His father hadn’t been frail, but he’d been vulnerable in his own way. He’d badly wanted love. And he’d been taken advantage of just as Susan had.
Alessandro wasn’t going to let Katie be forced into marrying anyone. She needed some time out to see her way free of this puzzle. And she needed to feel in control. She obviously didn’t feel that she could stand up to Brian for long Maybe Alessandro could be her temporary fix-it guy. Just not exactly in the manner she envisaged.
He straightened up decisively. ‘What exactly did you have in mind? Do we announce our engagement immediately?’
Her jaw dropped. ‘You’re going to do it?’
‘For my sins. Yeah, why not? I’ll marry you.’ He nodded.
She looked like a terrified deer. She sat utterly still, with her head slightly angled, as if she sensed an unseen predator, was keenly aware of the lethal danger she was in. But then she moved. She almost dived into her bag and rapidly pulled out a piece of paper covered in handwritten notes.
‘I’ve thought it all through...’
She was suddenly a bundle of nervous energy, as if she was afraid he’d change his mind at any minute.
Of course he was going to change his mind—but she didn’t need to know that yet.
‘I imagine you’ve thought of everything...’ he muttered.
‘I didn’t sleep well last night, and I had all the train journey to finish researching.’ She was so engrossed in her explanation she didn’t even seem to notice his sarcasm.
‘What’s the plan?’
‘Las Vegas.’
He stared at her. ‘In America?’
‘Yes.’ She smiled brightly, as if he were a bit dim. ‘That’s the one. If we have our paperwork with us then it can be very quick. There’s an all-in-one hotel and chapel venue. It’s open all hours.’
Wow. She made it sound unmissable. And so urgent.
‘I imagine you do have your paperwork with you?’
‘I do.’ She nodded. ‘There’s a flight later this afternoon. Nonstop. We could catch it...’ She petered out as she saw the distaste on his face.
‘Are you talking about a commercial flight?’ he asked.
‘Um...yes.’ She stared at him.
‘You want me to drop everything and leave now?’
Was she really that desperate to escape Brian?
‘Would that be okay?’ She fiddled with the strap on her horrible fake leather bag. ‘We can be there and back in just a few days. I’ll be gone less than a week. The sooner it’s done...’
She paled as she looked at the screen of the tablet on his desk, and then colour rushed into her cheeks so quickly he wondered if she were unwell.
His entire body tensed. ‘Are you that afraid of him, Katie?’
She hesitated. ‘I’m afraid I won’t be able to say no to him for ever.’
‘But you can say no to me?’ He really shouldn’t feel as if that were a challenge.
She nodded a little too vigorously. ‘You have no reason to ask anything of me. I’m the last person a guy like you would want in his life. I’m no risk to you and you’re no risk to me.’
Instinct argued against that instantly. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d heard a less true statement. That feeling was crazy...she was no threat to his business, his career, anything. Yet his sixth sense still warned him.
Did he really want to revisit the miseries of his past when he’d come so far? Would the Fielding siblings come after him?
Bring it on.
‘Once it’s all arranged with you—once we’re married—then I’ll get straight back and look after Susan.’
He checked at that comment and shot her a measuring glance. For Katie to spend her early twenties nursing her foster mother round the clock wasn’t healthy. She needed her own life, her own career. But he wasn’t about to go there—not yet. One issue at a time.
‘It’ll only be for a few months...to ensure Brian doesn’t try anything else,’ Katie continued in that rushed fashion. ‘You’ll get a stake in my sauce company, and you’ll get the property in the end—we just give Susan lifelong residency rights. You won’t lose any money...’
He waved away her breathy, too-earnest promises.
Katie Collins was in trouble. She just couldn’t see another way out of it. If he were to get her out of the country and away from Brian the bully for a while she’d have time to clear her head and see sense. He’d think up a better plan when he was more refreshed too.
‘I’m not going on a commercial flight.’
He checked his watch and made a few calculations. He could catch up on some work away from the constant interruptions in the office. She’d get the rest she clearly needed. They’d resolve it easily from there.
‘But we can still go today, seeing as you’re that impatient.’
‘We can?’
Her eyes shone, their amber centres flickering like fire. Her lips parted, reddened and soft, and her skin simply glowed. She was luminescent. Sparkling wasn’t the word—she was suddenly stunning.
Alessandro’s skin tightened. Suddenly he wanted to get closer and taste.
‘Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help.’
She sent him a huge smile of gratitude. As if he was some kindly uncle. Alessandro leaned closer, feeling that frisson of danger—of something forbidden—sharpen.
‘Don’t start thinking I’m kind, Katie,’ he muttered without thinking. ‘Because I’m not. I’m ambitious and I’m always out for myself. Everything I do stems from selfish motivations, so rest assured I’ll claim complete payment for this.’
Her smile froze. ‘Of course,’ she breathed nervously. ‘Whatever you want...all you have to do is ask.’
CHAPTER THREE
ALESSANDRO STARED, FLOORED by the husky innocence of her reply. He just needed to ask? He ground back the inappropriate, obvious response. Why was he degenerating into some lame jerk who took every chance to turn the conversation towards the sexual? Why was he thinking of sex at all around her? He refused to be no better than the bastard prospective fiancé she was escaping—full of unwanted amorous attention...
But at the same time Alessandro had never met a woman he couldn’t seduce. That wasn’t to say he’d slept with every woman he’d met, and he was hardly about to seduce Katie. That would be like a lion playing with a lamb. Disastrous for her and unsatisfying for him.
But as he studied her closer he discovered more—her delicate chin, her high cheekbones—and then he returned to her complex coloured eyes that changed with the light, or perhaps with her mood. Elfin-featured, fine-boned...she was stunning when he teased that worry from her eyes and replaced it with excitement.
And she was as aware of him as he was of her. He needed very little of his vast experience to know that.
Temptation tugged.
No.
He whirled away from her fascinating features, dismissing those wayward thoughts, and picked up his phone again instead.
‘Dominique, I need a report on Brian and Susan Fielding, owners of White Oaks Hall—business dealings as well as personal. I also need a complete update on Zetticci Foods. Latest financials, forecasts, reviews, analysis, new product offerings from the last couple of years, plus their performance and internal management structure. The same with any company Carl Westin is involved with. I want everything. Email it ASAP.’
He needed information and ammunition.
‘I also need the jet ready to leave for the States in an hour. Cancel all my meetings for the next...’ He mulled for a moment and factored in the travel time. ‘Five days.’
As always Dominique simply said yes, and Alessandro hung up.
‘I need your passport.’ He gestured to Katie, who was sitting with her mouth ajar. ‘For the flight manifest, border control conditions and so on.’ He waggled his fingers
impatiently.
Katie snapped her mouth shut, wordlessly rummaged in her bag and handed the document to him. As he strode out to give it to Dominique he quickly flicked through it. None of the pages was stamped—which didn’t mean she’d hadn’t travelled, at least within Europe—but it looked almost brand-new. His curiosity sharpened.
Back in his office, she was still clutching the bag like it was some kind of protective shield.
‘Did you leave your suitcase out in Reception?’ he asked.
‘I...uh...no.’ She shook her head.
‘You don’t have any clothes with you?’
Her eyes widened.