turned to Vadim. ‘We should be docking in Montenegro by sunset. Are you planning on going ashore? If you need recommendations for restaurants or nightclubs, I have a list for you.’
Vadim swigged a mouthful of champagne before answering, ‘Spacibo, Leonie. Maybe you will like to come out with us this evening?’
‘Thanks, but no. It’s my day off tomorrow, but I have a ton of work to do so I’m clearing the deck so I’m free to enjoy it.’
‘Ah, you work too hard.’
Leonora’s smile thinned a fraction. ‘I’m ambitious. I make no apologies for that.’
Vadim nodded. ‘Da. But what about other things in life? Look at me. I have my family. Gideon, too, da? What about your family, Leonie?’
She tensed. I would’ve been irritated by Vadim’s prying had I not been keenly interested in her answer. ‘My mother lives in England with my grandmother. My granddad passed away two years ago. I don’t have any sisters or brothers.’
‘And your papa? He’s dead also?’
Her long lashes swept down, veiling her expression, but I still caught the flicker of distress in her face. ‘Not quite.’
The Russian frowned, like me, pondering that she’d left unsaid. ‘Being far from them is hard, no?’ Vadim pressed.
She shrugged a little stiffly. ‘I see them a few times a year. I fly home every few months and they come and see me.’
Vadim opened his mouth again. I stepped in. ‘You wanted to ask a question about the boat?’
‘Da, da. Your boat. It’s beautiful. But the price is too high for my blood. I think perhaps we can come to some agreement.’
Leonora sent a stiff smile Vadim’s way. ‘You’re not bartering for a piece of meat, Mr Ilyev. This is a superyacht with a fixed price tag. You’ve taken the tour and you know no expense has been spared. I’ll make you a promise, though. If you make a serious offer, I’ll take it back to my consortium and we’ll seriously consider it.’
‘Or you can let this one go altogether and consider a less expensive toy?’ I threw in.
He smiled a little philosophically. ‘Maybe...maybe.’
He grilled Leonora about the boat through the rest of the meal. A meal she picked at, while her wine went untouched.
By the coffee stage, I’d had enough. ‘Ilyev. You’ve had three tours of the yacht. The stats aren’t going to change. If you need specific workings of the yacht, speak to the captain.’
Beside me, Leonora let out a sharp breath. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ she demanded fiercely under her breath.
‘Saving you from bullshit,’ I muttered.
‘I don’t need you to run interference—’
The hand I placed on her thigh halted her words. She masked her tiny jump by shifting sideways, attempting to dislodge my touch. I grasped her tighter, slid my hand under her skirt to grip her bare flesh.
Tense seconds passed in silence. She met me stare for stare as her hand dropped to grip my wrist. Heat spiked through me as her nails dug into my skin.
‘Go on, then,’ I urged, noting that she wasn’t actively trying to displace my touch. Taking the chance, I slid my hand higher, encountering warm, supple flesh that I wanted to glide my tongue over again. I drew slow circles on her skin, then went another inch higher.
She drew in a sharp breath, clamped her thighs together and cleared her throat. ‘Did you need anything else, Vadim?’
His eyes swung from Leonora to me. Then he sighed and rose from the table. ‘Gideon is right. The time is not right. Maybe in future we can do business.’ With that he snapped his fingers at his entourage and one by one they staggered off the deck.
‘What the hell was that about?’ Leonora hissed at me.
‘A reminder of what I told you in Monaco,’ I rasped.
I was pleased that her breath shook when she exhaled. ‘You assume that I’ll forgive your caveman tendencies.’
I shrugged. ‘I live in hope?’
One sexy eyebrow lifted. ‘Is that a question?’
‘Will it get me out of the doghouse?’
‘Please remove your hand and I’ll think about it.’
‘I have an idea. How about my hand stays exactly where it is and I can reward you for what you did with Vadim earlier?’
Her breathing altered again. I shifted in my seat as my cock reacted to her.
‘I prefer to choose my own reward, thanks.’
She didn’t ask me to remove my hand. I took that as progress. ‘Very well. Drink your wine while you think about it, though. It’s a good vintage. It’d be a shame to waste it.’
She toyed with the stem of the glass for several seconds, her eyes slowly lifting to meet mine. I felt my hackles rise. I probably wouldn’t like whatever she was scheming but I didn’t want to stop touching her so I stayed put. ‘Tell me more about your family,’ she said after taking a sip of her wine.
‘Bloody hell,’ I snarled.
‘Gideon...’
‘Do you have any idea what it does to me to hear you say my name like that?’
She blinked. ‘Like what?’
‘It starts off prissy but ends in a sigh. It’s really quite extraordinary.’
‘I’m not... I don’t... You’re changing the subject.’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Would it help if I said I’d looked you up on the internet, in the name of research?’
My thumb glided over her silky smooth flesh. ‘No. Because whatever you read is probably not true or just the tip of a colossal iceberg.’
‘Give me just the tip, then,’ she said, then blushed.
I laughed at the unfortunate double entendre. ‘In this instance, okay. What do you want to know?’
She drank another sip, her tongue gliding over her bottom lip when she set the glass down. ‘You started a separate business with your brother after university. Why isn’t he working with you on this deal? Did you two fall out?’
I felt my spine stiffen. ‘Not exactly. Bryce enjoys building hotels. The market for that is bigger than ever in the Far East. When we merged our company with the family business, he chose to stay in Singapore, build a few more hotels for The Mortimer Group there.’
She regarded me steadily. ‘And...?’
Dammit, she was a little too perceptive. ‘Things have got a little...strained between us since I returned to London.’
‘Because you left Singapore?’
‘Because he sided with the enemy,’ I replied with more than a little snap in my voice.
‘How?’ she asked softly.
Tension throbbed at my temple. ‘You haven’t earned the details, Leonora.’
She remained silent for several seconds, then her hand slipped beneath the table. Eyes on me, she trailed her fingers over mine before pressing my touch deeper into her warm inner thigh. ‘Haven’t I?’ she breathed.
Bloody hell.
I cleared the lump of arousal in my throat. ‘He went against my express wishes and did business with the person who betrayed me.’
She gasped softly. ‘Did he know he was doing that?’
My