Black Widow Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Won’t, I think. I don’t remember you being vindictive, Rebecca. Strange, because I thought that in this cat-and-mouse game between us vengeance was my move.”
    Her heart stopped at the brooding darkness that shadowed his face. “Is that a threat? Because if it is, you can go,” she said, her voice low, her spine stiff. “And when you leave, please don’t slam the door behind you. Now get out.”
    There was a long, tense silence.
    Damon didn’t move.
    Rebecca’s nerves screamed with tension as she held his fathomless gaze. When she decided she’d finally gone too far, speaking to wealthy, powerful Damon Asteriades as though he were nothing but a hooligan, he spoke at last.
    “Is that my cue to say ‘Make me’?” he asked gently, then leaned back in her armchair in her shop.
    If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought him completely at ease. The act was so good, in fact, that when his gaze swept from her face, over her body, down the length of her legs, discomfiture followed.
    “You couldn’t evict me—even if you wanted to,” he continued, his gaze minutely examining her slim frame.
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop playing games, Damon.” Weariness infused Rebecca, followed quickly by impatience. “And lay off the long, lingering looks. I’m aware that you wouldn’t want me if I was the last woman on Earth—”
    “If you were the last woman on Earth, I’d say the men remaining would face a fate worse than death.”
    “Oh…” Her growl of frustration made him give that cold smile she hated. She loved seeing him laugh properly, his teeth flashing white against his tanned skin, revealing the sensual curve of his mouth. But this travesty of a smile never touched his watchful eyes.
    “You’ll have to learn to master that short fuse one of these days, Rebecca. Your eyes are flashing, your cheeks are scarlet. Again. At a guess, I’d say you’re angry enough to…bite.”
    A further flush of heat swept her at his soft, suggestive words. “Bite?” she retorted. “Ha, you should be so lucky.”
    The smile stretched, revealing even white teeth. “I have no idea what any man would see in you. You are a vixen, a hellcat.”
    At least that made a change from the tired old labels of “black widow,” “money-grubber”…
    “Of course you wouldn’t recognise my worth! You go for passive women you can dominate, force your will on.”
    “We will leave Felicity out of this.” His voice was icy, his smile gone.
    She widened her eyes. “Now why would you assume I was speaking of Fliss? She finally found the courage to stand up to you, to do what she wanted—”
    “Be quiet.” The whisper was a warning.
    But Rebecca paid no heed. “No, I’m referring to the women you’ve been seeing for the past two years. Dolls, all of them.”
    “Ah, Rebecca, you disappoint me! You’ve been reading cheap gossip rags. I can assure you, the magazines got it wrong. They are not dolls,” he purred, his mouth softening in a way that revealed masculine satisfaction and made her hands ball into fists.
    “You’re right, they’re not even dolls. They’re no more than cardboard cutouts. All identical. Skinny and blond and—”
    “Jealous, Rebecca?”
    Anguish exploded within her. Beyond thought, she drew back her right arm. His cool, narrowed gaze acted like a dash of freezing water and halted her intention to land the blow.
    Coming rapidly to her senses, Rebecca peered around the edge of the armchair. Still no one watching. Thank God. Peace of mind, serenity and respect had been hard-earned in this small town. She wasn’t going to let them be ripped away by one tempestuous public outburst.
    Grimacing, she turned back to glare at him. “One day…” she muttered.
    “You’re not the first person to contemplate my untimely demise with great pleasure,” he drawled.
    She stared at him, shaken by the shock wave that went through her at the thought of a world without him in it. Reluctant to examine the