It felt good to have her there, where he could feel every step she took and every curve of her body. The flash of the cameras lit up the early evening and satisfaction raced through him. What would make the headlines? The highest bid so far this year at the auction house or Bianca Di Sione out with a Russian billionaire? Either way it suited him. He walked Bianca through the throng and hailed a taxi.
* * *
Bianca quickly got into the back of the car, glad to be out of the glare of the flashlights. Being the focus of press attention wasn’t new for her. She’d been all but hounded by them for as long as she could remember. Such attention certainly hadn’t been courted, but was more something she’d learnt to deal with—and avoid where possible.
She looked at Liev as he got in beside her, still unable to believe what had happened. He calmly gave an address and sat back next to her, seemingly happy that they had been photographed together. Having him so close was distracting and she had to resist the need to slide along the seat, further away from him. Her heart also thumped a little harder, making her feel light-headed. What was the matter with her?
‘So you’ve been photographed as my companion. What’s next, Mr Dragunov? Have you already chosen a fake engagement ring?’ She couldn’t keep the flippant tone from her voice. Was it born out of panic to her reaction to being near him or was it the situation she now found herself in? Her anger rose once more, fired up by her confusion, and together they made a heady cocktail. How could she find a man attractive and hate him at the same time?
‘As a matter of fact, I have.’ He startled her from her thoughts and she looked at him, the golden sunshine of New York’s summer evening playing across the sculpted contours of his face, lending him a dangerous edge. He dominated the very air she breathed as she sat next to him, trying to ignore the tingle of awareness from just being close to him. ‘But it is far from fake.’
Frustration fired through her, making her snap. ‘I can’t believe you are doing all this just because I declined to represent your company.’
‘That was a minor inconvenience and not at all my main goal.’ He looked at her, his eyes hard as they met hers. Everything else slipped into non-existence for the second time that day and mentally she shook herself. Where was the unflappable Bianca who’d forged her way through life for the past ten years without love and definitely without this kind of physical attraction?
‘What is your main goal, Mr Dragunov?’ She forced her mind to focus. This was one man she had to be on full alert with. He’d already proved that.
‘Liev.’
Good grief, even hearing him say his name was sexy. She had to stop thinking such things right now. She had to get a grip and pull herself together. She already knew the consequences of letting emotions show and wasn’t this proposition a battle? One she had every intention of fighting.
She recalled what she’d told Allegra—that she’d do anything to get the bracelet for her grandfather. It seemed that Liev was going to test that claim to the full, but she wouldn’t be thwarted by such an arrogant man. She would do whatever necessary to get that bracelet from him—even a fake engagement.
Her usual cool composure was well and truly ruffled. It was like going back to that prom night when she’d almost allowed herself to be used in the most basic way. She had been a challenge just because of her family name, one she’d risen to and overcome in spectacular style, maintaining her reputation and destroying that of the boy she’d foolishly believed she’d loved.
Since then she’d given men a wide berth, determined not to repeat the same mistake by letting anyone close, but now, confronted with a man like Liev, she had let her emotions show and everything had unravelled. But how could she not bring emotions into the task of getting back something her grandfather wanted so much after he’d told her it was his final wish?
‘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