‘Then refuse me,’ she challenged. ‘I’m sure you’ll find someone to oblige you with an heir, with all that money at your disposal.’
Xavier’s expression darkened. ‘What did you imagine when you were offered the position of housekeeper to an elderly woman? Did you think it would give you the chance to charm my aunt into leaving you something in her will?’
‘I think all you see is bad in people,’ she countered, ‘and I think that’s sad. You’re the loser,’ she added heatedly. ‘No wonder you’re still alone. I’m doing this for the good of the island, and that’s my only reason. Do you think that anyone would want to marry a man who can’t feel anything, without a very good reason for it? And as for playing your aunt? I was stunned by Doña Anna’s generosity. I still am. And I’m determined to do everything she expected of me. I will never forget how much I owe her—and I’m not talking about the bequest now, but the home she gave me, and the love we shared. I don’t think my plan’s naïve. It’s not as if we’re talking about a love match. Ours will be more of a business deal.’ Her heart sagged as she said this, but it was done now, and she had to get through to him somehow.
‘I think I know a little more about business deals than you.’
She shrugged. ‘Then you must see the good sense in this. Work with me to put the island right.’
‘Turn it into a vegetable plot?’ he suggested.
She ignored that comment. ‘Once everything is on an even keel, we can arrange a discreet divorce.’
‘No stone left unturned,’ Xavier observed. ‘I’m impressed.’
And patronising, she thought. ‘It’s said your success rests on your ability to put plans into action right away—’
‘Sensible plans,’ he interrupted, ‘plans that have been thoroughly researched, and will work. I can see what you have to gain from this—’
‘And you,’ she countered firmly.
‘You’re quite a hard little piece, aren’t you?’ he remarked with an accusing stare.
Not at all. Not even slightly, and she wilted inwardly at Xavier’s description, though not a jot of that showed on her face. Living in an institution was a strange and enclosed experience. She couldn’t have survived it without a little steel in her backbone—
Without a lot of steel in her backbone, Rosie amended.
‘So, what’s your answer?’ she pressed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DOÑA ANNA HAD TIED him up in knots, ensuring he came back to the island, met Rosie, and then fulfilled his aunt’s request to provide an heir. How neat. Doña Anna was the only woman in the world who had ever been able to put a curb on him. She’d done it once before when he was a youth, and she was doing it again from the grave. That Rosie Clifton had chosen to make this proposal, shocking him with her accusations, only endorsed his aunt’s opinion of the girl. Whatever his answer, he had to admit his aunt had made a good choice in her lieutenant. He supposed he owed Rosie some grudging respect for the fact that she never gave up. Nothing would deter her from following his aunt’s wishes to the letter.
‘Marriage to you will give me the power to help the island,’ she told him now, her face shining with good intentions.
‘I’m expected to fund your ideas?’
‘Only if you agree.’ Her eyes were full of hope.
‘This marriage to me will certainly allow you to continue your meteoric rise in the world.’
‘Please don’t talk like that when there’s a child involved,’ she begged him.
‘You should remember that there’s a child involved,’ he fired back. He’d seen the effect of a marriage and a child on his parents. ‘You do realise this would have to be a marriage in the fullest sense.’ With consequences he dreaded more than Rosie, he suspected. Everything was fantasy and theory to Rosie, but now she must face the truth.
‘Of course,’ she assured him, but her face was ashen. He guessed she was thinking about their wedding night and all the nights after that.
‘And if you expect me to consult with you concerning my plans for the island—’
‘I do expect consultation between us,’ she stated firmly.
Even as she spoke the words Rosie knew they were wasted on Xavier. He’d probably never consulted with anyone in his life. So maybe that was one thing she was better at than him, she reasoned. Her life had been one long series of negotiations, with compromise the only way to survive the system she’d grown up in. ‘You might find it stimulating to hear new ideas,’ she suggested.
‘I have a team for that,’ he said. ‘But if we do run out of ideas, I’ll be sure to call on you.’
‘So your answer’s no?’ It was a struggle to read him as he stared into the middle distance.
‘Not necessarily.’