Page 17 of In Bed with Her Billionaire Bodyguard

He levelled her with a gaze that pretty much said,Think again.

‘I. Don’t. Need. You,’ she spelled out. ‘I can handle it myself.’

‘Of course you can,’ he replied without missing a beat, his agreement clearly taking her by surprise. ‘You can court shareholders; you can make your deals. I’m not interfering with that, but what you can’t do is all of thatandwatch your back.’

She turned, her hands anchored on the desk behind her, and he fought the urge to look away as his shirt pulled tight across her chest. Now was not the time for errant thoughts.

‘And what is it I have to watch my back for? Journalists with cups of coffee?’ she replied, her tone full of scorn.

‘Your cousin is mounting a coup. And it seems his weapon of choice is the press.’

Hope rolled her eyes and he ignored it, stepping closer to her to emphasise his point. Her eyes turned to him, flashing warning signs he also ignored. She needed to hear this.

‘Every single time you challenge him, a story comes out. Every single time he feels slighted, a new series of articles comes into the press.’

‘It’s a coincidence. I’m in the public spotlight. I have to be, for my job.’

Luca shook his head. ‘It’s not. When you argued against him moving the Harcourt brand manufacturing factory to cut costs, the next day the headlines were about you snubbing an invitation from the royal family.’

‘Therewasno invitation.’

‘When you argued against the change in staff hours, the headlines the next day were about you firing a designer.’

‘He went on paternity leave.’

‘And when you stopped him from switching transportation contacts, this happened,’ he said, showing her the screen of his phone.

‘That was...’ She trailed off, looking at the newspaper headline he’d pulled up. ‘He couldn’t have had anything to do with Martin. That was different... It was...’

‘Personal? You think your cousin is above that? Your engagement had been broken for six months by that point. Why would the papers suddenly be interested in digging it up then?’

‘Because I’d been out with friends?’

‘Such a rare occasion that it demands a hit piece about how you broke the heart of your fiancé, when we all know that what really happened was—’

‘I was there, I don’t need reminding of what happened,’ she yelled at him. She ran her hand across her forehead, as if thinking through his accusation.

‘The journalist? Just happened to be at Oxford with Simon. Same year, same social circle, and a rather invested interest in any scandal related to you.’

She started to pace the room, just as he had done earlier. She shook her head. ‘I didn’t see it. I always thought it was just normal unhealthy interest, but not targeted inthatway.’ She shook her head again, as if trying to refute it, but Luca needed to press his point home now.

‘Right now, you need to focus on the vote next week, so I’m going to focus on what you don’t have the capacity to do.’

‘I could hire my own security,’ she said, repeating her earlier threat.

‘You could, but you won’t. Why?’ he asked, before answering his own question. ‘Because you need to figure out how you’re going to win the vote. And that starts with what happens at the Harcourts Winter Party at the opera tomorrow night.’

Understanding and realisation dawned in her eyes. She knew he was right. Luca was now ninety-nine percent sure he had her. Andfinallyhe could actually do the job the way he wanted.

‘And what do you get out of it?’ she asked, catching him by surprise.

‘What do you mean?’

‘A CEO doesn’t usually get this hands-on, even for a client like Nathanial Harcourt,’ she said, a dangerous glint in her eye. ‘I want to know what makes me—this—so special?’ she demanded.

‘Hope—’

‘What are you getting out of this, Luca?’ she demanded, and he hated how it looked. How whatever had passed between them—and somethinghadpassed between them—would be tainted by this.

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