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Rio’s jaw tightened and for a moment Evie genuinely believed he was annoyed.
‘Do you have another entrance?’
‘Yes, sir.’
He made a swift phone call and rose to his feet, drawing Evie close to him. ‘My driver will meet us out the back. That way, no one should see us.’
Evie hurried alongside him, conscious of the strength of his fingers locked with hers as they were led towards the back of the store. ‘Rio—’ she hissed his name ‘—don’t we have to pay or something? I don’t want to set the alarms off and have to spend Christmas in custody, if it’s all the same to you.’
He didn’t slacken his stride. ‘It’s been dealt with.’
‘How? Where?’
But he simply propelled her to the back of the store. Moments later, Rio’s driver was speeding through the back streets of London’s most exclusive area.
Evie flopped back against the seat, twisting the ring on her finger. She tilted her hand, admiring it from every angle, watching as it sparkled and glinted. ‘I still don’t understand why you went to all that trouble to buy a ring if you’re not going to let anyone see it. You didn’t even let them see you leave the shop.’
‘They know I’ve left. The fact that I’m being secretive will make them more interested.’
‘I hope you don’t have an over-inflated idea of your own importance. Otherwise, this whole idea is going to fall flat on its face.’
Rio’s response to that was to hold out his phone. ‘Call your grandfather.’
‘What, now?’ Evie had been putting off that moment and her stomach plummeted as she anticipated what her severe, principled grandfather would say about her current situation. ‘What am I supposed to say? Hi, Grandpa, you may be seeing a picture of me naked in today’s papers so I just wanted to tell you that I’m not starting a career as a glamour model—’
‘It won’t be in today’s papers. It’s too late for that. There’s a strong chance it will make tomorrow’s editions, but it may already be up on the Internet. Call.’
‘My grandfather doesn’t surf the Internet. He’s eighty-six,’ Evie squeaked but her observation merely earned her a lift of an eyebrow.
‘What does his age have to do with anything?’
‘You wouldn’t be asking me that if you’d been to the Cedar Court Retirement Home. They celebrated when they got a decent TV picture. They probably think high speed broadband is another type of dressing for varicose veins.’
He didn’t withdraw the phone. ‘Call.’
‘I can’t.’ Evie’s voice was a whisper and she shrank back against the seat as she tried to delay the inevitable. ‘This is the guy who took me on my first day at school. He taught me to ride a bike. He doesn’t believe in holding hands or kissing in public. I’m all he has in the world and he thinks I’m a really decent, old-fashioned girl…In fact, I am a decent, old fashioned girl, or I was until I met you.’
‘All the more reason to call him before he hears it from someone else.’
Running out of excuses, Evie took the phone reluctantly. Her hand shook as she keyed in the number. As she waited for him to answer, she pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and tried not to think about how disappointed her grandfather was going to be.
After all he’d done for her, after all his love and affection, he didn’t deserve this…
‘Grandpa? It’s Evie…how are you doing?’ Her voice sounded false to her and she wondered how long it would take her grandfather to pick up on the fact that something was wrong. ‘Are you staying warm there in all this snow?’ Maybe that was a good link, she thought desperately as she listened to his cheerful response—I was a bit too warm, Grandpa, so I thought I’d take my clothes off…
‘No, nothing’s wrong; I just thought I’d ring you for a chat.’ Aware that Rio was watching her, Evie carried on making small talk about the weather and listening to her grandfather’s observations about his friends. When he mentioned that he’d been boasting about her again to Mrs Fitzwilliam, two huge tears slipped from Evie’s eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand.
With a sigh, Rio removed the phone from her. ‘Mr Anderson? Rio Zaccarelli here—no, we haven’t met, but I know your granddaughter—yes, I’m the same Zaccarelli that owns the hotel and spa chain—’ he leaned back in his seat, not looking remotely discomfited by the prospect of dealing with what could only be described as a hideously awkward situation ‘—yes, it’s still doing well, despite the economic climate—absolutely—’ he smiled ‘—that’s how I met Evie—’
Worried that Rio might actually say something that would make things even worse, Evie gulped down her tears and tried to grab the phone but he held it out of reach, laughing at something her grandfather had just said.
‘I’ve already learned that to my cost—yes, she is—’
Evie frowned. ‘I am what? What are you saying?’
Rio ignored her. ‘I know about that. Yes, she told me. But his loss is my gain.’
Were they talking about her broken engagement? Evie covered her eyes with her hands, all too able to imagine what her grandfather was saying.
‘Yes, a total loser—’ Rio’s voice became several shades cooler ‘—she’s better off without him…No, not too badly—that’s what we rang to tell you. We’re engaged. I know it seems sudden but you can blame me for that—when I see something I want, I have to have it and I’ve never felt like this about a woman before.’
Evie peeped through her fingers and waited for Rio to pass the phone across so that she could receive a giant telling off from her strict grandfather. Instead, she heard laughter as Rio controlled the conversation.
‘We wanted to warn you that there might be some revealing photographs in the press. My fault entirely—they follow me around, I’m afraid—’ Rio’s voice was smooth and he gave a slight smile in response to something her grandfather said. ‘I agree—I’ve always said the same thing—that’s right. No—no, she’s fine—just a bit embarrassed because she’s pretty shy about that sort of stuff…Yes, I know she’s modest—’ he shot her an ironic glance ‘—well, I have my lawyers onto it but if anyone mentions it to you, you can tell them the photographer was trespassing in a private room—yes, I’ll hand you over—good to talk to you—look forward to meeting you in person—’ Having moulded her rock-hard war veteran grandfather into the consistency of porridge, Rio handed her the phone, a smug expression on his face. ‘He’s delighted. He wants to congratulate you in person.’
Evie tentatively lifted the phone to her ear. ‘Grandpa—?’ She was unable to get a word in edgeways as her grandfather told her how delighted he was that she’d finally met a real man and proceeded to spend the next five minutes extolling Rio’s virtues, all of which appeared to centre around his ability to buck the market and grow his business, no matter what the economic challenges. The issue of the naked photograph appeared to have been absorbed along with all the other news.
Finally, her grandfather drew breath. ‘Answer me one question—are you in love with him, Evie? That’s all I want to know.’
Oh, dear God, how was she supposed to answer that? ‘I—’
‘It doesn’t matter that a man is rich—what matters is whether there’s strength and responsibility in his character. Rio Zaccarelli has all those qualities, but none of it matters if you don’t love him.’
Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. In order to stop her grandfather thinking she’d had a one-night stand, she’d gone along with Rio’s idea but suddenly she was being sucked deeper and deeper into the charade.
Knowing her grandfather would worry, she gave the only answer she could. ‘I love him, Grandpa.’ She scowled as Rio raised his eyebrows, amusement shimmering in his black eyes. Doubtless he was so used to hearing besotted women say those words that he barely registered them.
Her grandfather sounded ecstatic. ‘So it looks as though I might be bouncing that great-grandchild on my knee next Christmas after all.’
Great-grandchild?
Evie’s mouth dropped in dismay. Somehow she’d gone from naked in bed, to engaged and then straight to pregnant!
How was she ever going to unravel this mess?
Hoping Rio hadn’t overheard that particular part of the conversation, she lowered her head, allowing her hair to fall forward in a curtain, shielding her face. ‘Well—let’s just see how things go, Grandpa—no hurry—’
‘Of course there’s a hurry! I’m not getting any younger—’
‘Don’t say that. You know I hate it.’ The thought of losing him horrified her and, when Evie finally ended the call, her hands were still shaking. Listening to her grandfather’s animated voice had made her feel hideously guilty.
Oblivious to her mounting distress, Rio took the phone from her, smiling with satisfaction. ‘That went well.’
She rounded on him, her eyes glistening with tears. ‘That did not go well, Rio! I just lied to my eighty-six-year-old grandfather. How do you think that makes me feel?’
‘A great deal better than having to tell your eighty-six-year-old grandfather why you had a one-night stand with a man you’d never met before,’ he said coldly. ‘Calm down. If there happen to be any paparazzi around, I’d rather they didn’t print the fact that we were having a row within ten minutes of putting the rock on your finger. Your grandfather was delighted to hear that we’re together—a little surprised, perhaps, but basically pleased. I’m considered an incredible catch. You don’t have anything to worry about.’
He reminded her of an armoured tank, forging forwards regardless of what was in his path. Her feelings were no more than blades of grass, easily squashed and ignored under the weight of his own driving sense of purpose.
When Rio Zaccarelli wanted something, he got it. And apparently he was willing to go to any lengths to secure this particular ‘deal’.
‘Why didn’t I think this through? I’ve just raised his hopes and that’s an awful thing to do.’ Frantic, Evie reached for the phone again. ‘I have to tell him the truth, now, before this whole thing escalates and he tells everyone I’m marrying a billionaire.’
‘Leave it.’
‘Rio, he thinks I’m going to get pregnant any moment! He wants to bounce his great-grandchild on his knee! I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.’
But Rio had slipped the phone back into the inside pocket of his jacket. ‘You agreed to the plan.’
‘Because you railroaded me. I didn’t have time to think it through, but I can see now this is going to be really complicated and—’
‘It’s done. Too late.’ With an infuriating lack of emotion, he scanned the screen of his BlackBerry. ‘The switchboard at my corporate headquarters is jammed with journalists seeking confirmation that I’ve just become engaged. The story is out there.’
Her stomach lurched. ‘And your people have confirmed it?’
‘They’ve said “no comment”, which is as good as demanding that the press print an announcement. It’s too late to change your mind now. Stop panicking. Your grandfather sounded fine about the whole thing. Tell me about Jeff.’
Evie tried to ignore the throbbing pain behind her eyes. ‘I don’t want to talk about Jeff.’
‘I’m not surprised.’ Rio sprawled in his seat, texting with astonishing speed and dexterity. ‘He sounds like a total loser.’
Evie stared at him in helpless disbelief. She wanted to explain how worried she was about hurting her grandfather’s feelings, but she knew she was wasting her time. Rio Zaccarelli didn’t care about feelings, did he? All he cared about was making sure his business proceeded unhindered.
‘I really don’t think I can go through with this.’
Rio watched her, a deadly gleam in his eyes. ‘We made a deal.’
‘Yes.’ Evie croaked the word, knowing that she was trapped. If this was the only way to prevent that photograph being published, then she had no choice.
Deals, deals, deals…
She’d made a deal with the devil. And now she was going to pay.
Chapter Five (#ulink_40413947-73bb-5a77-a974-258d4087959f)
DRAGGING her aching limbs into the Penthouse suite, Evie toed off her shoes in relief and crumpled onto the rug. ‘How does anyone walk in these things?’ Staring up at the ceiling, she moved her toes gingerly. ‘I feel as though both my legs have been chewed by a shark.’
‘That is why you are lying on the floor?’ Rio paused in mid-text, his eyes bright with incredulity. ‘If you’re tired, lie on the sofa.’
‘I can’t make it that far. I may never walk again.’ Evie gave a long groan and flexed her sore feet. ‘I bet you’ve never tried to squash your feet into a torture device before. Who invented heels? The Spanish Inquisition?’
Rio pocketed his phone, scooped her up and deposited her on the sofa.
‘Oh—that’s better.’ Evie rolled on her side and closed her eyes, trying not to think about how his hands had felt on her skin. How strong he was.
‘Most women find shopping a pleasurable pastime.’
‘Yes, well, most women don’t have to buy an entire wardrobe after just three hours sleep, and most women aren’t shopping with you.’ Yawning, Evie snuggled into the soft pile of cushions, twisting and turning to find a comfortable position. ‘You said “no” so many times I thought that poor stylist person was going to throw herself out of the window. I thought the objective was to have a high visibility shopping trip, not give some innocent woman a nervous breakdown.’
‘I was trying to achieve a compromise between “wholesome” and “sexy”, which proved to be something of a challenge.’
‘Why do I have to look sexy?’
‘Because it’s important that you look like someone I’d date.’
Squashed flat by that comment, Evie curled up in a ball. ‘Do you have any idea how insulting you are? Once in a while you could think about my feelings, otherwise I’m going to dump you long before this farce is supposed to end. And it doesn’t really matter what the clothes look like, does it? It isn’t as if we’re going anywhere.’ She glanced round the Penthouse, taking in the luxury. Something seemed different about the place, but she couldn’t work out what. ‘You won’t even let me look out of the window in case someone takes my picture.’
‘Astonishingly enough, I am thinking of you. It’s precisely because we are going out that I expended all that time and effort in making sure you had an appropriate wardrobe,’ he gritted. ‘Tonight you’re going to be walking down that red carpet with film stars and celebrities—I didn’t want you to feel out of place.’
‘Red carpet? What red carpet?’ Evie shot upright. ‘You didn’t say anything about going out. I thought we were in hiding.’
‘We were creating gossip and speculation which, by tonight, will have spread sufficiently to ensure that if that photograph appears it will be taken as confirmation that we are seriously involved.’ Rio walked over to the desk and switched on his laptop. ‘We have to be seen out together which, unfortunately, means that tonight we have to attend a film premiere and a charity ball.’
‘Unfortunately? It’s unfortunate that we have to attend a film premiere and a charity ball?’ Assuming he was joking, Evie started to laugh and then she saw the tension in his shoulders and the grim expression on his handsome face and realised that he was serious. He didn’t want to go.
Her sudden excitement evaporated and she deflated like a balloon at a children’s party. Her brain scanned all the possible reasons for his dark, forbidding scowl. ‘You don’t want to be seen with me.’
‘Obviously I do,’ he said tightly, ‘given that it is the entire purpose of going.’
Evie sat with her back stiff, picking at her fingernails, telling herself that it was ridiculous to feel hurt by that comment. ‘I understand that you feel you have to do it. But the reason you don’t want to go is because you’re embarrassed to be seen out with me.’
‘I don’t want to go because I’m incredibly busy at the moment.’
Something about the way he held himself told her that he was lying. Whatever was wrong, it had nothing to do with his workload. ‘But we’re going anyway?’
‘Yes. We’ll show our faces and then leave.’ With a single tap of his finger, he brought a spreadsheet up on the screen. ‘Wear the silver dress.’
Shimmering silver, Evie thought absently. With swept-up hair.
She should have felt thrilled but instead she felt the most crushing disappointment. ‘What’s the point of making a fuss if we’re only going to stay five minutes?’ The fact that he wasn’t even looking at her increased her anger. ‘It’s hardly worth getting dressed, is it?’
‘A brief visit is perfectly normal at these things. There is no point in wasting a whole evening when our purpose can be achieved in a short space of time.’
There was a tension in the room that she didn’t understand. ‘What if your purpose is to enjoy yourself?’
He was frowning at the screen. ‘We’re talking about a throng of people, none of whom have the slightest interest in anyone but themselves and their own self-advancement. As it happens, I have a very specific reason for going to this particular ball—I need to speak to Vladimir Yartsev.’
‘Who is he?’
‘Don’t you read newspapers?’
Evie flushed. ‘Sometimes. When I’m not working.’
‘Vladimir Yartsev is a Russian oil oligarch. A very powerful man.’
‘But not as powerful as you.’
A ghost of a smile touched his mouth. ‘Different power.’
