âI cannot tell you why you are in danger, but the reason is real. I had hoped that when I came I could let you go, but things did not go according to plan. If you donât want to stay here out of sight, then I have a compromise to offer.â
âWhat sort of compromise?â she asked suspiciously.
âOne youâre not going to like, but it is as far as Iâm prepared to go. Tomorrow weâll fly back to London and youâll move in with me. I want you to act as myâcall it my latest interestâfor at least a couple of weeks, possibly longer.â
âWhat?â Leola had been sure she couldnât feel any more astonishment, but thisâthis outrageous suggestion deprived her of speech again. âYour latest interest? What the hell does that mean?â
âAs my mistressâmy lover,â he elaboratedâ¦
Robyn Donald has always lived in Northland in New Zealand, initially on her fatherâs stud dairy farm at Warkworth, then in the Bay of Islands, an area of great natural beauty, where she lives today with her husband and an ebullient and mostly Labrador dog. She resigned her teaching position when she found she enjoyed writing romances more, and now spends any time not writing, reading, gardening, travelling, and writing letters to keep up with her two adult children and her friends.
Recent titles by the same author:
HIS MAJESTYâS MISTRESS
VIRGIN BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THE PRINCEâS CONVENIENT BRIDE
CHAPTER ONE
SHIVERING a little in the night air, Leola Foster stared down into a square dominated on one side by a Romanesque church and on another by a tall stone watchtower. Jagged blocks of stone along the top of the cliffâall that remained of a ruined wallâreminded her that San Giusto, the southernmost city in the Sea Isles of Illyria, had once needed protection from pirates. Spring was only a few weeks old, and even this far south it wasnât really warm enough to stand by the shuttered window in her pyjamas.
But sheâd given up trying to get back to sleep. Images from the dream that had jerked her awake still lingered with a sour, humiliating aftertaste. She shivered again, wishing her unconscious would stop replaying the incident over and over again in a never-ending loop.
Call her naïve, she thought with a bitterness that startled her, but sheâd never for a moment suspected that Durand had any interest in her; three months ago when sheâd arrived in London from New Zealand, her employerâs partnerâin both personal and business sensesâhad completely ignored her.
Leola smiled grimly, remembering how excited sheâd been, how confident that this was another step up in her chosen career. After all, Tabitha Grantham was a world-famous brand, noted for the cool sophistication and perfect tailoring of the clothes she designed.
And Tabitha herself had contacted Leola after seeing her line at Aucklandâs Fashion Week.
âI like your edge,â sheâd said, interviewing her over cocktails in the opulent hotel suite she shared with Durand. âI think youâll go far and Iâd like to help you. Youâll learn plenty, but I have to warn you I donât pay my interns much, and Iâll expect you to work like a galley slave.â
And work her hard she had. Not that Leola had objected. Sheâd found it exhilarating, bewildering, shocking and fascinating, and sheâd soaked up every bit of information she could, every scrap of technique, every contact.
Pity it had all come to an abrupt, mortifying end when Jason Durand decided sheâd do as his latest fling.
Unseeing, her gaze skimmed the dark spires of the cypresses along the ruined wall. Night had worked a transformation on the city. Bustling and noisy and charmingly Mediterranean during the day, San Giusto brooded silently under the Northern hemisphere stars. A violent homesickness gripped her; in New Zealand the stars were familiar and the breeze tangy with a wilder, more primal scent.
It was still there, she thought wistfully; she could return any time.
In fact, it looked as though sheâd be back there pretty soon. If it hadnât been for the godmother whoâd given her this week in Illyria as a birthday present sheâd be maxing out her credit card right now on airfares.
Her head came up proudly. No, she would not slink back with her tail between her legsâor not until sheâd exhausted every option. She didnât do defeat.
So sheâd find new digs first. Without Tabithaâs subsidy she couldnât afford the bedsit; sheâd had to plead with the landlord to store her suitcases until she came back from this trip.
So digs first, a new job next.
Her lips tightened in a mixture of outrage and frustration. Dammit, sheâd been fighting Durand off when Tabitha walked into the room three days ago, yet it had made no difference.
âIâm sorry,â Tabitha had said, her eyes steely, âbut Durand is more important to me than you are. I donât want to see you again.â
Of course Durand was a vital part of the business, but it had been Tabithaâs callous dismissalâas though Leola had been a Victorian housemaid found pilfering!âthat had stung, enough for her to threaten Durand with the police or the press when heâd refused to pay out her final weekâs wage.