A Deal Before the Altar

His voice was hard, his accent suddenly more pronounced. He sounded dangerous.

Briefly Santos saw pain flash across her face, saw the curling of her manicured fingers and wished the words unsaid. Marriage was the one thing he wanted to avoid at all costs, but even though his legal team were working on a solution he had to consider the option. If he wanted to save his business, and the last five years of hard work since his father had first become ill, he might actually have to take a wife. So wouldn’t this woman, who had so willingly walked into the lion’s den, be the perfect choice? Costly, maybe, if her track record was anything to go by, but he could deal with that.

‘It wouldn’t be a marriage in the true sense of the word.’

Her words, spoken with conviction, dragged his attention back to her face.

‘And what is that?’

‘A marriage for love, of course—like the one your brother and my sister wish to make. A commitment for life.’ Her words flowed freely, and once again he thought he heard a spark of passion.

Suspiciously he looked at her as he sat back again in his chair. ‘You are not looking for love, Ms Henshaw?’

‘Not at all, Mr Ramirez. I only want my sister’s happiness. I will do anything to achieve that. Once they are married we can annul our marriage and go separate ways.

Santos considered this wild suggestion more seriously. Would it hurt to go along with it for now—to have another option if his legal team were unable to sort out an alternative?

‘And you would want what, exactly, from this marriage?’ His mind raced. On a business level it made perfect sense. He would finally have the security of inheriting the business he’d built up and would have done his duty by his brother, freeing Carlo of obligations he had little or no interest in.

‘I want nothing from you other than our names on a marriage certificate. Once that is done we need not see each other. We just apply for an annulment.’

Her voice had hardened and his past rushed back at him. He saw the teenager who had hardly grieved for his controlling mother. Felt the pain as his father eventually remarried and moved on with a loving and kind woman whom Santos had resented. A woman who had changed his father, almost taking him away from his firstborn with the power of her love.

‘I find that hard to believe. You must want something.’ Experience had taught him that. Everyone wanted something. Everyone had a price.

‘Nothing more than I’ve already stated.’

Her cool, calm words sounded believable.

Santos thought of the conditions of the will and gritted his teeth against the memory of the day he’d realised what his manipulative father had done. It seemed this attractive woman knew a lot about the will, but she didn’t know it all. She hadn’t mentioned the other conditions that he would have to meet before finally inheriting. It wasn’t as simple as marriage.

‘I require more than that. My wife, when I take one, will be a wife in every sense of the word.’

Did she really think he was going to accept her proposition meekly, without attaching his own conditions? If he had to get married he’d rather do it for business than become as vulnerable as his father had after his second marriage. There was also the matter that he was a hot-blooded male and this woman had stirred his blood the second she’d walked proudly into his office.

Santos watched as realisation dawned on her pretty face, followed by defeat. But he said nothing more. To do so now would be to show his hand. He would never give away the fact that he actually saw her proposition as a serious option—his back-up plan.

‘I can’t do that.’ She gasped the words out, her face whitening before his eyes.

‘Then your very first words to me were lies.’

Part of him felt relieved. She hadn’t really been serious. But another part of him, the deal-chaser, wanted this—but on his terms. Marriage would not only secure the business but would put a stop to the endless rounds of parties. It would enhance his image in the business world, giving him what appeared to be a happy marriage, and it would mean he didn’t have to get emotionally involved. Something he avoided at all costs.

She still hadn’t spoken so he carried on, pushing forward his conditions, turning it completely to his advantage. ‘That is the only deal I’m prepared to make.’

* * *

Georgina’s heart sank. Was he seriously suggesting a real marriage—one that would entail her being at his side publicly and sleeping in his bed at night?

‘We know nothing of each other.’ She grabbed at the first thing that came to mind.

‘On the contrary, Georgina. I think we both know enough.’

The use of her name sent a warm tingle down her spine. His gaze fixed on hers so intently she felt as if he was physically holding her captive. Her pulse-rate leapt, then beat hard as she thought of spending the night in his bed, of being his wife in every sense of the word.