Read Online The Undoing of de Luca by Kate Hewitt - Free Book Online Page B

how her life was sucked into taking care of its empty rooms and endless repairs, and yet the thought of giving it up—selling her only home—was akin to selling her soul.
    Just like kissing Larenz had been.
    Ellery groaned. ‘Stop it,’ she said aloud. Living alone, she was used to talking to herself. Yet the words had little effect. She couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss, or how it had reached deep down inside her and shaken up all her longings and fears until she didn’t know which was which. She couldn’t stop remembering how it felt to be held in Larenz’s arms, to have his lips on hers, to feel touched and treasured and dare she even think it—loved.
    Ellery didn’t consider herself enough of a dupe to imagine even for a second that love had anything to do with what Larenz wanted. It didn’t have anything to do with what she wanted.
    Love was dangerous. Frightening. Forbidden. Especially with a man like Larenz.
    No, all she wanted—all she could want—was a moment, a night of pleasure like Larenz had promised.
    So why had she hightailed it like a scared rabbit or, more appropriately, a shy virgin after her first kiss? Why couldn’t she enjoy what Larenz offered? Why couldn’t she take what he offered without feeling afraid or, worse, used? Betrayed?
    Why did it have to mean anything?
    Tired of the questions that ran around in her head in useless circles, Ellery left the kitchen. There was still plenty for her to do: paperwork and paying bills, not to mention the general housekeeping she’d neglected for much of that day. The downstairs reception rooms needed a good dust and polish, and she’d been slowly—very slowly—plastering some of the cracks in the walls of the foyer. Yet her endless DIY list held little appeal as she wandered from room to room, wondering just how—and when—the house she’d once adored as a child had become an impoverished prison.
    Of course she knew the answer, even if she didn’t like to think about it. It had started when her father had chosen to live two lives rather than one.
    Larenz pulled up in front of Maddock Manor and groaned aloud. Under the sickly glow of a waxy moon the place looked even more decrepit than usual. He’d spent the afternoon driving around the country, motoring down narrow twisting lanes and through quaint sleepy villages—what had he been looking for? Another place for Amelie’s photo shoot? Or had he just simply been trying to forget?
    Forget the look in Ellery’s eyes when he’d kissed her. Forget the feeling of her in his arms—fragile, precious, unforgettable.
    Of course he couldn’t forget.
    Even a whisky at the local pub—the man behind the bar had been particularly closed-mouthed when Larenz had casually asked about Lord Maddock and his damned Manor—had only blunted the raw edge of desire that had been knifing through him all afternoon.
    Muttering a curse, Larenz slammed the door of his Lexus and stalked towards the Manor. He stopped halfway to the front portico for a light had flickered in the corner of his vision, somewhere in the gardens behind the house.
    Larenz’s mind leaped ahead to intruders, thieves, murderers, rapists. He thought of how isolated Ellery Dunant was here, mouldering in her Manor all by herself, and when he saw the light flickering again—it looked like a torch in someone’s hand—he swung around and began to stalk towards the barns.
    ‘Damn it to hell,’ he said aloud, for he knew his earlier determination was shot to pieces. He did care.
    Ellery pulled the tarpaulin off the Rolls and stared at it under the sickly yellow glare of her torch. She let her breath out slowly; funny how even after years stored in a barn the car still retained its gorgeous gleam. Funny too how she’d almost forgotten it was here, how she’d made herself forget.
    Until Larenz had forced her to remember.
    Slowly she let her hand run along the antique car’s mudguard. The metal felt like hard silk under her fingers.