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She turned her head to try and look at him, and in doing so found his face very close to hers. So close that he could kiss her, press his lips to hers, with only the slightest effort. His gaze locked onto hers and she couldn’t look away. Not even when he lowered his head and very gently brushed his lips over hers.
Her eyes closed and her lips softened beneath his before he pulled back slightly and with endearing tenderness brushed his fingers over her cheek. ‘You outshine them all.’
Don’t be fooled. The voice of reason fought to be heard inside her head as that kiss, that gentle and brief feel of his lips on hers, unlocked everything she’d been trying to deny since that night in London.
Piper turned away and tried hard to focus on the rings before her as their gleam blurred and tears threatened. Now was not a time to give in to emotions.
She reached out and picked up a ring. ‘I like this one.’
Dante took the ring from her, then moved to her side, took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. It glinted as it sat, a perfect fit, on her third finger. She was so stunned by the sight of it she couldn’t speak, couldn’t say anything, and she certainly couldn’t look up at Dante—not when tears threatened to spill down her cheeks like a waterfall.
‘I think my bride has made her choice.’ His voice was deep and accented and so sexy—just as it had been that night in London. It had haunted her since he’d whispered such beautiful words in her ears as they’d made love that first and only night.
Piper couldn’t function, and she sat in a state of bewilderment as the older man fussed around them and then packed up the ring in the most elaborate box. All she could do was watch as Dante produced his credit card and paid for the ring, which effectively meant he’d paid for her, a bargaining tool for the deal he just had to win.
But to her the price was much higher. To her this was all about her child—the only reason she’d accepted such a deal.
CHAPTER FOUR (#u336afac1-5215-54d6-8d63-d7e60d271e14)
IT HAD BEEN three days since Dante had bought the ring, which had sealed the deal far more conclusively than any contract she’d signed. Each night she’d slept alone in his bed, and not once since that light but lingering kiss in the jeweller’s had he tried to get close to her again. Neither had he done anything to suggest he wanted their arrangement to be more than a marriage on paper. He’d made it clear that whatever had exploded into life so spectacularly between them in London was over as far as he was concerned.
That kiss as they’d chosen the ring and those gestures had all been for the benefit of the jeweller. Her shock at the disappointment that knowledge had brought still weighed heavily on her as she stood in the apartment while Dante finished a call.
She felt as uneasy and out of place as she had that first morning as she listened to him, and then registered that he was talking in English.
‘Xander will also call you,’ he said, and glanced up, seeing her for the first time. He ended the call and turned his full attention to her. ‘Buongiorno, cara.’
The sensual depth in his voice did little to assuage her disillusioned mind-set.
‘Buongiorno,’ she replied, testing his language and liking the feel of it almost as much as the approval which showed clearly in his sexy dark eyes.
Don’t go there, Piper, she silently warned herself, determined to remember why she’d flown to Rome in search of a man whose name she hadn’t known until she’d seen that article.
‘I trust you slept well.’ As usual he was the epitome of charm and courtesy.
‘I did, thank you,’ she replied, and her guilt at keeping him from his bed made looking at him as they sat at the table almost impossible.
‘Bene.’
He poured her coffee, but for the first time since she’d discovered she was pregnant the aroma made her feel queasy and she opted for a glass of water instead. She looked up at him as he spoke again.
‘You have a busy day ahead of you.’
She tried to work out what it was she should be doing. For three days she’d been cooped up here in his apartment, more like a prisoner than a guest. She’d called her mother, who had wanted her to go straight home, as had Katie and Jo, her friends in Australia, when they’d emailed. But where was home? In London with her mother? In Sydney with her happy past? Or here in Rome with the father of her child?
Confusion added to the feeling of nausea. ‘I do?’
‘Sì. I have arranged for someone to help you select a new wardrobe of clothes.’
She watched as he drank his coffee, oblivious to anything else except what he wanted. He certainly hadn’t noticed she couldn’t face any food this morning.
‘I don’t need new clothes.’ She forced the words out, trying to focus her mind and not show this man any weakness—something she’d learnt long ago shouldn’t be done.
‘You are now my fiancée, Piper, and whilst you looked every bit the kind of woman who would ensnare my interest when we met in London, you would not convince many people now. For you to fit in with my world there need to be some changes.’
‘Well, I’m sorry to disappoint.’ She couldn’t keep the spike of hurt from her voice, especially after she had already been making an effort. ‘I don’t happen to have a wardrobe of party clothes with me. It’s not what I had in mind when I came to Rome.’
‘No, I am aware of that—which is why I have arranged for some help.’ The firm tone of his voice brooked no argument.
‘Oh.’ The croissant she’d just taken one small piece from in the hope of settling her stomach became like dust in her mouth. So she wasn’t good enough for him as she was? Retaliation surfaced. ‘I hardly see the point when I’m not going to fit into things in a few months.’
‘The point—’ he fixed her with those intent eyes ‘—is that our engagement be believed genuine, and presently I do not think it will be. I have arranged for Elizabeth Young, a professional matchmaker from America, to come to Rome and assist you. Every woman loves shopping, and with my name and funds at your disposal I’m sure you will too.’
So she was to be groomed into shape—moulded into the kind of woman who would fit the role of fiancée for the notorious Dante Mancini? And wouldn’t that be for the best, no matter how used it made her feel? If she played the role so convincingly that his business acquaintances believed that she and Dante were in love, that she was the woman who’d made him want to settle down and be a father, she would have done her part in their deal. It would leave him no option but to do his and be there for their child—long after their marriage had ended. As stipulated in the contract she’d signed, he would then pay his price.
‘Very well.’ Her voice was starchy and she saw a smile spread over his lips as she looked across the table at him, trying to remind herself why she’d agreed to this charade. Dante could never be the father figure her own father had been, but could she trust him to take even the smallest amount of interest in his child? If he didn’t there was no point in her being here now. ‘And when will we be putting this glamorous fiancée to the test?’
His dark eyes sparked dangerously at her last words. ‘This evening. We shall attend a party here in Rome. And at the weekend we have been invited to Tuscany by Bettino D’Antonio, which will be the biggest test of our engagement. He is the man I intend to seal the business deal with, and this weekend will be the time to reassure him I am a reformed man with family values. He must know you are expecting my child, and that we are in love and engaged to be married.’
She raised a brow haughtily at him, the feeling of being controlled and manipulated uncomfortable. ‘So my duties are very clearly defined? I am to look the part of one of the many women you’ve been pictured with this year alone, while at the same time convincing everyone that what is between us is enough for you to give up your scandalous playboy reputation and settle down?’
The angry glitter in his eyes left her in no doubt that she’d hit the intended mark and was now in control—of this evening’s outing at least.
‘Elizabeth is the matchmaker Benjamin Carter used. She is currently in Rome and will meet with you this morning.’
‘Benjamin Carter?’ Wasn’t he also one of the bachelors named and shamed? She tried to recall the others.
‘Sì, he was featured in that article, along with Zayn Al-Ghamdi and Xander Trakas.’
‘And are those men also marrying to save their reputations?’
Suspicion filled her. They couldn’t all be chasing a big deal, so what was it all about? If her memory served her right, one of them was the ruler of a desert kingdom.
Exasperated with herself for not paying more attention to the piece simply because she’d stumbled upon the identity of the man whose baby she carried, she rebelled against Dante. ‘What if I don’t want to be turned into one of your women? What if I don’t want to change?’
‘It is not negotiable, Piper. Elizabeth has my list of instructions on exactly what I want.’
‘What you want? What about what I want?’ Already she had lost the small triumph of being in control. How had she ever thought a woman like her could be in control of a man like Dante Mancini? He was ruthless. Just the fact that he was prepared to marry in order to secure a business deal should have set alarm bells ringing. Worry crowded in on her. If Dante was so ruthless, what did this far-fetched situation make her?
The answer came instantly. A mother trying to do the right thing by her child.
‘You gave up that privilege when you signed the contract, cara. Right now this is all about salvaging my reputation so that I can seal a deal I’ve wanted to make for several years.’
‘This is not what I intended at all. I should be back in London now, having informed you that you are to be a father—something I felt should be done face to face. I had not for one moment thought you would put forward such a preposterous deal and flaunt me like a trinket, luring someone into a business deal with exactly the kind of man he doesn’t want to do business with.’
‘Next time you read an article about me in a gossip magazine perhaps you will believe it when I am depicted as a mercenary businessman who lives hard and plays even harder.’
He moved closer to her, his eyes hardening and she knew if she was sensible she’d heed the warning in them.
‘I have no scruples, Piper. I will always do whatever is necessary without a thought for anyone who stands in my way.’
‘This isn’t about you,’ she gasped, feeling her emotions boiling over in a way she now recognised as part of her pregnancy. ‘Or about your barbaric deal. This is about our baby. Your child.’
‘A child I had no intention of creating.’ His denial flew back at her, and the accusation in his voice was clear. ‘But right now you are due to meet Elizabeth. This discussion will have to wait.’
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled, almost instantly giving instructions in Italian while he picked up papers and put them into his briefcase. He ended the call as he turned back to her, putting on the sunglasses she was beginning to understand were far more than just protection against the sun. They shielded him from everyone, hiding his cold, emotionless eyes.
‘My car is waiting.’
The silence in the car as they negotiated the busy streets of Rome was intense to the point of being explosive. The brief conversation that had leapt unwittingly to life between them this morning had exposed all that was wrong with the deal she’d made with this man. They might have shared the most wonderful night of sex, and she might have given him her virginity in a spontaneous act of rebellion against the hand life had dealt her, but she had also fallen just a little bit too hard for him—and she would have to get over that quickly. Having any kind of feelings for a man such as Dante went against all her hopes and dreams for the future. The happy-ever-after ending her father had always promised her was out there, waiting...
Dante was incredibly attractive even now, and his brooding presence dominated the interior of the car as they sat together in the back, where she was powerless to resist the temptation to glance at his handsome profile. How was it possible that she, an ordinary girl who’d led a sheltered, protected and happy life in Sydney until her father’s death, could fall under the spell of this undisputed pleasure-seeking billionaire bachelor?
* * *
Dante could still feel Piper’s scrutiny as the car pulled up at outside a boutique he knew first-hand was visited by women from afar. Elizabeth had suggested it when she’d contacted him by email after Benjamin Carter had put the wheels in motion.
Dante hadn’t been able to hide his pleasure at Benjamin’s shock when he’d called to tell him about Piper and how very convenient it had been that she’d chosen that very day—the day he’d accepted that he needed a wife—to wait in his office, saving him the trouble of selecting a woman. But not only did Piper possess information about him that could destroy him professionally, she was carrying his child. He hadn’t told Benjamin he would do anything to protect that child—even give up his bachelor lifestyle.
He got out and went round to Piper’s side, aware that opportunistic photographers might be at such locations but hoping against it—at least until his fiancée had assumed again the identity she’d very skilfully used in London. Once she was that hot redhead again, and wearing his ring, he intended to give the press every opportunity to photograph them and spread the good news.
He took her hand, and the hesitation in her step was obvious as they walked into the shop, which he’d instructed would have to be closed to any other shoppers for the duration of their visit.
‘Buongiorno, signor...signorina.’ If the assistant was surprised at his presence in the shop she hid it very well. ‘Signora Young is in my office. Please, this way.’
The assistant’s use of English proved that his every request was being followed to the smallest detail. He looked down at Piper, at the glorious red hair which had been piled luxuriously on her head in London but which now fell loose around her shoulders, and felt a moment’s hesitation at trying to change her. She was different from his usual choice of woman, enticingly different, and hadn’t he become bored with the women of his circle?
He pushed that thought aside as quickly as it had formed. Didn’t every woman like to be dressed up, styled by experts and then whisked away to a beauty salon to be pampered? She had a role to play in this deal and he intended she would play it properly.
‘I will leave you in the capable hands of Elizabeth.’
He saw her swallow, the movement of her throat giving away the nerves she was trying to hide. It made her look vulnerable and tugged at his conscience—until he remembered the role of confident woman she’d played in London. She had looked confident and comfortable then.
‘And what are your instructions for this transformation of your fiancée?’
The spark of fury in her voice only served to bring a smile to his lips, and from the flash of defiance in her eyes it was not a smile she wanted to see.
‘Elizabeth has instructions for exactly what is required and she will ensure you know all that is necessary for an evening dinner party. I have seen you poised and elegant, Piper, so I am sure it will be easy for you to act that role once more.’
Before she could formulate any response he knocked on the office door and opened it. The woman who stood and greeted them was dressed simply, in a tan leather jacket over a white blouse and short skirt, and yet had an understated elegance about her. First impressions were important to Dante, and this time he was happy with Benjamin’s suggestion to utilise all that Elizabeth Young’s company, Leviathan Solutions, could offer.
‘Signor Mancini... Ms Riley, good morning.’ The woman’s smile was warm and friendly as she stepped from behind the desk to greet them.
‘Buongiorno.’
‘I have all your instructions, Signor Mancini, and Piper—may I call you Piper?’ She directed the question at Piper, who Dante thought now seemed remarkably relaxed. Was she resigned to the situation she was in? Maybe her insistence that it wasn’t needed had been a ploy.
‘Yes, of course,’ Piper replied, and looked up at him and smiled.
He was shocked to realise it was a genuine smile, one which lit up her eyes, taking him right back to the moment he’d first seen her at that dinner party in one of London’s top hotels. He’d known in that instant that he wanted her—and had set about making it happen, using the champagne and the anonymity of such an evening to achieve just that, with his usual disregard for social proprieties.
‘Bene, then I shall see you this evening. My car will be at your disposal all day, and will return you to the apartment later this afternoon.’
He had no wish to spend the day judging dresses, shoes and handbags. There were far more important things for him to do, such as finding a way to convince Bettino D’Antonio that making a deal with his business would be beneficial to both of them.
* * *
Piper relaxed as the door closed behind Dante and she heard him saying goodbye in the shop. At least nobody else would witness her so-called transformation as his fiancée other than Elizabeth Young, a woman with warm eyes and a friendly smile whom she couldn’t help but like instantly, despite her part in all this.
‘We should get started,’ Elizabeth said, picking up a notepad and pen, and left the office.
Piper, wishing she could achieve that effortless chic style, followed her through the shop into a large changing room adorned with many ornate mirrors.
‘Dante’s list is extensive. I had already selected several gowns for this evening’s dinner party, but the moment I saw you I knew there was one that was perfect.’
Elizabeth’s enthusiasm was infectious, and Piper found herself excited as an assistant appeared. She watched in an almost dreamlike state as Elizabeth signalled to a member of the boutique’s staff who held up a long bronze dress, adorned with sequins. The assistant held it across her arms as she stood in the dressing room. Piper had never seen such a dress before, let alone worn one. How could Elizabeth think it was perfect for her?
‘Bronze will look amazing with your hair, and the dress will accentuate your gorgeous figure.’
Elizabeth’s flurry of words held a hint of excitement which transferred itself to Piper. None of this was for real, but it was happening, and she did have the role of fiancée to play. Would it be so wrong to get carried away with the fun of all the glamour?
‘It’s beautiful.’ Piper touched the delicate fabric as the assistant held it for her, wondering how it would feel to wear such a dress. Should she tell Elizabeth that her so-called gorgeous figure would be short-lived? ‘It’s very beautiful. But I’m not sure it will be suitable.’
‘Just try it,’ encouraged Elizabeth as she ushered Piper behind a changing screen.
Piper looked at her reflection in the large gilded mirror moments later, not even sure if the woman who gazed back at her was real. How could one dress make her look and feel so different?
‘It’s perfect.’ Elizabeth’s no-nonsense tone halted any further objections and Piper had to admit it fitted beautifully, as if it had been made for her.
‘Then I will be guided by you.’ She had no idea what else this evening’s dinner party would require, but Elizabeth’s air of confidence was reassuring.
‘I wish all my clients were so easy to please.’ Elizabeth smiled as she signalled to a member of staff that the bronze dress was to be packed. ‘Next I have a black gown by the same designer. Perfect for a night at the theatre.’
For a second time Piper looked at her reflection, saw her body encased in the most gorgeous black silk. Was this really happening? The elation of the moment quickly faded as reality crept in. She was paying a high price for this Cinderella moment. She might be about to go to the ball, dinner parties or the theatre, but she certainly wouldn’t find her Prince Charming.
From what she’d seen of Dante Mancini, Prince Charming didn’t exist in the man she was now engaged to. For two months she’d lived with the hope that after that wonderful night together he might be her very own knight in shining armour. Now she had to accept that such fairytale ideas were impossible. Dante Mancini was ruthless in business and, it seemed, in love. Did he even know what love was?
‘No time for daydreaming.’ Elizabeth smiled at her in the mirror and Piper couldn’t help but smile back, despite the unusual situation and her downward spiralling emotions. ‘We have lots more to choose.’
‘We do?’
‘But of course. You’ve a weekend in Tuscany, and many events to attend in the coming weeks, and then there are outfits to select for when your pregnancy shows—ones that will accentuate your happy news, as Signor Mancini requested.’
She knew about the pregnancy? Dante certainly hadn’t spared her blushes or embarrassment. Hearing it said plainly and so practically that he wanted people knowing that particular detail hurt more than she cared to admit.
‘I wasn’t aware you knew...’ Piper began to stumble over her words, as she always did when she was anxious. ‘It’s still new to us at the moment.’
Elizabeth stopped and looked at Piper, her friendly smile defusing the agitation brewing in Piper. ‘I’m in full possession of the facts regarding the arrangement between you and Signor Mancini—of his need to appear to settle down in order to salvage the damage done by salacious gossip to their charity.’
