The Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain

One warm, firm hand cupped either side of her face; his lips demanded and took, and without even realising what she was doing Simone returned his kiss. It was an instinctive response, a throwback to the days of their young, heady relationship. Although common sense told her that she ought to snatch away, something inside insisted she prolong this magical moment.

It might be the last time he ever kissed her. Perhaps it was simply a sealing of their bargain, nothing more. She was aware that it meant nothing, but it was also something beautiful which she wanted to cherish.

Seconds later Cade stepped backwards. ‘Good,’ he said briskly. ‘I’m glad you’ve seen sense. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow. You’re still living at home, I assume?’ Simone gave a quick nod, not trusting herself to speak, and slid into her car. It was a moment or two, though, before she found the strength to turn the key and drive away.

CHAPTER TWO

CADE rang Simone’s doorbell at seven precisely. It was almost as though he’d been standing outside looking at his watch, ready to announce his presence at precisely the right second, she thought.

Fortunately, her father was out; she had no idea where and didn’t much care. It was not the thought of a loving daughter, she knew, and although Simone knew she would never turn her back on him, Matthew Maxwell had long since lost her respect.

What was uppermost in her mind at the moment were her feelings for Cade. They had returned with such a vengeance when he had kissed her that she was afraid of them, and if she had known how to get in touch with him she would have cancelled their dinner date. It had been incredibly stupid of her to agree in the first place. She had been borne along by the thought of her precious business being saved.

But by Cade?

She had seen the way his eyes narrowed as he’d made a study of her body, and she had caught the tensing of a muscle in his jaw as he’d tried to hide whatever it was he was feeling. And then the kiss! A kiss that could lead nowhere. What had he made of her response?

Could she possibly work with a man who set her body alight so completely? Who turned her from a normally composed and competent woman into a nervous wreck? Even now, as she moved to open the door, her heartrate was climbing.

She had dressed carefully and conservatively. She wanted to give him no wrong ideas. She wore a pastel-pink long skirt and a matching top with a demure V-neckline and short sleeves. She teamed it with high-heeled sandals and wore mother-of-pearl earrings that reflected the pink of her outfit.

Her hair was fastened up in a neat twist, and her mirror had told her that she looked cool and calm and in full control of her emotions. Stupid mirror! She was a mess inside, crammed with teeming sensations that threatened to spill over and tell the real story.

Nevertheless when she opened the door she kept her chin firm and wore a faint smile. And then she nearly staggered backwards as the full breadth of Cade’s sexuality impacted on her senses.

She’d spent all of the previous night dreaming about him—dreams she preferred not to recall. Then had spent all day psyching herself up so that she could present an indifferent front—but one look into his staggeringly handsome face and every good intention had flown off into space, never to be recovered.

‘Aren’t you going to invite me in?’ he asked, when she stood there clutching the door.

Was he aware that if she let it go she would fall down? Simone smiled faintly and tested her reaction. Actually, no, she wouldn’t fall. She was still capable of standing—just about. She stepped back and let Cade enter. But instead of walking straight past her he stopped, and for one earth-shattering moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. Simone prepared herself to flee, but all he did was touch a kiss to his fingertips before pressing them to her brow.

‘I don’t bite, Simone. You needn’t look so scared.’

‘Is that what you think, that I’m afraid of you?’ she asked, trying to ignore the pain in her forehead where he had just branded her. ‘What I am concerned about is that you should have had a wasted journey.’

Golden eyes suddenly narrowed, his head tilted to one side. ‘Because?’

Simone didn’t know what had prompted her to make that statement. Self-defence, probably. She eyed him coldly. ‘Your idea. You know it won’t work, Cade, the two of us together. We have too much history.’

His eyes closed even further, until it looked as though he was squinting into the sun. But instead of feeling menaced Simone experienced a dramatic stampede of her senses. Without a doubt if she went through with this merger with Cade she would end up more of a wreck than she already was.

‘So what are you saying?’ he wanted to know. ‘That I’m wasting my time?’

‘Precisely that,’ she agreed, catching a sharp breath. ‘I think—’

‘And I think that you cannot do without me,’ he cut in brutally. ‘We’ll talk here, if you like. Are your parents home?’

Simone shook her head. At least Cade didn’t know the full extent of her personal problems. Apart from her father’s business dealings, his hedonistic lifestyle had almost ruined her mother’s life too. Unable to cope with her husband’s increased absences from home, Simone’s mother had become depressed, and in her weakened state had suffered a near-fatal heart attack that had left her so fragile she had practically given up on life. She was now in a nursing home, and Simone was desperate to protect her mother as much as she could.

‘Then I’ll order in.’

‘No!’ declared Simone in blind panic. There would be no escape then, she would be trapped by her raging emotions. Already they were threatening to run out of control. Cade was a force to be reckoned with. Without even trying, he had turned her into an emotional mess. And entertaining him here would add to her torment.

‘I guess I’m not easy in your presence,’ she admitted eventually. ‘So much water has gone under the bridge.’

‘Or maybe it’s because you have a guilty conscience.’

Simone saw a flash in his eyes, quickly controlled, but it was a warning all the same. He could be as nice to her as he liked, but beneath his charming veneer was a wolf ready to pounce.

He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘We’ll carry on as planned, and you can tell me everything that’s been going on in your life. Why your business is tumbling downhill at a faster rate than an avalanche in the Alps, or what happened to the money you and your father tricked me out of, for instance,’ he suggested, his mouth grim all of a sudden.

At Cade’s mention of the past, and the reason they had split all those years ago, Simone knew she had no choice but to agree to Cade’s request, if only to explain once and for all. She also knew that despite their bitter and complicated past Cade was her last chance of saving her company. However, the thought of dining out with the sexiest man on the planet did her no good at all. By the end of an evening spent trying to hide her churning emotions, she would be a gibbering wreck.

When she discovered that he had hired a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, compelling her to sit cosily in the back with him, she felt even more anti-Cade. Memories returned of her eighteenth birthday when he had hired just such a car. They’d virtually made love on the back seat, the driver politely averting his eyes as they’d almost eaten each other alive.

It crucified her to think how easily she had given herself to him. She’d been so eager, it must have been embarrassing. No, that was wrong. Cade hadn’t been embarrassed in those days; she had excited him.

Despite the inches that separated them she could feel him as fiercely as if their bodies were touching. His cologne invaded her nostrils, intoxicating and arousing, and she suddenly found she wanted to experience his arms about her once more. She wanted his kisses, she wanted…

Deliberately Simone closed her mind to such thoughts. She wanted nothing. Tonight without a doubt was going to be a total disaster. It would be impossible to spend several hours in his company without giving herself away. He tortured her soul simply by being there. His very presence was consuming, making her head spin and her mind shift out of kilter.

And they were supposed to be making some sort of business deal!

Was she crazy or what? It would never work. It was a recipe for disaster. nothing to do with Simone. He

It was a relief when the car pulled up in front of a new hotel in Airlie Beach. It had been open for only a few months, and was massively impressive—and very, very expensive.

Cade led her to a lift, swiping his security pass, giving her scarcely any time to look about her. It shot smoothly upwards, but it wasn’t until the doors opened that Simone realised they were in the penthouse suite. She looked at him in alarm.

‘What’s going on?’ Her heartrate tripled in a matter of seconds.

Any time spent alone with Cade was dangerous, but this threatened to go right off the Richter scale.

‘I thought we’d dine in my suite,’ he answered, his smile devilishly disturbing. ‘It’s far more private and will give us the opportunity to talk.’

‘There’s nothing we have to say that’s so very private,’ insisted Simone, panic beginning to set it. ‘And if you think that I’m up for anything else then you’re very much mistaken.’

But Simone realised that the biggest mistake of all had been in agreeing to dine out with him in the first place. Cade had changed. He was no longer the exciting lover who had tenderly led her into the pleasures of love-making. He was a dangerous man on a mission—and the trouble was she didn’t know what he had in mind.

Cade was being driven crazy by Simone’s sweetly scented body. After that kiss, all too brief though it was, he’d known that she too felt a reincarnation of the animal hunger they’d once indulged. Oh yes, she was denying it, but why bring the subject up if she wasn’t experiencing a resurrection of old feelings?

He was strongly tempted to follow his instincts and touch her, stroke her smooth, sensitive skin that smelled so enchanting, kiss her beautiful soft mouth again, make her totally his. Would she oppose him, he wondered? Or would she let her emotions fly free and use her voluptuous body to weave its magic the way it had always done?

The very thought sent his male hormones into painful orbit, and he had to use all his resources to compose himself. When the lift doors had opened Simone had been the first to step out into the carpeted foyer with its elegant mirrored walls. Her stride was long, her back straight, her whole demeanour haughtily beautiful.

She walked straight through into the hugely spacious living area, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning views over the deep turquoise-blue of the Pacific. When she turned to face him, her expression was a mixture of defiance and curiosity.

‘Your business must be hugely successful, if you can afford to stay in a place like this.’

‘It’s doing OK,’ he answered.

Her fine brows rose, widening her already huge, expressive eyes. He used to feel that he could drown in them. Cade shook his head. It was far too poetical a thought for a tough businessman, he decided now. Nevertheless they brought back memories that were seriously disturbing.

She still had the most tempting body of any women he knew. She’d not gained an ounce of weight, and was so slender that she looked as though a light breeze would blow her away. Her rounded breasts pushed tantalisingly against the soft fabric of her top, and he could picture them free of any encumbrance.

Damn, he wasn’t supposed to be thinking like this. Not yet, at any rate. This was a business meeting. If he wasn’t careful he’d frighten her away before he’d even started. The main reason for his return visit to Australia was to explore the possibilities of setting up a new branch. He’d been excited at the thought, it had incubated in his mind for a long time, and when he’d discovered that there were no opportunities exactly where he’d wanted them frustration had got the better of him.

Enter Simone!

Killing two birds with one stone had instantly seemed like a good idea to him. Nevertheless, he knew he mustn’t rush. If his plan was going to be successful then he must gain her total trust first—except that pushing to one side the host of frenetic desires that had burst into life inside his body was not going to be easy.

Cade had always prided himself on his ability to control his feelings. But he hadn’t counted on the impact Simone Maxwell would still have on him. For years he had told himself that he hated her. She had pulled the worst trick imaginable, and for that he would never forgive her.

But her body was a different story altogether. It was sensational, tantalising in the extreme. A man would have to be inhuman not to be affected. She wore nothing provocative today, but in covering up she had made herself more of a target. She was all woman—she could wear sackcloth and not be any sexier—and he was all virile male. A striking combination!

When the two got together worlds would explode. He smiled. It was an image worth hanging on to.

His thoughts were disturbed by a silent-footed waiter wheeling in a heated trolley bearing their meal, and he then proceeded to open the bottle of champagne already nestling in ice.

Cade observed Simone watching the man’s deft movements as he filled two glasses, and wondered exactly what was going through her mind. Her face was a mask of controlled feelings. She looked calm and beautiful, but he knew that inside she was seething. She did not want to be here, she’d made that very clear, and he knew that she would try and use any excuse to make a swift exit.

He dismissed the man, telling him softly that he did not wish to be disturbed again, and then handed Simone her champagne flute. ‘Come and sit down. I promise I won’t bite,’ he said, and soft music began to play in the background.

‘I can’t promise that I won’t bite,’ Simone retorted, her eyes flashing a fiery purple. Instead of sitting, she walked over to the window. The sky was darkening; soon there would be nothing to see. And then she would have no choice but to devote all of her attention to him.

Simone wondered what she had let herself in for. Dining with Cade had been one thing, but spending time in his luxurious suite was another. Had she walked into a trap? Was discussing a business deal the last thing on his mind? Was she right to question his motives?

All these thoughts and more rushed like a maelstrom through her mind. To be honest, her own hormones were raging; why wouldn’t they be when faced with a man so blatantly sexy as Cade Dupont? But she was controlling them. She felt sure that he hadn’t a clue how she felt. Yet at the same time she was very much aware that he wanted more from her than a simple business arrangement.

When she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck Simone knew that she was right to be worried. But amazingly all he did was touch a firm hand to her arm and lead her over to one of the leather sofas in the centre of the room. All he did! His touch was like a branding iron, and she couldn’t wait for him to let go.

‘You seem a little—on edge,’ he said once they were comfortable. ‘Why is that?’

Damn the man! He knew what was wrong. She certainly wasn’t going to spell it out to him. ‘I’m overwhelmed,’ she answered instead, and took a sip of champagne. It tasted good, but she promised herself no more, because she needed to keep a clear head. She set the glass down on the low table at her side.

‘This place is new, I understand,’ he said.

‘And it costs a fortune to stay here,’ she returned. ‘They’ve had royalty and film stars, but it’s certainly not in my league.’

‘Do you know?’ he said softly, too softly, ‘I really thought you’d have been a very rich woman by now. What happened, Simone?’

Simone drew in a deep breath and stared him in the eye. Why not? He’d badger her anyway until she told him, so she might as well get it over with. ‘My father gambled away everything,’ she confessed with a defensive tilt to her chin. ‘He’s now drinking himself slowly to death.’ She hated having to tell this man what a sorry figure her father had become, but if he was going to help then she had to be totally honest.

Cade’s lips suddenly tightened. ‘So that’s where my money went.’ His nostrils dilated as he took a deep breath. ‘I wish to God I’d never met you, Simone Maxwell,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘I had no idea you were a woman of such low principles. You made a fool of me all those years ago. Damn it, you deserve to be—’

‘Stop it!’ Simone’s eyes shot sparks of purple anger. ‘Cade, like I said at the time, I didn’t know what my father was up to. He fooled me exactly the same as he fooled you!’

‘And I’m supposed to believe that?’ Cade snorted. ‘I know what you want me to believe, Simone, and why, but he told me. He explained that you were in on it together, so please don’t lie to me any more.’

Simone stiffened. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘If that’s what he said, then he was the one lying,’ she protested, horrified to think that her father had shifted part of the blame on to her. ‘I asked you to invest in all innocence, Cade. I thought it would be good for you…for us.’

Cade’s eyes flashed his disbelief. ‘I’d be a fool to believe that now. I paid dearly for what you did to me, Simone.’

‘And you think I haven’t suffered?’ she cut in frostily. ‘I’ve suffered plenty. My mother’s in a home because of my father’s behaviour. I’m about to lose my business. I have a—’ She pulled herself up short. Perhaps this was not the right time to tell Cade about her failed marriage. ‘And my father—well, he’s not my father any more. Not the man I knew. My life’s hell, if you must know.’

She got up and walked over to the window again. There was something calming about watching the ocean, and she desperately needed calm at this moment. Her breathing was all over the place and she wanted to throw something—preferably at Cade Dupont’s handsome face. She drew in a deep breath and held it, then let it go again. Twice more she did this, closing her eyes now, letting her thoughts drift back to that fateful time nearly five years ago.

She had been going out with Cade for almost fifteen months when he had announced out of the blue that he had inherited a considerable sum of money from his paternal grandfather. ‘What are you going to do with it?’ she had asked, hoping that maybe he would propose to her, and that they would buy a lovely house to live in.

‘I’m going into business,’ he had announced.

Simone had hid her disappointment, but had shown a genuine interest in Cade’s dream. ‘What sort of business?’

‘I don’t know yet,’ he had answered. ‘I need to give it some thought.’

When she had told her father, he had immediately wondered whether Cade would like to buy into a new boat- building company he was considering setting up. ‘I’ve been thinking about it for some time,’ he had said. ‘I was looking for an investor, and Cade might be the perfect person. It will go hand in hand very nicely with our current business. How about you ask him if he’d be interested?’

So Simone had put the idea to Cade, telling him what a good investment it would be, hoping that it would unite their families and make a future proposal from Cade a certainty. Cade had been interested, and, after much consideration and consultation with her father, he’d decided to take Matthew Maxwell up on his offer. Neither of them had known, especially not Simone, that her father had had no intention of setting up another business. What he had been after was simply more money to cover his gambling debts.

It had only been afterwards, when Cade had discovered that he’d lost all his money, that Simone had realised what her father was up to. She had never forgiven him. And now Cade hadn’t forgiven her either. He was firmly convinced that she’d been in on the con trick and he wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say.

He had flown to England very shortly afterwards. It was where Cade had been born and had lived until he was twelve. Simone had been heartbroken, and even more so when he hadn’t returned her phone calls. Her mobile phone had been red-hot for weeks, sending texts and messages to his voice mail. But he’d ignored every one of them. And as the months had turned into years she had accepted the fact that she would never see Cade again.

And now he was here, larger than life and just as overwhelming.

Without warning his arms snaked around her waist, and she was pulled back against the hard, exciting length of him. She didn’t fight. What was the point? Fighting Cade had always been useless. And, actually, it felt good to be held by him. She dropped her head back on his shoulder, felt his warm breath feathering her cheek, and for one crazy moment she wished that things were different between them.

But they weren’t, and they never would be. ‘I’m sorry things haven’t worked out for you,’ he said, his voice surprisingly soft.

Simone remained silent. He was saying what he thought she wanted to hear. He didn’t mean it. Too much had happened between them for him to be genuine. He was only offering to help with the business because it would be to his benefit. Cade would probably tie her up in complicated legal knots, and she’d sign her life away and be left with nothing. Just as he thought she had done to him!

As this second thought struck her, Simone struggled to free herself. Cade was clever, but not clever enough. ‘Don’t worry about me, Cade, I’m all right,’ she insisted.

‘Then I suggest we begin our meal.’ He sounded incredibly satisfied as he led her to the table, confirming in Simone’s mind that she had every reason to be wary of him. It didn’t stop her responding to his sex appeal, though. It was so strong that it came across her in waves of thick emotion. She had only to breathe the air around them to feel an instant stirring of her senses.

He was so insufferably arrogant these days that she didn’t know how she could possibly react so wildly. It had to be a throwback to her youth, and the heady rush she had felt as she had fallen in love for the first time. It was said that no one ever forgot their first love. Well, she most certainly had never forgotten Cade. What she hadn’t expected was for the same feelings to come tumbling back.

She found herself hungering for his kisses, wondering whether they would be the same as they had been or whether he’d improved. She used to think that was impossible; how could you improve on perfection? But where Cade was concerned she was quickly beginning to learn that anything was feasible.

In the centre of the table was a red rose in a bud vase. Simone hadn’t noticed it before, and she winced as she remembered that this was Cade’s signature tune before spending a romantic evening together.

She felt like picking the vase up and flinging it across the room, but of course she didn’t. She ignored it, sitting perfectly still instead.

‘You’ve gone very quiet all of a sudden,’ said Cade as he filled their wine glasses. ‘What are you thinking?’

His voice, deep and amused, had her looking up with a startled expression in her lovely eyes. ‘Nothing,’ she answered.

‘Impossible. Unless, of course, by nothing you mean that I was the object of your thoughts, mmm?’

Of course he knew that she’d been thinking about him. He’d always had an invisible antenna that picked up on her thoughts whenever he was in them. It looked like some things never changed, and that she’d need to be even more wary in future.

‘It would be pretty ridiculous not to think about you when you’re right here in front of me,’ she replied sharply.