She stiffened, recalling how a few whispered words had caused one investor in her father’s campaign to walk away. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she tried.
He slowly rose from the chair and towered over her. Every protective instinct screamed at her to step back but she stood her ground. Any show of weakness would be mercilessly pounced on.
‘Do you want to test me, anjo?’ The blade of steel that hovered over the endearment sent a shiver down her spine.
She slowly uncurled her fists and forced herself to breathe. ‘What do you expect me to do?’
His smile was equally as predatory as the look in his eyes. ‘You will inform your father and brother tomorrow that you and I are an item—our meeting last night sparked a chemistry so hot we couldn’t not be together.’
A tiny sliver of relief eased her constricted chest. ‘If that’s all you want, I’m sure I can convince them—’
His mocking smile stopped her words.
‘After you tell them that, you’ll pack your bags and move in with me.’
Shock slammed her sideways. ‘Are you serious?’
He gripped her chin and held her pinned under his gaze. ‘I’ve never been more serious in my life.’
‘But…why?’
‘My reasons are my own. You just need to do as you’re told.’
Do as you’re told. Constantine had tried to blackmail her with those very words. When she’d refused he’d spread rumours about her in the newspapers.
Anger grew in her belly. But it was a helpless anger born of the knowledge that there was nothing she could do. Once again she was trapped in a hell that came from trying to do what was right for her family.
Only this time she was to truly pay with her body. In a stranger’s bed. Her heart tripped before going into fierce overdrive.
She gazed at Theo’s face, then his body. A body she would in the very near future become scorchingly intimate with. The horror she’d expected to feel oddly did not materialise.
‘How long exactly will I be expected to do as I’m told?’ she snapped.
‘Until after the elections.’
A horrified gasp escaped her throat and she forcibly wrenched herself from his grip. ‘But…that’s…the elections are three months away!’
‘Sim,’ he replied simply.
‘Sim? You expect me to put my life on hold for the next three months, just like that?’ She clicked her fingers.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Do you want me to repeat the part about you not having a choice?’
She searched his face, trying to find meaning behind his intentions. ‘What did my father do? Did he best you at a deal? Bad-mouth you to investors? Because I can’t see what would make you want to go down this path of trying to get your own back.’
She watched his eyes darken, and his nostrils flare. All traces of mockery were wiped from his face as he stared down at her. Only she was sure he wasn’t really seeing her.
His usual intense focus dulled for several seconds and his jaw clenched so tight she feared it could crack. Whatever memory he was reliving caused volcanic fury to bubble beneath the harsh, ragged breath he expelled and this time she did take that step back, purely for self-preservation.
Voices sounded on the deck below. In a few minutes Pietro and the skipper would return from their tour. Inez wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for the disruption or frustrated that her opportunity to find out Theo’s reasons for demanding her presence in his bed had been thwarted.
His gaze sharpened, flicked towards the steps and back to her.
‘It’s time for your answer. Do you agree to my terms?’
She shook her head. ‘Not until you tell me— what are you doing?’ she blurted as he snapped out an arm and tugged her close.
One large bold hand gripped her waist and the other speared through her hair. Completely captured, she couldn’t move as he angled her face to his. The unsettling fury was still evident in his darkened eyes and taut mouth. Despite the heat transmitted from his grip, she shivered.
‘You seem to think you can talk or question your way out of this, anjo. You can’t. But perhaps it was a mistake to expect a verbal agreement. Perhaps a physical demonstration is what’s best?’