Page 26 of Legacy of His Revenge
He looked so peaceful there, his big body relaxed, his eyes half closed as he watched her scramble to put on her tee shirt and then hop into her underwear.
He wasn’t at all self-conscious about his body. Where, even now that they had made love what felt like a thousand times, she still needed to put on her clothes rather than parade her nudity, he couldn’t care less.
He stood up, flexed his muscles and looked at her sideways with a satisfied smile.
‘Work is beginning to call,’ he drawled, eyeing the puddle of clothes on the ground and deigning to put on his jeans but nothing else. ‘She’s an extremely demanding mistress.’
‘Yes, I have to get back as well.’ Sophie’s heart sank but she smiled brightly at him. ‘Julie’s beginning to tear her hair out because we’ve just landed a pretty big order and it’s hard planning a menu together over text or on the phone.’
‘You still owe me for my car...’ He swerved round her and, standing behind, wrapped his arms around her waist and leant down so that he was talking into her hair, his voice a little muffled.
Sophie literally thrilled. She couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. She knew that this situation wasn’t going to last and was probably the least sensible thing she could be doing but the pull of having fun was irresistible. She couldn’t think beyond it.
‘But,’ Matias continued gravely, ‘you’re paying off the debt quickly. That said... I might still need you to do some catering for me and I rather enjoy the private catering you’ve been providing, by which I mean those excellent breakfast options you’ve presented to me.’
Sophie swivelled round so that they were facing one another and she looked up at him. ‘I like cooking you breakfast,’ she told him. ‘Do we...er...put a date in the diary? How does this work?’ She sighed and reached up to link her fingers behind his neck. ‘I mean, Matias, how does thisreallywork? Is there a time frame? And if I choose to stop...this...then what happens? I feel vulnerable thinking that we’ve entered new territory.’
‘Do you think I’m going to penalise you if you decide you want to stop being my lover? I won’t. I’m not that kind of guy. You’re free to make your choice. I still want you, Sophie, but there’s no way I want you to feel that you’re somehow committed to pleasing me for fear of what I might do if you change your mind.’
The bubble was beginning to burst. They weren’t going to be in one another’s company twenty-four-seven, making love, talking, making love again. True, Matias had taken himself off for brief periods to work, during which time she had video called Julie so that she, too, could remember that real life was going on outside his glasshouse mansion, but most of their time had been spent in one another’s company.
Living in the moment had been easy. She had been able to turn a blind eye to real life because real life was located somewhere outside the glass and concrete of his house. Real life was back in London. Well, they were returning to London soon and although she had told him that, once they left, what they had would come to an end, she didn’t want it to end and that frightened her.
They hadn’t mentioned actual numbers at all in terms of the money she still owed him for the damage to his car. She didn’t care about that because she had discovered that, despite the fact that he could be stunningly arrogant, he was also incredibly fair and incredibly honourable.
What did concern her was the deal he was considering making with her father. That, too, was a subject that hadn’t been raised, but it would be just as soon as they drove away from their little bubble and the real world started to intrude. She had promoted James Carney as someone heshoulddeal with, had sidestepped most of the truth about her father because what was at stake was the fate of her beloved brother.
Suddenly it was vitally important that she tell him about Eric. She didn’t have to compromise any deal Matias wanted to do with her father, but at least when the deal was done and should her father show his true colours,which wasn’t inevitable because he would be on the back foot, Matias would put two and two together and understand why she had done what she had, why she hadn’t warned him off.
Not that, Sophie feverishly told herself, there would be any problems. Her father was broke. He needed Matias. He would be on best behaviour.
‘Good,’ she said vaguely, wondering how to send the conversation in the direction in which she wanted it to go and finally deciding to just say what she had to say. ‘And about my father...’
‘Yes?’ Matias’s ears pricked up. He marvelled that this was the first time Carney had been mentioned in their couple of days alone together when the original purpose of her being here was to provide information that he could use. It irked him that he had been so sidetracked by her that he had taken his eye off the ball.
‘Will you still...er...be interested in investing money in his company?’ Sophie had the whole back story about Eric prepared for Matias and was a little taken aback at the sudden deathly silence that greeted her question.
‘Ah. We haven’t discussed that, have we?’
‘I guess there have been a few distractions.’ She laughed nervously.
‘So there have.’ Matias looked at her coolly, his quick brain putting two and two together and not liking what he was coming up with.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘What makes you think that something’s wrong, Sophie?’
‘I don’t know. What have I said? I just thought that...we’re going to be leaving here and I wanted to talk about what happens next.’
‘Why would that lead to a discussion of my plans for your father? But now that we’re on the subject...you’ve, apparently, no idea about the ugly business of making money, but did you know your father is...shall we say...battling one or two financial problems...?’ Matias was watching her intently and he was as still as a statue.
She knew. It was there, written plainly on her face. She’d played the clueless card, but she’d known all along that her old man was broke. She wasn’t even trying to deny it.
‘And,’ Matias continued, testing the ground as the steady burn of rage began to build inside him, ‘of course, if any deal is to go through, then there will have to be certain background checks...’
‘Background checks?’ she squeaked.
Matias shrugged but he was picking up everything he wanted to know and more from her reaction. ‘The business community is a small world. There have been certain rumours of shady dealings...’
