Seduced by the Billionaire Read online

  His sixth sense nagged again.

  Sarah Bryant was hiding something.

  The notion came to him with blinding clarity. It insisted he extinguish any lingering fantasies he had about taming the leopardess and urged him to dig deeper before he and his friends—and his sister—signed her up for a contract.

  ‘Did you finally get through to Rose Harris with the offer of a contract for Sarah, or did Rose contact you?’

  Tearing her attention away from the catwalk, Jocelyn turned to him with a frown. ‘Actually, Rose contacted me.’

  A lick of unease grazed down his vertebrae. ‘You don’t find that strange?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Why, after five years, is she suddenly seeking out your fashion label? Could Sarah be on the way out of the modelling game?’

  ‘Thanks very much! You make it sound as though she’s coming to me because she’s desperate.’ Her spine stiffened and she looked as though she wanted to poke her tongue out at him. ‘Not only is my label worn by all the younger members of the royal family, but Sarah still commands higher fees than any other model.’

  Even as he wondered whether Sarah’s meteoric rise and record number of years at the top was at an end, one look at her confirmed why she was still the world’s hottest model. So, if she still had what it took …

  ‘Any rumours that she’s been involved in some type of scandal that’d tarnish her marketing appeal?’

  ‘None. She’s still the face of the House of Eduardo and the star in Eduardo’s brother’s premium perfume range. You don’t get any more successful than working for Eduardo and Manuel.’

  Although Nick took little interest in the world of fashion, he knew that much was true. ‘It all seems good on the surface, but something has to have made her decide to increase her public exposure.’

  ‘Her life away from the cameras has always been extremely private. I’ve heard she makes visits to charities and hospitals or disability facilities from time to time but the press don’t find out about it until after it’s over.’

  ‘She doesn’t seek publicity from the visits?’

  ‘Never. She shuns media attention and seems to make the visits for genuinely altruistic reasons. As for relationships, I know she’s dated a few guys but the word is she’s a bit of an ice maiden.’

  Seeing Sarah in this leopard print outfit, Nick found it hard to believe any ice ran through her veins. But, if it was true … He couldn’t help but think how satisfying it would be to ignite the fire to melt her ice, to kiss those pouting lips and have her enjoy hours of passion in bed—in his bed.

  Slamming the lid down on those images he pressed, ‘There must be a reason so little is known about her—something she’s hiding.’

  Jocelyn waved to someone in another private box. ‘Personally, I believe it’s part of why the public are so insatiable for her. Maybe the mystery surrounding her has been a deliberate marketing strategy. Rose Harris is very clever. The change in tactics could be part of a long-term plan. That Sarah’s only begun appearing on catwalks relatively recently has added an extra dimension to extend her industry use-by date. She’s now prepared to do the odd public appearance and again it fuels public interest in her.’

  ‘Making a television documentary would be one avenue she hasn’t explored.’

  ‘It would. You guys might be lucky, or Rose might want to keep that idea up her sleeve to use at a later date.’

  Nick intended to find out whether Sarah Bryant’s elusiveness was a clever marketing ploy or whether there was something more going on behind the scenes.

  Jocelyn hooked her arm through his. ‘Let’s get to the function and you can meet her—for purely business reasons—and form your own opinion.’

  ‘A word of brotherly advice,’ he cautioned. ‘Hold off on that contract tomorrow, Jocelyn.’

  ‘Are you mad?’

  He shook his head. ‘Just a hunch.’

  ‘Sorry, Nick, no way am I backing your hunch. I’ve waited too long.’

  ‘Then, at least build in a thirty day cooling-off period while I do some digging.’

  Jocelyn looked at him as though she was considering calling men in white suits to take him away.

  Unfortunately he held no sway over his sister’s business. For all that he was a younger brother and could still goad his sister relentlessly, Nick was also very protective of Jocelyn. She’d worked hard to build up her fashion empire and he wanted to make sure there was nothing about Sarah Bryant that would put Henderson Haute Couture at risk, but Jocelyn’s mind was obviously made up.

  Chapter 2

  Let this end.

  Please. Let the curtains draw closed and let me get out of the spotlight.

  It didn’t matter that she’d been on the catwalk twice before, the words still went round in Sarah’s head like a litany while she tried to project outward composure.

  It was a struggle to ignore her trembling legs and the way her gut knotted whenever she was in a crowded room but today the usual ordeal was far, far worse. Today, adding to the usual horror, nausea churned in her stomach and the reason things were so much worse was blindingly obvious.

  He was here.

  Unable to stop herself, she looked his way again.

  Her gaze collided with his. She was helpless to stem her remembered fear and the imperceptible shudder of revulsion that ran through her. Before she tore her attention away and looked into the crowd beyond him, she saw him frown thoughtfully.

  The tremors in her legs intensified.

  Had her reaction given her away?

  No. It was impossible. They’d never met.

  Worry clenched its teeth harder around her torso, making it difficult to breathe. Maybe he had noticed her that night?

  Recalling the evening with vivid clarity, the stirrings of anger replaced Sarah’s fear and for a split second she looked back at the man and allowed the full force of her hatred for him and all men of his ilk to burn from her eyes.

  How predictable that he’d be here today. No doubt fashion shows were a regular haunt so he could size up the parading models and choose his next plaything.

  Sarah was totally disgusted by him and wished she had the strength to expose him for what he was. Except then her role in that evening would come to light …

  Relax. She reassured herself that he wouldn’t identify her.

  Even if he had seen her as she’d made her way across the crowded room that night, the man would surely not remember the unsophisticated, unworldly seventeen-year-old girl she’d been. She’d grown up and was no longer that naive teenager. But, eleven years later, there was no mistaking him.

  She’d never forget his chiselled features. Even though today they weren’t clenched in anger and seized with a determination to completely dominate, they were unmistakable. He was arrestingly handsome with high-hewn cheekbones, a slightly Patrician nose and strong masculine jaw—the type of man who would make her pulse race if she hadn’t seen him in action and known he was a man to be feared.

  At her previous two fashion shows her gaze had kept darting to the illuminated exit signs. It was normally instinctive to calculate which exit was nearest to her—automatic to plot the most direct path to safety should the need arise.

  Not today.

  Today, knowing he was so close, gut-churning memories overwhelmed her usual insecurities of being in a crowd.

  Beads of perspiration pricked her upper lip and she needed to consciously keep her hands loose by her sides to resist wiping her damp palms against Giovanni’s leopard print dress. Hopefully if anyone in the gallery noticed the perspiration they’d put it down to the heat from the spotlights rather than guess at her inner panic.

  Almost there.

  The heavy black velvet curtains were nearly closed. Any moment now she’d be out of the blazing lights and hidden from public scrutiny. More importantly, the heavy drapes would hide her from his view and her skin might finally stop crawling from the knowledge he was eyeing her up an
d down.

  Focus on your breathing. The calming voice of the hypnotherapist replayed in her head. Deep breath in. Slow breath out.

  Sarah continued to smile and could only hope her expression lived up to what the press had dubbed her ‘thousand-watt winner’—the smile people were used to seeing plastered over billboards.

  Yes!

  The curtains were finally closed and she worked at keeping her shoulders back and her spine straight so as not to sag in relief. Looking to her right, she saw her agent bustle onto the stage, barely stopping to greet the other models as she made a direct path to Sarah.

  ‘Thank God you recovered out there,’ Rose said in a relieved undertone as she took Sarah by the arm.

  Sarah should’ve continued to walk right to the end of the catwalk to make sure everyone in attendance got a close view of the garment she modelled.

  Rose and Giovanni wouldn’t be surprised she’d frozen and made an unscheduled exit, but they wouldn’t have any inkling that seeing the man from her past had been the reason she’d stopped. They’d attribute the episode of momentary paralysis to something else entirely.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you out of here and give you a five minute breather before we attend the reception.’ Rose tried to lead her away towards the private dressing room that’d been allocated for Sarah’s exclusive use.

  As much as she wanted to escape, Sarah pulled herself together. She was safe and now was not the time to dwell on her inner turmoil. She wanted to acknowledge all the fabulous models who’d donated their time and those who’d worked tirelessly behind the scenes to pull the charitable event together.

  ‘I’m okay, Rose.’ Pushing all other thoughts to the periphery of her brain she dug deep for the appearance of normality and projected her voice so all behind the curtain would hear. ‘Well done, everyone! You know how much I wanted today to be a success and you’ve made it happen. Thanks so much to every one of you for volunteering to participate to raise money for the Extend Foundation. Thank you, my friends, thank you to our fabulous designer, Giovanni, and thanks to all of you behind the scenes.’ She let her hand sweep around her to all the support staff. ‘It’s been fabulous. Take a bow, all of you.’ She applauded them. ‘I’ll see you out at the function, soon.’

  God but she hoped he wouldn’t be at the VIP function where she’d be appearing.

  ‘Happy to help, Sarah.’

  ‘It was fantastic!’

  ‘Any time, sweetie!’

  Everyone chorused their support as Sarah waved and left with Rose.

  ‘What a fantastic group,’ Sarah enthused as she tried to forget the man whose face still conjured up nightmares. ‘I love how supportive they are.’

  ‘I should hope they would be,’ Rose said staunchly. ‘You’ve been supportive of each of them when they’ve had personal difficulties or hit a block in their careers.’

  Sarah shrugged. ‘This is a tough gig. It’s important to look after each other.’

  ‘Well, being here today was definitely a win-win. They’ve raised funds for your favourite charity and taking to the catwalk with you is going to advance the profile of every model who attended.’ Rose’s words barely registered.

  I’m not going to think about him.

  I’m not going to keep thinking back to that frightening night.

  It took every bit of mental reserve for Sarah to force herself away from the horrors of the past and focus on the present. ‘I hope today will help their bookings. Ryan’s going to be thrilled with the amount of money raised and also the way the organisation is now in the spotlight. I saw him before the show started and I think he was more nervous than I was.’

  ‘Your brother will be grinning for a week and you can bet he’ll be working the room out there now with Helen, trying to shore up more donations for his various projects.’ Rose shut the dressing room door behind them. ‘As for you, young lady, you wowed them all again despite your stumble. You really brought Giovanni’s last creation to life.’

  ‘I hope Giovanni’s not too disappointed I left the catwalk early.’

  ‘He’ll understand.’ Rose patted her arm. ‘We’d both hoped it was getting easier for you.’

  It was a relief Rose and Giovanni had jumped to the wrong conclusion and Sarah was going to run with it.

  ‘Each time is still a challenge.’ She gave her agent a quick hug before sinking gratefully into a comfortable armchair. Every time Sarah walked out from behind the curtain and into the glare of the spotlights she had to force the traumatic flashbacks away and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.

  ‘I know it isn’t easy, love, but you recovered quickly today and you leapt over the dreaded hurdle again.’ Rose gave Sarah’s shoulder a brief but reassuring pat. ‘It will get easier every time.’

  Sarah knew she’d only faced this hurdle because Ryan pushed her into it. ‘The hypnotherapy and desensitisation techniques have helped.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter what it takes to clear the hurdles, only that you do.’

  Sarah sighed. She was working at getting stronger mentally—working at slaying the dragons that had been breathing their fire on her ever since she’d been a child.

  ‘What happened out there?’ Rose asked. ‘Can you identify the trigger?’

  The trigger was easily identified even though she didn’t know his name.

  When she’d walked out on the catwalk her nerves had already been stretched taut. That had been expected. Then, all her usual alarm bells started clanging more loudly in a cacophony of sound and she’d kept looking at the exit straight ahead.

  As she’d advanced down the runway, it’d been as though she’d been pulled along by an irresistible energy force.

  Unease had transfused through her bloodstream, but it had been different from her usual anxiety.

  Of course all eyes had been on her, but there’d been something strange. There’d been a potency in the atmosphere that’d made it impossible for her to completely disconnect from those in the gallery. Some sixth sense warned her of a presence—a danger. It hadn’t been the usual reflexive need to prepare her to flee from a crowded space.

  Finally she’d succumbed to the compelling need to look down into the sea of faces.

  Pulled out of her safe orbit, the impact of seeing that man among today’s guests caused a meteor shower that was blinding.

  ‘No specific trigger,’ she lied.

  ‘Well, your back’s against the wall and you can’t be as picky now in what you will and won’t take on. You’re going to have to keep doing these fashion shows and we need to sign you up for new contracts before word leaks that your two major contracts have been cancelled and people start to wonder why.’

  Raising her hands, Sarah pressed her fingertips to her temples. On top of everything else she was going through now, why had he reappeared and stirred up so many different dark and disturbing memories?

  Rose’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her handbag to glance at the screen. ‘Sorry, Sarah. I have to take this. Have a breather for a few minutes until I get back and don’t get out of that dress. Giovanni wants you to wear it to the function.’

  Left alone, Sarah gripped the arms of the chair. Without Rose to distract her, she couldn’t banish the memories of Crystal—the girl who’d been that man’s prey eleven years ago.

  ‘I’ve never worn anything so divine,’ Crystal said.

  ‘Me too,’ Sarah replied as she looked around the Russian billionaire’s luxury super yacht. ‘It’s amazing to think we’ve been paid for simply showing up.’

  Crystal’s smile was smug as she lifted her champagne flute and clinked it against Sarah’s. ‘This is the first step into the international fashion industry. Fame and fortune are right around the corner for us.’

  While Crystal drained her glass, Sarah took a sip of the bubbling liquid and didn’t like it.

  ‘Drink up, Sarah. There’s plenty of it and it’s free!’ Sarah’s new friend summoned a passing waiter and
took another glass from the tray.

  ‘Do you have anything non-alcoholic available?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘No, Miss.’

  Quaffing down another glass, Crystal said, ‘I’ll have hers’ and reached again for the tray.

  ‘Crystal, maybe you should slow down on the champagne.’

  ‘No way. It’s champagne and million dollar yachts all the way for me now. My older sister married a guy whose parents are billionaires. He’s turned his back on the money—said he wants to make his own way. How stupid,’ Crystal scorned. ‘There’s no way I’d do that. My sister’s a fool for letting him. I want to be rolling in it. I’m going to find an insanely rich man who’ll buy me anything I want. In fact, my future husband could be out there right now.’

  Uncomfortable with Crystal’s declaration, Sarah looked beyond the ferns that provided a semi-screen of privacy for them.

  They were the only young, would-be models there who didn’t have a man hanging off them.

  ‘Crystal! Look!’ Her heart sank. Several of the men in tuxedos were kissing girls.

  One girl flinched and took a step backward as an older man pawed at her back and ran his hand over the curve of her bottom but he merely pulled her closer and kissed her hard. Another girl was being led away towards the state rooms, giggling loudly as she stumbled along on too-high heels.

  Fear gripped Sarah hard. ‘We weren’t brought here for modelling contracts.’

  Crystal smiled at her over the rim of her champagne flute. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of the casting couch, Sarah?’

  ‘You can’t be serious?’

  ‘You’re so naive.’

  ‘This isn’t what I was told.’ Her gaze darted around the room and adrenaline spurted through her veins. ‘Let’s lock ourselves in the bathroom before someone notices us.’

  ‘No.’ Crystal stood and grasped the back of a chair quickly as she wobbled on her stiletto heels. ‘You hide away if you want to. It’s time I got out there.’

  ‘Crystal!’

  But Crystal walked away and didn’t look back.

  Sarah fled towards the bathroom. Heart pounding, she narrowly avoided groping hands and only allowed herself a deep breath when she bolted the door behind her.