Wife: Bought and Paid For

‘Ah, that explains the noise.’ Solo smiled into her eyes, touched his mouth briefly to hers and whispered, ‘Good morning, cara mia.’ His eyes gleamed with the smug, sensual satisfaction of a man who knew he had satisfied the woman in his life. Slipping an arm around her waist, he turned her to face their guest, easing her against his long length, her bottom fitting snug against his thighs, and it felt great. ‘And this is?’ He paused, politely smiling over Penny’s head at Patricia.

‘Solo Maffeiano. What the hell is he doing here?’ Patricia exclaimed, her eyes out on stalks. ‘I thought I told you to get rid of him years ago.’

‘Please, Patricia, let me explain.’ Penny felt the sudden stiffening in Solo’s long body and abruptly he let her go, stepping to one side. The feel-good factor had not lasted one morning. Penny almost groaned aloud her frustration, and, glancing up, her green eyes were captured by narrowed grey ones.

‘I don’t think I know your friend, Penny, darling,’ he drawled, his hard, dark face expressionless, but only a fool would fail to detect the steel beneath the silky smoothness of his voice. ‘Introduce me.’

Now would be a good time for the floor to open and swallow her, Penny thought dryly, tearing her gaze from his, but one look at Patricia’s bossy, big-sister-type expression, and then back to Solo’s icy one, and she knew she was in trouble with both of them.

‘Solo, this is Patricia Mason—Jane and Simon’s older sister. Patricia and her child were on holiday with James and her parents,’ Penny began to explain.

‘Never mind the social niceties,’ Patricia said. ‘What is he doing here?’

‘I live here,’ Solo said with a sardonic arch of one dark eyebrow in Patricia’s direction. ‘And as far as I know I have never met you.’

‘Well, you have once,’ and she mentioned a première in New York. ‘And I know all about you,’ Patricia fired back. ‘I told Penny—Lisa Brunton is a friend of mine.’

‘And?’ Solo prompted icily. Penny sensed the increased tension in his mighty frame, and slanted a brief glance at his chiselled profile. She saw his jaw tighten and a muscle jerk in his cheek; he was livid.

‘Stop it, both of you,’ she cut in firmly.

‘Yes, let’s have a coffee and be civilised.’ Solo’s hand snaked out, and his fingers dug into Penny’s waist as he fixed her with a piercing glance that sent a shiver of fear down her spine. ‘I do not want to see my wife upset.’

‘Wife? You’re married!’ Patricia exclaimed. ‘To him?’ She waved a hand at Solo. ‘I don’t believe it.’

‘Believe it!’ Solo drawled. ‘Penny and I were married last Monday in Italy, and I have to thank you, Patricia. If your family had not taken James on holiday, it might never have happened,’ he ended with a mocking, cynical smile.

The sound of a car horn echoed in the fraught silence. ‘Oh, damn—I have to go, they are waiting in the car.’ Patricia frowned at Penny. ‘But I’ll talk to you later.’ And, spinning on her heel, she left.

‘You can let me go now,’ Penny said bluntly. ‘I think you made your point with Patricia.’

‘Your friend is of no importance to me,’ he opined in a flat, chilling voice, turning her to face him, his strong hands spanning her waist. ‘But she obviously has a vast influence on you.’

‘No, I hardly ever see her,’ Penny said truthfully. The last thing she needed was to get into a discussion on Patricia. ‘She lives in America.’

Solo’s eyes rested thoughtfully on her taut face. ‘Your ex-boyfriend Simon is her brother.’ His lashes drooped, hiding any sign of emotion in his grey eyes. ‘Cast your mind back, Penny—was she in England the first time we met?’

A hot tide of colour surged up into her face. ‘She did visit to show her parents their first grandchild,’ she said to somewhere over his left shoulder.

‘And you listened to her gossip,’ Solo prompted, jerking her closer, his hands tightening on her waist. ‘What exactly did the woman tell you, mia sposa?’ He kissed her angrily. Heaven knew what would have happened next if James hadn’t appeared at the moment.

Penny had never been so grateful for an interruption in her life. James ran into the hall, his mouth covered in chocolate, and skidded to a halt at the sight of Solo.

‘You let go of my Penny.’ He stuck a sticky hand on Solo’s jean-clad leg.

‘What the devil—?’ Suddenly Penny was free, and Solo dropped gracefully down on his haunches. ‘You must be James. I knew you when you were a baby, and I can’t believe how big you have grown.’

‘What you doing with my sister?’ James asked, not to be deterred.

‘Kissing her,’ Solo grinned at the little boy. ‘I know you love Penny very much, but I love your sister as well, and it is a lot for Penny to look after this big house and everything else, so I am going to live here and help you both.’

Penny was horrified. She had not thought how she would tell James she was married—she doubted he understood the concept—but she certainly would not have started with a lie. Solo did not love her. If only it were true, Penny thought with a stab of longing, staring down at the two dark heads so close together.

‘Can you swim?’ James asked with the single-mindedness of a child.

‘Yes, and I have a house with its very own swimming pool where we can all go on holiday.’

‘I’ve just been on holiday.’ James grinned. ‘And I can swim.’