The Notorious Gabriel DiazRuthless Tycoon, Inexperienced Mistress

by Cathy Williams

  ‘That’s an outrageous question!’

  ‘No, it’s not.’ Lucy dug in her heels and stared down at the kitchen counter. She was grasping the stem of her wine glass so tightly that it might shatter. ‘It’s a perfectly normal question, Gabriel, and you’re blind if you don’t see that.’

  She raised troubled deep-green eyes to him and he was skewered to the spot. How dare she question his integrity? He absolutely refused to be buttonholed into an explanation about nothing!

  ‘We’re supposed to be going out together…’ Lucy forged ahead in the face of his ominous silence. ‘And yet you can’t even tell me who that woman is—or else you won’t…’

  ‘I refuse to explain myself and that’s the end of the matter.’

  ‘Does that mean that you’d prefer not to have an exclusive relationship?’

  ‘No comment.’

  ‘In other words you wouldn’t mind if I decided to see someone on the side? You wouldn’t mind if you discovered that I’d been seeing someone on the side all along? While we’ve been sleeping together? You’d think that was perfectly all right?’

  ‘Are you?’ Gabriel asked in a dangerously soft voice. He was not prepared to yield on this matter even though he was well aware of his double standards—because if he ever found out that she had been playing around behind his back…

  ‘If you can’t be open and honest and straightforward with me, then why should I be open and honest and straightforward with you?’

  ‘You knew the kind of man I was before we got into this.’ Gabriel raked his fingers through his hair and glowered darkly at her. ‘No ties—and that includes not having to justify what I do or don’t do. That said, I’m prepared to tell you that the woman in the pictures is just someone I met there. She decided to follow me around, which I found frankly irritating.’

  Lucy released a long sigh of relief. But now her thoughts had started moving in another direction, and once embarked on that course they were running wildly out of control.

  So he didn’t know that woman, and they hadn’t slept together. But for him nothing had changed from that very first time they had made love. Emotionally, he had progressed no further—while she had fallen hopelessly in love with him. Seeing him in those shots had brought that home to her very clearly indeed. No ties, no silly dreams. She’d known what she was getting into. With those words he had intended to make it obvious where he stood on her getting any more ideas about questioning his movements.

  ‘So, are we all done with this?’

  Lucy shrugged even while she continued to labour the point furiously in her head.

  ‘And I’m taking it that all that nonsense about other men was just your emotions talking…?’

  ‘Yes. I suppose so.’

  Gabriel looked at her narrowly. I suppose so? What the hell did that mean? Truthfully, though, he knew that she would never fool around behind his back, and he was reluctant to prolong the conversation now that the flashpoint had been averted. In future he would try to be a bit more revealing about what he did from one day to the next. It was a small thing, and it would stop this sort of situation arising again.

  ‘So…dinner in?’

  He was back to normal, but Lucy had little appetite for the fabulous meal that was delivered to the door forty-five minutes later. She picked at her sea bass and asked him about the art show—what he had seen, who had been there.

  ‘Next time come with me.’ Gabriel had noted her lack of appetite and was prepared to make more concessions. ‘You can discover first-hand how deadly some of these things can be.’

  ‘Not my thing. Besides, getting time off work would be difficult.’

  ‘They never give you holidays?’ He idly wondered whether it might be a good idea to take her somewhere on holiday. Somewhere hot. Maybe over the Christmas period.

  They never spoke about her parents. He had issued a blanket ban on that thorny subject, which could only lead to pointless disagreement, but was she close to them? Would she want to spend Christmas with them? Was that possible? Surely not… After all, what sort of parents gave their daughter the go-ahead to sleep with a man for the sake of a bail-out? Not that he was complaining. She had exceeded expectations when it came to pleasing him. Time was passing and so far the usual stirrings of restlessness that afflicted all his relationships with women were noticeably absent. That said something.

  ‘I would never fit in to those sorts of things, Gabriel. I’m not interested in networking with celebrities and important people I don’t know. Life is much safer with my plants.’

  ‘Safer doesn’t necessarily mean better.’ Gabriel was irritated by her contrary stance. She was usually so obliging, but she had obviously got a bee in her bonnet over the whole art show debacle and was taking her time to regain her easy humour.

  Safer means better for me…

  That realisation filled her with hot dismay. Not so long ago, when she had kidded herself that she was as nonchalant about their relationship as he was, she had been eager to throw herself into the exciting, dangerous world of being Gabriel Diaz’s mistress. She had felt as though for the first time she was really living.

  Now she was slowly realising that, like some of those wildly beautiful and exotic flowers in the hothouse, Gabriel came with thorns—and his were deadly.

  For once she wasn’t on red-hot alert for bed. She couldn’t face following that train of thought down to its inevitable conclusion so she kept the conversation going, finding more and more things to talk about, until Gabriel looked at her wryly and asked her if she thought she might run out of steam any time soon.

  ‘I can’t do this any longer, Gabriel.’ She was so shocked at what she had said that she put her hand over her mouth and felt her skin crawl with discomfort.

  ‘Do what? Carry on talking? Then let’s go to bed.’ He knew it was not what she meant, but he deliberately pretended to misunderstand as an antidote to the sudden flare of panic that had left him feeling a little sick.

  ‘I think we should call it a day.’

  ‘Because of a bloody art show? I told you—I don’t even know who that woman was. Was it my fault that I couldn’t shake her?’ When she failed to respond he stood up and began pacing the kitchen. ‘You don’t mean this.’ He leaned over her, caging her in. ‘I know you don’t. I can see it in your eyes. I could take you right here, right now, if I put my mind to it.’

  ‘I’m sure you could,’ Lucy said shakily, ‘because I just lose control when I’m around you. But it wouldn’t mean that I’d change my mind. You’re not good for me.’

  ‘I’ve been faithful. I haven’t once thought of another woman!’

  ‘I’m really tired.’

  ‘You’re blowing one lousy art show out of all proportion!’

  ‘Maybe, but I just want to go to sleep—and not with you. I’d rather sleep in one of the spare rooms.’ She suddenly knew that if he was next to her she would just give in again, because she was like an addict—weak. And what he offered was too powerful, too irresistible.

  Gabriel thought quickly. She was so rarely emotional. If she needed to sleep on her own—well, he would give her space. She would be fine in the morning. Forcing her to concede now how crazy she was being would most probably backfire on him, whereas she would wake up refreshed in the morning, they would make love, and things would be back on track.

  ‘Your choice.’ He hated the thought of it, and even giving in to her request was like swallowing acid.

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Just get a good night’s sleep,’ he said quickly, to dispel the finality he heard in her voice. ‘Things always look better in the morning, and you’ll realise that this is all nonsense. You have nothing to worry about. You’re the only woman I want.’

  He had to stop himself from physically barring her way as she walked towards the door. He had to tell himself firmly that he was way too disciplined to chase her—and besides, there was no need, because everything would be back to normal in the morning.<
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  CHAPTER SEVEN

  GABRIEL STARED OUT of his office window. He was unaware of what was happening outside. There could have been a carnival parade in the streets below for all he cared. Nor was he any more focused on what was happening in his own office. He was aware that he was functioning below par—that he had delegated too many meetings to his directors, had been mentally absent at those meetings he had attended.

  But the past four days had been tough.

  He still couldn’t believe that he had been dumped. Yes, Lucy had gone to sleep in a separate room and, yes, she hadn’t been in the best of moods, but it had still come as a sickening shock when the following morning, at a little after eight-thirty, he had opened the door to the guest room to find that she and her holdall were no longer in residence.

  He should have gone in earlier. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t been up. He shouldn’t have killed time having that shower, giving her a bit more space before he took back control of the situation. In fact, he shouldn’t have let her sleep in that guest room at all. If she had been at his side, in his bed where she belonged, she would never have walked out on him!

  Hard on the heels of all those frustrating thoughts came the bracing conviction that it was all for the best. All those questions about what he had been up to and with whom…they’d indicated a neediness he despised. He wasn’t in the market for being tied down! She had overstepped the boundaries. It was good that she was no longer around! He’d had a narrow escape from a woman who had become too demanding. He could move on now. The world was full of women!

  He buzzed Nicolette in and she entered with a distinctly wary expression.

  ‘I’ll be out for the rest of the day,’ Gabriel informed her as he began putting on the coat he had slung over his chair.

  ‘Any instructions?’

  ‘Yes—make sure I’m not disturbed.’

  ‘And what about your meeting with the lawyers from Martins?’

  Gabriel looked at her impassively. ‘Rearrange. Just make sure I get no calls. If some of these guys can’t handle emergencies in my absence then they don’t deserve the ludicrously over-inflated salaries they’re being paid.’

  ‘When will you be back?’ Nicolette hoped that he would take as long as he saw fit and return in less of a foul mood. Walking on eggshells was beginning to get trying.

  ‘I’ll be back when I’m back. I’ll pick up my voicemail and my emails but I’m counting on you to make sure no one gets through to me.’

  For the first time in four days Gabriel was beginning to feel good. Hell, he was well rid of any woman who started trying to tie him down, but damn if she was going to get away with leaving without an explanation that made sense! He’d treated her fairly, hadn’t he? More than fairly, in fact, and no one could deny that she had come with a price on her very pretty head. Had he forced her into a deal against her will? No. The second she had told him that she was a virgin he had been the perfect gentleman and had backed off, still sticking to his half of the bargain and bailing out her thieving father.

  It incensed him to think that his magnanimity had been repaid with her walking out on him without even so much as the courtesy of a note!

  It made complete sense that he should want to drive down to Somerset and demand a full explanation face-to-face…the explanation that she had obviously been too cowardly to provide when she had chosen to slink out of his house, out of his life, without a backward glance!

  There was a bounce in his step as he left the building half an hour later, and he was positively relaxed once in his car, with the radio on, his mobile switched off and his driver given the day off to do whatever he liked to do. Experiment with food, if Gabriel’s memory served him right.

  He had no intention of taking Lucy back, even if she begged. No, he would just demand an explanation for her irrational behaviour, give her a robust piece of his mind and then he would leave—although the thought of her begging was distinctly satisfying, and it pleasurably occupied his mind for a great deal of the journey.

  * * *

  Lucy locked her front door behind her with a sinking heart. She had dragged out her chores for as long as she possibly could, including walking Freddy. She had also cooked a dessert to take to her parents, and wasted time decorating it with pointless swirls of cream that she knew they would both scrape away for health reasons.

  But now she couldn’t put off the moment any longer. They had asked her over to dinner and there were things that needed to be said. Including…

  She glanced down at her finger, where the tawdry engagement ring she had purchased the weekend before gleamed accusingly in the darkness.

  It was only right and proper that a situation that had commenced in a welter of little white lies should end the same way.

  Her parents had been pleased when she had begun seeing Gabriel. It hadn’t crossed their minds that their relationship was one that was travelling down a one-way street, and she had been loath to break it to them. Why destroy their illusions? she had asked herself guiltily. Now, in retrospect, she could see that she had been nurturing a little seed of hope that had whispered Who knows? Maybe something will come of it…

  But over the past few weeks they had begun to express curiosity as to where it was all going. They had tactfully skirted round the acknowledgement that she was sleeping with him, but had suggested, with an equal amount of tact, that surely a decent, honourable man who was sleeping with their precious daughter would by now be showing some concrete sign that he was serious about the relationship….

  So she had got herself engaged.

  Lucy dithered in the cold and then took a deep breath as she began walking towards her car.

  Why had she told her parents that she was engaged? It had been just another crazy decision in a long line of crazy decisions that had begun the moment Gabriel Diaz had entered her life. But it had calmed their anxieties and that had been good—because Lucy lived with the constant unspoken dread that her mother might end back up in hospital if she became too stressed or anxious.

  Well, now she had to unengage herself, and she wasn’t looking forward to the process.

  She was about to climb into the driver’s seat when a car came pelting down the lane that led to her cottage.

  She could hardly make out the shape of it because the lane was quite unlit. It screeched to a halt, blocking her in, and her mouth fell open just as she was about to lay into whatever maniac was behind the wheel.

  Even in the dark it was impossible to miss Gabriel’s long, lean silhouette as he slung himself out of his sports car and strode towards her. He was danger personified and Lucy fell back, her mouth still inelegantly open in shock.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she whispered as he neared her.

  She had spent the past few days hoping and praying that he would chase her, and then hoping and praying that he wouldn’t, and now that he was actually here, standing in front of her like a dark, avenging angel, her bones felt as though they had turned to water.

  ‘You walked out on me.’ Five words spoken with grim, merciless accusation.

  ‘That was days ago….’ Except, having blurted that out, Lucy now realised how plaintive it sounded—as though she had been expecting him to be in touch sooner. ‘And…and I don’t want you here…I’m…just about to go out, as you can see…’

  ‘You’re not going anywhere till we’ve talked.’ He glanced across to his car. ‘Unless, of course, you can walk to your destination. In which case, you’ll have me for company all the way.’

  ‘You can’t do that! And there’s nothing to talk about. I said everything I had to say.’

  ‘Why did you run away? Couldn’t you face me?’ He strolled up to the front door and waited for her.

  She couldn’t get anywhere—not unless she could work a minor miracle with her car and three-point turns.

  Lucy had broken out in a fine film of nervous perspiration. How could she explain that she hadn’t been able to face him because he had such
a powerful hold over her? That in her heart she suspected that he could talk her into doing whatever he wanted, however strong her objections? That she had to protect herself because she had been stupid enough to fall in love with him?

  ‘I have to make a call,’ she muttered, her nerves jumping all over the place as she pushed open the front door and hurriedly made a hushed call to her mother, telling her that she might be a little late for dinner.

  ‘Something’s come up,’ she whispered sotto voce, while Gabriel breathed down her neck. She concluded the call before her mother could launch into a series of worried questions.

  ‘You bet something’s come up,’ Gabriel ground out as he followed her into the sitting room. ‘Who were you on the phone to?’

  ‘No one.’ She spun round to face him. She did her utmost to take a determined stance, but the second her eyes fell on that magnificently, darkly brooding face all her determination seemed to turn to dust and her mouth went dry.

  Gabriel picked up on her every emotion with the accuracy of a jungle cat sensing its prey. He shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled towards her, noting the way she had frozen to the spot, the way her pupils were dilated, the pallor of her face that made that little line of freckles across the bridge of her nose really stand out.

  She had flown out of his house under cover of darkness but he could still take her right here, right now, if he wanted to. It was something he just knew.

  Did he want that, though? Hadn’t he driven down here for the explanation he deemed justified? Wasn’t that the only reason? He certainly wasn’t into chasing women who dumped him—not that it had ever been known to happen before.

  ‘Interesting,’ Gabriel drawled. ‘And do you often make hushed phone calls to no one?’

  ‘I haven’t got time to stand here and listen to you being sarcastic, Gabriel.’

  Her hand was shaking as she lifted it to brush her fingers through her hair. Which was when he saw the ring. Although, because it was the last thing he expected to see, it took a few seconds for the image to compute and for the information to be transmitted to his brain.