The Vows He Must Keep

He might not remember the events of last night but she did—with painful clarity. She remembered having Valerio’s own personal bodyguard help her carry his boss onto the brand-new, not officially launched Sirinetta II mega-yacht that she’d commandeered, and then sending the man on a fool’s errand to the doctor in town so that she could order the captain to sail off into the night.

She waited for Valerio to return, realising that it was impossible even to attempt to look ladylike while she was sprawled face-down on a bed, her arms pinned at an awkward upwards angle as they were.

‘Where the hell have you brought me?’

His voice suddenly boomed from the other side of the room and the door of the cabin banged open on its hinges, making her jump.

‘Back so soon? I’ve had barely four minutes of my time out. Hardly enough time to think about my actions.’

He came to a stop beside the bed. Dani turned her head on the pillow and allowed her eyes to travel up his impressive form. Mercifully he had donned the clothing she had grabbed from his yacht’s cabin during their swift exit. The dark blue jeans fitted him perfectly and the plain black T-shirt was like a second skin, moulding to his impressive biceps. The rumours of his mental state were yet to be confirmed, but he certainly hadn’t stopped working on his infamous abs since he’d gone into exile, that was for sure. If anything, he’d kicked it up a notch.

‘I’d say we’re cruising somewhere near Corsica.’ She met his intense gaze without showing her unease. ‘I decided to multitask and give you a tour of the new model while we discussed our approach for this meeting. And before you get any ideas, the wheelhouse is locked down an

d the captain has been ordered to refuse entry without my passcode. Company policy.’

‘You...’ He took a step away, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘You had me drugged and loaded onto one of my own company’s yachts. And then you turned my own crew against me?’

‘Our crew.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘You forget that I’ve got quite familiar with all the staff in our employ over the past six months, partner.’

‘Order them back to land. Now.’

He leaned over her, one hand braced on the headboard beside her. His breath fanned her ear, sending gooseflesh down her neck. Evidently being tied up and ordered about was something her inner self got a dark thrill out of, regardless of the fact that the man giving those orders was a selfish bastard who had abandoned her when she’d needed him most.

No, she corrected herself, he had abandoned his company. The company that she was going to inherit half of once her brother’s estate was released, as well as countless other assets and properties—thanks to his death. And that was without the inheritance she’d already got after their parents’ accidental deaths seven years before.

If she had still been the praying kind, she would have thought that someone somewhere up above had really taken a dislike to the Avelar family. But she no longer believed in anything but cold hard facts, and right now keeping her brother’s prized Nettuno Design a part of the company was what she needed to focus on.

Valerio and Duarte had had countless other investments, but they had spent twelve years building Velamar from the ground up. Was he just going to sit back and allow his work to be poached by the vultures? Not on her watch.

‘You can leave me tied up here as long as you like. I won’t make the order.’ She flexed her fingers, feeling a slight numbness creeping in from her position.

‘Dani—’

‘I told you not to call me that,’ she snapped. ‘Use my proper name. You and I are business partners now and nothing more.’

‘Do business partners usually tie each other up naked and watch from the shadows?’

‘I wasn’t watching you.’ She bristled, hating the way that her skin immediately turned to gooseflesh at his words and hating the sinfully erotic image they created. She closed her eyes, praying he couldn’t see. That he didn’t notice the ridiculous effect he still had on her, no matter how much she’d believed she’d got past it.

‘It’s pretty clear that you were sitting there in the dark, waiting for me to wake up. What were you thinking about all that time, Daniela? The company? Or was there a small part of you that enjoyed having me at your mercy?’

He crouched low, sliding a lock of hair from her face, and waited until she met his gaze. Dani swallowed hard, fighting the urge to lick her suddenly dry lips.

‘You shouldn’t have followed me. You could have just emailed me the details of the meeting. But you didn’t trust me to show up, did you? Bastard that I am...’ He let his fingers trail along her face, smoothing her hair behind her ear. ‘You found me and saw me at my worst. The runaway playboy, the raging madman in the flesh. Tell me that you didn’t relish the opportunity to punish me, to ensure I didn’t have an easy escape. Tell me you didn’t enjoy it, Daniela.’

She bit her lower lip, knowing that he was just playing a game. Trying to make her uncomfortable enough to make her order the yacht back to land and let him cut his responsibilities all over again.

She turned her face, opening her eyes to meet his directly and summoning all the strength she had. ‘There is nothing enjoyable about watching you give up and walk away from everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve,’ she said boldly. ‘You could have died in Rio too, but you didn’t. I thought that might have made you see life as more precious than you did before, that you might take things more seriously. But you’ve just been running away, pretending that nothing’s happened.’

Valerio’s hand dropped as though she had burned him. In a way, she supposed she had. Guilt momentarily pulled at her subconscious, but she pushed it away, knowing that she was doing what she needed to do. Lucky for her, she knew exactly what to say to keep Valerio Marchesi at a distance in order to protect herself. She always had. But right now she needed him on her side more than she needed him to get away from her.

She felt his hands on hers as he silently loosened the ropes at her wrists. She worked herself free as quickly as she could, noting that his knots were skilled. He had been a sailor practically from birth, after all. The blood rushed quickly back into her hands as she sat up, rubbing at her wrists, and saw that he had moved to the other side of the room. He stood completely still, looking out of the window to the blackness beyond. There was no moon tonight—nothing to light their way in the night. Only dark clouds and the subtle sheen of the waves that surrounded them.

‘I know all too well how precious life is, Daniela. If you think I’ve been running away, then you really don’t know me at all.’ Valerio’s voice was cold and distant, bleak. ‘If you think that I could ever hope to forget what happened... If you think I haven’t gone over and over every single second...’ He shook his head as he turned to face her, and a look of complete darkness seemed to cast a shadow over him.

Dani felt emotion burn her throat. She wished she could take her words back but knew it was done. Since Valerio had left her alone at Duarte’s funeral all those months ago, she had been filled with a rage of her own. He had been the one to return from their trip alive after weeks of being presumed dead. He had been the one to refuse to tell her the full details of what had happened, only revealing that Duarte had been killed shortly before Valerio had escaped.

Her twin had been murdered and she’d had no idea. There had been no sudden shift in the cosmos, no supernatural feeling of loss or pain. Instead she had felt nothing. And that feeling of disconnected numbness had continued for the past six months as she had thrown herself into keeping the company running smoothly.