Mediterranean Tycoons

Yes, Katy had been right, it was the perfect foil for the jewellery, Eloise thought musingly and, leaving the bathroom, she picked up her purse and headed for Katy’s hotel room.

‘At last,’ Harry blurted as he opened the door at Eloise’s knock. ‘We’re going to be late for our own opening.’

‘Don’t panic.’ Eloise looked at his frazzled expression, and wanted to laugh. ‘I’m sure everything will be fine.’

And it was, Eloise thought some three hours later looking around the crowded room. The two French staff they had employed were being kept busy. Julian was happily taking shots of at least four supermodels, and a handful of the top French designers were present, plus a lot of their very wealthy clients.

The jewellery had been admired and sold, plus they had taken a highly satisfactory number of orders and one elderly lady had even tried to buy the set Eloise was wearing. The champagne and canapés seemed to be holding out, and she allowed herself a small sigh of pleasure as she took a sip of champagne. The first drink she’d had, as she’d wanted to keep a clear head.

‘I told you, Eloise—’ Ted Charlton appeared at her side ‘—you have a winner, no doubt about it.’

‘I hope so, for your sake as well as ours.’ She smiled at the burly American.

‘Oh, I’m not bothered,’ Ted said, and in abrupt change of subject added, ‘how well do you know Marcus Kouvaris?’

She stiffened. ‘I had dinner with him a while ago. I suppose you could say we are friends.’ The fact she had hoped they could be a lot more still had the power to hurt her, and with a dismissive shrug of her slender shoulders she made herself add lightly. ‘Or perhaps acquaintances would be a better word.’

‘Good, good, that’s what I thought.’ The obvious relief in his tone was plain.

‘Why do you ask?’ she demanded.

Ted took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, and gulped it down, before turning his attention back to Eloise. ‘I’m taking you out to dinner later. We’ll talk then, okay?’

She liked the older man and she didn’t want to make an issue out of a casual question, especially not about Marcus. ‘Okay, Ted.’ She grinned.

‘Great,’ and, patting her shoulder, he moved off into the crowd.

Eloise shook her head, Ted was half drunk already and, draining her own glass, she turned and placed it on the table behind her.

‘Hello, Ted, great to see you again.’

Eloise recognised the deep, slightly accented voice above the hum of the crowd, and shock froze her to the spot. It was Marcus Kouvaris. What was he doing here? She certainly hadn’t invited him. Though she might have done if he’d ever bothered to keep in touch, her own innate honesty forced her to admit, as she fought to control her pounding heart.

How long she stood with her back to the crowd, she had no idea, but finally schooling her features into a polite social mask she turned around, head high, and let her glance roam apparently idly over the room. Then she saw him. His dark head was bent towards one of the models, apparently listening to what the woman was saying.

He was easily the tallest man present and, with his dark good looks, and wearing an immaculately tailored lightweight beige suit, he stood out from the crowd. Eloise could not take her eyes off him; animal magnetism didn’t cover it, she thought helplessly. Whatever it was, Marcus had it in spades.

Suddenly he lifted his head and night-black eyes clashed with hers and just as suddenly Eloise had the totally unladylike desire to yell at him? ‘Where the hell have you been for the past three months?’ Of course she didn’t, but instead she managed a stiff smile, before tearing her gaze from his.

She feigned interest in the elderly lady who was once again admiring her necklace, but without hearing a word the poor dear was saying.

A large hand lightly brushed her forearm, to attract her attention; her head jerked up. It was Marcus at her side. Keep it cool, you’re a sophisticated businesswoman, she told herself firmly. So what if she had a one-night stand with the man? She wasn’t the first and she certainly would not be the last where a sexual predator like Marcus Kouvaris was concerned. She had no illusions on that score, and though he didn’t know it he’d done her a favour…

‘Marcus, what a surprise. I thought you would be far too busy to attend this sort of thing,’ she opined lightly.

‘Ah, Eloise, would I miss your opening?’ he prompted his dark eyes holding a glint of wicked humour. ‘I’m only sorry I didn’t get in touch sooner.’ His smile was disarming. ‘But pressure of work.’ He gave a shrug of his broad shoulders. ‘That’s how it goes sometimes.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Eloise couldn’t say anything else under the circumstances. She had no claim on the man. So he had taken her to bed and taken her virginity? What did that matter to a devil like Marcus?

‘I knew you would understand.’ His eyes captured hers, faintly mocking beneath hooded lids, and the breath caught in her throat.

‘Yes, well, I’m an understanding kind of girl,’ she managed in a weak attempt at humour.

‘You are also a very beautiful one.’ Marcus moved slightly, the sleeve of his jacket brushing her arm. ‘You look fantastic.’ With casual ease, he reached out and lifted the waterfall of beads at her throat, and let them trail through his long fingers. ‘Your design?’

He was much too close. The heady masculine scent of him, the touch of his fingers on her flesh, sent heat flooding through every vein in her body. She swallowed hard, and stepped back. ‘Yes.’

‘Exquisite.’ His hand fell from her throat. ‘Congratulations, Eloise. It looks like your latest venture will be a great success.’

With a bit of space between them, Eloise felt slightly more in control. ‘Thank you. We hope so,’ she responded with a baring of her teeth that she hoped would pass for a smile, and glimpsed a flash of mockery in the dark eyes that held her own.

‘Can there be a doubt? After all, Eloise, your mother was highly successful, and you obviously have her talent.’ A talent for squeezing money out of men, Marcus thought grimly. But she had other talents, he recognised, as he looked down at her. She was one gorgeous, sexy lady, as he knew only too well, but she was also a liar and a devious little thief. Yet even now if he saw just one genuine smile from her luscious lips, he would probably forgive her everything, and he despised himself for it.

‘You think so?’

‘Oh, I know so,’ he said with the arch of one perfect ebony brow. ‘But let’s cut out the niceties and get down to what really interests me.’ The gleam in his eyes, as he surveyed her slender figure from the top of her head to her toes, left her in no doubt as to what he meant.

Eloise fought down the blush that threatened and said, ‘Actually, I’m surprised to see you here. I don’t remember inviting you.’

‘You didn’t. Ted Charlton did.’

Eloise stared up at him, her green eyes puzzled. ‘I didn’t realise you knew him that well.’

A smile touched his hard mouth. ‘You’d be surprised. But let’s not talk about Ted; let’s talk about you. I suppose it’s too much to hope you are still unattached. There must be lots of men in Paris all vying for your attention.’

‘I don’t think that’s any business of yours.’ She hid a wry smile, thinking of the twenty-hour days she had worked to get the Paris shop started.

‘I thought we were friends.’ His gaze was unwaveringly direct ‘More than friends.’ His deep voice dropped seductively. ‘After this is over, let me take you out to dinner and show you.’

For sheer arrogant conceit, he took the biscuit, Eloise thought furiously. He had slept with her, dropped her like a hot potato, and casually walked back into her life, uninvited, months later, and thought he could seduce her all over again. What kind of fool did he take he for? He might be incredibly handsome, and incredibly rich, but he was also a womanising bastard, as she knew to her cost.

‘Thank you for the invite, but no, thanks. I already have a dinner date.’

One black brow lifted sardonically. ‘Shame. Perhaps some other time, as I remember the last time we dined together you seemed to enjoy my company, and I know I enjoyed you.’

Hot colour stained her cheeks. How dared he remind her of that? She wanted to knock the cynical smile off his rotten face. Her hands curled into tight fists at her sides, and she was rigid with anger… But, remembering where she was, with the greatest difficulty she controlled herself.

‘Eloise, isn’t it marvellous?’ Katy was Eloise’s salvation.

Turning her back on Marcus, her gaze flew to her friend’s face. Katy looked amused and excited, whereas she felt embarrassed. ‘Yes, great.’

‘For heaven’s sake, lighten up, Eloise. We’re a success. Enjoy it, and introduce me to this marvellous man.’

Eloise almost groaned out loud. Marcus had positioned himself at her side, and was standing there, oozing charm… The snake! But she had no choice but to make the introductions. She watched cynically as Marcus, with a few well-chosen words that flattered Katy’s beauty and business sense, charmed her friend completely.

‘You’ve met Harry, I believe,’ Eloise said as Harry joined the group.

‘Yes, the first time guarding the door in London, and I can’t say I blame you, Harry, with two such stunningly attractive woman to look after.’

‘Your chauvinism is showing,’ Katy quipped, and they all laughed.

‘Then let me apologise by taking you all to dinner.’

‘No, no.’ Ted appeared. ‘Tonight is my treat. Eloise has already agreed but, hey, why don’t you all come—and you too, Marcus? It will save time.’

‘Eloise?’ Katy deferred, and the decision was hers.

Save time for what? Eloise briefly wondered but, pinning a smile on her face, she said, ‘Yes, the more, the merrier.’ But inside she was fuming. And what did Marcus mean by ‘the first time he had met Harry’? To her knowledge he had only met Harry once. Was Marcus having a sly dig at her? Her paranoia was showing. Marcus Kouvaris was not worth thinking about.

‘Come on, then,’ Harry cried. ‘Let’s thank and say goodbye to our guests. Jeff and Julian can close up. We have already overrun half an hour, and I am not used to eating late; my stomach feels as if my throat is cut.’

General laughter followed, and an hour later saw the five of them seated at a table next to the small dance floor in a nightclub in the Latin Quarter, enjoying a jovial meal.

‘I’m stuffed,’ Katy groaned, eyeing the last remnants of a huge cream concoction. ‘And if I don’t get back to the hotel soon, our son will be screaming for his feed, and Floe will be pulling her hair out.’

‘Before you decide to leave,’ Ted cut in, ‘I have something to tell you.’

The meal had been torture for Eloise, who’d been trying to behave cool and unconcerned by Marcus’s presence. Forced to watch him win over Katy with his wit and easy charm, when she wanted to yell he was a rat… She gave an inward sigh of relief when Katy proposed leaving—her ordeal was almost over. But she was wrong. It was just beginning…

‘Katy, Eloise, I have an announcement to make,’ Ted declared.

Glancing at Ted, Eloise, saw the almost conspiratorial look he exchanged with Harry and Marcus, and Marcus’s head dipped slightly in a nod of assent. She looked from one to the other, an uneasy suspicion she was not going to like Ted’s revelation making her stiffen in her seat.

‘I have sold my share in KHE to Marcus here.’ Ted gestured expansively with the wave of his brandy glass. ‘He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and, before you girls start worrying, let me assure you Marcus is committed to investing double the amount I gave you. Expansion into New York, if you like.’ He beamed around the table. ‘A great deal all round, isn’t it, Harry?’

The announcement hit Eloise like a punch in the stomach. It turned her to stone. She could feel the blood slowly draining from her face, and the panicked increase in her heartbeat. Marcus as a partner—not the kind she had once dreamed, a marriage partner, but a business partner. She glanced at him, and he returned her look without a flicker of emotion showing on his hard features. She searched his hooded dark eyes, but found nothing other than an arched eyebrow at her scrutiny. Why? Why on earth would Marcus buy into their business?

‘You knew about this?’ Eloise heard Katy demand of Harry, and glanced across the table at her two friends.

‘Yes, but I didn’t want to worry you with business when you had our baby to look after and all the extra work Eloise had to do. Plus the deal was only finalised three days ago, and we wanted no hint of changing partners so near to the Paris opening. You know what the press are like—the least hint of instability and the rumours would fly.’

Marcus took charge in his indomitable manner. ‘Your husband is right, Katy. I have no intention of interfering in any way with your work. You and Eloise will have complete artistic freedom.’ Turning his attention from Katy to Eloise, his black lashed glittering eyes trailed over her tense figure, lingering on the curve of her breasts and finally slowly back up to her pale face to trap her angry green eyes. ‘I promise,’ he vowed softly, ‘I will simply be a sleeping partner, a sleeping partner who provides the money, when and where it is needed.’ He smiled, a brief curl of his lips.

Eloise’s slender hands closed convulsively together on her lap. He sat there, cool, calm, and immensely self-assured, and only she could see the smile never reached his eyes, but contempt and a glint of sexual menace glimmered in the black depths.

‘It will be fine, Eloise,’ Harry piped up.

‘You should have discussed it. I mean, Ted is, was…’ Eloise floundered wildly for a moment with a glance at the now thoroughly drunk Ted. He was no help, she realised with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. One look at Katy talking animatedly on the side to Marcus, and she knew Katy had already accepted the deal. Her friend would never go against her husband in any case.

‘Are you all right with this new arrangement, Eloise?’ Katy finally asked, her brown eyes sparkling. ‘Personally, I think it’s an incredible opportunity.’

An opportunity for whom? Eloise wondered. And did they have a choice?

‘Yes. You’re probably right,’ she conceded. A steel band of tension was now throbbing across her head, and she took very little part in the ensuing conversation, her thoughts and emotions in chaos.

It didn’t make sense. If Marcus had cared for her, she could perhaps understand him investing in KHE. But he hadn’t contacted her in over three months. So why? The question went around and around in her brain.

Another bottle of champagne and another round of toasts were drunk to the new partnership, and everyone congratulated everyone else. While Eloise had to battle to keep a smile on her face, her lips were numb with the effort.

‘I know I said I would not interfere in the running of the business.’ Marcus’s comment made Eloise sit up and take notice.

‘But KHE is a bit of an obscure title for designer jewellery. No disrespect to you, Katy and Harry, but did you never consider something like, “Eloise by Design”? It has a much more sophisticated ring to it.’ Marcus dropped the original name invented by Chloe and Eloise into the conversation, and watched with narrowed eyes as all the colour faded from Eloise’s face. She looked as guilty as sin, exactly as he’d expected. Though he hadn’t expected the overlong tense pause, and he turned his attention to Katy. She was staring at Eloise with a mixture of horror and sympathy! There was something between them Marcus did not understand…

‘We did consider it,’ Katy answered. ‘But decided we preferred the more enigmatic KHE. We thought it sounds like “key,” and the key to a well-dressed woman is the jewellery she wears.’

Eloise gave an inward sigh of relief when Marcus appeared to accept the explanation and asked Katy to dance. At least it would get him away from the table, and give her a chance to try and get her thoughts into some kind of order and make sense of the evening’s proceedings.

‘No, sorry, Marcus. Harry and I are responsible parents now. It’s time we called a taxi and got back to our son. And, by the look of Ted, we’d better take him with us. He doesn’t look capable of making his own way back to the hotel.’

‘What about you, Eloise?’ Marcus queried, turning his head to glance down at her by his side. ‘The night is still young. Shall we dance?’ His dark eyes lit with amusement and something else she did not want to acknowledge dared her to agree. ‘Or are you going to desert me as well?’

Eloise felt the colour surge in her cheeks, and prayed no one noticed. She had been supremely conscious of Marcus all through the meal. The occasional brush of his thigh against hers beneath the table, the apparently friendly gesture when he placed his hand on her arm when making a point, the rub of his shoulder against her when he leant forward to fill Katy’s wine glass. He hadn’t singled her out particularly, but he’d managed to arouse her to a state of tension without even trying. It was only the presence of her friends that had allowed her to retain a modicum of self-control. Until Ted had dropped his bombshell—and she was still trying to get her head around the fact that Marcus had bought into the company. Dancing with the man was the last thing she wanted. ‘No…’ She began to make her excuse.

‘Of course she will,’ Katy cut in, rising to her feet along with Harry and Ted. ‘Eloise has been working like a slave for months; she deserves some fun.’ Katy answered before Eloise could mouth her refusal. ‘She is staying here for a couple of days to sort out any teething troubles, so a late night won’t kill her.’

‘Do you mind?’ Eloise finally found her voice. ‘I can speak for myself,’ she shot back.

‘I know, Eloise,’ Katy responded, suddenly serious. ‘I’m sorry.’

Marcus glanced back from one woman to the other and for the second time that evening thought there was something going on between them, but dismissed the notion when Eloise spoke.

‘Don’t apologise.’ Lifting defiant green eyes to Marcus, she added, ‘Yes, I’d like to dance.’ She had vowed never to be afraid of any man again, and she was damned if she would allow Marcus to intimidate her.

The others left, and Eloise found herself held in Marcus’s arms, moving around the dance floor to blues music in a state of nervous tension.

Marcus glanced down at her stiffly held head. The thick red coronet of curls had sprouted a few tendrils around her face. He could feel the tension in her and he deliberately tightened his hold, moving more heavily against her.

She shivered in response, but fought the emotion and won, by dint of squaring her shoulders and tilting back her head to stare up into his face. ‘Are you going to tell me why, after three months of ignoring me, you’ve suddenly bought into our company?’

A satiric smile curved his expressive mouth. ‘Perhaps I saw a good deal, and took it,’ he said smoothly. ‘But you and I both know the real reason.’

‘I have no idea,’ she muttered, her eyes wide and puzzled, searched his hard features. Perhaps he wanted to make up to her for ignoring her past three months. The amazing thought popped into her head. It was an extravagant gesture, but maybe—just maybe—it was true, and for a while she allowed herself the luxury of believing it.

‘No doubt you will enlighten me when you want to,’ she said with the first genuine smile she had given him all evening. She was too confused and too tired to argue and, some of the tension easing out of her, she relaxed in his arms.

She knew damn well what he meant. Why else would she relax in his arms and smile? A ploy as old as Eve, but it was too little too late as far as Marcus was concerned. He knew it was a mockery of innocent surrender, but knowing that didn’t lessen the impact of her sexy body against his. Marcus almost groaned out loud. Her softness seemed to accommodate the hard planes and angles of him as if made to measure. She was so beautiful, so sweet and receptive. Christos! Where had that come from? She was about as sweet as a wasp!

Reining in his raging libido, Marcus stopped and pushed her lightly away from him. He saw the surprise in her eyes, but ignored it. ‘I think you and I need to talk, but not here, somewhere private.’ Dropping a hand to her waist, he surveyed her beneath heavily hooded lids. ‘My apartment or your hotel—take your pick.’

CHAPTER FIVE

SHE had been in danger in falling for his formidable charms all over again, Eloise thought with dismay. He only had to take her in his arms and every sensible thought flew her brain. ‘Your place or mine.’ If he thought she was falling for that corny line, he was mistaken.

‘Really, Marcus, surely you can come up with something better than that?’ She gave a light laugh, casting him a glance from beneath the thick fringe of her lashes. ‘I’ve heard better chat-up lines from a teenager.’

‘I’m sure you have, and acted on them,’ Marcus said, with dark emphasis. ‘But, unlike Ted Charlton, I want a lot more from you than a one-night stand.’

‘You think… Ted and me…?’ Her sophistication slipped, and shock had her spluttering incoherently. ‘Why, you…you…’

Grasping her by the elbow, he led her towards the table, his long fingers biting into the flesh of her arm as his dark head bent intimately towards her, giving the impression to anyone watching they were a close and loving couple, while mouthing harshly, ‘You stole from my family.’

She was badly shaken by his assumption she had slept with Ted, and the instant racing of her pulse as his warm breath caressed her ear didn’t help. She could barely take in what he was saying, until he concluded with sibilant softness, ‘And I want you back in my bed until I consider the debt is paid.’

Involuntarily her jaw dropped. At the same time his hand fell from her arm and Eloise tilted her head to stare at him like a stranded trout, her mouth working and no sound coming out. Feeling the edge of a chair at the back of her knees, she collapsed down on the seat, and cast a panicked glance around the room. She was still in the nightclub, but she felt like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole.

Come to think of it, the whole evening had been a bit like the Mad Hatter’s tea party. And Marcus could certainly double as the Knave of Hearts, accusing her of sleeping with Ted Charlton, while he cut a swathe through women, she thought bitterly. She regarded him with wide angry eyes. And stole from him? As far she knew, he’d only been in business with them one day. Was he mad, or what?

‘You’re crazy,’ she declared, finally finding her voice. ‘You’ve completely lost your marbles.’

‘No.’ Marcus looked at her with cold contempt that made her skin crawl. ‘I have the proof, Eloise. This time, you’re not escaping the consequences of your actions. I’m going to make sure you don’t.’

He was towering over like some great avenging angel—or devil was more apt, she corrected in her head. ‘I have never stolen anything in my life. I have no idea what you are talking about,’ she said, conviction in every syllable. ‘I really don’t.’

‘Liar.’ Marcus’s cold eyes raked her with derision. ‘You fell into my bed the last time we met, all wild and willing, simply to soften me up—and I nearly fell for it.’

She flinched as though she’d been struck. If only he knew the courage, the great leap of faith in his integrity it had taken for her to make love with him. If he’d continued their relationship, she might have confided in him by now, but she wasn’t about to reveal her innermost fears to a man who had used her as a one-night stand.

And yet she could not explain to herself why it should hurt so much when Marcus looked at her with derision. She owed the man nothing.

Eloise opened her mouth, about to tell him so, but fear closed her throat as she recalled his other threat to have her back in his bed. Disgusted with herself, not Marcus, because for one heart-stopping moment she was tempted.