The Ruthless Billionaire’s Redemption Read online

  Her smile dimmed. As for Valerie bringing Lee to her bedroom, well, if she did, so be it. This was the twentieth century; Val was entitled to her own code of morality. That was the only reason she was troubled by the thought of Lee and Val together.

  It was, wasn’t it?

  Quickly, before her good mood could slip away, Danielle pulled off her sleep-rumpled clothes and hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower.

  * * *

  Madame had given her explicit directions to the movie set although Val had been right, she really didn’t need them. The town seemed to have accepted the film people calmly enough, but their trucks and trailers took up most of the narrow main street, which led like a compass reading to the fringe of the village where the day’s shoot was taking place.

  Danielle slowed her steps as she drew closer. She’d expected some sort of glamorous if makeshift film lot. Instead, she saw a tangle of wires and a forest of booms and camera dollies. There were people everywhere, all of them talking a mad mix of French and American-accented English, using words and phrases that were meaningless to her, no matter what the language.

  ‘Heads up!’ a voice boomed, and she danced back just in time to keep from being bowled over by two men pushing a giant painting of what looked to be a crowded grandstand. Danielle turned slowly and stared as the picture went by.

  ‘It’s called a flat,’ a deep voice said softly from just behind her.

  Danielle whirled around and found herself looking into the dark blue eyes of Lee Bradford. ‘You startled me,’ she said.

  He smiled lazily. ‘I’m glad to see you’re fast on your feet. It would be hell to be run down by a grandstand your first day on the set.’

  ‘I thought I’d be out of the way back here,’ she said. ‘It all looks so confusing.’

  Lee nodded. ‘It is confusing. My first few days, I was convinced it was safer to stand on the track at Le Mans. But it all begins to make a kind of lunatic sense, after a while.’ He drew back, looked at her, then smiled. ‘Well, for someone who’s flown halfway around the world and ended it with a car crash, you don’t look half bad.’

  He didn’t look half bad, either, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Lee had changed to snug-fitting, faded Levis, a white shirt, open at the throat and rolled to the elbows, and well-worn Nike running shoes. His hair was damp; it glistened with moisture in the setting sun.

  He’s just come from the shower, she thought, and her hand went, inadvertently, to her hair, still curling wetly against her cheek. Lee’s eyes met hers and he laughed softly.

  ‘You see? We could have killed two birds with one stone and saved water to boot.’

  Danielle’s eyes flashed. ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ she said.

  His eyebrows rose. ‘Do what? I was only pointing out—’

  ‘What you were doing was teasing me. And I don’t like it.’

  ‘Why would you think that?’

  Her chin lifted. ‘Why do you keep saying things to shock me?’

  ‘Perhaps I’m fascinated by the fact that you shock so easily.’

  She looked up at him, gritting her teeth against the laughter she was sure she was to see in his face. But his eyes were serious. The realisation set her off balance, and she felt a flush rise to her cheeks.

  ‘How do you do that, Danielle?’

  She blinked. ‘How do I…?’

  ‘Blush, I mean. It’s lovely.’

  ‘It’s not lovely at all,’ she said irritably. ‘It just seems to be something that—that…’

  ‘That happens when you’re with me?’ A smile tilted across his mouth. ‘I’d like to think that was true.’

  ‘Why? Because it amuses you?’

  ‘No.’ His eyes swept over her face, lingering at her mouth before meeting hers again. ‘It doesn’t amuse me at all.’

  Danielle drew a deep breath. Games, she thought, remembering, he plays games, and somehow he was drawing her into this one. But he couldn’t, not if she refused to play.

  ‘Perhaps I’ll see you around,’ she said evenly. ‘Good afternoon, Mr Bradford.’

  ‘Lee,’ he said, falling in beside her as she began walking towards the set. ‘I thought we settled that.’

  ‘Lee, then. I wish you’d just—’

  ‘Would you like to take a look around?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, thank you. I’ll wait for Val.’

  ‘Val’s holed up with Wexler. By the time she shows again, it’s liable to be tomorrow.’ His hand closed lightly but firmly on her elbow. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you through.’

  Her skin tingled where his fingers touched it, as if there were a low current of electricity flowing between them.

  ‘That’s all right,’ she said, pulling away from him. ‘I don’t mind waiting.’

  ‘Look, you almost got run down a few minutes ago. Don’t you think you’d better have some idea of what things are before you go wandering off and get into trouble?’

  He was right; there was equipment stacked everywhere. She nodded reluctantly.

  ‘I suppose.’

  Lee smiled. ‘That’s better. After all, you want to make a good first impression.’

  Danielle looked at him. ‘Yes, but on whom? I’ve never seen so many people jammed into one place. Do they all really belong here?’

  He grinned at her. ‘You’d better believe it. Watch it,’ he said. His arm slipped around her shoulders and he steered her past a snarl of cables that lay curled like black snakes at their feet.

  She laughed nervously. ‘I guess I’d better learn to watch where I walk.’

  ‘You’ll get used to it after a few days.’ He glanced down at her and smiled. ‘So, what do you think?’

  His arm was still around her, his hand lightly cupping her shoulder. The same tingle as before raced along her spine.

  ‘It—it’s confusing.’

  ‘Very.’ Lee smiled again. ‘Especially to an outsider.’

  ‘I’ll learn,’ she said defensively.

  He laughed. ‘I’m sure you will. But I wasn’t referring to you; I was talking about myself.’

  She looked up at him in surprise. ‘You? But you’re not—’

  ‘Ah, but I am. This is a strange world to me, Danielle. I’m used to cars and engines—things you can touch and make sense of. This,’ he said, gesturing with his free hand, ‘is a place of illusion. Nothing’s quite as it seems here.’

  No, she thought suddenly, nothing was. Take Lee Bradford, for example. A little while ago, he’d been the last man on earth she’d wanted to see again. Now, here they were, walking along together, chatting comfortably with each other. Val would be surprised. Val would…

  Val.

  ‘Where did you say Val was?’ she asked quickly. ‘In Mr Wexler’s office?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘Why don’t we walk over there, then?’

  Lee grinned. ‘Barney hates to be disturbed when he’s working. Don’t worry about it; Val takes care of herself.’

  ‘Val’s job must be interesting.’

  ‘It would be more interesting if she understood more than two or three words of French,’ he said mildly.

  Danielle nodded. ‘Val says—’

  Lee drew to a halt. ‘All right,’ he said, turning her towards him, ‘what’s going on?’

  ‘I don’t know what you—’

  ‘Yes, you do. You’ve managed to mention your cousin’s name every second breath. I assume there’s a reason.’

  Danielle looked at him. ‘I should think you’d be mentioning her name yourself,’ she said quietly. ‘After all, you and she…’

  Lee let go of her and stuffed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. His eyes darkened dangerously. ‘Go on,’ he said softly. ‘What did she tell you?’

  ‘Everything,’ she said, lifting her chin.

  He smiled tightly. ‘Somehow,’ he said softly, ‘I doubt that.’

  His tone mocked her, but she held her ground. ‘There’s no p
oint to this, you know,’ she said quietly. ‘I mean, I think Val’s a fool to put up with it, but if she’s satisfied—’

  ‘There you are, Danni.’ Danielle looked up at the sound of Valerie’s voice. Her cousin was smiling, but her tone was frigid. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you’d decided to sleep the day away.’

  ‘I awoke a little while ago. I came looking for you, and Mr Bradford—’

  ‘Lee,’ he said pleasantly. ‘I thought we settled that in Nice.’ He smiled at Valerie, but his eyes were cool. ‘I didn’t think Danielle should be on her own her first day.’

  ‘Aren’t you sweet, Lee?’ Val said, smiling blithely at him. She linked her arm through his. ‘It was good of you to take my little cousin under your wing. Has she asked dozens of silly questions?’

  Lee looked at Danielle, and his smile warmed. ‘One or two.’

  ‘Well, I’ll take over now—although there won’t be much to see, everybody seems to have finished for the day. I wonder, Danni, would you mind terribly if we put off our tour until tomorrow?’

  ‘No,’ Danielle said quickly, ‘no, that would be fine.’

  Val pursed her lips. ‘Actually,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘you look rather tired. Don’t you think she looks tired, Lee?’

  His teeth glinted in a quick smile. ‘I think she looks just fine.’

  There was a pause and then Danielle cleared her throat. ‘I—I do feel rather tired, now that I think about it. Would you mind very much if I went back to the inn, Val?’

  This time, Valerie’s smile was genuine. ‘No, of course not. I understand. What you probably need is a good hot meal and then a solid night’s rest. Why don’t you ask Madame to fix you something, hmm? She makes an awfully good omelette.’ She looked up at Lee as she moved closer to him. Her fingers curled more closely around his arm. ‘Some of the crew is driving into Nice for dinner. I told them I’d round you up and we’d join them.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ Lee said. ‘But I’m afraid I can’t make it tonight. I have an early-morning meeting with the stunt coordinator.’

  Val pouted prettily. ‘Don’t be silly, Lee. You have to have dinner somewhere.’

  He smiled as he gently took her hand from his arm. ‘Yeah, that’s true.’ His eyes met Danielle’s. ‘Maybe I’ll try one of Madame’s omelettes—if Danielle doesn’t mind having company.’

  In the abrupt silence, the only sound Danielle could hear was the rasp of her own breath. The man was incorrigible, she thought. How could he behave like this?

  Val tossed back her cloud of platinum hair. ‘Well,’ she said briskly, ‘I can see I’m outvoted.’ A bright smile blazed across her face. ‘So I’ll make it easy for all of us. I’ll settle for an omelette, too.’ Her eyes, glinting like icy green shards, met Danielle’s. ‘How does that sound?’

  Danielle swallowed drily. ‘It sounds—it sounds…’

  Later, lying sleepless on the lumpy sofa-bed mattress, she would remember that moment and wonder if she’d have ever managed an answer. As it was, Lee stepped in and rescued her.

  ‘Terrific,’ he said, and he draped his arms lightly around both women’s shoulders. ‘After all, we can’t leave Danielle alone her first night in France, can we, Val?’

  Time seemed to stop while Val stared past Lee to Danielle.

  ‘So it would seem,’ she said finally, and the coldness in her voice made a mockery of her brightly glittering smile.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE door to the Wexler offices flew open and slammed loudly against the wall, propelled as much by an impatient assistant as by the hot Provençal breeze. Danielle looked up as the memo she’d been reading sailed off her desk.

  The man scooped up the paper in mid-air and handed it to her. ‘Sorry,’ he said with an apologetic smile. ‘Mr Wexler says if you could just take care of this one last thing?’

  Barney Wexler’s cramped handwriting angled across the slip of paper. Danielle read it quickly, then nodded.

  ‘No problem.’

  The man grimaced as he pushed the door open again. ‘Jeez, it’s so hot! I can’t wait until we’re outta here and back in the real world.’

  Danielle sighed as the door closed, and then she swivelled her chair towards the window behind her and stared out into the street.

  He was right, she thought, this timeless village wasn’t the real world. But she’d come to love its charm in just a few days.

  Val thought she was crazy. Ste Agathe was too ‘foreign’. The food, the people, the old houses were not for her, she said with distaste. Even the smoky café, Le Lapin Gris, where the crew gathered over bottles of vin ordinaire at day’s end, couldn’t please her.

  ‘Dull,’ Val said, ‘dull, dull, dull!’

  Quiet, Danielle thought, quiet, peaceful, ageless.

  But all that would change after this weekend. Not the village—it would go on as it always had, even after the Wexler company had taken down its sets and moved on.

  No, the change would come because Lee would be back late tonight. And who knew what would happen then?

  The memory of that first awful evening was still sharply etched in her mind. The dining room at the auberge had been closed. Danielle had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she’d been granted a reprieve. But Lee had insisted on going to Le Lapin Gris, where the three of them had crowded around a small table. The chairs had been rickety and close together; Lee’s thigh had pressed against hers once and she’d pulled her leg back as if from a fire.

  But Lee hadn’t seemed to notice. He’d kept the conversation going despite Val’s silence and hers, asking her questions about herself that she’d answered in monosyllables. After a while, Val had tried to divert him by telling gossipy stories about the film’s famous star and his latest girlfriend, but finally she’d fallen silent. A little while later, she’d made an impatient sound and said it was awfully late and Danielle looked exhausted, and why didn’t they walk her to the inn so she could get some rest?

  It was cool outside, surprisingly so after the unremitting heat of the day. Danielle had shivered in her light cotton top and trousers.

  Lee glanced at her. ‘Are you cold?’ Before she could answer, he slipped off his denim jacket and draped it around her shoulders. His hand brushed against her cheek. ‘Is that better?’

  No, she thought, not better at all. The jacket smelled of him, it carried the heat of his body, and she had a sudden desire to turn her face towards the soft collar and burrow into it.

  ‘Yes,’ she said in a tight voice.

  ‘Good,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘We don’t want you to come down with pneumonia your first night here, do we, Val?’

  Val glared across him. ‘No,’ she said through her teeth. ‘Of course we don’t.’

  They walked in silence to the dark auberge. As soon as they reached it, Danielle moved ahead.

  ‘Goodnight,’ she called as she fled up the steps. Safe in Val’s rooms, she closed the door and leaned back against it. Her legs were trembling, as if she’d run a race.

  What was happening to her? She already knew all she needed to know about Lee Bradford: he had no morals and no conscience. But that didn’t keep her from—from acting like a fool when he…

  She was still wearing his jacket. Her breath caught. Slowly, her hand lifted to the denim, her fingers moved lightly across it, and then she did what she’d almost done when Lee had draped his jacket over her shoulders, she did what she couldn’t keep herself from doing—she pulled it off, lifted it to her face, and closed her eyes.

  She stood that way for a long time. When finally she heard the sound of Val’s footsteps tapping up the stairs, her eyes flew open and she flung the jacket from her, hating Lee, cursing herself, wondering if any of what was happening would ever make any kind of sense.

  She looked up when the door opened, praying Val would let the insanity of the evening die a quiet death. But her cousin was taut with barely suppressed rage. Her pretty face was drawn into a series of thin, down-slashing lines.
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  ‘What the hell are you trying to do?’ she spat.

  For a moment, Danielle thought of pretending she didn’t know what Val was talking about. But there wasn’t much sense to that. She wasn’t a fool, and neither was Val.

  ‘I’m not trying to do anything,’ she said. ‘It’s he who—’

  Her cousin’s mouth twisted. ‘I told you how he is, Danni. If you lead him on—’

  ‘For God’s sake, Val, face the facts. Don’t blame this on me.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Danni, I wasn’t born yesterday!’ Val kicked off her high-heeled shoes, then stalked across the room. ‘All that blushing, those coy little looks from beneath your lashes…’ She stopped at the bedroom door and stared at Danielle. ‘What will you do if he tries to take you up on your invitation, hmm?’ Her eyes were cold. ‘Lee’s a man, Danni, not a boy. He’s not your Teddy or Eddie or whoever it was you kept dangling.’

  ‘I didn’t “dangle” him, Val—you don’t know what you’re talking about. As for Lee Bradford, I keep telling you, I’m not the least bit interested. Frankly, I don’t know what you find so fascinating about him. He’s a—an egotistical, smug bastard, and I…’

  Val’s eyes flashed. ‘And you want him, the same as every other woman does.’ Colour swept to Danielle’s cheeks and Val gave a harsh laugh. ‘You can’t even deny it, can you?’

  ‘I don’t like him, Val. I told you…’

  Val smiled unpleasantly. ‘Liking him hasn’t a thing to do with it. We’re not talking about sugar-coated emotions here, we’re talking about something far more basic, Miss Innocent. We’re talking about sex. Or is that too raw a topic for my little Missouri cousin?’

  The two women stared at each other, and then Danielle let out her breath.

  ‘Coming here was a mistake,’ she said softly. ‘I knew it all along.’

  Val tossed her head. ‘I couldn’t agree more,’ she said, and then she yanked open the door to the bedroom and slammed it after her.

  Angry tears rose in Danielle’s eyes and she brushed them away with a quick swipe of her hand. Coming here had been more than a mistake—it had been stupid. She didn’t belong here—Lee had said this was a strange world, but it was more than that. It was alien, a place where people played at things she didn’t understand.