[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
a client of mine. He s prepared to offer you a princely
sum for the cottage.
I don t want to sell, Mark.
He turned back to her, a red flush of anger creeping
over his handsome features.
Why don t you listen. It s a very good price for a
rather rundown property a price that I doubt you ll get
again.
Not even if the garden was restored to the way
Capability Brown designed it? Belinda shot angrily at
him.
For a moment the two looked at each other, then
Mark took a slow sip of his champagne.
Yes, Mark. I do know. Did you think it would remain
a secret?
Mark shrugged. No. That has nothing to do with it.
Oh come off it, Mark, snapped Belinda, I didn t
come down with this rain. The reason you re keen to
buy it is because if restored to Capability Brown s plan
it could be sold for a small fortune. You know it. I know
it. And whoever your so-called client is they know it.
Mark was silent for a moment. I take it that you
don t want to discuss it further?
What s to discuss? You forget, Mark, that whatever
else it may be to you, to me it s my home. And that s
the way it s going to stay.
To her surprise, Mark suddenly grasped her arm
and roughly pushed her against the wall.
Mark, Belinda yelped in pain. Let go, you re
hurting me.
Suddenly his lips were upon her. Upon her eyes, her
cheeks, her lips. His hands explored her in a rough
caress and he held her tight against him.
Again his lips found hers and crushed them as his
arms folded her in and engulfed her. A shiver of
excitement went through her at the same time as she
rejected his kiss. His body was too demanding, too
impulsive and she struggled, her hands on his chest, to
break free. She staggered back away from him and he
reached out to take hold of her again, his fingers biting
into the soft flesh of her arm.
No, Mark. No. Please let me go.
He pulled her violently towards him.
Belinda, listen to me. His face was close to her, his
eyes blazing with an intensity she had never seen in
him before.
I want you. I ve been content to wait quietly until
the time was right. But I can t wait any longer.
Mark, you re talking nonsense.
Nonsense, is it? What about your infatuation with
that idiot Jacob? That s a doomed relationship.
How can you say that? cried Belinda, as she
backed away.
Does he love you? With a quick move he held her
in his arms again and thrust kiss upon kiss upon her
throat and lips. I m the one who loves you. Forget him.
What can he give you? Are you content to be a
gardener s little bit of fluff?
With an effort Belinda pushed him away.
You re talking drivel, she shouted. Why are you
behaving like this?
Because you are behaving stupidly. You need
bringing to your senses.
Belinda found herself shaking with emotion. Mark
watched her, his eyes calculating and determined.
Belinda raised an eyebrow.
What were you going to do, Mark? Get me drunk,
make love to me and get me sign on the dotted line?
She gestured towards the wine. Seduce me into selling
the cottage? Do you think I m that much of a
pushover? Is that how you conduct your other business
deals? In the bedroom? If you don t mind I ll finish my
work here later in the week. I find it uncomfortable at
the moment. She walked to the door. That is if you
still want me to clean house for you?
Mark stood with his back to her. Suit yourself.
Belinda turned and left the building.
As the slam of the door echoed through the hall,
Mark increased the tension on the glass in his hand. In
a surge of anger he snapped the delicate glass stem.
Razor sharp fragments gashed his fingers. How could
he have been so stupid to imagine that she would be
persuaded to sell by such clumsy methods? Still,
desperate times call for desperate measures and it was
vital that he got his hands on that property.
Late afternoon found Belinda in Bath. She bought
some food for her supper and as she scurried across
the Abbey Churchyard, the rain eased and faint rays of
sunlight lit up the facade of Bath Abbey.
Realising that she had not played the tourist, and
weary from her work and the recent confrontation with
Mark, she slipped into the ancient Abbey and sat
bathed in the faint coloured light spilling from the
windows.
Gazing up at the elegant fan vaulting over the
chancel, Belinda felt herself relax fully for the first time
in weeks. Warm tears flowed down her cheeks as she
mourned the loss of her aunt, tears that she had held
back but now released in gentle tribute to her dead
relative.
Intrusive questions rose in her mind, increased in
potency and drove the tears from her cheeks. She
dried them and found herself puzzling over the events
of the past weeks.
Aunt Jane s letter, for one.
Why had Rosemary been killed and what was the
significance of the scrap of paper bearing the name
Michelangelo ? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
a client of mine. He s prepared to offer you a princely
sum for the cottage.
I don t want to sell, Mark.
He turned back to her, a red flush of anger creeping
over his handsome features.
Why don t you listen. It s a very good price for a
rather rundown property a price that I doubt you ll get
again.
Not even if the garden was restored to the way
Capability Brown designed it? Belinda shot angrily at
him.
For a moment the two looked at each other, then
Mark took a slow sip of his champagne.
Yes, Mark. I do know. Did you think it would remain
a secret?
Mark shrugged. No. That has nothing to do with it.
Oh come off it, Mark, snapped Belinda, I didn t
come down with this rain. The reason you re keen to
buy it is because if restored to Capability Brown s plan
it could be sold for a small fortune. You know it. I know
it. And whoever your so-called client is they know it.
Mark was silent for a moment. I take it that you
don t want to discuss it further?
What s to discuss? You forget, Mark, that whatever
else it may be to you, to me it s my home. And that s
the way it s going to stay.
To her surprise, Mark suddenly grasped her arm
and roughly pushed her against the wall.
Mark, Belinda yelped in pain. Let go, you re
hurting me.
Suddenly his lips were upon her. Upon her eyes, her
cheeks, her lips. His hands explored her in a rough
caress and he held her tight against him.
Again his lips found hers and crushed them as his
arms folded her in and engulfed her. A shiver of
excitement went through her at the same time as she
rejected his kiss. His body was too demanding, too
impulsive and she struggled, her hands on his chest, to
break free. She staggered back away from him and he
reached out to take hold of her again, his fingers biting
into the soft flesh of her arm.
No, Mark. No. Please let me go.
He pulled her violently towards him.
Belinda, listen to me. His face was close to her, his
eyes blazing with an intensity she had never seen in
him before.
I want you. I ve been content to wait quietly until
the time was right. But I can t wait any longer.
Mark, you re talking nonsense.
Nonsense, is it? What about your infatuation with
that idiot Jacob? That s a doomed relationship.
How can you say that? cried Belinda, as she
backed away.
Does he love you? With a quick move he held her
in his arms again and thrust kiss upon kiss upon her
throat and lips. I m the one who loves you. Forget him.
What can he give you? Are you content to be a
gardener s little bit of fluff?
With an effort Belinda pushed him away.
You re talking drivel, she shouted. Why are you
behaving like this?
Because you are behaving stupidly. You need
bringing to your senses.
Belinda found herself shaking with emotion. Mark
watched her, his eyes calculating and determined.
Belinda raised an eyebrow.
What were you going to do, Mark? Get me drunk,
make love to me and get me sign on the dotted line?
She gestured towards the wine. Seduce me into selling
the cottage? Do you think I m that much of a
pushover? Is that how you conduct your other business
deals? In the bedroom? If you don t mind I ll finish my
work here later in the week. I find it uncomfortable at
the moment. She walked to the door. That is if you
still want me to clean house for you?
Mark stood with his back to her. Suit yourself.
Belinda turned and left the building.
As the slam of the door echoed through the hall,
Mark increased the tension on the glass in his hand. In
a surge of anger he snapped the delicate glass stem.
Razor sharp fragments gashed his fingers. How could
he have been so stupid to imagine that she would be
persuaded to sell by such clumsy methods? Still,
desperate times call for desperate measures and it was
vital that he got his hands on that property.
Late afternoon found Belinda in Bath. She bought
some food for her supper and as she scurried across
the Abbey Churchyard, the rain eased and faint rays of
sunlight lit up the facade of Bath Abbey.
Realising that she had not played the tourist, and
weary from her work and the recent confrontation with
Mark, she slipped into the ancient Abbey and sat
bathed in the faint coloured light spilling from the
windows.
Gazing up at the elegant fan vaulting over the
chancel, Belinda felt herself relax fully for the first time
in weeks. Warm tears flowed down her cheeks as she
mourned the loss of her aunt, tears that she had held
back but now released in gentle tribute to her dead
relative.
Intrusive questions rose in her mind, increased in
potency and drove the tears from her cheeks. She
dried them and found herself puzzling over the events
of the past weeks.
Aunt Jane s letter, for one.
Why had Rosemary been killed and what was the
significance of the scrap of paper bearing the name
Michelangelo ? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]