Mistress & a Million Dollars / Satin & A Scandalous Affair: Mistress & a Million Dollars. Jan Colley
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СКАЧАТЬ in her lungs. “Wh-what?”

      “I stole from Howard Blackstone.”

      She stared in astonishment. “My God! How much?”

      He paused, then let out a shaky sigh. “One million dollars.”

      * * *

      Briana was still reeling from her father’s confession as she sat at the roulette table at the casino on Saturday evening. It had taken such an effort to keep her mind on the fashion show today, then again at the cocktail party this evening, but somehow she’d put a professional smile on her face. Afterward, not ready to go home to an empty apartment, she had stayed on.

      It wasn’t every week a daughter learned her father had stolen a million dollars. And from a “secret” account he’d been told about while working as an accountant for one of Australia’s richest men thirty years ago, after Howard’s previous accountant had passed on that bit of information.

      Nor was the reason her father had taken the money in the first place enough to stop Ray Davenport from going to jail. Medical expenses for his wife’s cancer, then a world cruise after a terminal diagnosis would garner immense sympathy, but in the end, the law would not condone embezzlement.

      A lump wedged in her throat. With the newspapers continuing to report on the anonymous buy-up of Blackstone shares, she could just imagine how the media would hound her poor father, not to mention herself. They’d already gone through that after the plane crash. She didn’t want to go through it again.

      Besides, it wouldn’t look good that her father had never forgiven Howard for firing Barbara when she’d become pregnant with Marise. Yet even after the Davenports had pulled up roots and moved from Sydney to Melbourne, the Blackstones had ended up an intrinsic part of their lives. In the latter years, Marise had worked for Blackstone Diamonds in sales and marketing, then Briana had found herself a model and the face of Blackstone Diamonds. And then Marise had been with Howard on the flight to New Zealand, and had died in the aftermath of the crash. It was crazy, but it was as if destiny had somehow wanted the Davenports and the Blackstones to keep a connection.

      And how ironic that his supermodel daughter couldn’t help Ray out with money when he needed it. Her new million-dollar contract with Blackstone’s was due to be renewed in three months’ time, but nothing was ever certain until it was signed. Until then she had just enough to live on, thanks to her ex-business manager and lover, Patrick, who had convinced her to invest nearly all her money in an unbuilt apartment complex. It had sounded like a good investment at the time, until the developers had gone bust and she’d lost the lot.

      She’d never told her parents about it, feeling like a sucker. They’d known she’d invested her money. They just hadn’t known she’d lost it.

      All at once someone sat down on the seat beside her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She turned toward the man who suddenly and completely filled her vision.

      “Jarrod!”

      “Briana,” he murmured, his blue eyes trapping hers for a heart-stopping second.

      She moistened her mouth even as she realized something. “You knew I’d be here, didn’t you?”

      One brow rose. “Did I?”

      “It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise,” she said, letting him know she wasn’t being hoodwinked.

      He shrugged. “Perhaps.”

      Her forehead creased. “You want to see me?”

      “Oh yes,” he drawled, his gaze going over her long, blond wavy hair that tumbled around her head, before dipping to the creamy expanse of her neck and shoulders above the black cocktail dress, then further down and over the gathered bust held together by a diamond center clasp.

      Her heart dropped to her toes but she managed a glare. “I meant that you wanted to talk to me?” she said, in no frame of mind to fend off his seduction.

      He paused, his face turning unreadable now. “Yes.”

      She waited for him to speak, and when he didn’t, she said, “Then talk.”

      “Not here.” He got to his feet, his hand cupping her bare elbow, sending a warming shiver through her. “Come have a drink with me in the lounge.”

      She looked up at him standing so close beside her, an air of command exuding from him, threatening to engulf her. She wanted to say no, but couldn’t think up a suitable excuse. “Just for a moment.”

      Then she stood up too and his eyes approved the short, glamorous dress. Heat curled in her stomach, before he led her away from the crowds and into one of the lounges. It was quieter in here with plenty of small tables circled by large comfortable leather chairs.

      He took her to some seats in a secluded corner that was much too intimate for Briana’s peace of mind, but when she saw some of the other patrons looking their way she was rather thankful no one could listen in on their conversation.

      A waiter immediately came over to them, and she agreed to join Jarrod in a brandy. It would calm her nerves, she decided, watching him place their order, his self-confidence and sophistication an attraction many women would find appealing.

      Dressed in dark trousers and a sports blazer with a white T-shirt underneath, he could have been a male model himself if there hadn’t been such a hard edge to him. Those blue eyes clearly showed that hardness, an arrogance that would never let anyone dictate to him, let alone a camera.

      “No Jake Vance today?” he said once the waiter left.

      “I gave him the day off,” she quipped.

      The edges of that firm, sensual mouth tilted. “I doubt Jake would think of it that way.”

      She doubted it, too, but she didn’t say so.

      His smile disappeared and he fixed her with a candid gaze. “You and Jake are an item then?”

      She lifted her chin. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

      He considered her for a moment, a pulse beating in his cheekbone. “The two of you were having a good laugh together at Kim’s wedding.”

      For a moment she didn’t know what he was talking about. Then she remembered her comment about testosterone keeping the boat afloat and a bubble of laughter rose in her throat.

      His eyes narrowed. “So there is something going on between you two.”

      She lost her amusement, not sure why he was being so insistent. “You wanted to talk,” she reminded him, crossing her legs, pretending this line of questioning wasn’t getting to her.

      His eyes plunged to her legs in the ultrasheer silk stockings revealed by the ruffled hem, admired them, then rose back up to her face. “Are the two of you lovers?”

      Her own eyes widened in dismay. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this.”

      He held her gaze. “Tell me the truth, Briana.”

      Panic stirred in her chest but she kept it at bay. “Why, Jarrod? Why do СКАЧАТЬ