‘I’m more than ready to see this so-called proof.’ Her hips moved provocatively beneath the silk dress as she collected a matching bag, stalked to the door and flipped the panel of light switches to leave only the night lights burning.
Luc burned, too, in anger, yes, but still with a hint of that old attraction and he didn’t want that.
Bella punched a button to arm the alarm system, and waited to hear the series of dull clunks as everything locked behind them. ‘The sooner we get to the end of this, the better.’
‘I agree.’ He took her arm, steered her along the busy footpath. His fingers burned where they connected with soft bare skin. Memories. Unfulfilled desire from six years ago. That was all. ‘Except this is only the beginning.’
Was he mad to choose this path? He had already made sure Maria couldn’t actually go bankrupt. Why not leave it at that and forget about Arabella?
Because you don’t want her to get one cent out of your aunt that she hasn’t worked for.
Let her squirm under his scrutiny while she worked to set things to rights. She deserved that, and he could easily control this physical awareness, even if it had taken him by surprise.
‘It’s just ahead.’ Luc produced a set of keys from his pocket and pressed the button to disable the central locking system of the top-of-the-range sedan.
Bella’s gaze followed his to look at the car. As she did so, she removed her arm from his grip. ‘Good. Show me the papers.’
Controlled, instructive, as though she had any say in this.
He opened the rear door and retrieved his briefcase. ‘Brique’s restaurant should be quiet. It’s only another block. We’ll look at the papers together.’
‘Why not here? And what if I want to check that the papers are authentic?’ Bella angled one hip and waited.
‘If you need to check once you’ve looked, you can keep the papers.’ Then in case she thought he would be so foolish, he said, ‘Naturally, I have copies.’
He waved a hand towards his car, challenged her. ‘If it suits you better to sit in the middle of this busy street…’
Bella glanced at the tinted windows of his car, seemed to size up her options. Her mouth firmed. ‘I suppose Brique’s will do.’
When they entered the restaurant, Luc ordered drinks and a platter of cheese, fruit and crackers. He considered it recompense for the use of the table, and he hadn’t eaten since lunch.
‘OK, so now we’re in civilised surroundings.’ Bella sipped her mineral water, and spread a portion of brie onto a cracker. The tremble in her hand was barely noticeable. ‘If you want me to admit that you do “civilised” quite nicely, I suppose it’s true. And I am hungry.’
As he was. Bella had a fiery spirit that called to something in his make-up. Luc forced himself to admit that. But he could and would control his awareness.
‘I like good things.’ He said it mildly enough and helped himself to brie and a cracker, too. ‘I’m not ashamed of that.’
Bella ate a morsel of the food. She closed her eyes. ‘Mmm. It may not be Pont l’Eveque, but it’s nice, just the same.’
Luc snapped his briefcase open and tried not to watch the movement of her mouth, the soft lips. He spread the relevant documents out for her to view.
Bella read for a couple of minutes in silence. Then looked up, gaze narrowed. ‘You say your finance manager obtained these?’
‘They’re the real thing, Arabella.’ As real as the woman seated across the table from him, her mouth, lush, lovely, deceptive, pursed in a combination of suspicion, and dread.
Luc welcomed the reaction, wanted her to realise she had no control in this any more, would have to cede it to him. ‘The information comes from a reputable investigative firm. As you can see, Maria’s purchase of your stock was beyond risky for her.’
He indicated the cover page attached to the report. Thought about the other papers tucked safely away at home. ‘You can ring the firm right now if you want. They’ll confirm everything you see there.’ They would once he gave them the go-ahead to reveal a certain level of information to her.
‘It just can’t be true.’ Bella whispered the words, and bent her head again. This time she didn’t come up for air until she had pored over every page. Her fingers trembled as she stacked the papers together and passed them back across the table to him.
Only then did she meet his gaze. ‘But it is true, isn’t it? Maria has extended herself too far to hope to climb back, and she’s taken my gowns and the beginnings of my reputation as a designer with her.’ Her breath faltered. ‘I should have checked, shouldn’t have simply assumed her financial status.
‘We’re both ruined. I don’t see how she can even hope to recover financially, let alone allow for my gowns to be a success. My five-year plan is over before it even got started.’
‘Crocodile tears, my dear?’ Luc didn’t buy them. He wouldn’t buy them. He knew better than that now. Maybe Arabella hadn’t confirmed Maria’s financial status. That wasn’t his problem, and it didn’t exonerate her from pushing for the highly unreasonable deal in the first place.
‘I can’t buy the gowns back.’ Bella’s gaze dropped to her hands. She hardly seemed aware of him. ‘I’m—I’m in too deep already.’
‘Yet you were quite happy for Maria to be in that deep.’
‘I knew it would work over time.’ Unease pooled in the depths of her eyes. ‘Perhaps I should have built in an escape clause for Maria.’ She hesitated. ‘I didn’t think of her side of it.’
‘You thought only to use Maria, and walk away without any responsibility if things didn’t work out. Do you really believe I’ll stand back and leave the future of my aunt’s business in your hands now I know what you’ve done, Arabella?’ He had bought up Maria’s debts as a secret backer in order to protect her while he sorted this out with Bella. That was his business, but Bella would not be allowed to shrug off her responsibility.
‘If Maria had been wealthy as I imagined…’ Bella rose, stepped away from her chair and gathered her bag to her. Her movements were mechanical, but she couldn’t seem to smooth them out.
Luchino believed she only wanted to use Maria. It wasn’t true, but she hadn’t considered Maria in the agreement, only herself. Bella hadn’t wanted to run any risks, but Luchino wouldn’t understand that, especially now!
‘You will work with me to set things to rights, Arabella.’ Luchino decreed it, like a god speaking from the peak of Mount Olympus. ‘You’ll wear your gowns at Melbourne’s most élite functions, at the theatre and opera, in homes and at gala evenings, to dinners and parties. Anywhere your prospective clientele gather.’
‘It’s one thing to put on a nice dress and go to the theatre with my sisters.’ They had all enjoyed such times, and nowadays the heavily pregnant Chrissy came with husband in tow and Bella liked Chrissy’s husband, mostly, but Luc Montichelli wanted too much. ‘You can’t just decide this and say I have to do it. Why would you want to be with me, anyway?’
‘I can say it. I can make you do it. And I don’t want to be with you. I want to see to it that you comply with my demands. That my aunt doesn’t suffer because of you.’ His arm brushed hers as they moved out of the restaurant and stepped along the pavement. ‘I want your agreement to do everything necessary to make this work, and to do it quietly and discreetly.’
‘Without telling Maria about it.’ Bella believed Luc’s proof of Maria’s financial status. She still wanted to discuss the problem with Maria. Most of all she wanted Luc to forget all this and go away. ‘If I insist on speaking with Maria?’
He simply kept