‘Sofie?’
The questioning use of her name now drew Sofie out of the bittersweet reverie she had slipped into. She took in a deep breath as she looked around her. Lucas was watching her broodingly.
‘Are we there?’ she asked uncomfortably, feeling like a bug under a microscope, from the way he was observing her. It made her wonder if she had somehow said or done something out of place.
‘Not far,’ Lucas answered, never taking his eyes off her. ‘The question is, where were you? You looked miles away.’
Knowing she could hardly tell him what she had really been thinking, even were she inclined to, Sofie made a production out of sitting up straighter and smoothing down her dress. ‘The motion of the car was sending me to sleep. I haven’t slept well lately.’
One eyebrow lifted mockingly. ‘Guilty conscience?’
‘Over what I did? Not a jot,’ she lied hardily, needing to keep up a firm front. She couldn’t allow even the smallest chink in her armour to appear, lest he see through it and make the discovery she feared. ‘I wouldn’t change a thing.’
Lucas gave a slow shake of his head. ‘I had no idea you were so callous. Or maybe I was too besotted to care. Either way, the blinkers are well and truly off. You won’t be making a fool of me a second time, caro.’
Nor will you make an idiot of me, she thought as she turned to look out of the window. How convenient it was for him to live with a double standard. Doubtless his roving eye was just a male thing, whilst her running off was a heinous crime!
Neither spoke again until the car drew up before the restaurant. It was busy, as its reputation had spread, but they were shown to a quiet table overlooking the sea. Lucas ordered a glass of white wine for Sofie and a whisky for himself. However, it wasn’t until these drinks had been brought, their dinner order placed and they were finally alone, that he turned to her. Sofie was unaware that she was restlessly twisting her glass in her fingers, but it didn’t escape Lucas.
‘Nervous, amore?’
The affectionate term struck a nerve, as it was meant to do, though with more force than Lucas would ever expect her to feel. ‘I’m not your darling, Lucas. I haven’t been that for a long time. Which is why I have no reason to be nervous,’ Sofie returned boldly, and that brought a dangerous-looking smile to his lips. ‘Why don’t you just get on with whatever it is you intend to do?’
Lucas sat back and calmly crossed one leg over the other. ‘Very well. Let’s set the ball rolling. You can start by telling me again why you left me.’
Sofie drew in an unsteady breath, as she had assumed he believed what she had told him earlier today. His question suggested otherwise, and left her floundering. ‘D-does it matter? It’s in the past.’
For once he allowed the true depth of his anger to show. ‘Oh, it matters, caro. You trampled my pride in the dust when you walked out that way. The very least that you owe me is an honest explanation.’ The stress he placed on the word meant he didn’t believe he had heard one yet.
Nor was he about to. The truth, like so much else, had to remain hidden. She stared at him, brazening it out. ‘And if I don’t have one?’
The lips that could kiss her with devilish mastery took on an unpleasant twist. ‘You’re becoming an accomplished liar. Make another one up. When you get close to the truth, I’ll know.’
That stung, as it was meant to do and, because his persistence was agitating her, Sofie snatched at the first thought which entered her head. ‘OK, you want a reason. How’s this? I got bored,’ she retorted smartly. ‘Does that make you feel better?’
Lucas smiled broadly, not a whit put out. ‘Not at all. I know women, and you were never bored whilst you were with me,’ Lucas returned confidently and she drew in a sharp breath at his assurance.
Anger began to simmer inside her, momentarily overcoming her anxieties. ‘You know that’s the most arrogant thing I’ve ever heard you say! I was not…am not…like all women!’
He leant forward at that, his eyes boring into hers. ‘No, you were special. I would have given up the world for you!’ he informed her passionately, bringing choking tears to her throat.
‘I never asked you for the world!’ All she had wanted was to be able to trust him, and in that he had failed her. What did that say about his love? Had it not been for Tom, she would have challenged him there and then. Caution kept her quiet.
‘No, caro,’ Lucas retorted with a harsh laugh. ‘However, when you love someone it comes with the territory. If you had loved me as you said you did, you would have known that!’
She almost laughed, because of course she knew. She had loved him so much—still loved him beyond all rhyme or reason—and would have given him everything it was in her power to give. Maybe he had loved her once, but it hadn’t been strong enough to stop him seeing another woman. Maybe she should have stayed and faced him with it, but she hadn’t. Maybe he would have still loved her in his fashion, but it would have been, oh, so hard to bear. To live in doubt had not been an option. Which made his anger hard to swallow.
Sofie pushed her chair back, preparing to get up. ‘I cannot do this. It’s crazy. You have to let it go, Lucas. You have to let me go!’ she insisted thickly, making to rise, but Lucas shot out a hand and caught her wrist.
‘But that I cannot do, amore,’ he declared in a low intense voice. ‘As I told you earlier, I’ve discovered I still want you and, what is more, before I return home, I fully intend to have you!’
CHAPTER FOUR
THE bold statement of intent momentarily took Sofie’s breath away, but when she sank back on to her chair she was ready to do battle. ‘Understand this. I’m not going to have any sort of relationship with you.’ She refuted the idea in a tight, clipped voice. ‘Now let me go.’
Lucas ignored the command and instead turned her hand over in his, beginning a gentle stroking of her palm with his thumb. ‘I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment this time. We both know you’re incapable of that. But what’s a week or two out of the rest of your life, if it will give you your freedom?’ he cajoled in that rich dark chocolaty voice which had always melted her resistance and even now sent goose-bumps up her spine.
It was oh, so very tempting. She would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit it. To have time with Lucas again, when she had thought all possibility of it had passed, would be the closest thing to heaven, but ultimately it would leave her with nothing. Besides, how could she possibly keep Tom hidden that long? She felt guilty enough about it already.
His touch was sending warmth along her veins, but she resisted pulling her hand away. ‘That isn’t going to work.’ She fought back stoically, knowing she must not let him get under her skin and seduce her. She had to be strong—for Tom.
His lips twitched. ‘Liar. You might not want to be responding, but you are,’ Lucas insisted, and she would have given anything to be able to prove him wrong.
‘Y-you’re mistaken.’
He smiled lazily. ‘Am I? I think not. I could prove it to you, but that would get us thrown out and I’ve been looking forward to dining here.’
Sofie had a sudden intense vision of him making love to her on top of the table and felt heat invade her cheeks. Thankfully the lights were low enough to hide the effect of her erotic thought.
‘I’ve never gone in for exhibitionism,’ she told him coldly, but that only made him laugh huskily.
‘No, but in private you had no inhibitions, I’m happy to say. You were a very passionate and inventive lover. Is it any wonder I want more?’
Memories of their lovemaking crowded into her brain, reminding her of all she had given up. ‘We were married then,’ she pointed out quickly.
‘We’re married now,’ Lucas retorted swiftly. ‘It will all be perfectly legal.’
‘Legality isn’t the point. I don’t want you back in my life, even for a short time,’ she told him bluntly, hoping he would give up. Yet she knew he wouldn’t. He had been waiting a long time for this and he wasn’
t about to go away without getting the justice he felt was due him.
Having overloaded her senses with his delicate caress, Lucas finally released her hand and sat back. ‘We played it your way. This time I make the rules. You might do well to remember I hold the cards.’
As if his words didn’t bother her in the slightest, Sofie reached for her glass and took a much needed sip of wine before responding. Setting the glass back down, she rested her elbows on the table and her chin on her linked fingers. ‘You might think you do, but we both know you cannot stay in the north indefinitely. You have a business to run. So why don’t you cut your losses and go home?’
The sardonic glint in his eyes hinted that she was not going to like what he was about to say. ‘That would suit you, wouldn’t it, caro? However, I have no need to rush off as I’m taking a long overdue holiday.’
It was just as well for Sofie that their meal arrived at that moment, because she doubted she would have been able to say anything, so horrified was she by his statement. Her brain felt numb. She had been hoping that he would toy with her for a while, then go back home, but clearly that wasn’t about to happen. What on earth was she going to do?
The question kept going round and round in her mind whilst she attempted to eat. As much as she loved seafood, she was unable to do more than pick at her meal. Lucas, on the other hand, had a healthy appetite, and cleared his plate. Which just about put the kibosh on what little appetite she did have. She gave up pretending and pushed the barely touched plate aside.
‘Is there something wrong with the food?’ Lucas asked considerately. ‘I can have them bring something else,’ he offered, though they both knew why her appetite had vanished.
‘The food was perfect; I just wasn’t hungry,’ she informed him shortly.
‘Hmm, I know how you feel. It isn’t much fun when things don’t go the way you’d planned. I lost all interest in food when I discovered you had left me,’ he confided and her heart twisted painfully.
‘I never wanted that to happen,’ she apologised as a waiter appeared to clear away the remains of their meal and Lucas ordered coffee.
‘Why would you even give it a thought? You wanted out, so you left. You have to be the abandoned one to understand what I went through,’ he added. ‘As this appears to be confession time, I’ll admit to drinking too much in those first days. Oh, don’t worry, I soon realised that wasn’t the way. There are no answers in the bottom of a bottle. If I wanted them, I had to find you. Which I tried to do, with no success.’
‘I didn’t want to be found,’ Sofie admitted, as there was little point in saying otherwise. He already knew, despite her earlier denial. He was no fool and she had to remember that.
‘Afraid of what I might say or what I might do?’
She sighed heavily. ‘Both, I guess. I knew you’d be angry.’
At that Lucas leaned forward across the table. ‘You know something, amore? Angry is such a tame word for all the feelings seething inside me. I loved you once. I want you still. There’s only one way I know to get you out of my system once and for all. I need you back in my bed until this craving I have for you is gone. Only then will I be free of you, and you will be free of me.’
It sounded so simple to him, yet it could never be that. Not only because of Tom—the son he didn’t know he had—but because she loved him. That was why she could never agree. ‘I can be free now if you would just walk away!’ she insisted, willing him to see there was no way she could agree.
Lucas stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged. ‘So, it seems we’re at an impasse,’ he declared, making Sofie frown because he didn’t sound the least bit put out by the fact. Lucas meanwhile had signalled the waiter and asked for the bill. As soon as he had paid it, he stood up and walked round to hold her chair so she could do the same.
Confused by this sudden change in tactics, Sofie gathered up her purse and shawl and preceded him out of the restaurant. However, when she made to walk to the car park, Lucas took her by the arm and steered her in the opposite direction, towards the seafront.
‘It’s early still,’ he explained easily. ‘I feel like a walk.’
Sofie, who only wanted to go home and end the evening, came to an abrupt halt. ‘I don’t.’
Lucas looked down at her and quirked an eyebrow. ‘Not even if you might learn something to your advantage?’
‘What would that be?’
‘Ah—’ he smiled mockingly ‘—you’ll have to walk with me to find out. Shall we?’ He held out his arm for her to take and, after a moment’s hesitation, she accepted it. ‘There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?’ he pronounced mockingly as they began walking again.
It was a beautiful evening, enhanced by the gentle tumbling of the waves on the beach. Once upon a time, walking like this would have been perfect, but now all it revealed to Sofie was how desperately alone she felt. She hadn’t realised until this moment how painful it could be to be so close to the person you loved and know they no longer loved you. She might wish it were different, but wishing was for children. Grown-ups had to live with the results of their choices.
They had walked far beyond the lights and noise of the restaurant before Lucas broke the silence between them.
‘Do you ever think about those first few weeks of our marriage?’ he asked her and Sofie’s heart turned over.
Only all the time, she thought wistfully. ‘I try not to,’ she lied. ‘I can’t imagine why you would want to, either.’
‘It helps me keep focused,’ he revealed with dry humour. ‘Not that I was really likely to forget why I wanted to see you again.’
Sofie had to swallow hard to remove a lump in her throat. ‘And has it lived up to your expectations?’
‘Pretty much. I expected your resistance, but I thought you would have given in by now,’ he admitted, looking down at her to gauge her reaction.
She sent him a mocking look. ‘Because you thought I wouldn’t be able to resist throwing myself into your arms?’ she gibed.
‘No,’ he denied with a laugh. ‘Because it’s the easiest solution.’
‘For you, maybe, but I can’t sleep with someone I have no feelings for,’ she returned steadily, knowing that the opposite was actually true for her. She couldn’t sleep with him because of her feelings.
Lucas came to a halt when he heard that and turned to face her. ‘No feelings?’ he charged scornfully. ‘Doesn’t the lie stick in your throat?’
No, but her heart leapt there instantly. Could he have somehow guessed her true feelings? The possibility was petrifying. ‘What do you mean?’
‘That you want me as much as you ever did,’ he reminded her, and relief made her head feel dizzy.
‘Physical attraction isn’t enough,’ she insisted because her aching heart knew lust was no substitute for love.
Lucas, however, saw things differently now. ‘It’s all I’m interested in, and all I need of you.’
His words were a knife thrust through her heart, even though it was expected. It made her want to find a dark corner somewhere, where she could cry out her pain. ‘Well, you’re going to be disappointed, as I don’t even feel that much!’
Her denial failed to have the desired effect. His smile broadened and he laughed. ‘Sofie, Sofie! You should be ashamed. No matter, I can easily prove you wrong,’ he declared softly and, stepping forward, used his hand to tilt her head up, before bringing his mouth down on hers.
Caught off guard by the unexpected move, Sofie’s senses reeled. His lips were warm and firm and moved over hers with all the longingly remembered expertise that made her shiver. Her hands came up, but if her intent was to push him away they played traitor as her fingers dug into his shoulders. She moaned low in her throat and her mouth parted, allowing him to deepen the kiss. His tongue stroked tantalisingly along the length of her lips, then plunged inside, demanding a response she was compelled to give. Her lashes dropped and she swayed towards him as her senses swam. She could no more resist hi
m than she could hold back the tide. It had always been that way. Her arms slid around his neck and for one blissful moment Lucas’s hands tightened on her waist. As if that was the sign he had been waiting for, he finally broke the kiss and stepped back, studying his handiwork with satisfaction.
‘I’ve been wanting to do that since the other night,’ he confessed with something akin to a wolfish growl, and Sofie had to stifle an urge to groan out loud. Not from need, but from despair at giving herself away so tamely. Her lashes fluttered upwards and her eyes met smoky blue ones. ‘You were saying about not wanting me…’ he taunted softly.
From having been adrift on a sensual sea, Sofie had to quickly gather her scattered wits. ‘That was a low trick!’ she accused with all the scorn she could muster.
Lucas shrugged casually. ‘Nevertheless it proved my point. You still want me, Sofie. With all the passion I remember so well.’
Unable to deny it, she raised her chin belligerently. ‘It changes nothing!’ she insisted, and his expression became set.
‘I would think again if I were you.’
Her heart jolted, but there was too much at stake to give in. ‘Is that a threat? What can you do if I say no?’ she challenged him, and saw his jaw tense.
‘You have no idea of what I can do,’ he countered in a tone she had never heard him use before.
It sent a chill through her blood. ‘No, I don’t, but I’m beginning to see a ruthless streak I wasn’t aware of,’ she shot back cuttingly. ‘Does your father have it, too? Is it a case of like father like son? Is that how you do business?’ she charged, not caring in that moment if she had gone too far.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean by that?’
Sofie thought fast. She had been angry and said too much. However she might regret it, it was impossible to take back what she had said, so she might just as well go ahead and use it to her advantage. She was desperate enough to use any means, open or underhand, to get Lucas to go away. Steeling herself, she crossed her arms and faced up to him.
The Millionaire's Marriage Revenge Page 7
