Ruthless Russian, Lost Innocence(27)

Her uncle grimaced. ‘Well, thanks to Vadim’s generosity, you won’t have to for now.’

The words on Ella’s tongue, which had been queuing up to tell Vadim in no uncertain terms what he could do with his offer for her to remain at Kingfisher House, juddered to a halt. Her eyes flew to his face, and she was certain that behind his concealing shades his eyes were glinting with satisfaction that he had her right where he wanted her. Nothing would induce her to sell her mother’s piano, and even if she spent every spare moment searching for a flat it would be weeks before she found somewhere suitable, she acknowledged grimly.

‘Grandpa, I want to see the water,’ Lily piped up. She darted, quick as an eel, across the lawn, and Uncle Rex hurried after her.#p#分页标题#e#

‘Hang on a minute. Don’t you go too close to the river, young lady.’

Ella watched them go, and then turned angrily to Vadim. ‘Is this your peculiar idea of a joke?’ She snatched a breath and rushed on, without giving him a chance to reply. ‘I can’t believe you had the gall to engineer this.’

Dark brows rose quizzically. ‘Engineer what, specifically?’

‘You taking over the tenancy of Kingfisher House,’ she said fiercely. ‘Don’t tell me it wasn’t planned. I suppose you decided to rent the house after you found out that I live here.’

‘Actually, there was no Machiavellian plot,’ he said mildly. ‘I’ve known Rex Portman for some time, and my company has bought several properties with development potential through his estate agency. When he heard I was looking for a base in the UK he showed me around Kingfisher House, and I immediately decided to rent it for six months.’ Okay, that was stretching the truth, Vadim conceded silently, but he saw no reason to admit to Ella that he had originally decided to move into a house in Belgravia, but had changed his mind the night he had driven her home after the concert at Amesbury House.

Ella blushed as she recalled how he had rejected her the previous night. Of course he had not plotted to share the house with her, she told herself impatiently. But during their dinner date she had been so sure that he desired her, and when they had danced together at Annabel’s she had felt the hard proof of his arousal nudge insistently against her pelvis. Had she read the signs wrongly? Or had Vadim for some reason had a change of heart on the drive back to Kingfisher House and decided that he no longer wanted to explore the sexual chemistry between them? His face was shuttered, giving no clue to his thoughts. He was an enigma, and once again she had the feeling that there were secrets in his past she knew nothing about.

He finally took off his sunglasses, and the amused gleam in his brilliant blue eyes fuelled her temper. ‘You must see the situation is impossible,’ she said bitterly. ‘I can’t live here with you.’

Vadim leaned back in his chair and studied her broodingly. ‘We won’t technically be living together,’ he murmured laconically.

She glared at him, her pride still smarting. ‘You’re right-we won’t,’ she said sharply. ‘The staff flat has its own separate entrance, and the door between the flat and the main house will be locked at all times.’

She knew from the way his eyes narrowed that she had angered him, but his voice was level when he spoke. ‘What do you think I’m going to do-barge my way into your room and force myself on you? I have never taken a woman against her will in my life,’ he assured her coldly. ‘You have nothing to fear from me, Ella. But may I remind you that yesterday you made it clear that you hoped I would spend the night with you.’

Scarlet with embarrassment, Ella was forced to bite back her angry retort when Lily dashed back up the garden and threw herself onto her lap. ‘Mummy’s had a new baby,’ the little girl announced.

‘I know. His name’s Tom, isn’t it?’ Ella ruffled her goddaughter’s curls and thought briefly of her cousin Stephanie, who had given birth to her second child three days ago. ‘Is he tiny?’

Lily nodded and held up her doll. ‘I’ve got a new baby too. Her name’s Tracy.’ She paused, her attention drawn to the big, dark-haired man sitting opposite. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Vadim,’ he replied, his smile deepening when the little girl frowned.

‘You sound funny.’

Ella shot him a lightning glance, but to her surprise Vadim appeared quite at ease talking to a young child.#p#分页标题#e#

‘That’s because I come from another country,’ he explained, in the gravelly accent that brought Ella’s skin out in goose bumps. ‘I am from Russia.’