nothing that you can possibly want. So I assume you’re saying no.’

He lifted a hand and trailed a lean, strong finger down her cheek. ‘I’m saying that I’m willing to negotiate.’ His finger lingered at the corner of her mouth and his smile was disconcerting. ‘I will give you money but I want something in return.’

Not his son.

Dear God, please don’t let him ask for his son.

Trying to ignore the sudden flip of her stomach, she stared at him helplessly, hardly daring to breathe. ‘What?’ What else did she have to offer that could possibly be of interest to him? Her flat in London was ridiculously modest by his standards and she had few other assets. ‘What is it you want?’

Not Rio. Please, not Rio—

His hand slid into her hair and his eyes didn’t shift from hers. ‘You.’ He said the word with simple clarity. ‘I want you, minha docura. Back in my bed. Naked. Until I give you permission to get dressed and leave.’

There was a stunned silence. A stunned silence while parts of her body heated to melting point under the raw sexuality she saw in his dark gaze.

She couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly.

He wanted her?

Relief that he hadn’t mentioned Rio mingled with a shivering, helpless excitement that she didn’t understand.

Somehow she managed to speak, but her voice was a disbelieving croak. ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I never joke about sex.’

‘But why?’ The blood pounded in her ears and she felt alarmingly dizzy. She wished he’d move away from her. He was too close. ‘Why would you want me in your bed? We’ve been there, done that—’

His eyes burned into hers. ‘And I want to do it again.’ He gave a lazy, predatory smile. ‘And again. And again—’

The air jammed in her lungs. ‘You can have any woman you want—’

‘Good,’ he said silkily, withdrawing his hand from her hair slowly, as if he were reluctant to let her go. ‘Then that’s settled.’

He stood with his legs planted firmly apart, in full control mode, completely confident that he could manipulate any situation to his advantage.

‘Hold on.’ She wished desperately that she hadn’t taken off the crisp business suit. It was hard to maintain an icy distance dressed in a virtually transparent robe, especially when the conversation was about sex. ‘Are you saying that you’ll give me the money if I agree to—’ she broke off, having difficulty getting her tongue around the words ‘—sleep with you?’

‘Not sleep, no.’ His mouth curved into a slow smile that mocked her hesitation. ‘I can assure you that there will be very little sleeping involved.’

Her mouth dried and she hugged the robe more closely around herself, as if to protect herself from the feelings that shot through her body. ‘It’s a ridiculous suggestion.’

Winged dark brows came together in a sharp frown. ‘What’s ridiculous about it? I’m merely renewing a relationship.’

‘A relationship?’ Her voice rose. ‘We did not have a relationship, Luc, we had sex!’ Relentless, mindless, incredible sex that had neutralized her ability to think straight.

Someone in the next room thumped on the wall and Kimberley closed her eyes in embarrassment.

Luc didn’t even register the interruption, his handsome face as inscrutable as ever. ‘Sex. Relationships.’ He shrugged broad shoulders. ‘It’s all the same thing.’

Her eyes flew wide and she stared at him in appalled dismay. ‘No! It is not the same thing, Luc!’ She was so outraged she could hardly breathe and she barely remembered to lower her voice. ‘It is not the same thing at all! Not that I’d expect a man with your Neanderthal, macho tendencies to understand that.’

He clearly hadn’t changed a bit!

Luc shrugged, supremely indifferent to her opinion. ‘Women want different things from men, it’s an acknowledged fact. I don’t need fluffy romantic to make me feel OK about good sex, but if fluffy romantic makes you feel better then that’s your choice.’

Her jaw dropped. He just didn’t have a clue. ‘I can’t believe you’d think I’d even consider such a proposition. What sort of woman do you think I am?’

‘One who needs five million dollars and is willing to do “absolutely anything” to get it.’ He was brutal in his assessment of the situation. ‘I have something you want. You have something I want. This is a business deal at its most basic.’

It was typical of Luc that he viewed sex as just another commodity, she thought helplessly. Typical that he thought he could just buy whatever he wanted. ‘What you’re suggesting is immoral.’

‘It’s honest. But you’re not that great at being honest about your feelings, are you?’ His gaze locked on hers with burning intent. ‘Tell me that you haven’t lain in your bed at night unable to sleep because you’re thinking about me. Tell me that your body doesn’t burn for my touch. Tell me that you’re not remembering what it was like between us.’

Her breathing grew shallow. She didn’t want to remember something she’d spent seven years learning to forget.

Kimberley licked dry lips and her stomach dropped. ‘You’re prepared to pay to go to bed with a woman, Luc?’ She struggled to keep her tone light, not to betray just how much he’d unsettled her. ‘You must have lost your touch.’

‘You think so?’ He smiled. ‘There is nothing wrong with my touch, meu amorzinho, as you will discover the moment you say yes. And, as for paying—’he gave a dismissive shrug ‘—I can be a very generous lover when I want to be. The money is nothing. Call it a gift. Only this time I will pay you for your services up front to save you the bother of taking the money afterwards.’