Gabriel?’
Good question. He had toyed with the idea. Andy had been appalled at the thought of investing money in a decrepit stables that would probably never show any return for the money ploughed in, arguing that such enterprises failed or succeeded by word of mouth and that, because Gabriel was not a part of the racing scene, it was doomed to failure. And Gabriel had been able to see his logic. He had also been unable to resist the opportunity to avenge himself for a rejection which he had carried inside him like a sickness for too long. But had he really been serious about buying the place?
Now, he realised that he was deadly serious. A couple of hours in this woman’s company was not enough to sate his appetite. He looked at her, at the strong, vulnerable lines of her face and the supple strength of her body, and suddenly wondered what other men had touched her. He would touch that body again, he would feel it move under his hands, but this time unaccompanied by the emotions of a boy. He would touch her as the man he now was. He would take her and she would come to him on his terms and when he was finished with her, then he would be the one to reject her. If it took the purchase of the riding stables, then so be it. It was hardly as though he could not easily afford it.
‘I am interested in buying,’ he agreed smoothly. ‘So explain what happened.’
‘Mum died. That’s what happened.’ Laura closed her knife and fork and wiped her mouth. ‘Her heart. We both knew that it was…that she was weak, but I think Dad just never accepted the reality of it. He always thought that something would come along, some magical potion and everything would be all right. But nothing came along, and when she died he just couldn’t cope. He lost interest in the place. He said it all reminded him of Mum and he began going out of the house a lot. I thought it was to see horses, visit old friends. Since he died, I discovered it was to bet.’ She sighed and pressed her fingers against her eyes, then propped her face in her hands and stared past Gabriel with a resigned, thoughtful expression. ‘He gambled away everything. Amazing to think how quickly a thriving concern can go down the pan, but, of course, the world of horses doesn’t operate along the same lines as a normal company. The racehorses were sold.’
‘He gambled away all of the profits from those thoroughbreds?’
‘Not all.’ Laura’s eyes slid towards him and she shivered. Despite the stamp of ruthlessness on his face, he still possessed bucket-loads of that sexual magnetism that had held her in his power. He was her enemy now and making no bones about it and she would rather have died than have let him see that he could still have an effect on her. ‘He made two investments that were disastrous and plunged him even further into debt. I guess, that was when the spiral of gambling to win really began.’
‘And you were not aware that all of this was going on?’
‘I never imagined there was any reason to be suspicious!’ Laura returned defiantly. ‘I wasn’t at home doing the books. How was I supposed to know that the money was disappearing?’
‘Because you have eyes and a brain?’
That stung because it was the refrain that played over and over in her own head. But did he have to say it? But then, why shouldn’t he? His past and present had now merged to give him the freedom to say whatever damn thing he wanted to and she could do nothing but accept it because she needed him. Her hand curled into a ball on her lap.
‘Obviously not enough of either,’ Laura said icily.
‘What happened to your plans for becoming a vet?’ Gabriel asked, abruptly changing the subject.
‘I had to…to cut short university because of Mum and then…well…’ She shrugged and lowered her eyes, not wanting to think about what might have been. ‘Dad needed me.’
‘You have been at home all these years? Helping out?’ He sounded amazed and Laura flushed, remembering all her grand plans.
‘Of course I haven’t just been at home!’ she snapped. ‘I…I have a job in town.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Is this part of the normal line of questioning by any prospective buyer?’
‘Call it curiosity.’
‘I’m not here to satisfy your curiosity, Gabriel. I’m here to talk about the riding stables. There’s still a bit of land and of course the house, but that’s about it. It’s all heavily mortgaged. Now, do you still want to proceed or not?’
‘You’re here to satisfy whatever I want you to satisfy and make no mistake about that. I know everything there is to know about the financial state of your riding stables and, without my money, life will be very bleak indeed for you. So if I ask you a question, you answer it. Now what job do you do?’
‘I work in an estate agency, if you must know. I’m a secretary there. Since Dad died I’ve had to cut short my working hours so that I could spend more time at the stables, but I still work three days a week.’
And what a sight for sore eyes she must make in the place, Gabriel mused suddenly. Stalking around like one of those thoroughbreds she had spent her life looking after. Driving those poor, hapless men crazy.
‘A secretary,’ he said sardonically. ‘What a disappointing end to all your ambitions.’ His voice was laced with irony and Laura bit down the response to fly at his throat.
‘I happen to like it there,’ she said tautly.
‘Satisfying, is it? As satisfying as it would have been to work with animals? Shifting bits of paper around a desk and fetching cups of coffee?’
‘Some things are not destined. That’s just the way life goes and I’ve accepted it.’ Laura met his gaze stubbornly. She would never have guessed that her stormy, passionate lover could have transformed into this cold stranger in front of her. ‘I may not have risen to dizzy heights and made lots of money like you, but money isn’t everything,’ she threw at him, and in response he gave a short bark of dismissive laughter before sobering up.
‘At least not now,’ he amended coldly. ‘Not now that you have no choice but to fall back on that little homily, but somehow it doesn’t quite sit right on your shoulders, Laura. Perhaps my memory is a little too long.’ He leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table and closing the space between them until he was disconcertingly close to her. ‘I remember another woman, to whom money was very important and maybe I have more in common with that woman now, because money is important, isn’t it, querida? Money drove us apart and now it brings us together once again. The mysteries of life. But this time, I hold you in the palm of my hand.’ He opened one hand before squeezing it tightly shut whilst Laura looked on in mesmerised fascination. ‘Tell me, how does it feel for the shoe to be on the other foot?’
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