Innocent in His Diamonds Read Online Free PDF Page B

through my possessions without my permission?’ Incredulity rang through her husky voice.
    â€˜You owe my company a great deal of money, Miss Duval. I’d rethink any sense of misplaced anger, if I were you.’
    â€˜Well, you’re
not
me! You might feel all high and mighty in that Heidecker tower in which you live, but normal people tend to treat each other with more respect.’
    He glanced pointedly at the door. ‘You’re welcome to hop out again if you feel hard done by. But don’t think for one minute that I won’t come after you with everything I’ve got to make sure you honour our agreement.’
    What little colour remained leached from her face. He watched her skim a shaky hand through her hair. The silky strands slid slowly through her fingers as she subsided into her seat. For several seconds she didn’t speak, but her lips moved, formulating words with which to annihilate him. When she raised her eyes to his the chocolate-brown depths had darkened to almost black with the fierce fire burning within.
    Raw, unfamiliar sensation gripped him, leaving a strong current rumbling along his nerves. The strange emotion made him feel disgruntled, made him shift in his seat. His eyes fell lower to her plump lips as they parted.
    â€˜I hate you.’

CHAPTER THREE
    â€˜H ATE IS A very powerful word,
mi pequeña
. Never use it lightly.’
    Her father’s words echoed through Ana’s mind as she glared at Bastien. Not since the age of nine, when she’d sobbed to her father after her mother had burned all of Ana’s dolls in another bout of senseless cruelty had she felt that emotion so strongly.
    But right now she hated Bastien Heidecker.
    She hated the power he held over her—hated that he didn’t feel an ounce of guilt at mercilessly wielding it. And hated that she had no recourse to fight him.
    Despite taking control of her career the moment she’d turned twenty-one, Ana was still tied in to the six-year contract her mother had agreed with the agency just before she’d turned eighteen. Between their fees and her mother’s extortionate managerial expenses she had very little financial capital to fight anything Bastien or his company might throw at her.
    She was completely at his mercy and he knew it. He’d remained completely unruffled by her outburst, his unblinking gaze fixed on her.
    â€˜I can’t afford that sum of money,’ she added, just in case he’d missed her meaning before.
    â€˜You’re a top model and a tabloid darling. I find it intriguing that you don’t even have the money to bail yourself out of jail.’
    â€˜What I use my money for is none of your business. And surely you don’t believe everything you read in the papers?’
    His teeth bared in a mockery of a smile that made the hairs twitch on her nape. ‘I’ve learned, much to my regret, that there’s almost never any smoke without fire. One way or the other, Miss Duval, you’ll have to account to me at some point. Hate me all you like, but that’s the reality.’
    Without waiting for a reaction he flipped open his phone. The conversation flowed in rapid, flawless French. It carried on for almost fifteen minutes and the whole time Ana’s heart pounded, the feeling of being completely immersed in her worst nightmare growing stronger by the minute.
    In three weeks she had to return to court and fight drug possession charges. In the meantime she had to wait and see how the fall-out of this latest tabloid scandal would affect her. Not that she was a stranger to scandal. For as long as she could remember her mother had made sure to be caught in one on a regular basis—just to keep herself in the limelight. And if it happened to involve her supermodel daughter in some way, all the better.
    Was it any wonder men like Bastien had the wrong idea about her?
    Suddenly she yearned to speak to her father. To hear his