Vengeful Love by Laura Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

diving straight in for Cristal.” I laugh sarcastically. “You’ve certainly gone up in my estimations, Mr. Ryans.”
    The table sits in stunned silence. Clearly, people don’t usually talk back to Mr. Bazillionaire CEO Ryans. He clears his throat and pauses, holding his closed fist to his mouth a second longer than necessary.
    “You intrigue me, Miss Heath. I wonder how low I was in your estimations.”
    His face is humourless, his strong, square jaw tight. I’m studying his masculine angles as I realise that I’ve been relegated back to “Miss Heath.” I can’t help but like the sound of it when it comes from him.
    Him. He who is your client. Get a hold of yourself.
    The silence at the table lasts for what seems like an age, broken only when our waiter pops the cork of the Pol Roger tableside. Gregory studies me intensely as the waiter pours four glasses of the champagne.
    “Cheers,” Amanda says, thrusting her glass high.
    We clink glasses and I let the smooth effervescence cool my hot, dry throat.
    “So, you know good wine, Scarlett.” Gregory’s first words in what seems like an eternity are music to my ears. His manner is friendly, or as light as I’ve heard it at least. I realise he was teasing me, teaching me not to undermine him. I offer my best playful pout and scowl and he flashes me a mischievous grin. My internal organs perform acrobatics, from my chest right down to the lowest point of my abdomen. I hardly know this man and I cannot comprehend the way he’s making me feel.
    “Her father has an enormous wine cellar,” Amanda offers in a bid to rescue me. “He and Scarlett used to holiday in chateaus in the South of France.”
    “Used to?” Gregory asks.
    “My dad,” I say, almost involuntarily. I check my watch and it’s nine fifteen.
    “Sorry, Scarlett, I didn’t mean to re—”
    “No, please, it’s fine, Amanda. Honestly. I just need to make a quick call, if you’ll excuse me.”
    Both Gregory and Williams rise from their seats when I hurriedly leave the table.
    Sandy answers as I lean back against the stone sink in the ladies’. She tells me that my father has had a good day and he’s tucked up in bed. She intends to put her feet up with an eighties movie and a peach melba pudding that she had delivered with the shopping today.
    “I’m at dinner with a client and I’m not sure how long I’ll be but I’ll be as quick as I can,” I say, instantly feeling dishonest, despite telling the truth. “If you need me just call and I’ll come straight back, I promise.”
    “You have fun, we’re fine here.”
    “Okay, but call me, Sandy. Do you promise?”
    “I promise, sweets, but we’re fine.”
    “Sandy?” I say before she hangs up the receiver. “It’s sort of a client. A client but not completely a work thing. I mean, it is more a work thing than not a work thing.”
    She chuckles, her warm, homely giggle emanating from her stomach.
    “You have fun,” she says, then hangs up the receiver of the old cream telephone. I imagine her looking at the phone in the hallway and shaking her head at me. She really is an amazing woman.
    Leaning forward on my hands over the sink, I study myself in the mirror and ask myself what I’m doing. Do not fuck this up! My subconscious tells me Gregory is a client but it fights a losing battle every time I lay my eyes on him. I tip my head upside down, partly to shake sense into it and partly to inject some life into my day-old curls. I reapply my red Chanel lipstick and tell myself I’d reapply for anyone, not just a sinfully attractive CEO.
    “Did I miss much?” I ask, retaking my seat at the table.
    “Just Edward telling us tales of him and Gregory at their all-boys’ school. Or so it should have been. Edward was Gregory’s school ‘buddy,’ supposed to settle him into his new school, but he led him astray somewhat,” Amanda chirps and she laughs with Williams.
    “You can’t learn everything in a classroom,” Williams