At The Ruthless Billionaire's Command. Carole Mortimer

hallway.

      She remembered now... She had opened the door and let him in. Not because she’d wanted to but because she had felt compelled to. His voice, deep and mesmerising, had ordered her to unlatch the safety chain, and because she had been consumed by that black exhaustion she had done as he’d instructed.

      He seemed taller and larger than ever in the confines of her untidy apartment. Taller, darker, and just plain dangerous. Like a huge jungle cat preparing to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.

      The almost-black hair was in that tousled style again, and his face was set in harsh lines. His shoulders looked huge beneath the tailored suit, his chest defined and muscular, waist slender, hips and thighs powerfully muscular.

      Lia could smell the aftershave he wore, easily recognising it as one that cost thousands of pounds an ounce. Even so there was a fine stubble on his chin, as if he was in need of his second shave of the day.

      Her gaze moved quickly upwards and was instantly ensnared by glitteringly intense almost black eyes. ‘I—’

      ‘You need to sit down before you fall down.’ Gregorio stepped across the room to remove several items from one of the armchairs before lightly grasping Lia’s arm to support her until she was seated. ‘Do you have any brandy?’

      She somehow looked more fragile than ever seated in the chair.

      ‘Wine,’ she answered with a vague wave of her hand in the direction of the kitchen area.

      Wine would not revive her as well as brandy, but it was still alcohol and better than nothing. Gregorio found a half full bottle of red wine on the breakfast bar, a used glass beside it. Predictably, it wasn’t one of the de la Cruz vintages.

      ‘Here.’ Gregorio held the glass of wine in front of her until she took it from him with slender fingers that shook slightly. ‘Have you eaten anything today?’

      ‘Um...’ Her forehead creased as she gave the matter some thought. ‘A bowl of cereal this morning and some toast this evening. I think...’ she added doubtfully.

      He scowled his displeasure before turning on his heel to stride through to the kitchen area. There was a loaf of bread on one of the units, a tub of butter and a carton of milk—and nothing else when he pulled open the fridge door and looked inside.

      ‘You do not have any food.’ He closed the fridge door in disgust.

      ‘Maybe that’s because I only moved in a few hours ago.’

      Gregorio held back a smile at the return of her sarcasm. Evidence that Lia was feeling slightly better? He hoped so.

      ‘Which begs the question—how did you know I’d moved in here today?’ She eyed him suspiciously.

      Gregorio had known about the apartment in the same way he’d known about everything Lia had done in the two months since her father’s death. He was given daily reports on her movements by his head of security.

      No doubt it was an intrusion into her personal life that Lia would take exception to if she knew about it. But it was Gregorio’s belief that the Fairbanks’s situation was not yet over, and until it was she would accept his protection whether she wanted it or not.

      ‘Drink your wine,’ he ordered dryly as he took his cell phone from his pocket.

      ‘Look, Mr de la Cruz—’

      ‘Gregorio. Or Rio, if you prefer,’ he added huskily. ‘That is what my family and close friends call me.’

      ‘Of which I’m neither. Nor do I intend to be,’ she added dismissively. ‘What are you doing...?’ She frowned as he made a call.

      ‘I had intended inviting you out to dinner, but now that I see how tired you are I am ordering dinner to be delivered to us here instead.’ Gregorio put the cell phone to his ear, his gaze remaining challengingly on Lia as he waited for the call to be picked up.

      Lia was starting to wonder if she had fallen asleep in the bath and was having another nightmare. Because Gregorio de la Cruz couldn’t really be in her apartment, ordering dinner for both of them. Could he?

      He certainly seemed real enough. Tall, muscular, and bossy as hell.

      It seemed surreal after the months of torment she had just suffered through. Because of him.

      Being a little unfair there, Lia, a little voice taunted inside her head.

      Gregorio wasn’t responsible for the decline of her father’s company, nor the ailing economy. He had also been perfectly at liberty to withdraw his interest in buying Fairbanks Industries if he had decided the company wasn’t viable.

      Lia did believe it was the withdrawal of that offer which had resulted in her father’s company being put under investigation, though, and only weeks later in her father’s heart attack and premature death.

      She had to blame someone for all that, and Gregorio de la Cruz was the obvious person.

      He had ended his call now, and was once again looking at her with those fiercely penetrating black eyes.

      Lia’s heart skipped a beat. Several beats. The blood rushed hotly through her veins as she saw something stirring in the cold depths of those dark orbs. Gregorio continued to stare at her. Something that looked like a flickering flame was growing stronger, hotter by the second, and was sucking all the air from the room as well as Lia’s lungs.

      She swallowed. Her heartbeat was now sounding very loud to her ears. So loud that surely Gregorio could hear it too? Lord, she hoped not! This man had kissed her once, and although Lia had slapped his face for it she had never forgotten it.

      ‘I’m really not hungry.’ She stood up to place the empty wine glass on the breakfast bar. Only to falter slightly as she realised how close to Gregorio she was now standing.

      ‘I doubt you have felt hungry for some time now,’ he acknowledged softly. ‘That does not mean your body does not need sustenance.’

      Why did that sound so...so intimate—as if Gregorio wasn’t talking about food at all?

      Maybe because he wasn’t?

      Lia recognised the flame in his eyes for exactly what it was now. Desire. Hot, burning desire. For her. A desire he had demonstrated four months ago and which he obviously still felt.

      She took a step back—only to have Gregorio take that same step forward, maintaining their close proximity.

      She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘I think you should go now.’

      ‘No.’ He was standing so close his breath was a light caress across the soft tendrils of hair at her temples.

      ‘You can’t just say no.’

      ‘Oh, but I can. I have,’ he added with satisfaction.

      Lia blinked up at him, her heart thumping wildly now, her palms feeling damp. ‘This is insane.’ She was insane. Because a part of her—certain parts of her—was responding to the flickering flames in those coal-black eyes.

      Her skin felt incredibly sensitised. Her nipples were tingling and between her thighs she was becoming slick with arousal.

      ‘Is it?’ Gregorio raised a hand and tucked a loose curl behind her ear before running his fingertips lightly down the heat of her cheek.

      ‘Yes...’ she breathed, even as she felt herself drawn to leaning into that caress.

      Her father’s death and David’s defection meant it had been a long time since anyone had touched her, held her, apart from Cathy’s brief reassuring hugs. Lia’s body cried out for another kind of physical connection.

      From Gregorio de la Cruz?

      This man was a corporate shark who felt no compunction in gobbling up smaller fish. He was also a man who had a different woman on his arm in every news photograph Lia had ever seen of him. He bought and sold women—usually