“I hope you’re not saying so just because he’s so bello.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Penny jumped at the sound of Luke’s voice behind her. She stood up to greet him and tripped over her own feet. Luke caught her hands in his and stopped her from falling.
“Thank you,” she said as her cheeks bloomed scarlet.
Luke grinned. “Are you always this clumsy, Penny?” he asked, his voice low and husky. Penny swallowed hard. The feel of her hands in his was near electric. She jammed her brain back into gear.
“Only when I’m trying to impress someone,” she quipped as though she wasn’t as nervous as hell to be this close to him again, as though she didn’t want to taste his wide, masculine mouth again. Luke looked away from her to the table and dropped her hands.
“I apologise for my tardiness, folks,” he said as he addressed the meeting.
“Everyone, this is Luke Hardcastle, our new landlord. Luke asked us here tonight to discuss our tenancy agreements. Luke?”
“Thank you, Penny,” he said as she sat down. “I just wanted to meet everyone tonight and get to know a little about each of you and your businesses. Now, I’ve had new tenancy agreements drawn up that I would like everyone to look at, and please, feel free to discuss them with your family, your solicitors, et cetera, before signing them. If you have any concerns regarding any part of the agreements, please come and speak with me directly, but I think you will find everything in order. I’d also like to thank Signora Campioni for hosting this evening’s meeting. Grazie, signora.”
Angie nodded at Luke in acknowledgement and then clapped her hands loudly. “Marcos, Lei ora servirà cena e vino, grazie.”
Angie’s son Marcos moved quickly to the kitchen door and repeated the order for dinner and wine to be served. Within moments the table was heavily laden with pasta and crusty bread and bottles of Italian wine. “Buon appetite!”
Luke moved to an empty chair and sat down to enjoy the meal. Penny was quietly impressed by the way he spoke to everyone throughout the evening. There was no condescension, no arrogance, just a relaxed man having a chat with new friends. He was the Luke Hardcastle she’d admired in the past, the man she’d dreamed of from afar, the man she had always wanted, but always knew she could never have.
He was so far out of her league.
“I take it back, amica. He’s no bello,” Angie told her later.
“No?” Penny asked with a raised brow.
“No. He’s magnifico, and so provocante, so sexy. And did you know he lived in Italia for two years?”
“I know.”
“He would be a good match for you, I think,” she said with a knowing smile.
“Don’t even go there, Angie. I’m not his type.”
“Not his type! Bah! You are bella donna and he is blind if he cannot see it.”
Penny blushed. “He only dates models, Angie.”
“Then he is stupido! A big man like him needs a real woman, not some puttana that’s had her backside injected into her lips.”
Penny almost choked on the bread she was eating and quickly washed it down with some wine. “Even if that were the case, Luke is not the biggest Royale fan. You know he and my aunt have had dealings in the past, and not pleasant ones at that. Trust me, Angie, let this one go.”
The older woman sighed heavily. “Very well, amica.”
Luke sat down beside Penny and reached across her for one of the small pastries that had been brought to the table with coffee.
“I need to speak with you privately. Can we go to your shop when we’re done here?”
Penny nodded. Luke’s request was whispered in her ear and his breath was warm, his voice, too. Her heart skittered with excitement, and once again she had to remind herself that he was not her secret lover; he was blackmailing her for personal vengeance.
“Of course. We should be finished here soon.”
A little while later everyone started to leave. Penny made good her escape without any more comments from Angie, but Luke was not as lucky. She smirked as she watched him from the doorway as he was kissed repeatedly on both cheeks. His backside got thoroughly pinched too. He seemed to take it all in good fun and chuckled most of the way to Penny’s shop.
“Angie’s a gem,” he said.
“Angie’s a saint. But you should be thankful she doesn’t have any daughters or you’d be married by the end of the week.”
Luke laughed as he followed Penny inside. “Actually, she did offer to find me a wife, said she knew someone who’d be perfect for me.”
Penny stilled and as she opened her office door and flicked on the light, her heart hammering in her suddenly tight chest. She swallowed hard. “Did she mention names?” she asked in what she hoped was a neutral voice.
“No,” Luke lied.
Angie had actually told him unequivocally, “You must marry Penny! She is bella donna, si? Penny, she give you molti bambini. She is buona donna, is very sweet.”
“Dolce come miele,” Luke had replied. Sweet like honey.
Luke had watched Penny throughout most of dinner and apparently Angie had noticed. But how could he not have watched her? Her laugh was infectious, her perfume intoxicating, and her eating habits—
Oh, how he’d enjoyed watching the woman eat!
Her beautiful pout covered in pasta sauce one moment, being licked clean with the tip of her sensual pink tongue the next. When she dipped her bread in the sauce at the end of the meal, it had dribbled over her fingers and she had licked them clean, had sucked each finger into her mouth between those rosy lips and slowly slid them out again.
By the time Luke had finished envisioning those luscious lips giving his cock the same treatment he’d stiffened to the point of pain, and almost drove a fork into his leg just to distract himself from his salacious thoughts.
But now he was alone with her and his cock was stiffening again as the memory of her eating one of those sticky pastries invaded his mind’s eye. He forced himself to concentrate on the business at hand. She was a Royale. She was the enemy. He should not be thinking about the kiss they’d shared or how good she’d felt in his arms, how good she would feel laid out beneath him in his bed as he satisfied his lust over and over again—
Besides, she didn’t want him touching her anyway. Penny had made that blindingly clear when she’d confronted him in his office. She would not be selling herself as a part of their deal.
Fine. He didn’t need the complication anyway. And he could ignore the fact that he wanted the complication.
At least, he could try.
Luke watched Penny sit down and look at him expectantly, and braced himself for a storm. He was about to tell her what he wanted her to do, and he knew she wasn’t going to like it.
Chapter Five
“I’d rather give you my shop!”
Luke folded his arms over his chest and stared her down. “No, you wouldn’t, Penny. Stop trying to pretend this old place doesn’t mean anything to you. I know how much you love it. Why do you think I bought it?”
“How long have been planning this?” she asked carefully.
“Ever since your aunt hurt my sister.”
“Eighteen months?”
“It took a while for an opportunity to present itself, but just because you disappeared from Royale Industries doesn’t mean you dropped off my radar.”
“You’ve been watching me?”
“Yes.”
“For eighteen months?”
For ten years. “Yes.”
“Then you know why I can’t do it.”
“You can and you will, Penny. This is not negotiable.”
“Don’t make me do this, Luke. Please.”
The completely devastated look on Penny’s face almost made Luke change his mind. Almost. But he’d waited too long for this. He needed revenge on the Royale women, both Selina and Penny, for what they did to his family. Luke could think of no better way t
o accomplish that goal where Penny was concerned than by making her do something she really, really didn’t want to do.
He would make her reconcile with Selina.
“I want you back in her good graces so you can spy on her for me.”
“Yes, I get that, thank you, I’m not an idiot! But don’t you have people who can plant listening devices in her office or something? Why the hell do I have talk to her?”
“For starters, listening devices are illegal, but more to the point, they can’t direct a conversation, which is what I’ll need you to do if you’re going to make her confess her crimes.”
“This is too much, Luke. I’m not doing it.”
“Yes, you are,” he said softly.
“No!”
“You want some added incentive?” Luke asked coolly. “How about your house?”
Penny froze. “What about my house?”
“Do this for me and I’ll pay off your house.”
Penny’s jaw fell. He was offering to pay out her mortgage if she willingly spied on her aunt? That was unexpected. Any profit she made from the shop would be hers to do with as she wished. The funny thing was that Penny actually didn’t have a problem with spying on Selina. How many times had she daydreamed about sticking it to her sadistic aunt and her depraved ways? She just hated the fact that she would have to speak to the evil, conniving bitch. Selina had had no qualms about kicking Penny to the curb, just like the newspapers had had no problem reporting what happened at the time.
Royale Rift, the headlines had read.
Eighteen months later and the only redeeming factor of that whole portion of her life was that she found out exactly how strong she was when she needed to be.
She needed to be strong now.
“No, Luke. I can’t do it.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Take your pick,” she said trying to sound as unaffected as Luke.
“Fine, then try this on for size. Instead of paying off your house, I’ll buy out your mortgage. I’ll own your shop and your home.”
Now that was more like it. Penny fought hard to keep her temper in check. “You’re a bastard, Hardcastle.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked calmly.
Penny glared at him, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll leave the details of your reunion up to you. You know best how to go about luring her out from under her rock. Just be sure to keep me informed. I want you to make contact with Selina by the end of the week. Agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need a lift home?”
“Not from you,” Penny gritted out.
Luke sighed so quietly Penny barely heard it. The hard lines of his face softened and his golden eyes glowed with warmth, a warmth that was completely at odds with the conversation they’d just had.
“I’m not letting you take the bus at this time of night. Come on, my car is out front.”
Luke said the words with such tenderness in his voice that Penny couldn’t fight him anymore. She felt very tired all of a sudden and simply let him take her hand. Her thoughts and emotions were chaotic at best and she was barely able to put one foot in front of the other.
Penny was so lost in her thoughts that she was standing on the footpath before she knew it, with Luke behind her locking the door and pulling down the security screen. Then she felt his jacket being draped over her shoulders. The lingering warmth of his body permeated hers, his musky male scent filled her nostrils and she had to repress a moan of desire.
So much for being strong, she thought.
* * * *
Luke helped Penny into his car and drove her home. They sat in silence the entire way, Luke fighting his own inner battle on the journey. He hated what he was doing to Penny and he hated himself for feeling that way. This was business, she was a Royale, and she deserved what she got.
The only problem was that Luke was attracted to her. More than attracted—
When Penny was a kid she wasn’t much to look at, but when she became a teenager her skinny body had blossomed into womanhood. Before long Penny had curves that could turn a man’s head twice. Not that she’d noticed. Luke doubted she would have known what to do with a compliment if she ever got one, which he guessed she never did, remembering her sheer lack of confidence.
She’d always looked so damned vulnerable. She’d slumped when she walked and shuffled her feet, but Luke had seen the other side of Penny Royale, the side he guessed few knew existed. And he still remembered the exact day he saw that other side—the sexy side.
Penny was sixteen. She was walking along the footpath outside the Royale Industries building drinking a Coke, just as she did every day after school. Luke’s office overlooked the street then, not the Brisbane River. He’d seen her dark green blazer and cream straw hat with its fluttering green ribbon moving through the four o’clock crowds, and he saw her stop outside the entrance to Royale Industries. Penny had put her school bag and drink on the ground and crouched down to retie her shoelace. A strong and sudden wind had blown her hat off and her long chestnut brown hair had whipped around her face. She knocked over the Coke as she lunged for her hat and it splashed her blazer.
Luke had chuckled as he’d watched her. She was such a klutz. Penny had removed her blazer and stuffed it in her bag, then turned into the wind so her hair was blown back from her face. Then Luke saw what would catch his eye to this very day.
Her breasts.
Penny had tossed her head back and proceeded to tie up her hair, the natural action of which thrust her chest forward and outlined her figure to Luke’s hungry eyes. Her school uniform had been pulled tight across her voluptuous chest and the wind had moulded the green and white striped fabric to every other luscious curve of her body. Her womanly hips, the soft round of her belly, her long, shapely thighs—Luke’s cock had sprung to life as he’d watched her, and then he’d chastised himself for having such lustful thoughts about a sixteen-year-old girl.
The Penny sitting in the passenger seat now was a very different woman. This Penny had confidence. This Penny walked tall and proud. This Penny wasn’t afraid to say no. But she still blushed, she still had a certain vulnerability about her, and that had always appealed to him.
Luke pulled up in front of her house and walked her to her door. He watched her fish her keys from her pocket, watched her slot the key in the lock, and he couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time he’d been here. He’d given in to temptation and kissed her. And she’d kissed him back.
“Who are you?”
The inquiry jolted Luke from his thoughts and made him frown. “What do you mean?”
“You threaten me with financial ruin one moment and walk me to my door the next. You’re all easy and charming in public but snide and hurtful when we’re alone. So I ask you, who are you, Luke Hardcastle?”
Luke opened Penny’s door and gestured for her to enter her house, but he stayed firmly planted on the veranda. He wasn’t willing to take the chance of losing control again and doing more than just kiss her.
“I’m the man who protects what’s his, and whether you like it or not, Penny Royale, for the time being, you’re mine.”
Penny scoffed at that. “You may own my shop, mate, but that’s just bricks and mortar. You do not own me!”
Luke lowered his gaze to Penny’s mouth. Her lips formed a perfectly defiant and kissable pout. He stepped forward into the doorway and reached around her to grab the doorknob.
“You are mine, Penny, and you’re going to behave and do what you’re told, because you know what will happen if you don’t.”
“And here I was thinking you’d be out of your depths with these sorts of tactics,” she said softly. “It seems I was wrong. This isn’t unchartered territory for you after all, is it?”
Luke grimaced. “Maybe I’m just a fast learner.”
“Or maybe you’re not the man I thought you were.”
“Fire with fire, Penny,” he breathed as
his lips glanced over hers.
Penny jumped at the fleeting touch, then her door was suddenly closed with her on one side and Luke on the other. She leaned back against the door and let out a ragged sigh. She jerked forward as the door suddenly opened again, and Luke poked his head around the corner.
“My jacket,” he said stiffly.
“What?”
“You’re still wearing my jacket.”
“Oh!” Penny quickly shucked the jacket off her shoulders and handed it to Luke, who slung it over his arm. He lingered for a moment in the doorway as Penny stared expectantly at him. She licked her lips in anticipation, wondering if he was going to kiss her again. Hoping...
“Well, goodnight,” he said finally, and he was gone again. Penny locked the door and kicked off her shoes.
Why did she always feel like such an idiot around that man?
* * * *
Luke sat on his couch with his face pressed into his jacket and his hand fisted around his cock. He could smell her. Penny’s perfume lingered in the lining of his jacket and it was intoxicating.
What was it about this woman? She drove him to distraction, constantly invading his thoughts with her curvy body and luscious pout. He’d thought he’d gotten over this particular obsession.
Obviously not.
Luke had always known who Penny was, before and after she’d taken over his fantasies. But he’d never really seen her as a woman in her own right. She was always just Selina Royale’s niece, or PennyRoyale of Royale Industries. There was always something to ensure he kept his distance from her. Always something to ensure he’d never see her as just Penny.
Doubts resurfaced in Luke’s mind. This thing he was doing he was doing to just Penny. Sweet, intelligent, beautiful Penny.
And what the hell had he been thinking almost kissing her again? Thinking? That was a joke. So much blood had drained from his head to sustain his near constant erection throughout the evening he was amazed he’d been able to form a coherent sentence. He’d been on the edge of erupting in his pants all night.
He envisioned her again, standing in her doorway looking up at him with those uncertain blue-grey eyes and that delicious mouth of hers. It would have been so easy to take her in his arms again, to waltz her down the hall to her bedroom, to strip that glorious body and fuck her senseless. Hell, he’d only wanted his jacket back was because he knew her perfume would be on it!
Revenge and Redemption Page 4
