‘You must call me Liev.’ The insistence in his voice was clear and she stifled a smile, knowing she was irritating him.
The taxi stopped and Liev got out. For a moment she thought about shutting the door and instructing the driver to take her home. If it had been anything else this man had taken from her, she would have done just that, but the bracelet was her grandfather’s dying wish. She couldn’t let Liev walk away with the one thing which would make her grandfather happy in his last days. She just wished she knew why it was so important to the elderly man.
Neither Matteo nor Allegra had heard the full story when he’d set them similar tasks. All they knew was that each item was a Lost Mistress from the tales he’d told them as children, as if they were part of the Di Sione fairy tale.
Bianca got out of the taxi onto the sidewalk, the hum of the traffic and the sound of sirens overpowering her. Or was it the man who stood watching her? His eagle-like assessment was unnerving.
‘You made a wise choice.’ His voice was deep and firm and she frowned at him, but before she could ask what he meant, he continued. ‘Not leaving in that taxi.’
‘I was tempted, and believe me, if there was another way, I would have done exactly that,’ she snapped back. ‘But we have to settle the details of our deal first and I warn you, Liev. I will go if those finer details aren’t mutually beneficial.’
She wanted to tell him that the bracelet didn’t mean that much to her, that he’d got it all wrong about her being the spoilt little rich girl, but suspected it would only draw his attention to it once more. If he could put a deal like that on the table, he could do anything. She had to keep her guard up.
‘And believe me, Bianca, they will be.’ The way he said her name, caressing it even while his voice remained granite hard, sent a shiver over her as if he’d actually touched her—and she hated him for it.
She walked into the bar with Liev, not completely unaware of the glances cast in their direction or the way he attracted the attention of just about every female in the bar. He was handsome, that was undisputable, but in a hard and angry kind of way. Or did he just hate her because he thought she was privileged and spoilt? He’d made no secret of his opinion of her.
She drew in a sharp breath as he placed his hand in the small of her back, guiding her to a table set back from the rest of the bar, the privacy it would afford them undoubted. Had he planned this evening down to such a level? Her earlier suspicions surfaced and she became more convinced that he’d known she would be at the auction. She bit down on the anger which bubbled up from deep within.
She slid along the seat, hoping he would sit opposite her, not quite able to take being close to him again so soon after the short journey in the taxi. She still couldn’t understand the effect he had on her, how heat could infuse her so quickly just from being close to him. She’d resisted the pull of sexual chemistry for the past ten years and she could continue to do so now. If Liev thought charm would soften his twisted deal, he was very much mistaken. She was immune to such tactics.
‘This is very, how shall I say, convenient.’ Her words were spiked with tartness as she desperately fought to suppress that new idea of awareness to a man she’d disliked on first sight and now hated with a vengeance.
He flicked his brows up at her sarcasm, then signalled to the bar staff. A bottle of wine, her favourite red, arrived promptly. That uncomfortable suspicion returned. He seemed to know a lot about her. Far too much.
‘I pride myself on being able to prepare for every eventuality.’ The self-satisfied expression on his face just begged to be wiped away, and she vowed that before this deal was over she would do just that.
‘In that case, why not allow me to find a more suitable fiancée for you, one more powerful, more able to open the doors you so desperately want opened? You overestimate my standing in the Di Sione family if you think an engagement to me will do all you want.’
‘Not only is it your family’s name and that old-money respectability I need. It’s your undoubted skill in your professional life. So you see, Bianca, I have made my choice well.’
‘There must be someone better placed than me for this ridiculous sham of an engagement?’
She watched as he poured two glasses of wine, desperately trying to think of who that woman could be, knowing deep down it couldn’t be her. History was repeating itself, but on a much more dramatic scale. Her family name and reputation was being used once more, callously gambled with, but this time she couldn’t see any way out. Not if she wanted the bracelet.
‘And who exactly would you suggest?’ He leant back in his seat, his wine untouched in front of him. She had the uneasy sensation of being more like a hunting eagle’s quarry, set up and unwittingly waiting for the moment she would be swept away from all she’d ever known and devoured.
‘I will find someone.’ She could hear the desperation in her voice. Could he hear it too? ‘There are agencies, although how they’d look upon the request for a fake fiancée, I don’t know.’
She tried hard to think who it could be, but single women able to offer him what he wanted were few, and those she could think of wouldn’t stand a chance against his lethal charm. She had no need to be close to a man, so maybe she was the best woman for the job.
He folded one arm across his body and raised one to his face, his thumb on his chin and his finger rasping over the hints of stubble; the sound, although hardly audible, set her nerves even more on edge. ‘That won’t be necessary. I am certain we can come to a mutually satisfying arrangement. I have something you want and you are in a position to give me what I want.’
‘How long have you been in New York, Mr Dragunov?’ She used his surname and couldn’t help the smile which caught her lips at his annoyed expression. She noticed his eyes glitter, making them ice cold.
‘I have been doing business here for a few years on a small scale, but now our engagement will ensure the success of my latest and biggest venture. It will turn my company global. I will still keep my main office and home in St Petersburg, where I grew up.’ The last few words had a harsh edge to them that was hard to miss.
‘And your family? Where do they live?’
‘I have no family.’
‘So there is no danger of your family finding out about this engagement?’ She flung the question at him, giving voice to the concerns she had over how her family would take the news. He didn’t appear at all worried about deceiving everyone.
‘Not at all. My parents died when I was young.’ She saw his jaw clench, saw the flash of pain in his eyes. Pain she knew only too well. Her heart twisted. He’d lost his parents too. He knew the pain she’d grown up with wishing she had known her mother and father, wishing she had more than snippets of memories.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly, not wanting to open up to him about such things. She never told anyone that she could barely recall her mother and had no memories of her father whatsoever, but hearing Liev’s pain, seeing it in his eyes, opened up that shame and exposed her pain. She fought hard against the urge to confide in him, reminding herself they were not in a real relationship. This man was not to be trusted. In any way.
That connection they shared from the past still didn’t alter the fact that her brothers and sisters would find out about the engagement and she wondered how she could make them believe it was real. She would be lying to them, but she had no choice. If for one moment her brothers thought she was being blackmailed, or set up, as she preferred to think of it, she was certain Liev Dragunov wouldn’t be getting the acceptance in society he craved. And that would mean she wouldn’t get the bracelet. She would fail her grandfather in his last wish.
That thought made sadness sweep over her and she took a sip of the wine, trying to ignore the intensity of Liev’s eyes on her. She wished she could talk to Allegra. All her life she’d looked