Rumours: The Ruthless Ravensdales. Melanie Milburne

       CHAPTER FOUR

      HOLLY WAS HELPING Sophia by preparing the vegetables for dinner while the housekeeper had a lie-down. Not because Julius had commanded her to get to work but because Sophia clearly couldn’t do much with her wrist in a restrictive brace. Holly remembered all too well how painful a damaged limb could be. The simplest tasks were a nightmare and if you did too much it could compromise the healing process.

      Besides, she quite liked cooking, for all that she’d told Julius she couldn’t boil an egg, or words to that effect. She even liked cleaning. The repetitious nature of it was somehow soothing. It had helped her many a time as a child and teenager to put some order into the chaos of her home life. Her mother had got to the point of not being able to cope with the running of the home so Holly had taken it over. From a young age she knew how to cook, clean, tidy cupboards, fold washing and iron. It had also been a way to keep her stepfather from criticising her mother for not doing things properly around the house. If the house was as perfect as Holly could make it then a day or two might pass without a showdown.

      What Holly didn’t like was being ordered about. Controlled. No one was going to command her like a serf. If she chose to do something, then she would do it because it was the decent thing to do, or she wanted to do it, not because someone was trying to lord it over her.

      As if Holly had summoned him with her thoughts, Julius came striding into the kitchen. ‘I want a word,’ he said. ‘In my office. Now.’

      She blithely continued peeling the potato she was holding. ‘I’ll be there in ten minutes. I’ve still got the tomatoes and the courgettes to do.’

      He came to the opposite side of the island bench to where she was standing and slammed his hands down on the surface, nailing her with his gaze. ‘When I issue you an order, I expect you to obey it immediately.’

      Holly held his intensely sapphire gaze with an arch look. ‘Why can’t you talk to me here?’ She lowered her voice to a husky drawl. ‘Or are you worried your housekeeper will come in and catch us at it on the kitchen bench?’

      His eyes went to her mouth for the briefest moment before flashing back to hers, twin flags of dull red riding high on his cheekbones. ‘I want you out of here by morning,’ he said. ‘I’m withdrawing my support for the scheme. You can find some other fool to take you on or you can go straight to jail where you belong. I don’t care.’

      ‘Fine.’ Holly put down the peeler, untied the apron Sophia had given her and tossed it on the bench. ‘I’ll go and pack my things. Sophia can take over here. I’ll just go and wake her from her nap and tell her. Her wrist was giving her a lot of discomfort earlier so she took a stronger painkiller. I reckon she’s been doing too much because she doesn’t want to let you down. But, hey, that’s what she’s paid for, right?’

      He glanced at the half-prepared meal before reconnecting with Holly’s gaze. ‘You—’ he bit out. ‘This is one big game to you, isn’t it?’

      Holly leaned over the bench so her cleavage was on show. He reared back as if the backdraft of a fire had hit him in the face. ‘You know what your trouble is, Julius? You don’t mind if I call you that, do you? It makes things a little less formal between us since we’re living together and all, don’t you think?’ She heard his teeth audibly grind together as she fluttered her eyelashes at him but she carried on regardless. ‘Your problem is you’re sexually frustrated. All that pent-up energy’s gotta have an outlet. You’re tearing strips off me when what you really want to do is tear my clothes off.’

      His expression was thunderous. ‘I have never met a more audaciously wanton woman than you. You have zero shame.’

      Holly gave him an impish smile. ‘Aw, how sweet of you to say so. Such flattery is music to my ears.’

      He muttered a savage swear word and pushed his hair back from his forehead. It looked as if it wasn’t the first time he’d done it that evening. The thick, glossy strands were in a rumpled state of disorder. His whole body was taut, rippling with tension. He reminded her of a tightly coiled spring about to snap.

      ‘Here’s what you’ve got wrong about me,’ he said, facing her again with a hardened glare. ‘I can resist you. You might think all those come-on looks will make me fall on you like some hormone-driven teenager, but you’re wrong.’

      Holly held out her hand, palm up. ‘Want to lay a bet on it?’

      He eyed her hand as if it were something poisonous. ‘I don’t gamble.’

      She laughed. ‘You’re even more boring than I thought. What are you afraid of, Julius? Losing money or compromising one of your starchy old principles?’

      He gave her a black look. ‘At least I have some, unlike some other people I could mention.’

      ‘Like your father?’ Holly wasn’t sure why she thought immediately of his father. But she’d heard enough about Richard Ravensdale’s reputation to wonder how Julius could possibly be his son. Julius was an apple that had rolled so far away from the tree it was in another orchard. He was so uptight and conservative. His brother, Jake, was another story, however. Jake’s exploits were plastered over the internet. It made for very entertaining reading.

      Julius’s brows snapped together in a single black bar. ‘What do you know about my father?’

      ‘He’s a ladies’ man,’ Holly said. ‘He’s what I’d call a triple-D kind of guy: dine them, do them, dump them is his credo, isn’t it? A bit like your twin brother’s.’

      ‘You didn’t let on that you knew who my family was earlier,’ he said. ‘Why not?’

      Holly gave him a cheeky smile. ‘Fame doesn’t impress me, remember?’

      His mouth tightened until his lips almost disappeared. ‘This is a bloody nightmare.’

      ‘Hey, I’m not judging you because of your parents,’ Holly said as she resumed preparing the vegetables. ‘I reckon it would totally suck to have famous parents. You’d never know who your friends were. They might only be hanging out with you because of your connection with celebrity.’ She looked up to find Julius staring at her with a frown between his brows. ‘What’s wrong?’

      He gave his head a little shake, walked over to the fridge and opened it to take out a bottle of wine. ‘Do you want one?’ He held up the bottle and a glass.

      ‘I don’t drink.’

      His gaze narrowed a fraction. ‘Why not?’

      Holly shrugged. ‘I figure I’ve got enough vices without adding any more.’

      He leaned back against the counter at the back of the kitchen as he poured a glass and took a deep draught of his wine. And another. And another.

      Holly shifted her lips from side to side. ‘You keep going like that and Sophia won’t be the only one around here needing strong painkillers.’

      ‘Tell me about your background,’ Julius said suddenly.

      Holly washed her hands at the sink. ‘I expect it’s pretty boring compared to yours.’

      ‘I’d still like to know.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘Humour me,’ he said. ‘I’m feeling sorry for myself for having a triple-D dad.’

      ‘Aww. All those silver spoons stuffed in your mouth giving you toothache, are they? My heart bleeds. It really does.’

      He screwed up his mouth but it wasn’t a smile. More of a musing gesture, as if he were trying to figure her out. ‘I know I come from a privileged background,’ he said. ‘I’m grateful for the opportunities it’s