by LeCoeur, Ami
High Stakes
SEDUCTION
- Book 3 -
Ami LeCoeur
PUBLISHED BY:
Career Life Press
Copyright © 2014
Ami LeCoeur
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior written consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is entirely coincidental. All names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and situations are either the product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real.
Release Schedule:
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4 - November 7, 2014
Book 5 - November 21, 2014
High Stakes Seduction
Book 3 - Summary
Angela is confused and frustrated by Antonio's distance. It's obvious he wants her - just as much as she wants him. When he backs off yet again, she discovers the truth about her feelings - a truth that will shape her destiny from this point forward.
But for Antonio, business is business. And this trip is no exception. Meetings and gambling, politicians and thugs take up too much of his free time. While it's obvious he has feelings for Angela, something is holding him back. How long can he struggle against his own feelings? And what will it take for Angela to discover the way into his heart?
* * *
ANGELA
"Meet me at the Lido bar for lunch about 11:30. We can discuss our shore plans. –A"
I found the note taped to the mini-bar after I left my bedroom. I’d woken up to an empty cabin on this "morning after", but no surprises there. I groaned and my stomach clenched as I remembered how I’d stripped down naked and danced under the moonlight for Antonio last night.
Me. Little Miss Straight-And-Narrow. Dancing naked in front of a man, and not just any man but the most important man in my life… Antonio Mancini… fashion mogul, big shot, gambler… benefactor… and my boss. The man who makes me angry, the man who scares me with his secrets, the man who causes the breath to catch in my throat. I'd agreed to this trip in exchange for him taking care of my sister's operation. After what I'd gone through last night, I knew better. Maria was just an excuse—I’d agreed to this trip for me. But even that knowledge didn't change the fact it wasn’t turning out the way I hoped.
I worried my lip as I thought back to last night. I was certainly no stage dancer, and in spite of my nervousness, I thought I’d done a pretty good job. The hungry look in his eyes told me he'd liked what he saw; his hard erection was further evidence still. I know I affect him as much as he affects me. Yet, once again, he turned me down and shut me out.
I still wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong. Had I been too brazen? After all I’d pretty literally thrown myself, my sex, at him, and he'd walked away. Again. The mortification I’d felt in that moment washed over me again. The way his eyes looked when he told me to get dressed, even as his pants continued to tent from his desire. Antonio was a walking contradiction and I was proving to be unworthy of ever figuring him out.
After he’d gone, I'd relived it all—the attraction, the contradictions, the questions. I'd dug into every corner of my own soul, looking for answers—the pieces of the puzzle that explained why I was still so attracted to this man—wanting to understand, or find a way to at least come to peace with it all.
I smiled briefly as that sense of peace washed over me again. But last night I'd cried myself to sleep, knowing my eyes would be puffy and red this morning. Even after I'd come to my decision, the shame and rejection I'd felt needed to leak out or I would've surely exploded. My sodden pillow had captured it all.
And now, I was especially grateful we had separate bedrooms. I'd awakened with no idea how I could face him—with or without the puffy eyes. Luckily, it seemed I had a couple of hours to compose myself and, prepare to live down the embarrassment.
Undoubtedly he was in one of his interminable meetings. At least his note sounded like it was all business as usual. But this time it worked to my benefit and I took advantage of the extra little edge it gave me.
I took a quick look in the mirror, stretching as I surveyed the damage. Hm, not as bad as expected. I could probably repair it in about thirty minutes with some ice cubes and a cold compress. I grabbed a couple of cubes from the refrigerator and poked my toes into the golden rays of sunlight that cascaded through the sliding glass door, wishing the warmth would seep through my skin. But I felt cold. Numb. As if I was immersed in a bucket of ice water. Even though I was looking forward to sitting in the sun, I doubted it would warm me up much. But it would give me some time to think.
One thing I knew for certain was that I wanted Antonio Mancini, maybe more than I'd wanted anyone or anything before. And I knew he wanted me. One plus one normally equaled two. But it didn’t, not this time. I had no idea what Antonio was thinking. One moment he was friendly and warm, acting as though he was totally into me. The next moment he was pushing me away, or even turning his back on me.
Everything up til the time we came onboard had led me to believe I was there as a… a paid escort. But I had accepted the proposition and no matter how much it pushed the boundaries of what I considered my morality to be, it was an answer to how to get the money for Maria.
Only, for some reason, it hadn't turned out that way at all. Instead of wanting to be with me, he'd spent his time in meetings or at the gambling tables.
Was gambling the problem? Why did everything come back to that? Dad’s gambling addiction had led me to Antonio in the first place. And now, here I was, wrapped up in—whatever it was that Antonio was involved in.
I sighed, stretching my arms over my head, enjoying the warmth and finally thawing out a little inside. He'd left me the note, and it didn't sound too angry. I just wished I could figure this man out. I pulled off the compress and swung my legs over the edge of the lounge chair.
Time to stop thinking about Antonio. I'd be meeting him soon enough. My stomach growled and I decided to go find some coffee.
Chapter One
After grabbing a quick breakfast, I made my way to the top deck to enjoy the view. I had hoped to get some shots of the sun hovering over the horizon and maybe an island in the distance, but I kept getting distracted by the people around me. Or rather, by the couples around me.
I noticed one couple, their lounge chairs close together. She leaned toward him, reading her book aloud, the two of them laughed as she shared the passages. A few other couples sat playing cards at tables. A few walked hand-in-hand along the deck.
I surreptitiously captured a few of them. Their smiling faces. Their adoring looks. I felt a little awkward; as though I was intruding on their private moments, but I couldn’t help admiring the obvious enjoyment they shared with each other. Their quiet moments of joy warmed my heart, even if it made me feel a certain longing about my own situation. But I put that out of my mind. I was here to enjoy the morning, not re-live the parts of my life that I didn't have much control over.
***
"Angela."
I almost dropped my camera when I heard Antonio’s voice behind me. I gathered my wits and composed myself. "Good morning," I said, glancing back at him.
The sun shone over his shoulder, making his warm, bronze skin almost shimmer. His ebony hair glistened. And his eyes. Oh god, his dark, mesmerizing eyes and those soft, sexy lips. Lips that gave me that knowing smile and made me realize I was staring.
I wanted to kick myself for m
aking it so easy for him.
"Morning?" he said with a chuckle. "Got caught up in your photography it seems." He pointed up at the sun, high in the sky. My stomach rumbled to emphasize the point. "Let’s go get a bite to eat," he smiled.
***
I was hungry, but I only managed to push most of my salad around on my plate as Antonio attempted to make small talk with me. I didn’t know what to say to him. "Why didn’t you want to sleep with me after I tried to seduce you?" didn’t seem like an appropriate question over lunch.
"I won’t be able to join you in Tobago," Antonio said, breaking into my thoughts.
I blinked at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"Something came up—I have to take care of it today. So, I'm sorry, but I won’t be able to join you on the island," he explained, as though I hadn’t heard this excuse before.
I shook my head and pushed my plate away. Now I had definitely lost my appetite and even those dazzling eyes couldn’t bring me around this time. At least, as long as I avoided gazing into them. "It doesn’t matter," I muttered. "I’m used to it."
I didn’t look to see, but my response seemed to catch him off guard.
"Angela."
I tried to pull my hand away before he could reach across the table for it, but a moment later, shivers were running up my arm, as he gently caressed my fingers.
"Angela, I’m so sorry," he said. "This hasn’t been working the way I planned."
Despite my better judgment, I raised my eyes to meet his and was immediately lost. "You had a plan?" I managed to ask.
He stared at me for a moment and his mouth twitched as if he was about to say something, but then he pulled his hand away and shook his head, freeing me from his gaze. "I’m sorry, Angela," he said again.
He seemed genuinely distressed, and for a moment I wanted to reach for him. But I stopped myself and sat there, waiting for him to continue.
"Sorry for what, Antonio?" What did he feel sorry for? Was this an apology for last night? For ignoring me? For playing hot and cold this entire trip? Or was this just another ploy in some game I didn't understand?
"Look. I know this can't be a lot of fun by yourself. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow," he said, raising his head and meeting my eyes. I saw that mischievous glint he sometimes had, and that little smile tugging at the corner of his perfect lips. "I have something special planned for tomorrow," he said smoothly. "I think you’ll like it."
Then he glanced at his watch, cursing softly under his breath. My shoulders sagged a little as I watched his face. The reserved Antonio I knew was back again; his confident, in control mask carefully slid back in place.
Somehow, I hadn't been terribly surprised when he told me he had a meeting. After all, by now I was used to being dismissed. Watching those long, powerful legs stride away across the deck, I realized with a small gasp that he hadn't said a word about the night before. Not a single word. No hint, no tease, no admonition. Nothing.
I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I knew I should be relieved, but then, why did it hurt? Was I hoping for some kind of acknowledgement? I shivered. I'd seen his eyes glint in the moonlight last night. In any normal situation, that should have been acknowledgement enough.
Chapter Two
Even though I’d had a wonderful time in St. Lucia—in spite of the accident that caused our group to miss the ship before it sailed--I was still anxious, not wanting to leave the ship by myself. I'd certainly appreciated the two days in a five-star hotel at the tour company's expense, but it was still a little too recent, and I certainly didn’t want to go through the ordeal again. Besides, Tobago was a short stop, only a few hours.
So I convinced myself that this island probably looked just the same as all the others. Then I smiled, I knew our St. Lucian tour guide, Damian, would have been deeply offended to hear me say that, and would have probably come up with one of his wonderful songs to explain how wrong I was.
Then I was struck with guilt. I knew I should go scout some potential locations for our shoot, but surely Antonio would understand if I didn't go looking here? Maybe if I got things set up with Carlo and Poula instead. That could be my excuse—a way for me to justify staying onboard.
But first, I headed towards the pool deck, intending to enjoy the sunshine, and get in a quick and refreshing dip. The weather was so perfect. I didn’t even need to towel off, letting the warm breeze do the work for me. It wasn't long before I threw on my sun dress and picked up my camera again.
I wandered the deck, taking random shots of the people still onboard enjoying themselves. It was sparse, with most of the passengers out on the island for a few hours.
Over by the shuffleboard games a small group of men stood chatting. They were all dressed in typical cruise attire—shorts, button down shirts—yet somehow they didn’t quite seem to fit with the rest of the typically cheerful and relaxed crowd. Despite their attire, and even though they were actually playing the game, they somehow seemed intense, isolated, out of touch with everything around them.
I watched them for a while, noticing the deference they all gave to one man in particular, He was solemn and quite distinguished looking. Something about him was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. The grouping made for a really interesting juxtaposition as I peered through the lens.
I suddenly felt conspicuous—peering at them through my camera. I decided that was enough and headed back to our suite to see what I could set up for our trip to Europe.
***
Later, emails sent and travel agents contacted, I wandered through the lobby in search of something to keep me busy. I was surprised to notice Antonio deep in conversation with a couple of the men from the shuffleboard game. I watched for a few minutes while standing back, out of the way, so I wouldn't be seen.
If this was, indeed, a business trip and I was his… associate, why wasn’t he introducing me to these people? Something about these men made me uneasy. It brought back that strange investors meeting he’d asked me to attend shortly before we’d left on this cruise. He’d asked my opinion about those businessmen, but they'd all seemed rather shady to me. He'd smiled when I gave him my opinion, but maybe he hadn’t liked what I had to say. Was he concerned that I might say the wrong thing in whatever business dealings he was having with these men?
Well, if sex wasn't the reason -which didn’t appear to be the case -and business dealings weren't the reason, then why bother to invite me on this trip at all?
Chapter Three
"Ange, what’s wrong?" Maria demanded, cutting through the small talk on our Skype call.
Much to my increasing guilt, I’d done a pretty good job of pretending that everything was going wonderfully with Antonio and me, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. My big sister knew me better than anyone in the world. She could always tell when I was hiding something. She had an uncanny ability to see right through me.
"You’re not happy, are you," she asked, peering at me with narrowed eyes. "Have you and Antonio had a fight? Or something?"
Actually, I think he’s involved with the Mafia and has spent the entire trip either gambling or meeting up with shady businessmen. And every time things start to get hot and heavy between us, he suddenly backs off like I’m an evil witch out to suck his soul away.
"Or something," I managed, stifling my true thoughts.
Maria frowned at me.
"I don’t know, Maria," I said, letting my shoulders sag with the weight of it all. I didn't want to tell her the truth about working for Antonio to pay off our debts, let alone coming on this trip as a way to pay for her surgery. She’d be so mad at me. But maybe it would help get some of the confusion and anxiety off my chest.
"He’s spent most of the trip gambling. I hardly see him. It’s starting to feel just like Dad all over again. And when I do see him, things are—well I don’t even know. He seems totally into me one minute, then the next minute, it’s like there’s something holding him back, like
maybe there's something wrong with me. I’m not sure what to do."
Maria shrugged. "Be yourself," she said simply.
"Well gee, I hadn’t thought of that," I said with an exaggerated frown.
Maria waved away my sarcastic comment and laughed. "Ange," she said in her big sisterly tone. "You are the smartest woman I know. And you’re drop dead gorgeous. If your tall, dark and handsome is having trouble making up his mind about you, then take it into your own hands. Put on something really sexy, put your hair up the way he likes it, and go for it!"
I stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say. Was it really so simple? That was what I thought I’d been trying to do. Sort of. At least that was my intent. Maybe I wasn’t being as persuasive or straightforward as I could be.
I kept telling myself he was the one who'd been pulling back. But then, in my nervousness to please, I’d also been holding back. Oh, I didn’t need to be as domineering as that Naomi woman who had hung on him at the charity art event, but I could certainly be more assertive. Even with a man who seemed to thrive on being the one always in control.
Maybe that was just it. Antonio spent every waking hour in control of everything. Maybe what he really needed was a woman who would be a match for him.
Am I strong enough to be that woman? I shivered, thinking delicious thoughts of taking the reins from him.
"Well?" Maria's voice pulled me back. "What do you say, Sis?"
A big smile spread across my face. Yes, I could put more strategic effort into this. I'd seen other women curl a man around their finger. With a little bit of planning, I could be that kind of woman. I'd already made up my mind about what I wanted. All I had to do was figure out how to make sure he didn't have a chance to undermine my plans. "You’re right, Sis. It’s time for me to take back control of my own destiny."
