Heiress's Defiance Read Online Free PDF Page B

red-faced Jessie hurried into the room, eyes wide. She wisely did not say a word about Christos.
    Lucilla took her seat and tried to appear cool. “Well, has there been a disaster?” Aside from the disaster of letting Christos kiss her and steal all her good sense, of course.
    “Nothing of the sort. You asked me to let you know who bought your mother’s portrait.”
    She’d almost forgotten. “Yes, of course I did.”
    Jessie looked apologetic. “I’m afraid it was an anonymous phone bidder. It sold for one hundred thousand pounds, though.”
    Lucilla tried to ignore the pinch in her heart. No way could she have afforded that much, even if she had been willing to bid.“Thank you, Jessie. I’ll be here for a while. Let me know if I’m needed.”
    “Yes, Ms. Chatsfield,” Jessie said before turning and hurrying out the door. Lucilla closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. She could still feel Christos’s touch on her skin, still feel the deep pull of desire in her core.
    Lucilla shivered. And then she opened up her email and got to work. Christos had to go. Soon.

CHAPTER THREE
    C HRISTOS WAS IN a bad mood. He was restless and edgy and his patience had run out a long time ago. He knew what it was. He sat at his desk in his big corner office and brooded over the latest reports. Oh, the reports were fine. There was progress on all fronts. Lucca wasn’t making a spectacle of himself, Cara was managing to ride out the media storm created in Las Vegas with the notorious Aiden Kelly and Franco was getting somewhere with Purman Wines.
    Not only that, but Sophie had made progress with Nicolo and he would be at the shareholders’ meeting next week. Orsino still wasn’t answering Christos’s calls, but Christos figured it was only a matter of time. The Chatsfield children were coming into line, whether they believed it or not.
    His biggest problem, however, was Lucilla.
    He couldn’t forget that kiss in her office onthe night of the charity auction. It had been two weeks ago now and he thought of it incessantly. The way she’d melted in his arms like molten gold, her body curving into his and promising him such sweetness. He’d wanted her quite desperately in that moment. And she had wanted him, too; he was certain of it. She’d been ready to come apart in his arms and then the door had opened and Jessie had stumbled in—and that was the end of that.
    For two weeks, she’d avoided him. They saw each other at the morning staff meetings. She gave her reports. But she did not come to his office—and he did not send for her.
    He did it as much to prove to himself as to her that he was unaffected by their interchange. Yes, she’d excited him and he’d wanted her. But he did not need her. Women were interchangeable to him. All he required from them was a warm body in his bed and a few hours of passion. Beyond that, he wished for nothing more.
    Needed nothing more.
    Except, dammit, he couldn’t stop thinking about Lucilla’s mouth beneath his, her tongue gliding against his, her body so pliable and warm….
    The tingle at the base of his spine was not a good sign. He swore and got to his feet,shoving his hands in his trouser pockets and stalking over to the window to gaze out on the park across the street. He needed a woman. Any woman. That would take the edge off and then he could get back to thinking straight again.
    He could call Victoria. She was an enthusiastic lover, even if she left him cold. Yes, he’d taken her back to her apartment that night after the aborted kiss with Lucilla and he’d let her strip him naked. He’d spent his passion inside her body, but he’d felt vaguely disgusted with himself when it was done. Then he’d left her with a kiss and a promise to call.
    He had not done so, of course. He had no intention of doing so, no matter that it would be the solution to his problem.
    He raked a hand through his hair and swore softly. He could not figure out this reaction to Lucilla, except