‘If I hate your father, it is because of the things he said to me that night, the way he acted. I have no doubt he has said similar things to you about me, often enough, to spare us both the need for a rehashing of the conversation. Suffice it to say, he is not someone I would be interested in helping, were it not also a means to achieving my own ends.’
Annie could have been blown over by a light breeze. She could hardly think straight. She’d had no idea her father had gone to Theo, no idea he’d offered to pay him off, to get him out of Annie’s life. Though she shouldn’t have been surprised: her parents would stop at nothing to control every aspect of Annie’s life, but she hadn’t thought them capable of that. What had her father said to Theo? The idea of Elliot Langley offering Theo money made her skin feel all clammy—like she was some kind of commodity—but she couldn’t focus on that now. She’d come here with a single purpose, and she didn’t intend to leave empty-handed. ‘What exactly are your “ends”?’ she asked, steeling herself for whatever his response would be.
Annie hadn’t realised he was still holding her wrist, until he started to stroke his thumb over the soft skin there. She glanced down, surprised by the familiar sight of his hand on her flesh, and how much it made her insides glow with warmth.
‘Your father made it abundantly clear that the last thing he wants is for his precious princess of a daughter to be withsomeone like me. So we are going to present him with that reality, Annie.’
She gasped.
‘You and I will get married. It will be fast, it will be public, and it will be completely in his face.Iwill be in his face, and you, my dear Annie, if you want my help, will love me slavishly and devotedly in front of your father, lavishing me with affection, attention, until he almost can’t stand it.’
The world seemed to be cracking apart, splintering into a thousand pieces. It was too cruel, too impossible to contemplate.
‘I can’t believe you,’ she ground out. ‘How can you even suggest—’
He dropped her hand then and the ice that seemed to flood her veins was a deluge of frigidity.
‘This is non-negotiable. Those are the only terms that will allow me to contemplate breaking my usual practices and buying less than half of a stake of a company.’
She shook her head, lifting a hand to her lips.
‘And I will not just buy it, Annie. I will make it a point of pride to turn your father’s company into a jewel of my crown. It will be ten times more valuable than he’s ever dreamed of. I can make that happen—but only if you marry me.’
‘You are such a bastard. How can I have ever thought otherwise?’
His smile was laced with cruel amusement. ‘I’m not sure. Everyone else seemed to have my measure.’
She looked beyond him, towards the white leather sofa, then crossed the room and sank down into it. He was right. Everyone had warned her that he was dark, and tortured, that he’d been through too much for her to ever really be compatible with him. They’d all said he was unpredictable, that he’d hurt her. But she hadn’t believed it. She hadn’t, for one second, thought he was capable of behaving like this.
‘They were right about you,’ she said, squeezing her eyes shut on a surge of nausea. For years, she’d felt guilty and remorseful for having ended it with Theo, for having ignored her own affection for him, her own instincts, in favour of her parents’ wishes. And now she saw they’d been right. Her friends who’d warned her had been right.
Theo was the devil, and here she was, trying to make a deal with him.
‘By the way,’ he said, moving into the kitchen, his tone now careless. ‘In case you are wondering, this marriage will be real, in every way.’
When she looked up, it was to find his eyes latched to hers.
‘Yes, by that I mean we’ll share a bed. If I’m going to go along with this, there has to be some inducement.’
Her heart stammered; her pulse trembled. Did he have any idea what he was suggesting? Innocent Annie, who’d never been with a man before, was being propositioned into a loveless marriage that was to include sex.
Her voice wobbled as she said, quickly, ‘You’re the one who suggested marriage.’
‘As I said, an inducement.’
She flinched, hating him for speaking to her like that. When they’d dated, he’d been so patient, so careful with her. He hadn’t wanted to rush her, to pressure her; even when she’d been desperate to sleep with him, he’d said there was no rush. She shuddered now, at the ease with which he was trying to pressure her into a marriage that would include casual sex. ‘You are horrible.’
‘Apparently.’
‘I can’t—’
‘That is your prerogative. I also have a business Realtor I can put you in touch with, if you’d prefer to find a buyer on the open market. I will warn you, though, you are likely tostruggle to find someone who’ll consider the company in its current state. Bankruptcy is more likely. And if you’re thinking I wouldn’t enjoy that prospect, then you really are clinging to some romantic notion of the man you thought I was.’
The grief devouring her was overwhelming. How had she been so stupid and wrong about him? How had she misread him so completely?
Besides, she knew a business Realtor wouldn’t get her anywhere. She’d consulted with one six months ago, when she’d realised how badly things had been mishandled. He’d advised her just as Theo had—though he’d chosen his words with a little more compassion than the man opposite.
‘Why on earth would you want to marry me?’