The Reluctant Husband

‘You seem to think you own me, and now I know why.’ A jagged little laugh fell from her lips as Santino drove on. ‘Well, I’m sorry, but you can’t buy people—I

‘No, it’s love you can’t buy. Buying people is surprisingly easy,’ Santino drawled. ‘You only need to know what they want to hook them.’

Frankie shivered and shot a helpless glance at his lean, dark profile, the hardness of his jawline. ‘And what do I want?’

‘Most?’ Santino queried softly, reflectively. ‘To be loved. I saw that in you when you were no age at all. You had a desperate need to be loved. But you were so stubborn you looked for it in the wrong places and couldn’t recognise it when you did find it.’

Frankie lost colour. He had answered her ironic question seriously, cutting her to the heart by reminding her of the all too many disappointments and rejections of her growing-up years.

‘That’s one reason why I certainly wasn’t expecting to meet an angel yesterday. A lot of people in your life have let you down. I knew that I, too, had lost your trust, but somehow I still expected you to be the extremely honest girl you used to be. I should have known that Della would mess you up—’

‘Don’t talk about my mother like that!’ Frankie bit out defensively.

‘I think it’s time someone did. You moved in with Finlay when you were...what...only eighteen years old?’

‘Where did you get that information from?’ Her voice shook.

‘It wasn’t difficult. Finlay...’ he murmured again. ‘Tell me, when you sank that money into his business, were you trying to buy his affection?’

Frankie went rigid. ‘How dare—?’

‘I’ve never believed in avoiding the issue. It’s a reasonable question. Most teenagers with a large sum of money in their possession could think of a hundred things to do with it, but not one of those hundred exciting possibilities would entail investment.’

Frankie pinned her lips together tightly, reluctant to reply. She had wanted to do something secure with that windfall. Until she had married Santino, every person she had ever depended on had lived on a frightening financial seesaw. Her parents had had violent arguments about money. One day it had been treats all round, the next bitter dispute over an unpaid bill. She had gone from that to the very real poverty of her grandfather’s home, where there had been absolutely nothing to spare for extras. And those ‘extras’ had been everyday necessities which she had taken for granted in London.

‘So you were buying him—’

‘No, I blasted well wasn’t!’ Frankie flared. ‘I even took some advice before I did it.’

‘Finlay’s advice? I ask because that investment is anything but safe right now. You’re in a crowded market and the travel agency is financially over-extended.’

‘I’m quite content with the returns I’ve received—’

‘A place in his bed that isn’t exclusively yours? I know you’re not the only woman in his life...’

Frankie was becoming angrier and angrier with every second that passed. ‘Well, maybe he’s not the only man in mine.’

‘Few women settle for an open relationship at your age. Are you that much in love with him?’

Frankie abruptly spread both hands in a gesture of furious frustration. ‘I am not in love with Matt. We’re friends and I’m the junior partner—’

‘Why live together, then?’

‘I have as much right to live in that apartment as he has, or didn’t your snoop tell you that? Finlay Travel owns the building!’

‘Correction... the bank owns it.’

‘So now you have a share of what the bank owns!’

‘Smart move, Francesca. I quite understand why your lover has suddenly become your platonic friend. But if you think I intend to move in and refinance your boyfriend you’re insane,’ Santino asserted very drily. ‘That is one ship which will sink without any help from me!’

‘Do whatever you like. If it was your money to begin with, it’s your investment now! But don’t make Matt pay for something that has nothing to do with him,’ Frankie argued vehemently. ‘The agency needs those villas. He’d have no trouble keeping them fully booked right through the season. We badly need more quality properties.’

Santino vented a distinctly chilling laugh. ‘You’re unbelievable. You rip me off and then you expect me to come to your assistance?’

‘I didn’t rip you off... I honestly didn’t know about the money... And I don’t think it’s my fault anyway,’ she reasoned with steadily mounting resentment. ‘You went behind my back to make some stupid arrangement with Della which I didn’t know about, so how can you now blame me for it going wrong?’

‘Santo cielo...the rats are jumping ship fast,’ Santino murmured sardonically. ‘It would appear that it’s every woman for herself now. Don’t worry about it. I’m very even-handed when I deal out rough justice. I assure you that Della’s getting her share of grief today too.’