The Executive's Vengeful Seduction / Rich Man's Revenge

“No. Just us. I ordered from the restaurant across the street.” The chef had gone a little overboard with the array of tropical salads, dishes teeming with prawns and lobster, Tasmanian salmon and barramundi fish. “I told them plenty of seafood,” he said, deliberately reminding her that he remembered how partial she’d been to this type of food.

Her eyes brightened, then she flushed. “Thank you, but I doubt I’ll do it all justice.”

“No problem. My housekeeper will be delighted to take the leftovers off my hands.” He held out the chair for her. “Sit here.”

She moved forward and did as he suggested. Once she was comfortable, he took his own seat and poured wine into their glasses.

Her gaze darted around the room. “This is a really nice apartment.”

“I know. Lucky for me one of my friends married a very talented lady who loves to decorate.”

The place hadn’t been half-bad before, but Danielle had suggested some ideas and he hadn’t had the heart to dissuade her. He and Flynn had smiled at each other as she’d enthusiastically promised a stylishly furnished apartment with class and sophistication that was ideal for executive living. And she’d lived up to that promise. The open plan of the living and dining area, abundant with natural light, soaked up the magnificent panoramic views of the harbor…her words, not his. She’d done a great job of it.

“It’s lovely,” Gabrielle agreed.

“Just like you are, Gabrielle,” he said, holding her eyes with his. One day soon he would hold her in his arms. And he would show her how lovely he thought she was.

A pulse beat at the base of her throat. “You know, I’m suddenly really hungry,” she said huskily, and began piling the food on her plate.

He was too, but it wasn’t for food. Dammit, waiting was already harder than he’d expected.

It would be easier once he said what he needed to say. She wasn’t going to be so placid then, he decided, as they ate in silence for a while, listening to the soft background music, but eventually he knew he couldn’t put this off. She wasn’t going to like it.

He raised his glass in a toast. “To you, Gabrielle.”

Her eyes widened. “Me?”

“For having the courage to come home again.”

She looked pleasantly surprised as she picked up her glass and clinked it against his. “Thank you,” she said, a slight catch to her voice that unfurled something soft inside his chest.

He took a sip of wine, then said, “Your mother was pleased to see you today.”

“Yes.”

“I imagine Russell will be, too.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you glad now that you came?”

Her forehead creased a little, her eyes growing puzzled. “Yes, I am.”

He rested back against his chair. “And you’re happy to be here in Darwin?”

She eyed him with sudden suspicion. “Okay, what’s this about, Damien?”

Leaning forward, he placed his wine glass on the table, then dropped the bombshell. “Your cousin has taken control of the Kane Property and Finance Group.”

Her cousin was an idiot.

A dangerous idiot.

She gaped at him. “Keiran? How on earth did he get involved in all this?”

Damien’s mouth tightened. “Some years ago your father sold forty percent of the company shares to him, that’s why.”

She sat up straighter. “What! Why would he do that?”

“Russell wanted to keep it in the family if anything happened to him, and Keiran worked on him until he sold him the shares.” Damien had advised Russell against it, but the older man seemed to have a blind spot where his nephew was concerned, and now his company that specialized in providing investment property finance here in Australia and the growing Asian market, was paying the price. “Your father also left written instructions with his attorney that if he became incapacitated, then you were to get forty percent of the shares as well.”

“What!”

“You each now hold forty percent of the Kane Property and Finance Group.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“Believe it.”

“Oh my Lord.” She sat there for a moment looking stunned.

“Keiran’s been at Kane’s for some years now and he knows the business. As soon as Russell had the stroke he stepped in and took over. Your cousin was always quick when there was something in it for him.”

“I know.”

He paused, then, “And that’s exactly why you needed to be here.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes widened. “Good heavens, you don’t expect me to step in and start running a multinational company, do you?”

“Why not? Keiran did. He’s already made some decisions that would give your father another stroke if he knew, and we can’t do a damn thing to stop him.” The only person who could stop him was sitting right here. “If you assume control, Keiran will hopefully slink back into his own little office where he can do no more damage.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “But Keiran owns as many shares as I do now. He’s not going to give up the top job.”

Damien could feel his jaw clench. “Let’s try him first.”

She shook her head, obviously trying to get it clear in her mind. “Hang on. Why didn’t you tell me all this back in Sydney?”

“Would you have come home?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her forehead marred with a crease. “And I don’t understand why my father left me forty percent.”

“Perhaps he expected you would come back if he needed you. And he does need you now, Gabrielle.”

A cynical light came into her eyes. “You mean he thought it was a good way of blackmailing me into coming home if he ever needed me.” She shook her head. “It’s still all about him, isn’t it?”

Damien ignored that. “Your father wouldn’t expect you to take over if you weren’t capable.”

Her eyebrows shot up as realization dawned on her. “Oh, so he’s been keeping tabs on me, too.”

He had no idea, but it was highly likely. “Russell doesn’t always take me into his confidence.” The older man had been a friend and mentor but he’d never spoken about his daughter until recently. “Look, I’ll help you. I’ve delegated some of my own business dealings to others. I’ve got the time.”

A flicker of apprehension crossed her face. “To work with me every day, you mean?”

“Yes.” And if he got to make love to her sooner, all the better.

Her beautiful blue eyes hardened and narrowed. “What’s in it for you, Damien?”

He returned her look with a level one of his own. “I want to help Russell. I owe him a lot.”

Seconds ticked by. “That’s commendable of you,” she said somewhat sourly.

His mouth tightened. “I admire Russell and what he’s achieved.”

“And look at the price he paid for it,” she pointed out. “He lost his wife and then his daughter, and now he’s losing his company. Don’t admire him, Damien. Pity him.”

“So why aren’t you?” he challenged, and saw her startled look. “Come on, Gabrielle. Tell me. Why aren’t you showing your father some pity?”

She bridled. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Under protest.”

She dropped her gaze to the table. “That may be so, but I do love my father nonetheless.” Her eyelashes lifted. “But even if I wanted to help more, there are limits to what I can do.”

“How do you know? You haven’t even tried.”

Her lip curled with sarcasm. “Your understanding amazes me.”

He took his time before saying what needed to be said. “You’re the only one who can save the company from ruin, Gabrielle.”

“What about my mother?” she said as sudden hope swept across her face. “Perhaps I can sign over the shares to her and she could stop Keiran from taking over the company. She only needs to put in an appearance and you could do the rest.”

“You would ask that of your mother? When she’s having a hard enough time as it is?”

“Yet it’s okay to ask it of me?” She grimaced, and a slight flush tinged her cheeks. “That sounded selfish. I didn’t mean it like that.”

He inclined his head. “Caroline’s got enough on her plate looking after your father right now.”

She raised her chin. “And if I don’t choose to be a part of this?”

“I don’t think you’d forgive yourself if your parents lost everything.”

She exhaled a long, ragged breath. “You really know how to tighten the thumb screws, don’t you?”

“Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do but we do them anyway.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll try,” she snapped. “But once my father’s on the mend, I’ll be leaving and going back to Sydney. Don’t forget that.”

“You’ve already made that clear.” But he was more than satisfied.

For the moment.

She placed her napkin on the table and pushed to her feet. “Somehow I’ve lost my appetite. I think I’ll go to my room. Good night.”

It was more than clear she wanted time alone. Time he could afford to give her.

He inclined his head. “Good night, Gabrielle,” he said, watching her walk away with a sway to her hips that would draw any man’s attention. Yet he wasn’t just any man. He’d been her lover, if not her confidant.

And she’d walked out on him without a proper goodbye. It had left a loss he only recognized now that he’d seen her again. A loss that went deeper than he’d expected. And because of it, he could feel an odd sort of anger simmering beneath the surface. An anger he wasn’t ready to face. Perhaps once he had enough of her body he’d never have to face it.

Three

Gabrielle retired to the spare bedroom and stood looking out the window at the harbor. Being around Damien wasn’t conducive to being clear-minded. He always seemed to be watching her, waiting for her to lower her guard. And keeping up that guard was exhausting when she had other things to think about.

God, it was mind-boggling that her father had given her forty percent of the shares in the business. Of course, she thought cynically, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to give her the remaining sixty percent of the shares—not that she wanted them.

No, he’d been hedging his bets. He’d given her limited control of the business, but had withheld twenty percent of the shares for himself just in case his incapacitation had proven temporary. And that was predictably her father. He could never let go of total control.

As for Keiran holding forty percent of the shares, well, that was a justified worry. Her cousin had always had his eye on the main chance, no matter what had been at stake, whether it be tripping her up as a kid so he could jump in the swimming pool first, or trying to suck up to her father during her parents’ separation. She had no doubt Keiran was capable of anything. She disliked him intensely. He was the one person who should not be in charge of a multimillion-dollar business.

As for Damien, it was typical he hadn’t told her about this before now. If she didn’t know him better, she’d think he was just like Keiran, keeping secrets to himself and using them for his own benefit.

Only, she knew he wasn’t like Keiran.

Not at all.

Damien wasn’t underhanded, just arrogant. She couldn’t see Damien tripping anyone to get in the pool first. He just wasn’t that kind of person. Damien would manipulate to get what he wanted—oh, yes, and he was good at that—but there was a difference. Damien wasn’t the type to lie or cheat if confronted over an issue. If Damien said something, he meant it. If he gave his word, he would stand by it.

Heavens, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she’d ever be spending another night sleeping under Damien’s roof. And in separate bedrooms, too. And that was just as well. He’d been a sensual man when she’d met him and she knew he hadn’t changed. She could still feel the sensuality rolling off him in waves. Even now she remembered the force of his desire from the day she’d walked into that function with her father and she’d felt the pull of a man’s eyes from across the room.

Damien.

It had been that strong.

But that’s all it had ever been with him. She’d only ever known him in the physical sense, never the emotional one. For two glorious months over a tropical summer it had been all about sex and attraction on his part, while she’d fallen headlong in love with him.

And she’d wanted him to love her in return, only it was never going to happen. She’d realized that the day she’d left home for good. It had given her the strength not to look back. If she had, she would have weakened and gone running into his arms.

But not into his heart.

It had taken her years to get over him, but time and distance had put things into perspective. It had been lust, not love. Attraction, not affinity. It was important to remember that, she decided as the adrenaline pumped through her veins, taking her a long time to fall asleep. Once she did, exhaustion gave her some blessed relief from the relentless thoughts going through her head, and when she stepped into the kitchen the next morning, she felt more rested than she’d dared hope.

Until she saw Damien standing at the counter, contemplating the mug of coffee in his hands as if it held the secrets to life itself. He obviously hadn’t heard her enter because he didn’t move. Strange, but he looked sort of…lonely.

She must have made a sound because his head shot up, and a seductive glint slid straight into his eyes. “Ah, the prodigal daughter has awoken,” he drawled, his gaze going over her red sleeveless dress cinched at the waist with a belt of the same material, and matching leather pumps.

“And good morning to you, too,” she said coolly, forcing herself to ignore the pull of his physical appearance. So what if he was dressed in dark trousers and a white shirt that looked like they’d been born on him?

A lazy moment passed by as Damien considered her, then he placed his mug on the counter behind him. “I phoned the hospital earlier. Russell’s doing as well as expected.”

Her heart fluttered with anxiety at the reminder of her father. “Thank you. I was going to call shortly myself.” She moved toward the percolator on the counter, badly needing her morning cup of coffee. “I plan on going to see him soon.”

“They said not to come until this afternoon. Apparently they’ve got a couple of doctors checking him over this morning.” He must have seen her give a start. “Your mother said it was nothing to worry about.”

Her panic subsided as she poured coffee into a cup. “Then I can go see Keiran instead. I planned on it, anyway.”

“Aah, so that’s why you’re dressed like that.”

Something in his voice made her look up, and she found his eyes sliding over her again, making her catch her breath. She put the coffeepot back with a shaky hand and tried to act casual. “I’m not about to go into my father’s office in jeans and a tank top.”

“Might get some favorable comments.”

“More likely they’d direct me to the janitor’s room,” she quipped, looking at him over the top of her coffee cup.

All at once he smiled. A rare smile that knocked her off balance. For a moment she could only stare at him across the width of the room.

Then that smile faded and something in those eyes darkened and he moved forward, making her heart drop to her knees. He stopped right in front of her, took the cup out of her hand then placed it on the counter beside her.

“It’s been a long time, Gabrielle,” he said huskily, in a voice so Australian, so thick and delicious, it swirled around her heart like a long-lost friend. “Miss me?”

She swallowed. “Does a bear miss a toothache?” she managed to say, the breathlessness in her voice disturbing her.

He gave a soft laugh and slid his hands over her shoulders with an ease that only an ex-lover can have. “Hmm. I like your hair this length.” Provocatively, one finger coiled around some blond strands that curled below her neck. “It suits you.”

She shivered as his warm breath wafted over her and wrapped her in its minty scent. It seemed like only yesterday when she would have leaned into the hard wall of his chest and relished his strength. And only yesterday that they had made love with a passion that had stolen her breath away.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember,” he murmured, his hands sliding down to her hips.

Up close, his green gaze was a caress, his male scent too enticing, the tension between them building, overwhelming her, restricting her breathing, making her forget that never again had she wanted to be close enough to see into the irises of his emerald eyes…or the grain of his skin as it weaved and dipped its way over a strong nose and lean cheekbones…nor had she ever wanted to touch the fullness of his lips, to know she’d once ached to have them on her body.

“Stop it,” she whispered, hating herself for letting him affect her like this.

“Stop what?”

“Damien…”

“Gabi…”

Gabi. He’d only ever called her that once before. He’d been thrusting inside her and she’d been welcoming each plunge of his body. They’d reached their climax together. It had been the only time she’d felt his equal, and not some young woman who’d been the daughter of his business partner.

All at once she had to get out of the kitchen.

It was too small.

There wasn’t enough air.

She pushed his hands off her and spun away, heading for the door, not even sure if Damien had hired a car yet for her, but willing to catch a cab if necessary. “I need to see Keiran…at the office…in case he goes out.” She was babbling but couldn’t seem to stop herself.

He came up behind her, putting his hand on her arm, stopping her but not in a forceful way. “I’m coming with you,” he rasped, the huskiness still in his voice, the desire still glittering from the depths of those green eyes.

His touch sent a tingle along her spine. “There’s no need.”

His mouth tightened and he dropped his hand. “I said I’d help and I will. Don’t underestimate Keiran. There’s power in numbers, Gabrielle.”

She sent him a wary glance. “I know my own cousin.”

“Then you know you need me with you.”

As much as she didn’t want it to be, what he said was true. She abruptly nodded her head. “Okay, but I need to get that rental car later for my own use,” she said, giving in but perhaps not as gracefully as she could, and that was more to do with needing to get away from Damien’s presence than not needing him to help her deal with Keiran.

But in the confines of his car, her mind couldn’t stop from going back to Damien. She realized that being a woman desired by him was more dangerous to her now than five years ago. Now he would want more than girlish enthusiasm in his bed. He’d want a woman’s response, slow and deliberate, not a rushed and naive eagerness. And he’d expect her to be a mature partner, able to handle a sexual relationship without too much emotion. It was a world of difference to five years ago.

She pushed all her thoughts to the side as they walked into the building that housed the head office of her father’s company. The first person she saw was one of her father’s managers she remembered from years ago. He greeted her warmly then expressed sympathy over her father’s condition.

“Thank you, James. I’m glad to see you’re still here.”

The older man’s eyes flicked to Damien then back to her. “Not for long I’m afraid. I’ve accepted a position with another company. I finish up at the end of the week.”

Dismay filled her. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Gabrielle, I’ve got nothing to lose by saying this. I’ve always enjoyed working for your father, but it’s going to be a while before he’s back on his feet. I’m sorry but I can’t work with him until that happens.”

“You mean Keiran?” she said to clarify, but knowing all Damien had told her was true.

James nodded. “I don’t mind saying I think that man’s going to ruin the company with his ideas. And I’m not the only one leaving, either. There are two heads of departments who have put their resignation in and another planning on it.” He clicked his tongue. “They’re men who are going to be taking a whole lot of experience and knowledge with them when they go, I’m afraid.”

She tried to look confident. “James, that’s why I’m here. My father wanted me to take over if anything happened to him and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Relief flared then died in his eyes. “Keiran isn’t going to step aside so easily,” he warned.

She squeezed the older man’s hand. “Keiran won’t have a choice.”

But when Damien opened the door to her father’s office and Gabrielle saw her cousin sitting behind her father’s desk like he owned the place, every instinct inside wanted to tell him to get the hell out of there.

Keiran glanced up at the interruption and for a moment looked like an animal caught in the headlights. Then he went rigid. “Well, well. If it isn’t my long-lost cousin.” He pasted on a false smile as he stood and came around the desk. “Gabrielle, how nice to see you again.”

Her mouth tightened as he pecked at both her cheeks like a chicken. “Keiran, you haven’t changed a bit.” He was two years older than her, and he’d wielded his older stance often during their childhood.

“You’re still the sweetest thing,” he joked as he glanced at Damien. But his eyes were wary beneath his blond head and they held a heartless gleam that had been in them since the day he’d been born. Now, here was one person her father should have cut off, she thought, suppressing a moment of pain that it had been his own daughter her father had ignored instead.

She stepped away. “What are you doing in here, Keiran?”

His smile flattened. “What do you think I’m doing in here? Someone had to step in when your father had his stroke.”

“Then thank you. I appreciate it but I’m here now.”

His piercing eyes contrasted sharply with his relaxed stance. “Not so fast. You can’t just walk in here and take over.”

She arched a brow. “Why not?”

He strode back around the desk. “You’ve been gone five years. And before that you never worked here in any capacity anyway.”

She refused to let him see his comment had hit its mark. “I spent a couple of school holidays working here, remember?”

“And that gives you the experience to run a multinational company dealing in property and finance, does it?”

“From what I hear, I could do better than what you’ve been doing,” she said coolly.

As if a storm was brewing, the air seemed to sizzle with electricity. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean that from all accounts you’re running the company into the ground. All our managers are leaving.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “They were old and stale. We need new blood.”

She gave a soft gasp. “That’s a callous statement.”

His lips twisted. “Perhaps I’m a chip off the old block.”

She held herself stiffly. “My father would never have dumped his employees.”

“Sure? I think if Russell kept them on, it was for his own selfish reasons.”

She didn’t want him to see that he was probably right, so she ignored that. “Look, I’m here now and I have Damien to help me.”

“No.”

She blinked. “What do you mean no?”

Keiran’s glare resented their presence. “I have every right to be in this office, Gabrielle. Just ask your friend, here. That’s why he went to get you to bring you back. Don’t fool yourself it was only about your father’s stroke.”

“I ought to hit you for saying that, Keiran,” Damien said, his eyes as cold as dry ice.

“But you can’t deny it.”

“You’re not worth refuting.”

Keiran sat on the chair with a smirk. “May I suggest you go and rethink your position. I own forty percent of this company and I intend to take it places Russell never even dreamed about.”

Gabrielle gasped, and Damien growled, “You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, Keiran.”

Keiran shrugged. “I’m in charge, Trent, whether you like it or not.” He picked up a pen. “Now. If you’ll both excuse me I have work to do. Major changes are on my agenda.”

Gabrielle stood there for a moment, stunned and shaken. “Don’t make too many changes, Keiran. I’ll only have to change them back.”

He waved a hand at the door. “Don’t let me keep you.”

For a moment Gabrielle thought Damien might leap across the desk and throw the other man out, but with a pulse ticking in his jaw, he thrust open the door and let her precede him through it.

They didn’t speak as they rode the elevator down with another couple to the parking lot beneath the building. But once they were in the BMW she sat while he came around to the driver’s side, her mind ticking over. What the devil were they going to do? If indeed they could do anything at all to wrestle the company from Keiran’s grip before he did too much damage.

Damien slid onto the driver’s seat. “Are you okay?”

She blinked. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said, but just as quickly realized she wasn’t. Whether it was because Keiran had put such a bad taste in her mouth, she suddenly felt the need to go home to where she’d grown up. All at once she wanted to touch base with something familiar.

“No, I’m not. Damien, take me home please. To my parents’ place.” She took a shuddering breath. “Just for a little while.”

He stared at her, watching her with some indefinable emotion in his eyes, then nodded. “I’ve got papers in my briefcase. I can work from there.”

Sudden resentment grew. Couldn’t he see she needed to be alone for a while? “Or you could just leave me there and I’ll get a rental car sent around.”

His mouth thinned. “I’m not leaving you alone with a group of strangers working around the place.”

She glowered at him. “Why not? Frightened I might run off with one of them?”

He swore. “Don’t be ridiculous, Gabrielle. You’re upset over Keiran. Don’t take it out on me.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Just take me home, Damien.”

He started the car and ten minutes later drove through theopen gates ofher parents’home that she hadn’t seen in five long years. She gazed up at the two-level mansion of grand proportions dozing in the tropical Australian sunshine. She’d grown up playing dolls on that wide balcony around the house. And later she’d sought refuge looking through the large windows of her bedroom over treetop views to the Timor Sea and distant horizon. It had been a wonderful place to grow up. If only her parents hadn’t fought all the time in those latter years. If only she’d had a brother or sister to share things with.

Thankfully Damien strode off toward the sound of hammering in the kitchen as soon as they stepped inside, saying he would tell the workmen to take a long break, and Gabrielle left him to it.

It was an odd feeling walking up the sweeping staircase to the second floor. Five years had passed, yet it only seemed like yesterday. But as she pushed the door open to her old bedroom, her mind reeled in confusion. The room was like a time warp. Everything was the same. The bed she’d often cried her heart out on, despairing over her parents’ troubled marriage, was still covered in the same quilt. Posters of some obscure pop star whose name she couldn’t even recall still hung on the wall. And even the clothes she’d left behind were still hanging in the wardrobe…almost as if they were waiting for her return.

She swallowed a sob. A new and unexpected warmth surged through her that was a welcome relief after her tussle with her cousin today. If ever she needed proof of her parents’ love for her, here it was. They had kept her memory alive.

Just like she did with her own child.

Damien’s baby.

A baby she’d miscarried at six months because of the car accident. God, how she wanted to tell Damien about their unborn baby that she’d loved and lost. Only, she knew she couldn’t tell him…could never tell him. He may not have cared for her, but she had no doubt he would have cared for their child. And she would never want any person knowing that brand of heartache.

Certainly not the baby’s father.

Damien glanced up from his paperwork and saw Gabrielle stroll out onto the patio, then stand looking out beyond the swimming pool, over the manicured lawn and lushly landscaped gardens.

Adrenaline kicked in as he watched the sun beat down on her face, giving a glow to her smooth skin. The high humidity of the November build-up toward the wet season wisped strands of the blond shoulder-length hair at the base of her neck. God, he couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. In the past five years he’d made love to other women, some more beautiful than Gabrielle, but none of them had…what was the word he was looking for?

Connected.

Yes, that was it. None of them had connected with something deep inside him the way Gabrielle did. Something fundamental. Something that was grabbing at him even now.

He thrust his papers aside and pushed off the sofa to go to her. “I’m impressed,” he said as he stepped through the open patio doors to join her.

She spun around, her face quickly assuming a blank mask that made him want to strip aside all the layers and get to what was truly inside this woman. “You are? With what?”

He went to stand beside her at the balustrade. “You.” He saw her start of surprise. “I like the way you stood up to Keiran.”

Her mouth curved into an unexpected smile, fascinating him. “Well, now you know. You’re not the only one I can stand up to.”

He went still, caught by an invisible pull of attraction. “I can see that,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to those kissable lips.

Awareness flared in her eyes, and she quickly turned and looked down at the garden instead. “Let’s hope my father gets better soon.”

“It’s going to take some time for your father to recover enough to get back to work.” If indeed he came back at all. “Many months at best.”

She sighed. “Then there’s nothing further I can do here. I may as well leave Keiran to it.”

Damien’s gut clenched. It wasn’t just the thought of Keiran ruining everything for Russell that made his spirits sink. It was the thought of Gabrielle leaving. She would be on her way back to Sydney just as soon as Russell pulled out of danger. A week was probably all she’d stay, and that wasn’t good enough. He wanted her in his arms and in his bed. He would settle for nothing less.