Her eyes widened, her lush lips parting. In that red dress she looked as ripe as an apple, ready to be plucked, and it disconcerted me. The last time I’d seen her she’d been in a drab waitress uniform, her hair scraped back into a ponytail, her face shiny with grease from the fried food she served. Hardly someone I’d ever think of plucking.
‘Would you give me more money?’ she asked, seeming more curious than greedy.
‘No.’
I took a step back, away from temptation. As surprisingly luscious as Daisy seemed right now, she was most definitely off limits. The last thing I wanted to do was consummate—and thus complicate—my marriage. I had plenty of women to choose from. I didn’t need this one.
‘That’s good, because I have enough money as it is.’
‘You seem to spend it as fast as I can transfer it to your bank account,’ I remarked sardonically. ‘Although I can’t imagine what you spend it on, living on an island with a population of about three hundred.’
‘That’s none of your business, is it?’ Daisy countered.
She had a rather guilty look about her now, with a flushed face and sliding gaze. What did she spend the money on? Perhaps she’d redecorated my villa ten times over, or bought a boat, or a helicopter, or a closet full of designer clothes... Although, judging by that dress, it was probably not the last possibility.
‘So what is it that you want, then?’
Impatience edged my voice and I made a point of glancing at my watch. Daisy Campbell—no, Dias—had taken up fifteen minutes of my valuable time, and that was fifteen minutes too many.
She cocked her head, her thick, darkly golden lashes lowered as she surveyed me, her lips slightly pursed. Was she trying to be coy? It was a surprising move, and one that unfortunately had the power to affect me.
Desire surged through my body in a white-hot rush, and although I was tempted to take another step back, to safety, I stood my ground. I would not be cowed by my unremarkable wife. Nor would I be affected.
‘Well?’
‘I’ll tell you what I want.’
She stood up, as striking as a flame in that ridiculous red dress, her light brown hair tumbling about her shoulders, her face flushed, her chin angled at a determined tilt—the embodiment of both defiance and desire.
‘I want an annulment. I want out of this sham of a marriage. And I’ll give you all your money back to prove it.’
CHAPTER TWO
I WATCHED AS shock blazed across Matteo’s features and stiffened his powerful body. Clearly he hadn’t been expecting that. No doubt he thought I’d spent all the money he’d given me. If only he knew the truth...
‘Why on earth would you want an annulment?’ he blustered. ‘What’s the point?’
‘That’s none of your business,’ I shot back.
The last thing I wanted was to expose my vulnerability to this man. I wanted out of this marriage because I wanted a chance at a real life, a real love, and I knew I wouldn’t get it with Matteo Dias. That was a fact that sent a stupid pang through me, because even now, when he was being so irritatingly arrogant, part of me wished he’d notice me the way a man was meant to notice a woman.
Even in this tight red dress, I could see he was regarding me like something unfortunate he’d stepped in.
‘It certainly is my business,’ Matteo retorted. ‘We’re married, Daisy.’
‘It’s not a real marriage.’
‘It is on paper.’
‘I’m willing to pay back the money, Matteo. What objection can you possibly have?’
Except I’d known instinctively that he would object—that he was not the kind of man to let a woman dictate his terms. To let me be the first to walk away. And now, feeling the full force of Matteo Dias’s ire was enough to have me trembling where I stood. Still, I was determined to stand my ground.
‘I assure you I’ve thought this through very carefully. I would not be giving back one million, seven hundred fifty thousand euros lightly.’
‘How on earth do you still have all that money?’
‘What would I have spent it on?’ I countered, which was not quite the truth.