King's Price. Jackie Ashenden

       CHAPTER FOUR

      Vita

      HE WAS LIKE a big cat about to pounce, and my heart started beating very loud and very fast in my ears.

      Leon King was dangerous, that much I’d known from the moment I’d laid eyes on him. Very, very dangerous. And right now he was radiating that danger so intensely I could almost taste it.

      It made me want to cower away like a frightened rabbit, but I was a professional woman of twenty-six and there was no way I was going to run so I kept staring at him instead, refusing to look away.

      He was probably the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

      His features were strong, with a high forehead, chiselled jaw and cheekbones to die for. His eyes were a smoky amber, framed by thick dark lashes and straight dark brows and his hair was tawny, threads of gold and caramel gleaming in the nightclub’s dim lighting. Those flashes of gold looked like someone had taken a paintbrush to him and gilded his features.

      He wore a white business shirt beneath his dark blue suit and it was open at the neck, exposing golden skin. And he sat there, all sprawled and lazy like a lion sunning himself on a rock.

      A predator pretending not to notice its prey, as it readied itself to lunge.

      That amber gaze was on mine and the air of danger around him was so thick I could barely breathe. The primitive fight or flight response was kicking in now, urging me to run, but I ignored it.

      It was simply a chemical reaction and, as a chemist, I knew all about those. The danger wasn’t real so I stayed exactly where I was, determined to show this rude asshole I wasn’t intimidated.

      ‘I think you’d better explain, sweetheart.’ His voice was deep and rich and vaguely hypnotic. ‘Why is your father planning a bait and switch?’

      I ignored the sweetheart thing. He was only doing it to get a rise out of me, I was sure. ‘Because he doesn’t want you to marry her.’ I didn’t add the fact that it was because I was more expendable. It certainly wasn’t about me being stronger than Clara, that was for sure.

      ‘Uh-huh.’ Leon King’s stare was absolutely relentless and completely terrifying. The smile that curved his beautiful, sensual mouth even more so. ‘You’re telling me this, why?’

      That caught me off-balance. I thought he’d be angry about it and yet... I didn’t see anger in his dark golden eyes. No, it was worse. There was nothing in his eyes at all. Absolutely nothing.

      I tried to get my thoughts together. ‘I’m telling you because I thought you’d want to know. And because...’ I steeled myself ‘...I thought that if you knew, maybe you’d change your mind about this marriage business.’

      ‘Right.’ He said the word slowly, drawing it out. ‘This marriage business...’ Raising his glass, he took another sip of the liquid, his movements unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world. ‘And why would I change my mind?’

      I blinked, nonplussed and not sure what to say. ‘You wanted Clara. And instead you’ll get me.’ Surely he’d see he wasn’t exactly getting a bargain? ‘You can’t be happy with that. Anyway, I know you’re only marrying her to get what you want for your company.’ I leaned forward, keen to make him see reason. ‘Which makes it pretty simple. All you have to do is pay Dad the money you were going to and he’ll make his friends invest or whatever it is you want them to do. There’s no real need to marry her or anyone, in fact.’

      ‘You’re assuming that’s the only reason I wanted to marry her.’ He smiled that terrifying smile. ‘But it’s not.’

      A kind of foreboding settled in my gut.

      Maybe I didn’t want to know his real reason. Before I’d ventured into the city to find him I’d done a bit of research into him and his background, and what I’d found was every bit as terrifying as his smile.

      His father had once run the biggest crime network in Sydney. Guns, prostitutes, drugs... You name it, Augustus King had been into it. And Leon had been part of that network, enforcing his father’s word as law. At least until he and his two brothers had taken their father down. They’d been granted immunity from prosecution—likely in return for testifying against their father—and had spent the last five years building up King Enterprises, their property development firm.

      He was supposed to be going straight, but that smile of his told another story. A story I probably wouldn’t like.

      ‘Go on,’ he murmured when I didn’t say anything, watching me from over the rim of his glass. ‘Ask me what my other reason is.’

      I wanted to refuse, but the scientist in me wouldn’t let it go. ‘Okay, so what’s your other reason, then?’

      ‘I don’t trust your father, sweetheart. I need an insurance policy. Something to make sure he keeps his word, if you understand me.’ He smiled yet again. I wished he’d stop doing that. ‘Clara was supposed to be my insurance policy. Sure, I would have preferred her but...’ His gaze dropped, running over me. ‘You’ll do. Yes, you’ll do very nicely indeed.’

      At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about. Since the sex tape crap had hit the media and I’d hidden myself away, I’d cut men out of my life for good. I’d had less than no interest in them or dating, or any kind of relationship at all in fact.

      I had good working relationships with my male colleagues, but I made sure to keep them at a distance. All my colleagues. I didn’t want anyone knowing about me. I didn’t want anyone interested in me. And for ten years that had worked well.

      Yet the way Leon King was looking at me, so blatantly sexual... No one had looked at me like that in a long time, if ever. But what was even worse was the sudden wave of heat that licked over my skin in response. Like I’d been caught in the backdraught of a wildfire.

      It was so intense I looked away despite all my determination not to, my cheeks getting hot.

      Hell. I was blushing. When was the last time that had happened?

      Pretending I was studying the crowd and not avoiding his gaze, I said, ‘I don’t want to marry you. Insurance policy or not.’

      ‘Why not?’

      The question irritated me. Was he stupid? Did he really not know?

      I steeled myself yet again to meet his dark golden eyes. ‘Why do you think? I don’t even know you.’

      He gave an elegant shrug. ‘So?’

      ‘What do you mean “so”? You’re a complete stranger.’

      ‘Why does that matter? Complete strangers marry each other every day.’ He tilted his head, the lights striking deep gold from his hair, his gaze gleaming. ‘I presume your father told you that you’ll get my house. Plus I can throw in some more money to sweeten the deal.’

      ‘I don’t want your house and I don’t want your money,’ I said flatly.

      ‘Sex then. You can have me.’ That smile lost its edge, became warmer, which somehow made it seem even more terrifying than before. ‘I assure you I’m worth it.’

      He was so damn arrogant that I should have laughed. If he’d been another man, I would have. But again that strange heat licked up inside me at the words, a pull deep inside.

      Yes, and remember what happened last time you felt that?

      Shame. Humiliation. Pain.

      No, I shouldn’t think of that. Chemicals, that was all this