Fire & Ice ~ The Drake Legacy: Book One Read Online Free PDF Page A

your imagination run away with you.
    “Great,” Mr Drake said, and turned to go into his office, pushing open the heavy wooden door, the navy blazer stretching tight for a moment across his beautifully broad shoulders.  
    I looked down at the little retro-modernist, egg-shaped clock on my desk, it’s ticking hands proclaiming that there were just three hours remaining until our lunch date, and once again I   wondering where he might take me.  

    §

    That morning really dragged. I tried to keep busy, updating Xander’s diary and taking various business calls, but I found that I just couldn’t fully focus; I was way too nervous about lunch. Eventually one o’ clock came around and the office door behind me opened, and then there he was, casually pulling on his immaculately tailored suit jacket and buttoning a single button, his shirt beneath it so crisp and starched and white it looked like something right from a fabric softener advert.  
    “Ready?” he said, raising one eyebrow, as casually and familiarly as if we’d known each other for years.  
    It was hard to believe that this man, who stood here smiling warmly at me, was the same person who was rumored to be so ruthless and cut-throat in his business dealings, known in the building development trade for his cold, hard decisions and his icy-cool, never-look-back exterior.  
    I smiled and nodded and gingerly lifted myself out of my seat, tottering for a split second on my heels before righting myself just in the knick of time. It felt like ice skating, except that here there was no side of the ice rink to grab onto, should I slip and fall flat on my face. I took a deep breath, sucked in my tummy, then grabbed my coat, a simple black mackintosh, from the coat stand by my desk and followed Xander out through the large, open-plan office in the direction of the elevators.  
    And perhaps I was just imagining it, but it felt like every single pair of eyes in that room followed us as we left.

Chapter Seven
    §
    A Little History

    “Your order, Madame?” The little waiter was like something out of a movie - white shirt, black waistcoat, French accent, and a waxy pencil mustache, his obsequiousness almost comical in its nature.  
    I looked once more over the menu — all those expensive, foreign, mysterious dishes— and the words all seemed to swarm together on the page. Some of them I knew what they were but didn’t know how to pronounce, and some things I’d just straight-up never heard of before. This was a level of fine dining, I’d not had the chance to experience before and I felt out of my element, right out at the deep end, just about keeping my head above water.  
    “I’ll have …” I said, stalling for time.  
    And then, as luck would have it, my eye strayed down to an item I recognized, right at the bottom of the menu.  
    “… The cheeseburger and fries!” I said, feeling a wave of relief.  
    “Very good, Madame,” the waiter purred in his ornate, continental way, taking our menus then bowing and nodding.  
    “Any drinks?”
    “Just water for me,” Xander said. “But feel free to have something stronger if you like, Cassie. I won’t report you to the boss, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    I laughed at this, but shook my head. “No water’s good for me too.”
    “Very well,” the waiter purred, bowing and fawning, smiling obsequiously at Xander, obviously hoping for a huge tip. Finally he scurried off into the kitchen, leaving us sitting in silence, alone at our little candle-lit table.  
    I looked once more around the dimly illuminated little restaurant; I didn’t even know it’s name. It seems like the kind of place that you only went to if you were already in the know about it. From the street, it just looked like a plain doorway, with a set of steps leading down into the darkness.  
    I took in the atmosphere with relish.  
    There was soft music coming from the top-end sound system and the scents from the