A breathless bride, p.4
A Breathless Bride, page 4
She threw him a tight smile. “Auctioned, along with every piece of real jewelry Mom, Carla and I owned— including the pearls. Now isn’t that a joke? We own a pearl house, but we can’t afford our own products.”
She pushed open the ornate double doors to her father’s study and stood aside as Constantine walked into the room, which held only a desk and a couple of chairs.
His gaze skimmed bare floorboards and the ranks of empty built-in mahogany bookshelves, which had once housed a rare book collection. She logged the moment he finally comprehended what a sham their lives had become. They sold pearls to the wealthy and projected sleek, rich-list prosperity for the sake of the company, but the struggle had emptied them out, leaving her mother, Carla and herself with nothing.
He surveyed the marks on the wall that indicated paintings had once hung there and the dangling ceiling fitting that had once held a chandelier. “What didn’t he sell to pay gambling debts?”
For a split second Sienna thought Constantine was taking a cheap shot, implying that both she and Carla had been up for auction, but she dismissed the notion. When he had broken their engagement his reasons had been clear-cut. After her father’s failed deal he had made it plain he could no longer trust her or the connection with her family. His stand had been tough and uncompromising, because he hadn’t allowed her a defense, but he had never at any time been malicious.
“We still have the house, and we’ve managed to keep the business running. It’s not much, but it’s a start. Ambrosi employs over one hundred people, some of whom have worked for us for decades. When it came down to keeping those people in work, selling possessions and family heirlooms wasn’t a difficult choice.”
Although she didn’t expect Constantine with his reputation for being coldly ruthless in business to agree. “Wait here,” she said stiffly, “I’ll get towels.”
Glad for a respite, she walked upstairs to her room. With swift movements she peeled off her ruined shoes, changed them for dry ones then checked her appearance in the dresser mirror. A small shock went through her when she noted the glitter of her eyes and the warm flush on her cheeks. With her creased dress and tousled hair, the look was disturbingly sensual.
Walking through to the bathroom, she towel-dried her hair, combed it and decided not to bother changing the dress, which was almost dry. She shouldn’t care whether Constantine thought she was attractive or not, and if she did, she needed to squash the notion. The sooner this conversation was over and he was gone, the better.
She collected a fresh towel from the linen closet and walked back downstairs.
Constantine turned from the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean as she entered the study, his light gaze locking briefly with hers.
Breath hitching at the sudden pounding of her heart, Sienna handed him the towel, taking care not to let their fingers brush. She indicated the view. “One of the few assets we haven’t yet had to sell, but only because Mom sold the town house this week. Although this place is mortgaged to the hilt.”
It would go, too. It was only a matter of time.
He ran the towel briefly over his hair before tossing it over the arm of a chair. “I didn’t know things had gotten this bad.”
But, she realized, he had known her father’s gambling had gotten out of hand. “Why should you? Ambrosi Pearls has nothing to do with either Medinos or The Atraeus Group.”
His expression didn’t alter, but suddenly any trace of compassion was gone. Good. Relief unfolded inside her. If anything could kill the skittish knowledge that not only was she on edge, she was sexually on edge, a straightforward business discussion would do it.
She indicated that Constantine take a seat and walked around to stand behind her father’s desk, underlining her role as Ambrosi Pearls’ CEO. “Not many people know the company’s financial position, and I would appreciate if you wouldn’t spread it around. With the papers speculating about losses, I’m having a tough time convincing some of our customers that Ambrosi is solid.”
Constantine ignored the chair in favor of standing directly opposite her, arms crossed over his chest, neutralizing her attempt at dominance.
Sienna averted her gaze from the way the damp fabric of his shirt clung to his shoulders, the sleek aura of male power that swirled around Constantine Atraeus like a cloak.
“It must have been difficult, trying to run a business with a gambler at the helm.”
As abruptly as if an internal switch had been thrown, Sienna’s temper boiled over. Finally, the issue he hadn’t wanted to talk about two years ago. “I don’t think you can understand at all. Did your father gamble?”
Constantine’s gaze narrowed. “Only in a good way.”
“Of course.” Lorenzo Atraeus had been an excellent businessman. “With good information and solid investment backing so he could make money, then more money. Unlike my father who consistently found ways to lose it, both in business and at the blackjack table.” Her heart was pounding; her blood pressure was probably off the register. “You don’t know what it’s like to lose and keep on losing because you can’t control someone in your family.”
“My family has some experience with loss.”
His expression was grim, his tone remote, reminding her that the Atraeus family had lived in poverty on Medinos for years, farming goats. Constantine’s grandfather had even worked for hers, until the Ambrosis had lost their original pearl business when it had been bombed during the war. But that had all been years ago. This was now.
She leaned forward, every muscle taut. “Running a business with a gambler at the helm hasn’t been easy.”
He spread his palms on the desk and suddenly they were nose to nose. “If it got that bad why didn’t you get out?”
And suddenly, the past was alive between them and she was taking a weird, giddy delight in fighting with Constantine. Maybe it was a reaction, a backlash to the grief and strain of the funeral, or the simple fact that she was sick of clamping down on her emotions and tired of hiding the truth. “And abandon my family and all the people who depend on our company for their livelihood?” She smiled tightly. “It was never an option, and I hope I never arrive at that point. Which brings us to the conversation you want so badly. How much do we owe?”
“Did you know that two months ago your father paid a visit to Medinos?”
Shock held her immobile. “No.”
“Are you aware that he had plans to start up a pearl industry there?”
“Not possible.” But blunt denial didn’t ease the cold dread forming in her stomach. “We barely have enough capital to operate in Sydney.” Her father had driven what had been a thriving business into the ground. “We’re in no position to expand.”
Something shifted in Constantine’s gaze, and for a fleeting second she had a sense that, like it or not, he had reached some kind of decision.
Constantine indicated a document he must have dropped on the desk while she’d been out of the room. Sienna studied the thick parchment. Her knees wobbled. A split second later she was sitting in her father’s old leather chair, fighting disbelief as she skimmed the text.
Not one loan but several. She had expected the first loan to date back to the first large deposit she had found in her father’s personal account several weeks ago, and she wasn’t disappointed.
She lifted her head to find Constantine still watching her. “Why did Lorenzo lend anything to my father? He knew he had a gambling problem.”
“My father was terminally ill and clearly not in his right mind. When he died a month ago, we knew there was a deficit. Unfortunately, the documents confirming the loans to your father weren’t located until five days ago.”
Her jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Believe me, if I had been there I would have, but I was out of the country at the time. To compound the issue, he bypassed the usual channels and retained an old friend, his retired legal counsel, to draw up the contracts.”
Constantine ran his fingers around his nape, his expression abruptly impatient. “I see you’re now beginning to understand the situation. Your father has been running Ambrosi Pearls and his gambling addiction on The Atraeus Group’s money. An amount he ‘borrowed’ from a dying man on the basis of a business he had no intention of setting up.”
Fraud.
Now the questions fired at her by the reporters made sense. “Is that what you told the press?”
“I think you know me better than that.”
She felt oddly relieved. It shouldn’t matter that Constantine hadn’t been the one who had leaked the story, but it did.
Someone, most likely an employee, would have sold the information to the press.
Sienna stared at the figure involved and felt her normal steely optimism and careful plans for Ambrosi Pearls dissolve.
Firming her chin, she stared out at the bright blue summer sky and the endless, hazy vista of the Pacific Ocean, and tried to regroup. There had to be a way out of this; she had wrangled the company out of plenty of tight spots before. All she had to do was think.
Small, disparate pieces of information clicked into place. Constantine not wanting to talk to her at the funeral or in the car, the way he had remained standing while she had read through the documents.
He had wanted to watch her reaction when she read the paperwork.
Her gaze snapped to his. “You thought I was part of this.”
Constantine’s expression didn’t alter.
Something in her plummeted. Sienna pushed to her feet. The loan documents cascaded to the floor; she barely noticed them. When Lorenzo Atraeus had died, he had left an enormous fortune based on a fabulously rich gold mine and a glittering retail and hotel empire to his three sons, Constantine, Lucas and Zane.
It shouldn’t be uppermost in her mind, but it suddenly struck her that if Ambrosi Pearls was in debt to The Atraeus Group, by definition—as majority shareholder—that meant Constantine.
Constantine’s gaze was oddly bleak. “Now you’re getting it. Unless you can come up with the money, I now own Ambrosi Pearls lock, stock and barrel.”
Four
The vibration of a cell phone broke the electrifying silence.
Constantine answered the call, relieved at the sudden release of tension, the excuse to step back from a situation that had spiraled out of control.
He had practically threatened Sienna, a tactic he had never before resorted to, even when dealing with slick, professional fraudsters. In light of the heart-pounding discovery that Sienna hadn’t known about her father’s latest scam, his behavior was inexcusable. He should have stepped back, reassessed, postponed the meeting.
Gotten a grip before he wrecked any chance that she might want him again.
Unfortunately, Sienna doing battle with him across the polished width of her father’s desk had put a kink in his strategy. Her cheeks had been flushed, her eyes fiery, shunting him back in time to hot, sultry nights and tangled sheets. It was hard to think tactically when all he wanted to do was kiss her.
She had never been this animated or passionate with him before, he realized. Even in bed he had always been grimly aware that she was holding back, that there was a part of her he couldn’t reach.
That she was more committed to Ambrosi Pearls than she had ever been to him.
To compound the problem, he had mentioned the bad old days when the Atraeus family had been dirt-poor. Given that he wanted Sienna back in his bed, the last thing he needed was for her to view him as the grandson of the gardener.
Jaw tight, he turned to stare out at the sea view as he spoke to his personal assistant. Tomas had been trying to reach him for the past hour. Constantine had been aware he had missed calls, something he seldom did, but for once, business hadn’t been first priority.
Another uncharacteristic lapse.
Constantine hung up and broodingly surveyed Sienna as she gathered the pages she had knocked onto the floor and stacked them in a precise pile on the desktop. Even with her dress crumpled and her makeup gone, she looked elegant and classy, the quintessential lady.
A car door slammed somewhere in the distance. The staccato of high heels on the walkway was followed by the sound of the front door opening.
Constantine caught the flare of desperation in Sienna’s gaze. Witnessing that moment of sheer panic was like a kick in the chest. He was here to right a wrong that had been done to his father, but Sienna was also trying to protect her family, most specifically her mother, from him. It was a sobering moment. “Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “I won’t tell her.”
Sienna stifled a surge of relief and just had time to send Constantine a grateful glance before Margaret Ambrosi stepped into the room, closely followed by Carla.
“What’s going on?” her mother demanded in the cool, clear tone that had gotten her through thirty years with a husband who had given her more heartache than joy. “And don’t try to fob me off, because I know something’s wrong.”
“Mrs. Ambrosi.” Constantine used a tone that was far gentler than any Sienna could ever remember him using with her. “My condolences. Sienna and I were just discussing the details of a business deal your husband initiated a few months ago.”
Carla’s jaw was set. “I don’t believe Dad would have transacted anything without—”
Margaret Ambrosi’s hand stayed her. “So that’s why Roberto made the trip to Europe. I should have known.”
Carla frowned. “He went to Paris and Frankfurt. He didn’t go near the Mediterranean.”
An emotion close to anger momentarily replaced the exhaustion etched on her mother’s face.
“Roberto left a day earlier because he wanted to stop off at Medinos first. He said he wanted to visit the site of the old pearl facility and find his grandparents’ graves. If anything should have warned me he was up to something that should have been it. Roberto didn’t have a sentimental bone in his body. He went to Medinos on business.”
“That’s correct,” Constantine said in the same gentle tone, and despite the antagonism and the towering issue of the debt, Sienna could have hugged him.
One of the qualities that had made her fall so hard for Constantine two years ago had been the way he was with his family. Put simply, he loved and protected them with the kind of fierce loyalty that still had the power to send a shiver down her spine. After years of coping with a father who had always put himself first, the prospect of being included in Constantine’s family circle, of being the focus of that fierce protective instinct, had been utterly seductive.
That had been the prime reason she had frozen inside when she had found out that her father had done an under-the-table deal with Roberto Atraeus. She hadn’t been able to discuss it; she had been afraid to even think about it. She had known how Constantine would react and when the details of the loan had surfaced, the very thing she had feared most had happened. He had shut her out.
She blinked, snapping herself out of a memory that still had the power to hurt.
Constantine checked his watch. “If you’ll excuse me, I have another appointment. Once again, my apologies for intruding on your grief.”
His cool gray eyes connected with hers, the message clear. They hadn’t finished their discussion.
“I’ll see you out.” Shoving the loan documents out of sight in a drawer, she followed Constantine out into the bare hallway. As much as she didn’t want to spend any more time with him, she did want to get him out of the house and away from her mother before she realized there was a problem.
The bright sunlight shafting through the open front door was glaring after the dim coolness of the study.
“Watch your step.”
Constantine’s hand cupped her elbow, the gesture nothing more than courtesy, but enough to reignite the humming awareness and the antagonism that had been so useful in getting her through the last hour and a half.
Pulse pounding, she lengthened her stride, moving away from the tingling heat of his touch and her growing conviction that Constantine wasn’t entirely unhappy with the power he now wielded over Ambrosi Pearls, and her. That behind the business-speak simmered a very personal agenda.
Her stomach tightened at the thought, her mouth going dry as the taut moments in his car replayed themselves. Barely two hours ago Constantine Atraeus, the man, hadn’t registered on her awareness. She had blanked him out, along with everything else that was not directly involved with either Ambrosi Pearls or her father’s funeral arrangements. Now she couldn’t seem to stop the hot flashes of memory and an acute awareness of him. “Thank you for not saying anything about the debt to Mom.”
“If I’d thought your mother was involved, I would have mentioned it.”
“Which means you do think I’m involved.”
Suddenly the whole idea that she could be crazily attracted to Constantine again was so not an issue.
Constantine followed her out into the courtyard and depressed the Audi’s key. The sleek car unlocked with an expensive thunk. “You’ve been running Ambrosi single-handedly for the past eighteen months. And paying Roberto’s debts.”
She grabbed a remote control from her car and opened the gate at the bottom of the driveway. As far as she was concerned, the sooner he left the better. “By selling family assets, not trying to take more loans when we’re already overcommitted.”
Constantine’s phone buzzed. He picked up the call and spoke briefly in Medinian. She heard Lucas’s name and mention of the company lawyer, Ben Vitalis. Business. That explained all three Atraeus brothers being in Sydney at the same time, no matter for how short a period. It also emphasized the fact that Constantine might be here to deal with the mess her father had entangled them both in, but on The Atraeus Group’s global radar, Ambrosi Pearls was only a blip.
The tension that gripped her stomach and chest tightened another notch. Which, once again, pointed to the personal agenda.
Constantine terminated the call. “We have a lot to discuss, but the discussion will have to wait until tonight. I’ll send a car for you at eight. We can talk over dinner.”
