Taken Over

by Penny Jordan

  ‘Just as well I’m going to save him the ordeal isn’t it?’

  Cassie’s mind refused to function. She stared disbelievingly up into Joel Howard’s face, barely taking in what he was saying.

  Still holding her tethered with one hand, he used the other to reach behind him and snap open the passenger door of the Ferrari.

  Stupidly Cassie stared at it. ‘That’s your car?’

  Without deigning to answer her he pulled open the door, half pushing and half lifting her into the seat. His actions released Cassie from her frozen state and she started to fight to get free, pushing against the hard muscled wall of his chest as he leaned across her securing the seat belt.

  ‘Stop that.’ His voice was curt. ‘I don’t want to have to use violence, but that doesn’t mean I won’t, if I need to…’

  The tone of his voice warned Cassie that he was telling the truth. Abruptly she retreated from him, tensing back in her seat like a small animal trying to curl into a protective ball.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ she told him shakily. ‘What is this all about?’

  His car door slammed as he got in beside her, pressing a button. The faint click told Cassie what he had done and she looked wildly at her door reaching for the handle.

  ‘Too late, I’ve just locked us in.’ The laconic voice agitated her already overwrought nerves.

  ‘Will you please tell me what stupid game you think you’re playing,’ she demanded wildly. ‘I’m supposed to be on my way to a fitting for my wedding dress, and you’re making me late.’

  ‘Since you won’t be wearing it, that hardly matters,’ he told her coolly, snapping on his own seat belt and switching on the engine. ‘Did you really think I’d sit tamely by and let you destroy everything I’d worked for over the last ten years?’

  Muzzily Cassie shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. ‘I’m not going to let you take over my company, if that’s what all this is about,’ she told him defiantly. ‘And no amount of sweet-talk from you will persuade me. How did you know that I would be here this afternoon?’ she demanded, suddenly suspicious.

  ‘Easy. I persuaded your secretary to take a few days off so that mine could monitor your comings and goings.’

  ‘Your secretary.’ Cassie was bitterly enraged. ‘No doubt she much prefers working for you than me,’ she told him sarcastically remembering the girl’s immaculate grooming and pretty face.

  ‘No doubt,’ Joel Howard replied smoothly, ‘but she’ll be amply rewarded for her efforts.’

  His tone and the look that accompanied it gave Cassie the distinct impression that Joel Howard believed that every female alive had her price if one was prepared to pay it. He had, she thought in quick surprise, almost as low an opinion of her sex as she had of his. She frowned, realising the strangeness of this thought. She would have expected a man as sexually compelling as Joel would be a devout admirer of the female sex; after all there was no doubt that he was thoroughly spoiled by it, so why did she have the impression that he despised, even perhaps, disliked women.

  ‘And how will you reward her,’ she flashed back at him, angered as much by her own thoughts as by his manner. ‘In cash or in kind…’

  She saw his face harden as his hands gripped the wheel of his car.

  ‘Don’t try the clever comments on me,’ he advised her harshly. ‘It’s hardly my fault if your sex is so open to bribery, is it?’

  ‘Throughout the ages women have been forced to use what weapons they can against men, because men persist in considering them their inferiors,’ Cassie told him spiritedly, her mouth twisting bitterly as she remembered the price she had been forced to pay for her clever mathematical brain both by her own and the male sex.

  ‘I don’t have time to argue semantics right now,’ Joel told her hardily, ‘we’ve got an appointment to keep.’

  ‘An appointment?’ Cassie’s heart leapt in fear. ‘You can’t force me to sign over my company to you.’

  ‘Susan tells me you’re working on a new game.’ He had changed the subject completely and there wasn’t a thing Cassie could do about it.

  She blinked dizzied by their sudden emergence into the daylight, wondering if she could possibly attract someone’s attention to the fact that she had been taken prisoner against her will; that she was virtually being abducted by this insufferably arrogant male creature who didn’t seem to be able to take ‘no’ for an answer.

  ‘And if I am?’ she responded, refusing to let him see how frightened she really was. Not for herself. She knew he intended her no physical harm. No, it was the compulsive strength of will; the powerful determination cloaked by the sophisticated façade that frightened her. He was, she recognised fearfully, a man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. And he wanted her company.

  ‘If it’s as successful as your last one, it will turn Pentatons into the leading electronic games company in the UK.’ He took his attention off the road for a second to give her a thin-lipped and bitter look. ‘By the same token it will almost completely destroy my company and that’s something I cannot allow to happen. I need the revenues and the status of being the number one games company in this country to persuade the government to continue with the aid they’ve been giving me for several new ventures we’re working on. We’ve almost reached the breakthrough point. Another six months and we’ll have cleared the danger point; the first of our new, advanced designs will be through the initial stages and we can make announcements to the press that will secure their future, but all that will only come about if I can maintain my position as market leader for that space of time and if you marry Peter Williams and merge your company, your skill, with Pentaton that will be impossible.’ He broke off to turn left, and then smiled at her again, a smile that made her blood run cold. ‘So you can see why, I am sure, with that keen, sharp brain of yours why I simply cannot allow you to marry him.’

  Petrified though she was Cassie managed to retort coldly, ‘And how do you propose to stop me?’

  The minute the pert question was asked, she regretted it. She saw from the expression on his face that he was going to enjoy giving her the answer, and a roaring tide of apprehension flooded through her nervous system making her shiver spasmodically.

  ‘Quite simple,’ he told her softly, ‘I intend to marry you myself. It’s all arranged. I’ve got the special licence; the ceremony has been organised.’

  Cassie’s reaction was instinctive and immediate. ‘Stop this car at once,’ she demanded huskily. ‘You must be mad if you think you can get away with this.’

  His mirthless laughter chilled her over-heated skin. ‘With careful planning and proper forethought one can get away with a great deal.’

  ‘You can’t make me marry you if I don’t want to.’ Cassie was appalled to hear her voice tremble, and she knew by the brief, triumphant smile that curved his hard mouth that Joel Howard had spotted her momentary weakness as well.

  ‘I shouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you,’ he told her, adding almost musingly, ‘It’s marvellous what they can do with drugs these days, isn’t it?’

  ‘You wouldn’t drug me?’ Cassie was aghast. Surely not even a man like Joel Howard would go to such lengths?

  ‘Not with anything dangerous,’ he agreed, stopping the car at traffic lights and turning to watch her. ‘But believe me, Cassie, I need this marriage to you. I won’t see all my hard work wasted because you’re vain and stupid enough to fall for a weakling like Peter Williams. Do you honestly believe he cares about you?’

  His question; the scorn in his voice; the intimation that no man worthy of the name could possibly find her attractive, bit into Cassie’s pride making her recoil with the pain of the wounds he was causing, but before she could retaliate caution intruded. Joel Howard was dangerous; all the more so for being determined to carry out his plan of action. Cassie wasn’t a fool; she could see how much the success of his ventures meant to him and she could also easily believe that he would stop at nothing t
o achieve that success. Quickly she thought and came up with the only way she could escape her present situation, galling to her pride though it was.

  ‘I’ll sell you the company,’ she told him with quick bitterness. ‘Stop the car and take me back to my office…’

  ‘And let you go running to the Williams family for protection?’ Joel Howard laughed soundlessly, ‘Oh, no, Cassie, there’s only one way I can be sure of your loyalty and that’s by buying it the same way Peter Williams intended to buy it—by marrying you.’

  It was on the tip of Cassie’s tongue to deny his assertion that the only way she could get a husband was by exchanging her company for one; and that furthermore the main reason she was marrying Peter was to stop him from taking over Cassietronics, but she quickly saw the pitfalls of such an announcement.

  ‘Peter…’

  ‘Loves you?’ he derided. ‘He loves no one but himself. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently, Cassie? Do you really think…’

  The sheer cruelty of what she was sure he was about to say took Cassie’s breath away for a second. Pain, searing and brutally sharp tore through her body, and just for a handful of seconds she longed to make him retract his words; to have him look at her with admiration and awe, to want her as… ‘No.’ Cassie was unaware of her sharply cried denial, her face white and set as she tried to come to terms with her thoughts, shivering in mute reaction to the danger of them. What was she thinking? It was Joel Howard’s fault; she thought angrily. He had got her in such an emotionally vulnerable state that she didn’t know what she was thinking. Of course she didn’t want him to find her attractive; even if such an improbability were possible she wouldn’t want it; she wouldn’t want him.

  ‘Even if you manage to force me to go through with this farce of a marriage, you won’t be able to stop me from going to the Press and telling them the truth,’ she told him fiercely, fighting against her emotions and summoning all her reasoning powers to her aid. She would need every ounce of logic and analytical skill she possessed if she was to best this man; an instinct that was purely feminine told her that.

  ‘Go ahead,’ he invited drawingly, ‘but you’ll be using a two-edged sword if you do. What do you think it will do to your own credibility, to the reputation of your company, if you told the truth and were believed?’

  He gave her a few seconds to digest his comment before looking at her again. They were leaving the city behind them now, heading for the Cotswolds Cassie noticed absently as she struggled to find a way to deny his comments.

  ‘All right, so you’d ruin my reputation, but you’d also destroy your own company. There’s no one to touch you for computer games in this country and with you out of business my computer games division would be number one again. With confidence restored in our ability to be innovative; to remain leaders of the field, I’d have no problem at all in attracting the finance I need to continue with the other work I have in hand.’

  Computer electronics was his field as Cassie knew, and torn between a blazing exhibition of temper and simply saying nothing she burst out bitterly, ‘What is this revolutionary something you’re working on anyway? Some sort of miracle robot?’

  ‘You’re getting warm. I might as well tell you because there’s no one else in the field anywhere near advanced to rival us in this development. We’ve been working on a computer controlled device that can be used for micro surgery. It’s faster and better than any human could ever be—both advantages when it comes to sewing back a severed limb or working on delicate areas of the brain, and since it’s controlled by the surgeon in charge in effect it’s an extension of his hands, accurate and capable of working to the millionth of a degree. Although we do have a lot of support, as with anything new we also have a lot of detractors, people who say that government money would be better spent on more nurses and doctors; hence my concern to ensure that our backers aren’t frightened off. With my computer games division demoted to second place those who are against what we’re working on will be quick to use it to hold up the flow of funds we need to complete the development.’

  For a moment Cassie was awed by what he had told her. Her own skill was something she took for granted; the large revenues it brought her in still sometimes overwhelming, but when all was said and done they were merely games. She felt humbled by what she had just heard and resentful of feeling humbled at the same time.

  ‘Joel…’ It was the first time she had ever used his name and she caught the faint flutter of surprise crossing his face. ‘I’ve changed my mind,’ she told him quickly, ‘I will let you take over Cassietronics.’

  She was completely sincere in what she had said, believing that what he was working on was far more important than her own dislike of him, but the look on his face turned her humility to anger as he mocked tauntingly, ‘That soft, womanly approach has been tried on me by experts, Cassie, and without success. I learned one thing very young and that one thing was never trust a female. For all that you dress like a drab little sparrow you’re still a member of the female sex. Oh no, my dear, that won’t work. I do have the intelligence to realise what you’re up to you know. I turn round and drive you back to your office and the moment I leave you, it’s straight to Peter Williams… No… There really is no other way.’

  ‘You mean you’re prepared to sacrifice your freedom; to marry a plain drab little sparrow purely for altruistic love of your fellow man?’ Cassie flung at him bitterly, anger seeping through her as she came up against the brick wall of his masculine contempt for her sex. Who had taught him not to trust women she wondered and then dismissed the thought as a weakness she shouldn’t encourage. She didn’t want to know anything about this dark, powerful man. Already he had invaded her life to an extent that made her afraid; the less she knew about him personally, the safer she would be.

  ‘It will be a marriage on paper only,’ he replied coolly, ‘lasting perhaps only six months if things go according to plan. And as for giving up my freedom…’ His glance mocked her. ‘Why on earth should I do that? Unless of course you’re trying to tell me that you’re prepared to share your body with me as well as your company.’

  Colour flared hotly in Cassie’s face as she heard his comment. He was making fun of her she thought bitterly. She knew how little he would want a woman like her; a woman who was neither attractive nor witty; a woman who was still really an inexperienced adolescent, far too unattractive to have ever caught his eye, if he hadn’t wanted her company.

  ‘I promise you I’d be a far better lover than Peter Williams…’ The soft, dulcet promise behind the words made Cassie’s anger burn hotter. He was playing with her, tormenting her all the time knowing that she was the last woman he would want in his bed.

  ‘Technically perhaps,’ Cassie agreed, marvelling at the cool derision she had managed to inject into her voice. The look of slight surprise dawning in the dark blue eyes as they studied her gave her the encouragement to go on, ‘But I happen to…’

  ‘Love Williams?’ Joel interrupted for her. ‘Why? Because he spared you a few kisses and caresses, and for all your brave talk my dear, I doubt it’s gone beyond that. You have about you a look of cool purity that I don’t believe is assumed. Does the cold virgin you’ve locked away behind the walls of your intelligence ever rebel, Cassie? Doesn’t she ever long to give herself freely and wholeheartedly to the heat of passion?’

  His words, edged with scorn as they were, reminded Cassie of all the cruel barbs she had endured as an adolescent, almost without being aware of it she retreated mentally from him, escaping into that small corner of herself she kept hidden from the world. A look of cool dismissal informed the hazel wariness of her eyes, her body composed and outwardly relaxed as she said lightly, ‘You’re free to make whatever assumptions about me you wish—just as I’m free not to respond to them. I conceded that you’ve been very clever; that unless I want to destroy everything I’ve worked for I have to go along with your plans; to agree to this marriage, but I have no
intention of living with you as your wife.’

  ‘Not in the fullest sense of the word perhaps,’ he agreed, startling her, ‘but I certainly intend that our marriage is seen to be completely normal for its brief duration.’

  Cassie was stunned enough to demand huskily, ‘But why? You can’t possibly want…’

  ‘What I don’t want,’ he said ruthlessly cutting off her words, ‘is to become the butt of every City joke there is, and if you’re wise you’ll share my feelings. I’ll tell the press that it was a whirlwind romance—they already know I want to take over Cassietronics; romantically inclined as they are it will be an easy step for them to believe our romance began when I approached you with my takeover bid.’

  ‘And in six months’ time when the marriage is over?’ Why oh why did her voice sound so husky, so hurting somehow, as though already she dreaded the ending that was to come?

  ‘We’ll say it didn’t work out,’ he shrugged. ‘We’ll face that when we come to it…’

  ‘And all your…’ Cassie’s upper lip curled slightly in distaste, ‘women friends… Will they honestly believe that you preferred a drab little sparrow like me to them?’

  ‘What they believe isn’t important,’ he told her carelessly, with a monumental display of arrogance. His expression changed as he added curtly, ‘You seem to take a perverse delight in running yourself down. Why I wonder? A defensive mechanism perhaps, doing it before anyone else can do it for you?’

  He saw too much; came too close to the truth. Desperate to change the subject before he probed any deeper she blurted out, ‘And once we are married? Where will we live… W…’

  ‘I shall continue to live in London—I have an apartment there.’ He frowned, and Cassie wondered what he was thinking. Of the pleasures he would have to give up for the six months’ duration of their marriage? When he next spoke his words shocked her into bitter anger; betraying as they did how far his ideas of how their marriage would work differed from hers.