The Billionaires Collection. Оливия Гейтс

for him, but he moved back. If she touched him, sent that spark of desire through him, he wouldn’t be able to remain strong.

      ‘It’s too late for that.’ He clenched his teeth hard together. Did she have to play that card? Did she have to nudge his conscience and dig at his heart? He’d never come close to loving a woman, not until he’d met Bianca Di Sione.

      ‘Please, Liev.’

      Fool, he inwardly berated himself. ‘You mean nothing to me. Dario is nothing, and if I don’t do this for my father, then I, too, am nothing.’

      Silently she stood up, her eyes locking with his, and he watched as she pulled the ring, his engagement ring, from her finger and held it out to him. He took it, feeling the warmth of her skin lingering on the gold band. No, he wouldn’t be distracted.

      ‘Go to Dario.’ Her words were full of fury and disgust. Full of hatred for him. He could sense it with every bone in his body. ‘Tell him what you know and find out what really happened.’

      ‘Believe me, Bianca, I have every intention of doing exactly that.’ He glared at her, matching her anger and denying he had any other emotion towards her.

      ‘Go. Bring down his company, get your damn revenge. I don’t care, Liev. Just leave me out of it.’ She stepped back as if he was the devil himself, uncaring of the attention she was attracting from passers-by.

      He walked calmly to her, every step making it more final. They were over before they’d even begun. ‘I will and I intend to be every bit as calculating as you were.’

      ‘I hate you.’ Her voice had lowered and her eyes were narrow with hardness. ‘And to think that I... Oh, just go. I never want to see you again—ever.’

      He didn’t wait to hear any more. Instead he turned and strode back through the park. She hated him and never wanted to see him again. She’d got what she wanted and now it was time to get what he wanted. The past two months had been about revenge, not the woman who had slipped beneath his defences, and the only way to remind himself of that was to exact that revenge.

       CHAPTER TWELVE

      FOR THE REST of the weekend, Bianca had tortured herself, worrying over Dario and what Liev intended to do. She’d expected to hear from Dario, but nothing other than the usual emails regarding the launch. Finally she’d broken under the pressure and had called him, explaining she’d given away all the necessary information to ruin him.

      She’d explained about the bracelet and how Liev had bid against her in order to use it as blackmail. She had been so shocked when Dario had told her he, too, had just been given a task of locating a Lost Mistress that she confessed absolutely everything, even telling her brother she’d fallen in love with the man who was planning his downfall.

      That man’s silence had screamed at her all week, fraying her nerves. What was he up to? In just one hour ICE was about to launch its latest product, the one she’d stupidly told Liev all about, and all she could think of now was his warning that he wanted to bring ICE down and Dario with it.

      He’d used her. Blackmailed her. But still she remembered his kisses. The night they’d made love. What was the matter with her?

      The conference room was filling up fast. The press had already taken up their positions as Bianca slipped in the door at the side of the room to give everything one final check. Dario joined her, filled with excitement.

      ‘You’ve done a great job, Bianca.’ Her brother’s voice was full of praise. Praise she didn’t deserve.

      ‘That’s not true and you know it.’

      ‘We all make mistakes. Don’t worry—I’ve got your back on this one. It’s all sorted.’

      She turned to look at her brother. ‘What do you mean?’

      He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look up at him, and then smiled. ‘It’s sorted. Stop stressing and concentrate on your job.’

      ‘But...’ Before she could say any more, Dario had left. The room was filling more rapidly now and she watched everyone. Then her world stopped turning. Her heart stopped beating and she wasn’t sure she could even breathe.

      Liev.

      She closed her eyes in resignation of all that was surely about to happen. Liev Dragunov wanted revenge and he was here to get exactly that. Her first instinct was to warn Dario, but he was busy with final preparations.

      She had no choice. She had to confront Liev—now—before he publicly created a scene.

      Trying to gather her shattered nerves, she strode over to him. Instantly the air became full of tension and the way he dominated everything around him unnerved her further. The dark suit he wore hugged his body and that image she’d stored away, of him standing in the sea, sunlight defining every muscle, filled her mind. What was the matter with her? The expression on his face was unreadable as she looked directly into his eyes.

      ‘We need to talk, but not here.’ Bianca walked away, hoping Liev would follow. She glanced back to see that he was, and that inscrutable expression didn’t give her any hope that he’d changed his mind about revenge.

      She went through the side doors, into the quietness of the corridor, and headed to the office she and Dario were using. Anywhere was better than having this conversation in public. Once inside the room, she stood behind the desk and turned to face him as he came in and shut the door.

      His icy grey eyes met hers. ‘I’ve seen Dario.’

      Straight for the jugular, then. No niceties. But what had she expected—or more to the point, what had she hoped for?

      ‘And?’ She wasn’t going to be drawn into giving anything else away. Not again.

      He crossed the room and came to stand in front of her, only the polished surface of her desk between them. She could see the slate grey of his eyes glittering with anger. The firm set of his lips was so severe she wondered how she could ever have been seduced by his kiss. Because you wanted him. Because you loved him. The answers rushed at her and she stood a little taller in defence against what he was going to say.

      ‘You were right.’ His accent was harsher than she’d ever heard it, as if admitting such a thing was too difficult. The relief which rushed through her was immense, but it was soon hotly followed by panic.

      ‘About what?’ She didn’t want to assume anything. Despite Liev’s threat, ICE’s share prices had risen steadily. Did this mean he still had his trump card to play? Was that why he was here?

      He calmly sat down, as if they were having a friendly chat, but the darkening of his eyes urged caution. Her attention was snagged as he stretched out his strong legs, looking powerful and relaxed, like a panther luring its prey in for the kill—and she had no intention of being his prey.

      ‘Dario had tried to put those dubious dealings right. I saw the evidence for myself.’ He watched her intently as she sat down and a zip of something travelled down her spine. Fear? Yes, that was it. How had he managed to obtain such information? She only knew what Dario had told her in the past; she’d never seen any evidence.

      ‘He wouldn’t just show you something like that.’ Why hadn’t Dario told her about this? He knew how worried she was, how guilty she felt. ‘When did this happen?’

      ‘Monday.’ The word slid through the air at her and she looked at him, and for a moment she thought she saw a hint of a smile on his lips. Damn him. Did it amuse him to torment her like this?

      Why hadn’t Dario said anything to her? It must have been some showdown, but with the share prices rising, it was one Liev had obviously lost. Distractedly she dragged her fingers through her hair and looked at the few papers on her desk, as if they could give her all the answers she sought. Anything not to look into that handsome face.

      ‘You