Read Online Rebel's Bargain by Annie West - Free Book Online

pierced her chest. She swayed at the casual cruelty of the comment, but by the time he turned around she had herself in hand. She stood tall and proud, pretending that poisoned dart hadn’t hit its target. Yet she felt brittle, as if one touch would make her shatter.
    ‘No one, as it happens.’ Her voice was as crisp as the late-autumn chill. ‘It’s one of the perks of being the new face of Europe’s oldest and premier jewellery house.’ Poppy pinned on a smile even though it felt like her facial muscles cracked from the strain. ‘The House of Baudin takes care of its assets.’
    ‘I didn’t mean—’
    ‘Don’t!’ She stopped him with a single slashing gesture. To her surprise it worked and he stood silent.
    ‘Of course you meant it. You’ve got a cutting tongue, Orsino, and your readiness to think the worst is one of your more obvious and less endearing qualities.’
    She stopped and heaved in a breath as adrenalinesurged, making her quiver with the effort of standing to face him. With that one remark he’d sliced right to the core of her pain, opening up the past like a cleaver cutting to bone.
    Her chest rose and fell and she worked to calm herself.
    ‘I did
not
sleep my way to the top of my profession. I got where I am through hard work and dedication. That’s
all.
And if you think to smear my reputation—’
    Orsino raised his hand. ‘I spoke without thinking.’
    As if she’d believe that.
    Why had she agreed to have him here? Already she’d had more than enough.
    ‘I didn’t think you’d be so sensitive. After all, it’s a common expression.’
    Sensitive! He had the nerve.
    ‘You think I’m such a tart I wouldn’t object to your assumption?’ Her hands found her hips as she stepped into his personal space.
    Instantly he paced forward to meet her, his jaw jutting. The air between them sizzled with tension. His heat and his masculine scent enveloped her. They were so close his sling grazed her jacket but she stood her ground.
    Something eddied in her belly. She told herself it was distaste.
    ‘You’re the one who slept around, Poppy. Notme.’ He bit the words out in sharp chunks and her head snapped back as if from a slap.
    The gloves were off.
    ‘Or are you going to try to convince me you went to bed with him and nothing happened? That you’re an innocent?’ Orsino’s voice vibrated with the force of his accusation.
    Familiar nausea swamped her. It was like reliving those nightmares that had haunted her since that night in London. In those, no matter what she said, no matter what she did, it all went wrong, over and over and over again. Just as it had gone wrong all those years before when Orsino had refused to hear her out.
    She remembered her pain and disbelief then, her anguish when Orsino hadn’t let her talk. Her unanswered phone calls and emails. The fruitless attempts to locate him in person. She’d tried and tried to get through to him, but he’d been intractable, uncaring of her fragile state. And through it all the press, intrusive and inquisitive, pestering her for more, snapping photos and revealing her pain to the world.
    Dragging herself through those black days of grief, despair and disbelief had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. For a while she’d thought herself fatally wounded. That she’d never recover.
    Her eyes narrowed on the dark glasses less than an arm’s length away. It wasn’t her fault he didn’tknow the truth. He hadn’t
wanted
to know. And she didn’t care any more.
    Deliberately she tossed her head back. ‘Convince you I was innocent? I wouldn’t waste my breath.’
    Already she’d spent too long trying to do exactly that. Why bother now? What she’d thought they’d shared had been an illusion.
    Besides, there was no way she could convince him of the truth now. He’d judged her guilty then. His attitude now confirmed nothing had changed.
    Vertical lines furrowed his brow and Poppy felt a moment’s triumph that at least she