‘It was a delight meeting someone so refreshing and intelligent.’ Forthright and clever enough to be suspicious, Ella had intrigued from the instant she’d looked at him.
Sanderson didn’t quite hide his satisfaction. His smile was hungry. ‘It’s wonderful you hit it off so well. I’d hoped you would. There’s no telling with Ella; sometimes she can be a little...’
‘A little...?’
Sanderson shrugged and took a swig of his drink. ‘To be frank, she can be a little outspoken sometimes. But in a good way, of course. Refreshing, as you say.’
He smiled that conspiratorial smile as if they were good buddies and Donato had to repress the compulsion to slam his fist into the other man’s whiter than white capped teeth. He’d done a lot of things in his time, some of them society had labelled reprehensible. But nothing that sickened him like playing Sanderson’s temporary friend.
‘I prefer honesty to polite platitudes.’ Especially when those platitudes hid murky secrets.
‘Don’t we all?’
‘Meeting your daughter has helped me feel I know you better. That’s important if we’re to work together.’
‘I thought you’d see it that way.’ Sanderson paused, then said carefully, ‘So, you want to proceed with the partnership and the loan?’ His absolute stillness gave him away. He was strung tight.
Grim satisfaction filled Donato. ‘Definitely. This is too good an opportunity to miss.’
It had taken years of preparation to reach this point, and now he was poised to destroy Sanderson financially and socially. If he couldn’t put him behind bars for his crimes, Donato would at least see he lost what he cared for most. ‘My staff are ready to meet at ten tomorrow to discuss the details.’
‘You won’t be there?’ Concern flared in Sanderson’s eyes. Excellent. It was time he discovered he couldn’t keep running from the consequences of his actions.
‘My staff are competent to handle the meeting. I plan to be with Ella, getting to know her better.’
‘I’m sure she’ll love that.’
Not initially, Donato knew, but he’d change her mind. He looked forward to it.
‘Does that mean you liked my notion of a Salazar-Sanderson marriage?’ Sanderson looked urbane and relaxed, yet the ripple on the surface of his whisky betrayed him.
Donato scrutinised him, from his deep tan and perennially gold hair to the gloss only close acquaintance with serious money could buy. That didn’t hide the mean lines around his mouth, the avaricious gleam in those pale blue eyes or the pugnacious angle of that thick jaw.
He knew what Sanderson was. Imagine him as a father. No wonder his eldest daughter was a beautiful waste of space. Which made his younger daughter...what, exactly?
‘Donato?’ Sanderson didn’t sound quite so smug now.
‘The marriage idea?’ Donato took his time, relishing the other man’s unease. ‘I think it’s an excellent one.’
Sanderson’s eyes widened momentarily before his face eased into a calculating look. ‘Ella is a special girl, and lucky.’ His toothy smile reminded Donato of a crocodile. Or maybe it was just that he knew Sanderson to be as cold-blooded as any reptile.
Despite the money he’d made, Donato had no illusions that he was love’s young dream. Not with his criminal record. He was the sort of man parents prayed their daughter would never bring home.
Yet here was Sanderson thrusting his unsuspecting daughter into Donato’s arms. Was there anything Sanderson wouldn’t do for money?
‘And Ella agreed?’ Pale eyes fixed on him.
‘Ella understands what I want. We’ll sort out the details soon.’
‘It will be a pleasure welcoming you to the family.’ Sanderson made to shake hands but Donato pretended not to notice, turning to snag a wine glass from a passing waiter.
‘Here’s to the wedding that will make us family.’ Sanderson raised his glass.
Donato suppressed a wave of nausea at the notion of being so intimately linked with this man. Sanderson had destroyed the one person Donato had ever loved. The only one who’d ever loved him. Sanderson had destroyed countless others too and didn’t give a damn. But Donato did, and he’d make sure Sanderson paid in full.
‘To the wedding,’ he murmured. ‘Soon, don’t you think?’
‘Definitely.’ Sanderson nodded. ‘Though Ella might—’
‘I’m sure I can persuade her to an early date.’ The thought of persuading Ella made his blood hum. He was counting the hours till he saw her again. That was a first.