Mediterranean Tycoons

‘I told him I was meeting a friend in London.’ The more Lisa thought about it, the angrier she got.

‘Anger is a waste of emotion, Lisa. And, be honest, did you actually tell him you were meeting a man?’

‘Since when did you become my conscience, Jed?’ she queried with a wry grin.

He grinned back, but didn’t answer the question. ‘He’s your husband. Go after him and explain.’

She looked up into Jed’s handsome face, so open and honest. ‘No, Jed, this afternoon is for us. I don’t know why or how Alex appeared like he did. But he is not going to spoil our afternoon together.’ And, clasping his hand in hers, she added, ‘It’s a glorious day. We are going to have our walk in Hyde Park, sit in the Italian Gardens and take a boat on the Serpentine; everything I promised you.’

‘If you’re sure, Lisa.’ The expression on Jed’s young face was incredibly grave. ‘But promise me when you get home you will explain to your husband the truth—that we’re friends, nothing more.’

Lisa felt overwhelmingly protective of this man she had met for the first time today. She knew Jed had not a cynical or nasty thought in his head, money didn’t interest him, only people, and he would never understand a ruthless predator of a man like Alex.

‘Of course I will, Jed, and don’t worry. Alex and I will be laughing about this by dinnertime.’ Forcing a brilliant smile to her lips, she tightened her fingers around his calloused palm. ‘Now, come on, cowboy, you can watch the horse riders on Rotten Row and tell me how they compare to Montana.’

At six in the evening, Jed helped her onto the train. She turned and leant out of the window, and brushed a gentle kiss on his tanned brow. ‘Till the next time, Jed.’

His brilliant blue eyes glistened with something remarkably like tears. ‘I’ve had a wonderful afternoon, Lisa. Never mind the rocky start. Know that I will always be there for you.’ The guard sounded his whistle and the train moved off… Lisa waved until the platform was out of sight.

CHAPTER TEN

LISA stepped reluctantly out of her BMW just as the heavens opened. She walked up the stone steps to the front door to her home and got thoroughly soaked in the process. Great! Just great… That was all she needed.

It was only her promise to Jed to explain their relationship to Alex that had brought her back to Stoneborough tonight. Was she destined to be a fool all her life where Alex was concerned? She had forgiven his escapades with Margot and Nigel. She had even convinced herself he loved her. But his behaviour with Jed had finally shown her the truth. Alex did not love her.

How and why he had followed her today, she had no idea. But he was not talking his way out of this latest episode, she vowed silently. Much as she loved him, she had no intention of being a doormat for any man. Her pride would not let her. With her dress plastered to her body by the rain, she pushed open the front door and walked into the hall. She didn’t see Alex until he spoke.

‘I’m amazed you had the nerve to come back. Like living dangerously, do you?’

Her head lifted, he was striding towards her, wearing the same black pants and shirt he had donned for golf that morning. He looked incredibly sexy, and a wayward leap of her pulse told her she was not immune to him. But whatever game Alex had been playing today it certainly had not been golf…

Dropping her purse on the hall table, she shrugged. ‘I live here, and I need to change.’ A confrontation with Alex was inevitable, but not yet. Because she knew if she did confront him now, her anger would get the better of her and she would say something she might regret. Brushing past him, she headed for the stairs, but he was faster than her and blocked her way.

‘Don’t you walk away from me!’ he bit.

That was the last straw for Lisa. No way was any man going to talk to her like that, especially not an arrogant devil like Alex. She flung her head back, her blue eyes spitting fury. ‘Get out of my way, you great brute, you Neanderthal numbskull,’ she raged, swiping at him but missing, as he caught her flailing hand.

‘A Neanderthal? A brute, am I? You dare to call me names?’ An expression of cold derision tautened his handsome face. ‘This from a woman who has spent the afternoon in the arms of her toyboy.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous! Jed is not a toyboy; he’s a year older than me,’ she snapped.

‘And that makes your betrayal all right?’ Alex enquired silkily.

‘Betrayal?’ she threw back, her eyes warring angrily with his. ‘That’s rich, coming from you. I went to meet an old friend, and what happens? You appear like some demented dervish, knock him flat, and whirl off. And I am in the wrong? Oh please…’

‘What kind of fool do you take me for?’ Alex rasped.

‘The kind of sneaky, devious fool who spies on his wife because he thinks everyone’s morals are as low as his own,’ Lisa shot back hotly. ‘The kind who conveniently forgets to retrieve the key of his apartment from his mistress.’ She was on a roll and could not stop; she was so incensed by the injustice of Alex’s attitude. ‘The kind of man who thinks the only relationship between a man and a woman must be carnal.’

His hand released hers to snake around her waist and bend her back over his arm before she had a chance to move. He captured her mouth in a ravishing kiss. His mouth searched, teased and tormented with a devastating thoroughness, until she whimpered in despair at her own frailty and lifted her hands to cling to his broad shoulders.

‘What happened Lisa?’ he demanded softly, his mouth close to her lips and brushing sensuously over their swollen fullness. ‘Tell me?’ He kissed her eyelids and the small curve of her ear, and her hands with a will of their own slid from his shoulders to his nape, twining in his silky black hair. His kiss, his caresses plunged her into a sensual sea of need, which overrode all her good intentions.

His dark head lifted. ‘No answer?’ Lisa stared up at him in frustrated desire, not able to trust herself to respond.

‘After cyber sex with your boyfriend, the physical reality a bit of a letdown was it?’ Alex demanded mockingly. ‘The young man not quite as experienced in the flesh, as you would have liked?’

The import of his words hit her like blows to the heart. She could not believe he could be so cruel. She stared at him. His dark eyes were as cold and hard as a block of ice. Her hands fell from his shoulders, her fingers curling into her palms, her nails digging into her flesh as she fought to control the agony of frustrated desire. What was it about him that made him irresistible to her? While she was tormented by aching passion, he was as contained and remote as Antarctica. A frozen waste—a very apt description of their marriage.

‘You’re disgusting,’ Lisa said in a raw voice, but, worse, she disgusted herself.

His arm fell from her waist and he stepped back. ‘Liar.’ His smile mocked her, his narrow-eyed gaze triumphant. ‘I could take you now…’

Lisa went red, then white. It was one insult too many. She stared at him with bitter, hostile eyes. Tall, dark and strikingly handsome, but she must have been mad to imagine she had loved him. He didn’t deserve to be loved.

‘You’re a stunningly sexy woman, Lisa, but I have never taken another man’s leavings and I am not going to start now. I may have married you, but that is easily remedied.’ He cast her one long, derisory glance. ‘Pack your bags. I want you out of here within the hour. Anything you leave can be sent on to Stratford. My lawyer will be in touch next week. Personally, I never want to set eyes on you again.’ Spinning on his heel, he crossed the hall into his study, slamming the door behind him.

Shock held her rigid. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed. Alex was throwing her out. The arrogance, the sheer hypocrisy of the man took the breath from her body. For a second rage engulfed her. She took a step towards the study, and then stopped. Alex was not about to listen to anything she had to say, and, in all honesty, she no longer had any desire to explain about Jed.

Alex did not love her, and never would. He was not capable of the emotion. Let him think she had betrayed him with Jed. He would anyway. This way at least she kept her pride. He would never know how much she loved him.

Several weeks later Lisa sat at her desk, fingering the pile of mail the office junior had just delivered. The recent past had taken its toll on her fresh-faced beauty: Her golden tan had faded, and deep purple shadows framed her large blue eyes.

Lisa picked up the first letter, a bill, and dropped it in her in tray. Opening the next letter, she scanned it, her eyes widening in horror. As a major shareholder in Lawson Designer Glass she was requested to attend an extraordinary board meeting called by Xela Properties—in the other words, Alex—on Friday the twenty-third of September. The subject for discussion was the future direction the company should take. The meeting was scheduled for twelve noon in a private suite at a local hotel.

Lisa read the name and blanched. The same hotel in which her wedding reception had been held. She dropped the document on the desk and let her head fall back on the slender column of her neck, closing her eyes. Why was she surprised? She had been waiting for the axe to fall for weeks. Though she would not have believed one man could be so unrelentingly vindictive.

Moisture glazed her eyes, and she blinked hard. She was not shedding another tear for Alex Solomos. When he had thrown her out she had returned to live with Harold. The first night her anger had kept her going—but by the next she had cried herself to sleep. On the following Tuesday she had swallowed her pride and telephoned Alex at Stoneborough, only to be told by Mrs Blaydon he did not wish to speak to her, and all further communication between them must be conducted through his lawyer, Mr Niarchos.

Lisa had heard nothing more until a week later, when she had received divorce papers in the post. But once she’d read the divorce petition, she’d seen red… Any last lingering hope of reconciliation had vanished from her mind. All her old feisty spirit had returned… No way was she letting Alex get away with naming Jed Gallagher as the co-respondent in their divorce. If he wanted to play dirty, Lisa vowed she would do the same. She had instructed Mr Wilkinson to cross-petition, citing Margot. There had been an ominous silence ever since.

Wearily, Lisa brushed a few stray strands of hair from her brow, and looked once more at the document in front of her. Even knowing it was only a matter of time before Alex would make a move to dismiss her and put his own plan into action, it had still come as a shock. Alex had won. But then she had been naive to think she’d had a chance against the man. He was an arrogant, merciless adversary, a powerful man who always got what he wanted, and she should have recognised it the night she met him.

She recalled that first Sunday when she had gone out with him and when he had asked her to marry him. Then she had thought his proposal the most romantic thing in the world. But he hadn’t asked, he had told her. She could hear his voice now. ‘I am going to marry you, Lisa. You are going to be my love, the mother of my children.’ She had thought he was telling her he loved her. What a joke! He had recognised the overdue sexual awakening in her eyes and had used it for his own ends. He had secured a very lucrative business deal, and an innocent girl as his wife and mother of his children.

Alex was a throwback to the Dark Ages, a pure male chauvinist. His reaction when she had met Jed was understandable, given his flint-hearted nature. Like Caesar’s wife, Lisa had to be above reproach, and the slightest hint that she was not, had been enough to cast her out.

The door opening broke into her bitter musing. ‘Lisa?’ Harold walked into the office and frowned. ‘What’s up? You look dreadful.’

Silently she handed him the letter and watched while he read it.

‘Good, good.’ He visibly relaxed. ‘I’m delighted you’re going to meet Alex. I know he loves you. It’s obvious this meeting is a ploy so you can get back together again.’

‘You think so?’ Lisa responded dryly. Harold didn’t know about the divorce; she hadn’t the heart to tell him. He thought they had just had a fight.

‘Of course. It couldn’t be anything else. He knows you hold the majority of shares in the company anyway.’

‘Yes,’ she lied. And watched Harold leave happily. She still hadn’t told him about her donation to the hospice, and obviously neither had Alex when he’d convinced Harold to sell. Poor Harold would be devastated if he knew that by selling to Alex, he had destroyed any chance Lisa had of keeping Lawson’s. Let him be happy for a few more days; he would know soon enough after Friday.

The scales had fallen from her eyes and she could see it all clearly. Alex had manipulated and deceived from day one. It wasn’t enough for him that he had broken her heart; now he was intent on grinding her into the dust beneath his feet, along with Lawson Designer Glass.

But not necessarily… Lisa mused, the light of battle sparkling in her blue eyes. She spent the next half hour on the telephone to her lawyer. The following day she spent walking around Stratford-upon-Avon until she had found what she was looking for…

At five minutes to twelve, Lisa parked her car in the hotel car park and slid out. With trembling hands she smoothed the short black skirt of her fine wool suit down over her hips and adjusted the bright red collar of her blouse over the lapels of her tailored jacket. She had taken special care with her make-up, and had swept her long hair back off her face and into a knot on the top of her head. On her feet she wore black stiletto shoes coupled with sheer black silk stockings that accentuated the length of her legs. Tightening her grasp on her briefcase, she walked into the hotel.

Lisa crossed to Reception, and enquired of the male receptionist directions to the Oberon Suite. He responded with a broad, admiring smile, and told her it was on the first floor.

Her stomach churning with nervous tension, she glided across the lobby, a tall, stunningly attractive and elegant woman, totally unaware of the admiring glances of every man in view.

Ignoring the lift, she ascended the stairs to the first floor. The Oberon Suite. Wasn’t Oberon the king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? she mused, as she walked along the wide hall reading the door signs. It hardly suited Alex’s macho image, but she needed a touch of magic if she hoped to survive the next hour with her pride intact. She had to face Alex one last time and let him see she didn’t give a damn!

Her eyes flicked over a name-plate and she stopped. Taking a few deep breaths, she lifted her hand and knocked firmly on the door; straightening her shoulders, she composed her face into a cool, polite smile and opened the door.

Two sofas covered in blue velvet were set either side of an elegant fireplace, at the other end of the room was a large rectangular table set with the accoutrements for a business meeting. But the model building placed in the centre of the table confirmed her worst fear: the proposed redevelopment, no doubt. Lisa moved into the centre of the room. She glanced again at the table, and as she did so a large black leather high-backed chair that had been facing the window suddenly spun around.

‘You came. Brave of you. I had a bet with myself you wouldn’t.’ With the sun behind him she was not able to see his face clearly, but it made no difference; she knew that slightly accented voice as well as her own. It was Alex…

‘And on time as well. Would you like to take a seat and we can begin?’

Her legs trembled, and it took an enormous effort of will to walk to the table and sit down on the nearest chair. ‘Good morning.’ She gave the conventional greeting without looking at him, and, placing her briefcase on the table in front of her, she clasped her hands tightly in her lap and waited.

‘As the only two shareholders, in what is really a family business…’

Alex began to speak, and at his mention of ‘family business’ Lisa’s head jerked up, her eyes narrowing angrily on his dark face.

His black hair was longer than when she had last seen him, but the tanned handsome face still wore the mask of derision she remembered so well. He was enjoying this, she realised bitterly. Not content with discarding her like so much garbage, he wanted to watch her be destroyed. Why else would he mention that Lawson’s was a family firm, other than to rub in her failure to retain it? Well, he was not going to get away with it if she had her way.

His black eyes caught hers and she immediately looked away, unable to stand the intensity of his gaze. ‘I have had my architect prepare a model to show you how we envisage the finished complex.’

Lisa’s glance skimmed over the model, but she didn’t see it. She wasn’t interested.

‘What do you think, Lisa?’ The strident question had her glancing at Alex once more. He was watching her, a wary anticipation in his dark eyes. Why, she had no idea. Alex knew damned well that she couldn’t oppose him. In fact, she had decided she was not going to try. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

‘I think you’ve said it all. Do you want to go through the charade of taking a vote?’ She could almost taste the tension in the air. The hairs on her neck were standing on end; it was sheer bravado that enabled her to hold his gaze. ‘All in favour say aye,’ she announced facetiously, and lifted her hand.

‘Lisa, you haven’t even looked at the model.’

‘What’s the point? You own Lawson’s, have done for months. It’s yours to flatten to the ground. I wish you luck with it.’ Her gaze roamed over his perfectly chiselled features and she felt the beat of her heart quicken, knowing it was time to have her say and get out.

‘The only reason I am here is to tell you I am prepared to sell you my forty-seven per cent stake at the same rate as you paid Harold. But, in return, I want the right to retain the name Lawson Designer Glass. So, do we have a deal?’ she asked firmly.

His dark brows rose and she could see she had surprised him. ‘Why?’ Alex settled back in his chair, his narrowed eyes fixed on her face.

‘Does it matter? You’ve got what you want—the land, the river frontage…that was all you were ever interested in.’ She made no attempt to hide the edge of bitterness in her tone.

‘You malign me, Lisa. Not a good idea when you are asking for a favour.’

‘I don’t want a favour from you. I want what is mine: my name.’

‘I thought your name was Solomos.’ The taunting softness of his comment made her anger rise. But she refused to give in to it.

‘Not for much longer, and you know perfectly well what I mean.’

‘Humour me. Tell me why.’

‘I have found alternative premises for the glass foundry. I intend relocating and starting again. That way none of my employees need to suffer because I believed all your lies. They will all keep their jobs.’

‘I might have guessed.’ Alex’s sensuous mouth quirked in a smile of reluctant appreciation. ‘Very noble. But then you always were far too noble for your own good.’

‘Not something you have ever suffered from,’ she snorted, suddenly fed up with the whole mess. Pushing back her chair, she stood up. ‘If you have no objections, I’ll expect your lawyer to be in touch about the financial details as soon as possible.’ And, picking up her briefcase, she walked round the table and headed for the door.

But she didn’t get far. Suddenly she was stopped from behind and held against Alex’s muscled length. The air whooshed out of her and she dropped her briefcase. ‘Let go of me!’ She was sick of playing the sophisticated businesswoman; she just wanted to get away.

To her surprise, Alex released her immediately. She bent down to pick up her briefcase, and before she had time to straighten up he had crossed the room and locked the door.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she cried. Locked in a hotel suite with Alex was the last place she wanted to be.

‘You will soon see,’ was his enigmatic reply as pocketing the key card he walked towards her.

Lisa swallowed nervously. Suddenly what had appeared to be a large, elegant room at first sight now took on the proportions of a bird-cage as far as she was concerned. Her blue eyes skated warily over Alex. He was wearing a black pin-striped three piece suit, the jacket fitting perfectly over his wide shoulders; with a grey silk shirt and matching tie, he looked devastatingly attractive and infinitely dangerous.

He stopped a foot away from her, but he made no effort to touch her. There was a curious stillness in his stance. But his dark eyes strayed restlessly over her, from the top of her head to her toes, and back to her face. ‘You’re looking very beautiful, Lisa.’

‘Thanks. But your opinion means nothing to me,’ she said curtly. ‘Open the door and let me out of here.’

‘You really don’t like me, do you?’

Like him? Her heart lurched. Not so long ago she had loved him more than life itself. ‘No,’ she snapped, banishing the unwanted memory from her mind. But just looking at him was having a disastrous effect on her senses.

‘Are you afraid of me, Lisa?’

‘No. I am simply surprised you asked me here at all. I distinctly remember you saying you never wanted to set eyes on me again.’

‘I lied.’ He smiled tightly, and his hand reached out, but she quickly took a step back, not wanting him touching her. She remembered the last time all too vividly. His hand fell to his side. ‘How is Jed, by the way?’ he queried softly.

‘The last I heard, he was in Rome.’ Alex had a nerve asking, but she refused to be riled, and answered him conversationally. ‘He managed to E-mail me from an Internet café. He’s due back in Montana this weekend.’ But she could not resist adding, ‘I might go and stay with him for a week or so while our lawyers work out the finer points of our deal.’ Let Alex think she was going to her lover…

‘I think not, Lisa.’ He moved a step closer, and Lisa took another step back, and another until she bumped into the table. ‘Because there is not going to be any deal. I am not buying you out, and I am keeping the trade name.’

Her face went ashen. For sheer malevolence Alex had no equal. ‘You bastard!’ she swore. ‘Why did I ever marry you?’ She shook her head. ‘Our divorce can’t come quickly enough for me.’ Lisa had been functioning on adrenaline for the past half-hour, but suddenly the enormity of what had happened finally hit her. This man had taken her company, and now he was holding her captive. What more did he want? Her life’s blood? She felt her knees weaken, and with Alex towering over her she was glad of the table to support her.

‘No, we are not.’ A black brow lifted and a ruthless smile slanted his sensuous mouth. ‘Because I have decided to take you back. So stop playing games.’

Lisa’s mouth fell open in shock. She was powerless to utter a word. He wanted her back! It didn’t make sense.

‘No more pretending Jed is your lover.’ He lifted a hand and tilted her chin with his finger, his dark eyes intent on her face. ‘I had Jed investigated. He is in his final year at the seminary and will very shortly become a priest. According to all accounts, he is only one step away from an angel, and according to his brothers he has never had sex in his life.’

Fierce colour flooded her cheeks, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the warmth of his hand on her face, or her sheer anger at his daring to investigate Jed. ‘You didn’t tell his brothers your disgraceful assumption?’ she demanded, finding her voice. ‘Jed had enough trouble convincing his family to allow him to study for the priesthood. The last thing he needs is you accusing him of adultery.’

‘No, I didn’t, but no thanks to you. You could have told me he was a priest.’

‘I seem to remember you never gave me a chance,’ she bit out.

‘I’m sorry, Lisa. Forgive me.’ Alex’s hand dropped from her chin and he stood with his arms hanging loosely by his sides, an air of vulnerability about him that Lisa had never seen before. ‘You can’t begin to imagine how deeply I regret the way I behaved, but if you would just let me explain.’