The Salvatore Marriage Deal Read online

  ‘It’s no joke.’ Vito sounded completely serious, and was looking at her with the hard expression she was starting to get horribly used to. ‘We will be married at once.’

  ‘How can you even ask me that?’ Lily gasped. Six weeks ago she would have accepted willingly. A proposal from Vito would have been like a dream come true—but not any more. Now it was more like a nightmare. ‘After the way you’ve treated me, I’d be mad to marry you.’

  ‘I’m not asking,’ Vito said. ‘I’m telling you that we will be married. And, as far as the world is concerned, the baby you are carrying is mine. He or she will be brought up as the Salvatore heir.’

  Lily’s head was spinning and her stomach churning. With every passing second, Vito seemed more and more like a stranger.

  Her mother, Ellen, had warned her how men could easily change. She’d had personal experience of it. Lily’s father had gone from adoring lover to threatening brute overnight, when Ellen had told him that she was pregnant. That was when Ellen had found out that Reggie had been married all along.

  He’d already had a wife and two children, and was steadily working his way up the hierarchy of his father-in-law’s accountancy firm. Despite the sweet words of his seduction, he’d never been interested in anything more than a fling with Ellen. Her pregnancy had come as a wake-up call to him. He’d had too much at stake.

  If his wife, or her father, had discovered his infidelity Reggie could have lost everything—his family, his professional status and, most importantly to him, the prospect of taking over a successful business when his father-in-law retired.

  To protect himself, Reggie had set Ellen up in a tiny country cottage. He’d paid her rent and had made measly maintenance payments for Lily, but it was based on the strict understanding that Ellen could never reveal herself or her illegitimate child to his family.

  ‘Look, I don’t know what game you’re playing with me.’ Lily put her hands on her hips and met Vito’s gaze straight on. Her childhood had been blighted by her father’s duplicity, and suddenly she felt she’d had enough of dishonesty and secrets to last a lifetime. ‘But, whatever you’re playing at, I don’t have time for it. If you want to buy the web-conferencing system, that’s good—I need the commission to get myself a flat. If you don’t want it, that’s fine too. Just let me leave so I can get on with my life. I have to go find a permanent job.’

  She had to get a job so that she could provide for her baby. She couldn’t let herself end up like her mother. Or in a situation that was even more financially precarious.

  Ellen had been devastated when Reggie had showed his true nature. To find herself blackmailed into silence by the man she’d fallen in love with had been unbearable. But with no one to turn to for help, and a baby to consider, she had reluctantly accepted his financial support. Then, as the years had gone by, she had become increasingly dependent on it.

  With her trust in people and her confidence in herself eroded, she’d found it impossible to find a job that fitted around caring for Lily. Eventually she’d found solace working as a volunteer at the local hospice. She’d poured all her energy and love into craft projects to bring enjoyment and satisfaction to the terminally ill patients.

  Lily loved her mother dearly, even though her childhood had been extremely difficult. She knew it would break her heart if she found out that Lily was pregnant and alone. Whatever happened, she had to protect Ellen from the truth—at least until she was settled. And the first thing she needed to do was find work, so that her future seemed more secure—financially at least.

  ‘You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.’ Vito looked so cold and unmoving, standing there, that Lily felt a sense of foreboding creep over her. ‘You don’t need a job, or a flat.’

  ‘I heard you talking, but you haven’t said anything that made sense,’ she retorted, struggling to shake off the uneasy feeling. She decided to tell him the truth about her current circumstances after all, to try and reason with him. ‘I need a job and somewhere to live, because since you threw me out I’ve been sleeping on my friend’s sofa.’

  ‘You need a husband to provide for you and the baby,’ Vito said. ‘And I am offering far more than just that.’

  ‘We’re not living in the dark ages!’ Lily gasped. His expression was forbidding, but she ploughed on regardless. ‘What are you offering that’s so great? Money? Of course it would be great to have a rich husband—but, if I can’t have a husband who truly loves and wants his child and me, then I’d rather be on my own.’

  ‘Is that really true?’ Vito asked. ‘Bringing up an illegitimate child on your own isn’t easy.’

  ‘I never said it was.’ Lily knew only too well how tough her mother had found it. It had been very hard on her too, living with someone prone to depression and panic, someone who had been only truly happy when she’d lost herself in an art project.

  ‘Think about your child,’ Vito pressed. ‘How can you consider denying him or her the possibility of growing up the Salvatore heir?’

  ‘You’re crazy.’ Lily lifted her hand to touch her blonde hair in an exasperated gesture. ‘First you accuse me of being unfaithful and deny that this is your baby—then you want to marry me and make the child your heir. What am I supposed to think? It just doesn’t seem real.’

  She looked up into his blue eyes, and suddenly the way he was looking at her sent a prickle of sensual awareness skittering across her skin. It was as if they were back in the elevator again, trapped in a tiny space that was buzzing with the supercharged electricity that was flowing between them.

  ‘This is real.’

  He stepped forward, covering the space that separated them in two strides. He still wasn’t even touching her—but she knew exactly what he was talking about.

  Sexual attraction. A wave of heat was swelling through her body, setting all her nerve endings on fire. Deep down she wanted him to touch her again, wanted to feel his hands moving all over her.

  ‘Maybe it’s real,’ Lily said, horrified by how husky her voice suddenly sounded as his gaze swept suggestively over her body. ‘But it’s just hormones—it doesn’t mean anything.’

  ‘Your virginity meant something to me,’ Vito grated. His eyes looked impossibly dark, and a muscle started pulsing on his jawline. ‘Until I found out it was meaningless to you—how quick you were to give your body to someone else.’

  Suddenly an expression that was almost savage ripped across his features and he seized her, bringing his mouth down forcefully on hers.

  Lily’s heart lurched and she reeled in shock as he kissed her, but he had her firmly in his powerful grip. He had never been rough with her before, but her body was responding immediately, hot desire for him building inside her.

  Despite the feeble protests her mind was trying to exert, the tension in her muscles yielded until she was pliant in his arms. He pulled her tight against him, so that she could feel the wonderfully familiar heat of his body burning through her linen suit.

  Her lips softened and opened beneath his, allowing his tongue to sweep inside.

  Oh! How she had missed him—how she had longed to be close to him again. It wasn’t just the physical intimacy that she craved, although she was kissing him back with a fervency that was making her head spin. She’d missed the amazing relationship that she’d thought they had together. She’d missed him so badly.

  His hands were holding her head now, tilting it backwards as he plundered her mouth in a kiss that delved into the very depths of her spiralling desire for him. He had released his grip on her body, but she continued to press herself against him, revelling in the pure masculine power she could feel radiating from his hard form.

  Her arms snaked around his back, slipping inside his jacket. Then, almost of their own volition, her hands started to tug at his shirt. She longed to feel his skin under her fingertips, feel his muscles flex and ripple under her palms.

  Suddenly she realised what she was doing.

  ‘Stop!’ With a mo
numental effort of will, she broke away from his kiss and forced herself to take a step back from him. ‘This isn’t what I want,’ she gasped, walking shakily across to the huge plate-glass window that overlooked the City of London.

  ‘What do you want?’ he asked abruptly.

  ‘I want things back the way they were.’ She was suddenly too emotional to guard what she was saying.

  ‘Then you should have thought twice before cheating on me,’ Vito grated.

  ‘I never cheated on you!’ Lily cried. ‘But it doesn’t make any difference now.’

  ‘Of course it does—it changed everything!’ Vito said.

  ‘But our relationship…Nothing was how it seemed anyway.’ She felt tears prick her eyes revealingly, and she looked down so that he wouldn’t see. ‘You weren’t the man I thought you were, or you would never have believed lies about me. You would never have accused me so horribly of something I didn’t do.’

  She turned away and stared out of the window, but instead she saw her reflection staring back—wide eyed and lost, wearing a crumpled linen suit. Her hair was escaping in wild curls from the tightly pulled-back style she’d tried to impose on it that morning, when she hadn’t had time to do it properly—but there was nothing she could do to fix that now. She smoothed her hands automatically over her creased jacket, then took a deep, steadying breath before turning back to face him.

  ‘I’m leaving now.’ She was proud at how level her voice sounded, despite the turmoil she was feeling inside.

  ‘No. You’re not leaving.’ Vito’s voice was cold as stone. ‘You haven’t thought this through yet.’

  ‘There’s nothing to think about,’ Lily said. ‘You’ve made it very clear what your opinion of me is. Why would I marry you?’

  ‘For your child’s sake,’ he said. ‘Do you want your child to grow up illegitimate? Without a father?’ He walked forward and put his hands on her upper arms, holding her in place to emphasise the importance of his words. ‘Do you want your baby to be somebody’s dirty little secret?’

  Lily stood stock-still and stared up at Vito. A horrible feeling of nausea was rising up through her, and his hands felt like cold inhuman restraints.

  ‘Why would you say such a horrible thing?’ Her voice trembled with emotion as she spoke. Vito’s words were too close to the bone. Too close to her own insecurities about her childhood.

  ‘Because you know what that would be like for your child,’ he said. ‘All your life, you’ve known what it’s like to be Reggie Morton’s dirty little secret.’

  She stared at Vito in horror.

  For a moment she forgot to breathe. Her heart forgot to beat.

  Then all at once she had to escape—get out of there as fast as she could. She whirled away from Vito automatically, her hands flying up in alarm as she swayed against the window.

  Her mind was spinning as her gaze plummeted dizzyingly down into the street far below. They were so high up that nothing looked real—tiny stick-figures, toy cars and model trees were hazy images that were almost out of sight. It was like she was in some kind of awful nightmare.

  Then suddenly her vision blurred and she felt herself start to fall into blackness.

  ‘Lily!’

  Vito’s voice cut through the haze, dragging her back to the harsh reality of her situation. Hands like steel gripped her arms to prevent her from falling, then virtually lifted her away to the huge leather chair by the desk.

  ‘Lily.’ Vito dropped down onto one knee in front of her. For a moment she almost made the mistake of thinking he was concerned about her—then as her eyes came into focus she saw that his expression was just as cold as before. He had simply adopted the best position to get a good look at her. And probably to make sure she was looking at him, paying proper attention to what he had to say.

  ‘You’re extremely pale,’ he said. ‘Have you eaten today?’

  ‘Of course I’m pale.’ Lily spoke through gritted teeth. Her stomach was churning horribly, and she really thought there was a danger that she might be sick. ‘I’ve had a lot of nasty shocks this morning.’

  ‘Have you eaten?’ he insisted. ‘What would make you feel better?’

  ‘Getting away from you.’ She stood up so quickly that Vito rocked back on his heels, but the rapid movement was a mistake. A wave of nausea rolled through her again, and she clung to the desk for support, feeling her head start to spin.

  ‘Sit down,’ Vito barked. ‘I’m not letting you leave so that you can faint in the street—if you even get that far.’

  One hand was on her shoulder, pressing her back into the chair, and the other snatched up the phone on his desk. Lily only half listened as he reeled off a list of instructions—but she understood that he was ordering food and drink.

  She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. As much as she thought she hated Vito right then, she couldn’t bear to disgrace herself by being sick in front of him. She already felt vulnerable enough, and that would just be the final humiliation on what was already turning out to be the worst day of her life so far.

  Only a few minutes seemed to pass before she heard the elevator doors open, followed by Vito’s quiet footfall on the thick grey carpet as he returned across the room. She opened her eyes to see him setting a tray down on the desk.

  ‘Drink this,’ he instructed, holding out a large glass of iced water.

  She took the water silently, unable to speak for a moment, as the memory of him preparing iced water for her on her last day in Venice flashed through her mind. He might not be the tender, concerned lover she had believed him to be—but he still knew what she liked.

  In fact, apparently he knew more about her than she had realised, as she thought about the heartless way he had thrown her troubled childhood in her face.

  ‘You snooped into my background.’ She looked at him accusingly, expecting to see at least a hint of embarrassment pass across his shuttered features. But there was nothing. He appeared as unmoved as ever.

  ‘Of course I did. You were living with me—a thorough background-check was mandatory.’ His voice was matter-of-fact. ‘You had potential access to all kinds of sensitive material.’

  Lily looked at him in disgust. It would never have occurred to her to pry into his life like that. She knew he’d been married before; that was common knowledge. But she’d never poked around, trying to discover why his marriage had ended.

  ‘Perhaps I should have run a background-check on you.’ Lily took a sip of icy-cold water. It was making her stomach feel a little better—but the rest of her was still a mess of unpleasant emotions. ‘I might have found out in time what kind of man I was getting involved with.’

  She pushed a coil of blonde hair out of her eyes and looked away from him distractedly. She couldn’t believe how things were turning out, and her mind was a horrible whirl of conflicting thoughts.

  She should never have come to L&G Enterprises that morning. She’d known Vito held controlling shares in the company. But he also had many other business interests in London. She’d thought, if he was even in the city, what were the chances that he’d be right there in the building? That he’d walk into her presentation?

  Maybe a tiny part of her deep down inside had longed to see him again, despite the unforgivable way he had treated her, but she could never have guessed that things would end up like this. That Vito, the man she’d once foolishly believed she was falling in love with, would rub her nose in the humiliating misery of her childhood. And then propose to her.

  ‘Being someone’s dirty little secret is not a pleasant position to be in.’ Vito’s voice was cold and unfeeling as he broke the silence. ‘Don’t make your child suffer the same fate. You don’t need to make the same choices as your mother.’

  ‘You’re the one making it dirty!’ Lily responded hotly, her gaze flashing back to his impossibly inexpressive face. ‘And leave my mother out of it—she’s happy living in the countryside, working with the hospice patients.’

  ‘But y
ou’re not happy,’ Vito said blandly. ‘And your childhood was far from happy.’

  ‘You don’t know anything about my childhood,’ Lily threw back at him.

  ‘I know that your father refused to acknowledge you,’ he said. ‘That he paid your mother off to keep her quiet. That you’ve never met him or your two half-sisters, and that it seems unlikely that you ever will. Unless you’re prepared to let your mother lose her home and income, just to satisfy your curiosity about the man who didn’t want you.’

  ‘Why would I want to meet my father?’ Lily responded automatically, despite the way she was reeling under the onslaught of Vito’s words. ‘He’s nothing to me.’

  ‘You mean you’re nothing to him.’

  Vito turned away to select a Danish pastry from the tray on his desk. Lily gripped her glass of iced water dangerously tightly and stared at him angrily.

  ‘You are utterly vile,’ she said, looking at the plate in his hand, because suddenly she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

  How could he eat at a time like this? Did dishing out heartless comments over something so important to her really mean so little to him that he thought he’d combine it with a light snack?

  She’d spent a lifetime trying not to think about the way her father had discarded her. And she didn’t want to think about it now. She could have searched for him, tried to make him acknowledge her. But she’d always known no good would have come of that. And, in any case, she would never, ever have done anything to cause her mother distress.

  ‘Here, eat this.’ Vito removed the glass of water from her grip and handed her the pastry on a highly glazed black plate. So it hadn’t been for him after all.

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ Lily said mutinously, trying to pass the plate back.

  ‘Nevertheless, you must eat,’ Vito said. ‘You’ll feel better if you boost your blood-sugar level. You really are exceptionally pale, even for you.’

  ‘Even for me?’ Lily snapped. ‘Don’t act like you know me. You may know my secret—a way you can coerce me into doing what you want. But that’s not really knowing someone.’