Mediterranean Tycoons. JACQUELINE BAIRD
cared, she told herself. She had no illusions left. She had made a horrendous mistake, marrying a man she hardly knew, but she would get over it—she had to. She closed her eyes for a second and immediately saw in her mind’s eye the face of Margot, and the expression in the woman’s eyes came back to haunt her. Margot had looked at Alex with slavish, sick desire, and how had Alex reacted? By ordering her out. Yet, for two years, if Margot was to be believed, he had used the woman quite shamelessly.
Lisa opened her eyes, and in that moment she vowed she would never become so enslaved to any man again, especially not her husband. Alex had betrayed her trust, and it hurt. How it hurt. But he would never get the chance to do it again… She raised her hands and swept the tangled mass of her hair back from her face and straightened her shoulders. The shivering had stopped and she began to think logically about the night’s events.
Dear heaven! She shook her head, appalled at her own stupidity. She could see clearly now. Alex, Margot and Nigel were all alike: immoral, money-hungry, selfish. What sort of fool did they take her for? The only way Margot could have known Alex was going to be alone tonight was if Alex had told her. A harsh laugh escaped her. Her over-sexed husband had made one mistake. In his hurry to let Lisa seduce him he had forgotten to ring his girlfriend and tell her their date was off. Thinking about it now, Lisa supposed she should be flattered his desire for her had overcome his usual controlled efficient self. But she wasn’t.
‘Lisa, open the door.’ Alex’s deep voice broke the silence of the night. She saw the handle turn and then he knocked. ‘Open the door, Lisa, we have to talk.’
Not in this lifetime, she thought bitterly. She had nothing to say to him.
The banging got louder.
‘Please, Lisa, open the door. I really need to talk to you.’ The husky, sensual tone of his voice enraged Lisa; it was all an act.
‘Get lost,’ she yelled back.
‘Open the damned door Lisa.’ The doorhandle rattled ferociously.
‘No.’
‘I will count to three and then I will break the thing down,’ Alex declared.
It was too much to hope that he would leave her alone. Wiping her damp palms down the soft towelling covering her thighs, she reluctantly turned the key in the lock. She had to jump back as the door swung in and Alex burst into the room.
‘Lisa!’ His hands grabbed her shoulders and he pulled her towards him. ‘What do you think you’re playing at, locking me out?’ His eyes flared angrily; his fingers gripped her shoulders.
She planted her hands on his chest and shoved hard. ‘Let go of me,’ she cried, and lifted her knee, her intention plain. He jerked back, but did not release her.
‘Lisa, Lisa, calm down and let me explain.’ He tried to appease her, but she was having none of it.
‘There is nothing to explain. I saw it all. And as for calming down,’ she said angrily, her blue eyes like chips of ice, ‘I’ll calm down when you get out of my sight.’
‘You don’t mean that,’ he growled, pulling her hard against him once more. His mouth swooped on hers with savage anger. She twisted her head—anything to avoid his kiss. But one hand tangled in her hair, as his arm curved around her waist, clamping her firmly to his long body. She tried to wriggle free as he took her mouth with a ruthless passion that would not be denied.
But, even as she felt insidious warmth building inside her she recognised his strategy and was sickened by it. He was blatantly using his sexual prowess to overcome her. Her eyes clashed with his and she saw the implacable intent in their black depths, and she froze in his arms.
‘No,’ she said flatly, and at her withdrawal Alex lifted his head; what he saw in her face, gave him pause.
‘Your response was a bit lacking in enthusiasm. Does this mean the honeymoon is over?’ he queried cynically.
‘Not just the honeymoon. The marriage as well.’ She ignored the burning pain around her heart. Alex had only been able to deceive her so easily because she had wanted to believe in the myth of love at first sight. She felt him tense, and as his hands fell away from her she was free.
‘Now you’re being ridiculous, Lisa.’ he told her curtly. ‘The little scene with Margot was embarrassing for all concerned, but there is no reason to be so melodramatic. We will probably laugh about it later.’
She looked at him in the harsh glare of the overhead light. He was standing a foot away. His tall body was covered in a burgundy velvet robe, with satin lapels that fell open to reveal his curling chest hair. The belt was tied firmly around his waist but the garment ended a few inches above his knee, exposing a long length of strong tanned leg.
‘You might. I won’t,’ she bit out, refusing to be intimidated by his towering presence. ‘Somehow, finding a woman crawling into my husband’s bed not fifteen minutes after I vacated it does not strike me as a cause for amusement.’ Turning her back on him, she walked across the room towards the sofa. She couldn’t bear to look at him.
‘Wait just a minute.’ A strong hand wrapped around her arm and stopped her in her tracks. She glanced up at him. He looked dark and dangerous and for a second a shiver of apprehension slithered down her spine. ‘Don’t you think you’re overreacting? It was hardly my fault the woman called here.’
‘Hardly your fault?’ Lisa almost choked at the gall of the man. She was bitterly angry, angrier than she had been when she had overheard his conversation with Nigel. To be betrayed once was bad enough, but twice in one night! ‘Oh, please! Spare me the excuses.’
Alex was silent for a long moment, watching her with narrowed eyes. ‘I do not make excuses to anyone.’ She saw his face harden ‘And certainly not to my wife who, only a few short hours ago, could not keep her hands off me.’
Trust him to remind her. ‘But then I didn’t expect a few hours later to see another woman crawling into your bed,’ she returned with icy sarcasm.
‘If you had stayed in our bed, it would never have happened. I’d like an explanation.’
‘You want an explanation? That’s rich,’ Lisa said hotly, backing away a few paces, but Alex followed, until her back came into contact with the wall. ‘Especially coming from a man like you.’
‘So, humour me, wife,’ he drawled tightly, his eyes burning on her. ‘Because I have had just about enough for one night.’
She debated telling him to drop dead, but quickly dismissed the notion. He was standing looking down on her, his hands placed on the wall behind her, his body effectively trapping her. His black eyes leapt with anger, and she realised he was in a towering rage. Probably at being caught out, but she had no intention of testing him. She was hanging on to her sanity by a thread. She simply wanted him to leave her alone.
‘I got up to make a cup of hot chocolate. I was in the kitchen; I heard the sound of the door, and thought it was a burglar. I picked up a pan to challenge the intruder with, and crept to the hall door.’ Her eyes flashed with renewed rage as she added, ‘But lo and behold, it was a lady.’
‘Why didn’t you yell for me, or stop her?’ Alex demanded. ‘Surely those were the obvious things to do.’
‘Because I heard her speak.’ And in an exaggerated voice Lisa continued, “‘Alex, darling. Sorry I’m so late, and you’re all on your ownsome.”’ Her eyes hated him as she rashly held his gaze. ‘The lady could not have known you were going to be alone tonight unless you’d told her. My surprise arrival really upset your plan, didn’t it?’ She snorted her disgust. ‘Now get out of my way.’
‘For a girl who avowed her undying love not a month ago, you certainly have a fine opinion of me,’ Alex drawled sardonically. ‘Do you really think I asked Margot to come here?’
‘Who else?’ She raised one perfectly arched brow in query.
‘I