Billionaire's Revenge (3 page)

“Stop this”
,
she hissed at him, her voice quivering with fear, the fear of her own reaction being so close to him was
rising
within her.  She felt as his head
dipped
his nose and mouth trailing along the long naked curve of her neck
. 
Sara
again wishing
that she had
not allowed herself to be talked into having her long blonde hair piled
high on her head, longing for its protection as tremors made her whole body shake, the small pulse on her throat beating alarmingly.

His small laugh against her skin
only made the trembling worse, as she stared helplessly at the ceiling, her hands tryi
ng to push herself from him, desperation setting in.  Then
just as
suddenly
as he
grabbed her
,
she was free as
he pushed her from him
, once more stepping back and nonchalantly leaning against the desk.  His eyes surveyed the reaction of the woman before him, a small smile of satisfaction lighting the corners of his handsome mouth.
 
“Same old Sara Balfour, cold heartless bitch.  Every bit her
daddy’s
girl”

Sara fought hard to stop the hot tears which stung the back of her eyes from spilling over her eyelids.  She was nothing like her father.  Her whole life she had
been his constant disappointment. 
To him s
he
had
not
been
as pretty as Angela,
or
as sociable.  She did not have all of the right boys
rushing to their doorstep with marriage proposals.  Her determination not to give up on her dream of university to work in the company was a decision her father sneered at, his derision of her no secret.  To be likened to the detestable man she grew up with hurt, but dropping her eyes she fought to hide her pain from the man before her.  Needing to gain more control, she finally allowed her look to become harder and once more in
charge
of her emotions
,
she l
ifted her
eyes
to his
.

“Thank you”
,
she
bit
out, her tone full of challenge, seeing as his eyes flashed dangerously.  She
instinctively knew
that he meant to move back towards her just as the intercom sounded, the voice on the other end stalling him
. 
“Sir the ambassador is about to leave”
 
She
saw
as his
look
fl
ew
from her to the intercom, a frown creasing his forehead as he
swor
e
softly under his breath before his
hardened look once more rested on her, his tone demanding and arrogant.
 
“I have something to deal with.  Wait here”

Standing
,
he
then made to move to the door as Sara
turned ab
ruptly, her eyes flashing with anger
. 
“I am not some little lap dog for you to order about.  You
have already kept me waiting here for an hour.  There seems very little point in my
waiting here for you to enjoy humiliating me
”
Darius
stopped short of th
e door, slowly turning to face her.  No more was there any humour in his voice as he
responded so coldly
, “
You have no idea what real humiliation is Miss Balfour.  Your whole life you have been cosseted and spoiled, but if you don’t want your sister to be sitting in a jail cell by this time tomorrow night then you
will
damn well will do as I
tell you”
,
his eyes boring into hers
,
“Is that very clear
?
”

Unable to speak, her knees suddenly trembling, she
nodded, her mouth closed as she
stared back wit
h hurt and fear filling her beautiful blue eyes.  With that Darius
once more turned
,
pulling the door open and slamming it shut behind him.

As the
echoing ‘bang’
of the door closing
receded
she
dropped into the
chair, her whole body shaking as the tears
slid down her soft cheek
s
.

There was no real love between
herself and
Angel
a;
however her sister’s son David was the apple of her eye.  He had
already lost one parent and to lose another would be devastating.  She
kn
ew
that she would do whatever he wanted to
keep her sister from prison and also to avoid their family’s situation becoming so public, knowing that her link to the inevitable scandal would be devastating.  With a sad curl of her lip she
again wondered why her sister
had
bee
n so stupid. 
Why
had
she countersigned the loans her
husband
made in the company’
s
name
?
  With Nick gone the only other person to be blamed would be Angela, Sara giving a soft groan.  For David’s sake and her own, she knew that she would do whatever was needed.

Her fingers
moved to where she could still feel the touch of his hand, frowning at the way her
body
reacted
to the way he
pulled her
towards him.  His words haunted
her
-
“
H
e
was open to the same kind of persuasion
”
- did he really believe that she
planned to use her body to try and
persuade the CEO of the Gare
lli
Corporation not to take action against her sister
?

With a frown
,
she wondered what she had
really expected.  She
hoped that explaining the situation would have been eno
ugh, now wondering how
naive
that thought
had
been.  Kicking o
f
f her shoes she pulled her feet under her, suddenly feeling so tired
she waited
for his inevitable return.
 

For over an hour she
waited, her eyes growing heavier with the only sound that
of the ticking of the large grandfather clock her eyes w
ere purposefully fixed upon
.  T
he room was warm, the large chair comfortable as despite her best efforts sleep
tugged at her
, her sleepless night the previous day taking its toll as
Sara
fina
lly
succumbed
to the blissful peace.

Darius Garelli
moved quietly back into his suite, his expression serious.  His meeting with the ambassador
had
gone on longer than he intended, his mouth set as he told himself that she deserved to be left waiting.
Seeing her at the ball
was
unexpected, even more so seeing how much she
had
changed in the past six years.

As a young girl she
had
been awkward, but there
had
always been something about
Sara Balfour that
fascinated
him.  H
e
believed
her to be different from her controlling
bullying
father and simpering sister, h
owever, when she had
been the one to fire him on the trumped up charge of theft he
realised that she was
indeed her father’s daughter
. 

After making his fortune from the initial stake his father
gave
him, on the condition he change his name to his
-
not something that was a concern to Darius whose mother
was never likely to win any parent of the year awards
- he
gr
ew
that small stake to a billion dollar corporation. 
He
always planned on avenging himself on the
B
a
lfours
, and finding out how badly their company was performing
seemed like a sign
from above
as he
moved against them in a hostile takeover.

After taking over the
company
, he
was
shocked at what he
discovered, the irony not lost on him as he
revelled in his upcoming revenge.  His plan
had
been simple
:  to
have the family
publicly kicked
out of their home, have Angela Balfour imprisoned, and their good name dragged through the mud.  His only regret that there was no direct way to really get to Sara Balfour, the one he hated most.  The woman who
stood so calmly and coldly telling him that he was fired, telling him that if he did not leave that she would have him thrown in jail
. 

Her appearance that night
had
given him a glimmer of hope.  Perhaps there really was a way to get to her, to make her pay in the most humiliating way imaginable.  Entering the study he
frowned, hearing nothing.  He knew she
had
not left
,
his guard on the door ensuring that she did not get cold feet and flee.  Moving
forward
, his eyes
finally f
ell
on the sleeping woman in the armchair.

Stepping even closer he
made to shake her awake, his hand stalling as his eyes
trailed over her.  S
he really
had
changed from the girl he
kn
ew
.  Then she
had
been pretty, but always prone to wear shap
e
less clothes that seemed at least a size
to
o big for her, her hair allowed to fall over her face to hide her features.  The large thick-framed glasses she wore back then were too big for her petite features, and she presented an almost comical figure.  Now however, dressed in the figure-hugging cocktail dress, her hair pulled away from her face she was beautiful.  Long lashes brushed against her creamy smooth cheek, her lips large and red - so kissable. 

Pausing, he squatted down beside her, his eyes drinking in everything about this woman, this woman who had
angered him more than any other
, a small smile spreading over his features.  Yes
,
humiliating Sara Balfour would be pleasurable in so many ways
.  He allowed his finger to run along her l
ips, Sara moving slightly in her deep sleep, her lips parting as her small tongue darted out, this small action like a punch to his stomach as desire thudded into every part of him.  Leaning fo
rward Darius covered her mouth with his, his tongue sliding slowly along the silky softness of her bottom lip a small content sigh leaving her as he deepened the kiss, her mouth shaping with his as she kissed him back
,
stirring softly before her eyes
open
ed
.

Sara
woke
with a start.  Her eyes
flew
open in confusion and panic, tasting Darius’ tongue against hers as with a cry she pushed him away leaping from the chair her voice still heavy with sleep and anger
. 
“
Wh
...
What
the hell are you
doing?”
 
Darius
r
ose
too as he grinned, the smile
predatory, holding no warmth.
 
“If you have to ask then perhaps I should show you again”
,
his mocking voice
made
her back even further away as her eyes
darted from him to the
door.

“
Wh
...
Why did you do that?
”
her eyes accusing as they
stared at him, her breast
s
rising and falling as she
tried to calm her breathing as panic filled her.
 
“Seemed the best way to wake you”
,
had
been his only
response,
as with determination he moved around the desk to seat himself in the large chair.