‘Immediately...’ She sounded a little dazed by the prospect.
‘There is no time to waste. I told you I wanted an heir. I’ll arrange for you to have a medical examination tomorrow morning.’ He heard her gasp but he didn’t care. So what if he’d been blunt, even crude? It was the truth.
‘But...but there’s still so much to discuss...’
‘Such as?’
He heard her swallow, and in his mind’s eye he could picture the working of her pale, slender throat, see the widening of those pansy-brown eyes, the rise and fall of her chest. ‘Lots of things. How it’s going to work, mainly, and...and what precautions will be in place...?’
‘Precautions?’ The word came out sharp.
‘I’m putting my life in your hands,’ Milly retorted, her voice just as sharp as his. ‘I need guarantees, Alex. Safeguards...’
‘Very well. Then I’ll put those in place.’
‘Can’t you turn and look at me?’ she burst out, sounding both exasperated and emotional. ‘I hate having a conversation with your back.’
He pressed his lips together, biting back the instinctive reply. I didn’t think you wanted to look at me. He wouldn’t lower himself by saying such a thing. Instead he turned around to face her, schooling his face into an expression of bored disdain.
‘Here you are. And here I am.’
‘Yes.’ She gazed at him steadily, and he saw her gulp, her gaze darting to his scars and then back again. Her face was pale, her eyes huge. ‘So now what?’
‘Now we discuss the terms. The safeguards you mentioned.’ He strode from the window and sat in one of the leather club chairs in front of his desk, gesturing for her to take a seat in the other. ‘Shall we?’
‘All right.’ Milly walked over to the chair and sat in it.
Just two days ago they’d been in his study at the villa, talking about terms in theory. And here they were again, talking about them in reality. Everything had changed because she had agreed to become his wife. They would be married. He did not feel as triumphant as he’d thought he would...especially as Milly’s gaze moved over his face, sliding away from the scarred side, and her fingers trembled before she knotted them together in her lap. ‘So...?’ Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. ‘Why don’t you tell me what you suggest?’
‘I suggest we marry immediately,’ he answered with a shrug, purposely keeping his tone clipped, almost bored. ‘As I said before. I can have the prenuptial contract drawn up by tomorrow, and we can be married the day after. I will have the marriage licence rushed.’
Milly squared her shoulders.
‘And what would the prenuptial agreement state?’
‘That you will receive five million euros, which will be repayable to me should we divorce.’
‘Repayable?’ She blinked. ‘That’s harsh. What if you divorce me?’
‘I won’t. But, to address any worries you might have on that score, I will have it put into the contract that you will be given an additional five million euros should I wish to divorce you.’
She shook her head as a shiver went through her. ‘This is all sounding so cold.’
‘Clinical, perhaps, but not cold. It’s a business arrangement, Milly. We both know that.’
‘Yes, but...are we ever going to get to know each other, even a little? Talk properly?’
Alex suppressed a shaft of impatience. ‘We’re talking now.’
‘Properly, I said. Enjoying each other’s company as...as friends, if not anything else. Have some sort of companionship, especially if we’re going to be...to be parents.’ She choked on the word, her eyes huge. ‘And what about that? What about how we raise our child?’
‘We can discuss that in due course.’
‘But don’t you want to know me at all? Or have me know you? I mean, even just a little...’ She trailed off, searching his face—and for what?
He stared at her for a long moment, wondering if she really wanted some kind of friendship—and why. Did she really want to get to know him, or was it just a salve to her conscience, because she felt guilty for agreeing to such a businesslike marriage? It was all pointless anyway, because he had no desire to get to know her. No wish whatsoever to make this more complicated than it needed to be. More emotional, more dangerous. Desiring her physically already felt like a step too far, a need he knew he shouldn’t nurture.
And yet, despite all that, he could see the sense in a conversation, at least. Besides, he had a conference call in five minutes.