Million Dollar Christmas Proposal
“And your father is here without your mother because…?” Audrey prompted, knowing full well Enzu could shut her down at any moment.
“Giovannu ran out of money and reached the limit on his credit cards.”
“I didn’t know that was possible for a billionaire.”
“My father is no billionaire. He has no income but the one from our family’s bank.”
Definitely a touchy subject.
“He wasn’t interested in striking out on his own like you did?” she asked carefully.
Enzu gave a bitter laugh. “Not a chance. That would have required the willingness to work. His income from the bank’s profits is only a few million a year, which he is required per their prenuptial agreement to split evenly with my mother.”
“He’s used up this year’s dividends?” she guessed.
“And then some.”
“So he’s here to mooch?”
Enzu laughed, the sound harsh. “He would be severely offended to hear you say so.”
“But he is looking for a loan?”
Enzu’s blue gaze burned with emotions she doubted he realized were there and wouldn’t be happy if he did. “I do not extend credit to my father, but he knows he is welcome to stay here.”
“And maybe he wants to see you and his grandchildren,” she offered gently.
“He wants to avoid my mother after his spectacular breakup with his latest mistress.”
“Oh.”
“Sì.” Enzu let out a frustrated breath. “My parents took no responsibility for their children and take even less for their own lives now.”
“You support them?”
“Not directly. His shares at the bank provide Giovannu’s income.”
“But only because you keep the bank running in the black?”
“Sì.”
“You’re a good man, Enzu.”
He shook his head, but then he didn’t see himself the way she did. He was a driven businessman. No doubt about it. But Enzu was also an adult man who provided financially for his parents even though they never gave him a reason to do so.
He’d taken responsibility for his niece and nephew when other men in his position would have foisted them off on other family. He had an entire cache of cousins, aunts and uncles back in Sicily.
“Will your mother be showing up to cause your father difficulty?”
His weekend at the mansion was seeming less and less like a retreat and more like a war zone by the minute.
“It is a possibility,” Enzu admitted.
“Really?” Audrey asked, not sure she wanted to deal with both of the older Tomasis.
“If he does not come crawling home, tail between his legs, soon enough for her you can count on it.”
That didn’t sound like imminent threat, though. Audrey let her tense shoulders droop in relief. “Will he? Go home, I mean?”
“Oh, sì. Frances has income from her parents as well as her half of the bank dividends. She can provide a much more entertaining lifestyle than he will experience here.”
Man. Audrey had always known money was no panacea, but who said it was easy to be a billionaire with parents like that?
“Want to go for a swim?” she asked on sudden inspiration.
“My father is expecting us to share dinner.”
“Are you hungry?” They’d had chili dogs at the game.
“Not particularly.”
“You did buy me a swimsuit?”
Blue fire from his gaze licked over her body like she was already wearing it. “Sì. It is in your room.”
“The one I’m not sharing with you,” she teased.
“Your brother is very protective. It is clearly a family trait. I am impressed.”
“We watch out for each other, but I have to admit his efforts to play big brother can be a little embarrassing.”
“Oh? Have you experienced that very often?”
“Not ever before, actually.”
Enzu laughed, the sound free of the bitterness that had been hanging over him like a cloud. “Let’s go swimming, biddùzza. I find I am very keen to see you in swimwear.”
“It had better be a one-piece,” she warned.
His eyes taunted her. “And if it is not?”
“I’ll wear a T-shirt over it.”
“That T-shirt?” he asked, referring to the white one she wore under her bright pink sweater.
“Unless you had your personal shopper buy me another one?”
His lips tilted on one side in an enigmatic smile. “Fine.”
“What do you know that I don’t?”
“Nothing, I am sure.”
“Innocent does not look believable on you.”
There was that laugh again, and her heart warmed to hear it.
“Come, I will show you to your room and have Devon inform my father we will not be joining him for dinner.”
She should feel guilty at the snub to the older man, but Audrey would do almost anything to dispel the pall that had come over Vincenzo after only talking to his father for a couple of short minutes.
The swimsuit turned out to be a bikini.
It wasn’t scandalous. The bottoms covered Audrey’s butt cheeks, the triangles of the top covered her breasts, and for that she was grateful. However, the smooth expanse of her belly was naked—as was her entire back. She wasn’t comfortable with that much skin on display.
So she put the T-shirt on and then donned the bright white thick Turkish robe she’d found on the back of her en-suite bathroom’s door. Whoever had bought her clothes had even provided a pair of spa shoes in her size.
Audrey slipped them on before leaving her room, only realizing that she didn’t know which way to go for the pool when she was in the corridor.
Enzu pushed off from the wall opposite her door, where he’d been leaning and waiting. “I forgot to tell you the pool is on the basement level.”
He wore a robe like hers, except his was embroidered with his initials and he had not tied it, revealing his olive-skinned, muscle-layered physique.
Heat flushed up her body, sending urgent electric messages to her core. Audrey had thought her reaction to him was bad before, but right now she just wanted to jump him.
Shoving extremely inappropriate thoughts deep into her psyche, she said, “I probably would have figured that out, but I’m glad you didn’t make me go searching.”
If her voice was a little breathy she could hardly be blamed. Not in the face of provocation like an only partially dressed Vincenzo Tomasi.
“The thought of you stumbling in on my father at his dinner while you are dressed or rather undressed as you are is enough to send chills down my spine.”
“I’m perfectly covered.” Her robe was tied.
“How long would you manage to keep that Turkish cotton around your body in his presence, I wonder?”
“You don’t think he would try…?” No. Vincenzo could not have meant that. She for sure wasn’t going to say it.
“Seduce you?” His lips twisted with distaste. “I would guarantee it.”
Assuming Vincenzo knew his father best, she didn’t deny the possibility. “Trust me, my robe would stay firmly tied.”
“You think so? My father can be very charming.”
“I may be ridiculously susceptible to you, Enzu, but I’m not usually a pushover with men.”
“No, I don’t suppose you are.”
The fact she was a twenty-seven-year-old virgin did not need to be said out loud.
CHAPTER TEN
HER FIRST STEP into the basement paradise had Audrey gasping.
Located through a set of sliding glass doors opened with Vincenzo’s palm print, the indoor tropical jungle was beyond magical.
Lush foliage flourished under a wall-to-wall ceiling of full-spectrum light panels. The air was warm and humid, but comfortably so. A path of mosaic tiles the colors of sand and earth wound through the tropical plants.
“This is incredible, Enzu,” she breath
ed in awe.
“It is one of my favorite places to retreat.”
“I can even hear birds.”
“That is the sound system.”
The fragrance of exotic flowers teased at her senses. “Don’t tell me the flowers aren’t real?”
“Most of the plant life is genuine.”
It took her a moment to realize the area was untinged by the smell of bleach. “No chlorine in the pool?”
“Salt water and minerals.”
The sound of rushing water reached her ears. “Is that a waterfall?”
“Sì.”
“May I see?”
He smiled, openly pleased by her response to his small piece of paradise. “I will give you the full tour before we take advantage of the pool.”
“I would love that.”
The walk to the waterfall was short.
It cascaded over an outcropping of rocks, splashing into a pool that looked at first glance like a natural body of water. Closer inspection revealed the tiled walls and base done in colors to emulate the dark brown silt found in a lake. Muted lighting glowed along the bottom to make swimming safe.
Bamboo loungers covered with thick cushions the color of caramel sat to one side of the pool. One looked like it could be used as a double bed, it was so wide.
“Fantastic,” Audrey breathed.
Vincenzo took her hand. “There is more.”