stomach and her appetite had perked up at the very first taste of the food from Mancini’s—a restaurant she had enjoyed going to several times in the past, alone and with David or her father.
‘You are a person it is easy to be nice to,’ Gregorio dismissed with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
Shoulders that looked even wider and more muscular now that he was no longer wearing his jacket. In fact the whole casual thing he had going on—losing the jacket, taking off his tie, unfastening the top button of his shirt and rolling back the sleeves—had succeeded in making him more approachable and even more lethally attractive.
Which was perhaps his intention?
Lull the poor befuddled woman into a state of uncertainty and then pounce?
Cathy was never going to believe her when the two of them spoke on the phone tomorrow as they usually did, and Lia told her friend about Gregorio’s visit and the fact the two of them had eaten dinner together.
Lia wasn’t sure she believed it herself.
It was becoming more and more difficult to continue thinking of this man as the monster who had helped to destroy her father when he was being nothing but attentive and kind to her. No matter how rude she was, he continued to treat her with respect and kindness.
It’s just his way of worming his way into my good graces before he goes for what he really wants!
Which Lia had now realised appeared to be her.
He was obviously a man who enjoyed a challenge if he thought he was going to win that battle.
‘No, I’ll be fine, thanks.’ She stood up as indication that he should leave.
A hint he ignored as he remained seated at the breakfast bar. ‘We have not eaten dessert yet.’
‘Take it with you,’ she dismissed. ‘I couldn’t eat another thing.’
‘I could not deprive you of Mancini’s celebrated chocolate cake.’
Lia gave a soft gasp. ‘He really sent you some of his famous chocolate cake?’ The dessert was Mancini’s secret recipe, and it had always been Lia’s choice when she had dined at the restaurant. It was rich and decadent, and the taste of the cake was orgasmic.
‘He sent us some of his chocolate cake,’ Gregorio corrected.
‘He didn’t know I would be dining with you.’
‘Oh, but he did. I spoke to Mancini personally and requested he send all your favourite foods.’
She widened her eyes. ‘You told him we were having dinner together?’
Gregorio studied her from beneath hooded lids. ‘Is there a problem with that?’
‘Not for me, no.’
‘Or for me.’
He certainly didn’t look concerned at having announced to a third party that he was having dinner with the daughter of Jacob Fairbanks. Considering the speed with which some of her so-called friends and her fiancé had disappeared in a cloud of smoke, she found Gregorio’s behaviour odd to say the least.
‘You’re a very strange man,’ she said slowly.
‘In a bad way or a good way?’ he prompted as he stood up.
‘I haven’t decided yet.’
The grin he gave softened the harshness of his features. ‘When you do, let me know, hmm?’
‘You’re different than I imagined.’
‘In what way?’
‘That night at the restaurant when you—when you kissed me, I thought you were just another arrogant jerk who doesn’t like to hear the word no.’
‘One out of the two, certainly,’ he mused.
Lia didn’t need him to tell her it was the word no he didn’t like to hear. There was no doubting he was arrogant too, but there was something else. Something she couldn’t quite equate with the ruthless bastard she’d labelled him. Perhaps it was the fact that, whatever his reasons, he was actually attempting to take care of her.
‘You said you weren’t always rich?’
‘No.’ He settled more comfortably on the bar stool. ‘When I graduated from university with a business degree and returned to Spain it was to find that my father had allowed the family vineyard to decline. Several years of bad harvest...diseased vines.’ He shrugged. ‘There were still my two brothers to go to university. I put my own life on hold and set about ensuring that happened.’
‘By founding the de la Cruz business empire?’
‘Yes.’
‘And is your life still on hold?’
He looked at her admiringly. ‘Obviously not.’
Lia gave a shake of her head. ‘I don’t think it would be a good idea for the two of us to meet again.’
He looked displeased. ‘Why not?’
Lia avoided meeting his gaze. ‘Besides the obvious, I don’t belong in that world any more.’
‘The obvious...?’
‘I hold you partly responsible for my father’s death.’ There—she’d stated it clearly, so there could be no lingering doubts as to her reason for staying away from this man.
Was she protesting too much?
Because of her earlier reaction to him?
Maybe. But that didn’t change the fact that she really didn’t want to see or be alone with Gregorio again. He...unsettled her. Disturbed her. In a deep and visceral way Lia could never remember being aware of with any other man. Including the man she had once been engaged to and had intended to marry.
‘I am sorry you feel that way,’ he answered evenly. ‘And you can belong in whatever world you choose to be in,’ he announced arrogantly.
‘You really can’t be that naïve! My father is dead. My engagement is over. Most of my friends have deserted me. I’ve lost my home. My father’s business is under investigation. None of the charities I worked for want the name Fairbanks associated with them. I now live in this tiny apartment, and I start a new job on Monday.’
‘None of those things changes who you are fundamentally.’
‘I no longer know who I am!’ If there had been enough room to pace then Lia would have done so, as she was suddenly filled with restless energy. ‘I try to tell myself none of those other things matter. That this is my life now...’
‘But...?’
‘But I’m mainly lying to myself.’ She inwardly cursed herself as her voice broke emotionally. Gregorio was the last man she wanted to reveal any weakness to. ‘And you’re
