Sexy Billionaires

by Carol Marinelli

  ‘Don’t you own one fitted garment with its colours still intact?’

  Stung, and hating herself for it because she didn’t normally give two hoots about her appearance, Alicia asked sweetly, ‘What? Haven’t you heard that the messy-chic look is in?’ She cocked her hip and gestured with a hand. ‘If you open the magazines they’re all wearing these clothes.’

  Then pride made her straighten her spine. ‘There isn’t much call for high fashion among the refugee tents in Africa, Signore D’Aquanni. But, as I doubt we’re ever likely to move in the same circles, you shouldn’t have to endure my wardrobe insulting your sensibilities. Now, I’m sure you haven’t lowered yourself to come here to discuss my lack of style.’

  His eyes narrowed on her for a long moment. ‘So you did work in Africa then?’

  Alicia tensed so much she thought she might break. ‘Yes. For a year.’

  He passed a look over her that patently said he put her claim under serious doubt and then, to her surprise, he took off his jacket and sat down on the couch. It was a three-seater but he practically took up the whole thing.

  ‘Actually, Alicia, your style or lack of it is one of the things that will come up for discussion. Now, what does a man have to do to be offered coffee around here?’

  Alicia cupped her mug of steaming coffee in her hands and looked at Dante warily over the rim. She perversely hoped that he was sitting on the bit of sofa with the exposed spring. But, looking completely at ease, unconcerned, Dante sipped his own coffee, taking his time before setting the cup down on the low table. He leant forward and rested his arms on his knees.

  ‘I’m here to offer you a proposal.’

  Alicia could feel the blood drain from her face and then rush back guiltily as she realized what she’d taken his words to mean for a split second. He’d seen it too and that mocking look made his mouth quirk at the corner again.

  ‘Not that kind of proposal. Never that kind of proposal; I’m not a marrying man.’

  Words were strangled in her throat. She was mortified that he would think that she had thought he’d meant marriage. And she had. For a second.

  She put her cup down with a shaky hand. ‘Look, just tell me why you’re here, I have things to do.’ She sat back and folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. He settled back into the couch and crossed one leg over the other. The bottom of his impeccably shod foot seemed to mock her too. She could see how in some cultures it was taken as a high insult to be faced with the soles of someone’s feet.

  ‘What I’ve come here to propose is a little mutual arrangement.’

  Alicia all but snorted. She doubted very much that this man did anything mutually.

  ‘I’m listening.’

  Only so you’ll be gone more quickly and I can get back to normal and forget we ever met.

  Alicia conveniently blocked out the voice that said, What about if Melanie and Paolo get married? What about when they have the baby? Won’t Uncle Dante come to visit? Won’t Uncle Dante be there for the rest of your life?

  His voice cut through her tortured thoughts. ‘I am hosting a series of final negotiations in a very high profile merger over the next three weeks. The first week of the conference will be at my villa in Lake Como—a week in which the very select participants will be shielded from the media’s prying eyes, to be exclusively wined and dined in between meetings.’

  Alicia looked at him blankly, desperately trying to hide the effect his force field had on her body. She just hoped he’d hurry up and say whatever he had to say, not knowing why he felt he had to tell her anything…

  ‘Together with a close colleague from Ireland, we’re merging forces with one of the biggest construction giants in America. As I am the biggest investor, effectively it is a merger that will see me as CEO of the largest construction conglomerate in the world.’

  Alicia recalled Melanie’s glowing comments when she had first got the job at Dante’s company some years previously. ‘I thought you already were the biggest company in the world…’ She couldn’t keep the caustic tone from her voice, or the look in her eye that told him exactly what she thought of his obvious bid for world domination.

  He ignored her effortlessly and said without any emotion, just as a hard fact, ‘I am; however, there’s always room for improvement.’

  ‘You mean greed,’ Alicia muttered, and felt pettish as she did so. What did she care, even if he wanted to conquer outer space?

  Again he ignored her barbed comments. ‘The construction company from America is run by a man called Buchanen. He’s taken a lot of persuading to come on board. Years of smaller negotiations have led us to this point, and now we are poised to sign on the dotted line. All it’s going to take is this three weeks and then it’s going to be signed, sealed and delivered.’

  Satisfaction rushed through Dante. This would be the pinnacle of everything he’d ever set out to achieve, to prove…having come from nothing…and he was not about to let that satisfaction be thwarted. Especially when so many depended on him.

  He lay an arm along the back of the couch, making his shirt strain across his impossibly broad and hard chest, making Alicia’s eyes drop betrayingly and her throat dry up. She looked up and felt a rising tide of red. And saw the mocking look in his eye. At that moment she wanted to throw the contents of her coffee cup in his face.

  ‘And…? I presume there’s more?’ she bit out.

  Dante regarded her, taking in every expression crossing her face, flashing through her big eyes. His groin tightened. You bet there is…

  He schooled his expression, veiled the lust he felt. ‘Buchanen has been a reluctant investor. And yet he’s the only one we want. He controls just one of the biggest companies in the US, but he’s got the most links and connections with Europe, which will inevitably give us an even stronger hold here too. But he’s cautious. He’s planning to run for the American senate and that’s pretty much the reason he finally gave in; he wants to free up his time to devote himself to politics—the downside of that is his concern for his untarnished reputation.’

  Alicia was beginning to feel more than a little confused. And more and more hot and bothered. ‘Yes, but what does all this have to do with me?’

  Dante said nothing and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a folded newspaper. Alicia immediately recognized the red top of the tabloid. Her stomach fell. This could only mean one thing. Dante leaned across and put the paper down in front of her. It took a minute for the picture and headline to sink in.

  Who is the mysterious woman lighting Dante’s inferno?

  Even though this was exactly what she’d set out to orchestrate, albeit not with her involvement to such a degree, the reality was shocking, invasive, awful. It also made a dark memory surface uncomfortably.

  ‘Oh, my god,’ she finally breathed.

  ‘My thoughts entirely. The photographer must have had a smaller digital camera because my security guard confiscated his other one.’

  Alicia lifted stricken eyes to Dante. How could she say sorry again? She couldn’t. She stood up, agitated. She’d rushed off, chasing this man for a crime he hadn’t committed and she was no better off for all her efforts. If anything, things were worse.

  ‘I…don’t know what to say.’ She stood behind her chair, the offending picture still in her eyeline, and all she could remember was the feel of his mouth on hers, his strong, lean, taut body as he’d lifted her off her feet. Her insides liquefied.

  He looked up at her steadily and she had a prickling sensation across the back of her neck. She had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like what was coming.

  ‘You could do the right thing and say yes when I ask you to come back to Lake Como with me today and be my hostess for the duration of the meetings.’

  Alicia’s hands gripped the back of the seat. ‘I’m…excuse me?’

  ‘I said—’

  ‘I heard you,’ she said shakily and came back around the chair to sit down. ‘Why on earth wo
uld you want me to do that?’

  He glanced at the newspaper. ‘Because, thanks to your little mercy dash and dramatics, we’re now apparently an item.’ His mouth twisted with obvious distaste. ‘While I’ve never cared about how I might appear in the media, unfortunately at this moment it is a necessary evil. Buchanen comes from a conservative background; he’s a family man and has often made reference to the fact that out of all the particpants, I’m the only one who isn’t. In an effort to allay his fears we’ve encouraged all those involved in the negotiations to bring their families along for the last two weeks if they should so choose.’

  A mocking glint lit his dark eyes, making him look rakish and dangerous. ‘He’s skittish at the moment, very aware of how his every move is being scrutinised. The world’s media is watching us with great interest to see if we can pull this merger off, not to mention every other construction consortium in the world…The presence of wives, children will help deflect the heat and hopefully reassure Buchanen.’

  In an instant that mocking look had gone and he was coldly grim. ‘If he pulled out, needless to say the merger would be null and void. Millions that have already been invested would be down the drain and no one else would touch us with a bargepole. As we’re so inconveniently splashed across the tabloids, you are going to accompany me, be my hostess and put Buchanen’s fears of being associated with a playboy to rest.’

  He had clearly jumped from asking her to telling her. Alicia was too bewildered to even get angry at his arrogant tone. ‘Yes…but even if I did go, wouldn’t that almost be worse? I’m not your wife.’

  He shook his head and refrained from saying, No, because I’m never photographed with the same woman twice… That thought caught him up uncomfortably short for a split second.

  ‘No, because I’ve never involved a woman in any business dealings before, so he and the press would see this as tantamount to an engagement. The media will bay for my blood if I don’t turn up with you now, not to mention what it might do to Buchanen’s judgement.’

  Alicia gasped, ‘You don’t expect…’

  He smiled and it was cruel. ‘Oh I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Your presence will be enough to keep them happy and assure them that I’m not irredeemable. At least until the ink is dry on the contract.’

  Alicia twisted her hands in her lap. She’d gone pale. Dante didn’t like how her reluctance was making him feel. She looked at him then and that act of vulnerability was back.

  ‘What about that…that woman?’ The image of the woman on the steps of the hotel the other night was seared on to her memory, the disparity between them huge to her now and she didn’t want him to know she’d seen them. ‘The woman the men mentioned…’

  Dante frowned for a second and then a look of disdain came over his perfect features. ‘She is gone, not in my life.’

  Alicia shuddered inwardly at how callously dismissive he was. Panic tinged her voice. ‘I can’t do it. I couldn’t go. I have to stay and take care of Melanie.’ Her eyes beseeched him. Surely he wouldn’t be that ruthless, that cruel? ‘Can’t you see? You saw for yourself how weak she is. As it is, I have to go out now and find enough work so that we can pay for her care…If we don’t…’

  She looked genuinely distraught and it threw Dante for a second. She wasn’t looking at him; she’d gone inwards to a place of anxiety that he could only imagine. It had been so long since he’d had to worry about the mundanity of making ends meet, but the sting of it had never faded and he could see it in Alicia now. But he’d anticipated this.

  He stood up and leant against the fake fireplace, his hand in his pocket. Alicia looked up and then stood too, hating his easy dominance.

  ‘Signore D’Aquanni, please believe me when I say how sorry I am that I mistook you…and that we’ve ended up in the papers…’

  ‘You owe me,’ he said quietly.

  Her head snapped back. ‘I owe you? Maybe your business meetings should be about human relations, because if you can’t see that I need to be with my sick pregnant sister, then—’

  ‘Paolo is going to be with her.’

  Alicia stopped in mid-rant. ‘What?’

  ‘I said,’ Dante said patiently, ‘Paolo is going to be with her. My house in London is around the corner from Harley Street. Paolo will stay in London and work in the office here again. He will be five minutes from Melanie’s side, and she will be near to all the possible amenities she could need. There is also a housekeeper who will make sure she doesn’t have to lift a finger. And a nurse has been arranged for the first month to come daily and make sure Melanie’s injuries are healing.’

  ‘But I’m a nurse. If anyone is qualified to look after her it’s me—’

  He cut in ruthlessly. ‘I thought you needed to work. How are you going to work and mind your sister? The nurse I’ve booked is eminently qualified, specialized in obstetrics and gyneacology.’

  Alicia reeled. This was all organized already? She knew Paolo had made the initial appointment, but now this smacked of Dante’s involvement. He had upped the ante spectacularly. How could it be this easy? Her vision cleared and she realized just how easy it could be. Her voice was hard and flat, eyes burning.

  ‘And I suppose this dream situation is available to Melanie if I comply with your wish that I should accompany you back to Italy today and play happy families at the conference.’

  He shrugged negligently.

  ‘So, in effect, you are blackmailing me, Signore D’Aquanni. You’re punishing me, and Melanie.’

  He stood then, moving away from the fireplace, and his eyes became dark and hard. Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? ‘You are the one who is responsible for that lurid tabloid splash. And tell me, please, how is providing your sister with the medical care she needs, a luxurious roof over her head, someone to wait on her hand and foot, a punishment? Could you deny her that?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Alicia almost wailed, everything in her rebelling against the pull to succumb, to give in. How could she even consider spending a minute more than necessary with this man?

  ‘Look, you don’t have to do this. We…I’ll look after us.’ She thought feverishly. ‘Now that Paolo is here, he will be supporting Melanie too. We can find somewhere to live and with his wages…’

  ‘Dio!’ Dante spat out, incensed that she was intent on keeping up this charade of injured innocence. Didn’t she know how futile it was? ‘Have you really counted the cost of what it would mean to live in the centre of London for up to four months, on top of the medical costs? Do you even know what this man charges?’

  Alicia shook her head miserably. She was ashamed to admit that she’d been too scared to check it out properly yet. She’d known it would be astronomical.

  He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Alicia. She blanched when she saw the amount; it exceeded even her worst fears. And then it got worse.

  ‘That’s just to cover the doctor’s basic hourly fee per week for a month. It doesn’t even go into any extra kind of care if she might need an operation, not to mention accommodation, food, travel expenses. The mounting costs of a normal pregnancy are considerable, not to mention one that needs constant surveillance.’

  Alicia sat down again heavily and Dante sat down too at the end of the couch nearest her.

  ‘Paolo, the little fool, believes he is the father of Melanie’s baby, wants to play happy families—’

  Alicia’s face felt like stone; she could feel her blood pressure rise. ‘You can believe what you want for now, but the day will come when you will be forced to face the fact that you are wrong.’

  He didn’t say anything for a moment and then answered grimly, ‘Women are adept in the art of obfuscation, manipulation. They were having an affair…he left. She obviously met someone else when he left, then saw her chance.’

  ‘He was sent—’ Alicia started to speak furiously but he held up a hand.

  ‘All I’m saying is that I’m prepared to indulge them, for n
ow.’

  If it means I get you…

  ‘Paolo has agreed with me to wait until the baby is born and his paternity confirmed before getting married—that’s if they still want to. Until that time they can consider themselves engaged and will have the chance to get used to living together. I think even you can see the benefits in that.’

  Alicia didn’t trust his reasonable tone for a second. She felt sick but also, conversely, had to acknowledge her own silent misgivings about how young Melanie was and also Paolo’s apparent youth and idealistic zeal. She had an uncanny feeling that both she and Dante were guilty of having sheltered their siblings from the harsher truths of the world. And in truth she was somewhat surprised at his own prescience in this regard.

  She thought of something then. ‘Why, when you knew it was Melanie, did you never mention Paolo? You knew that they’d been seeing each other.’

  He stood again and paced back and forth with taut energy. He stopped and looked at her, hands on his hips. ‘Because when you arrived, screaming all sorts of accusations about my involvement, I realised that Melanie was trying to set me up. You didn’t mention Paolo once. It’s obvious that she’d figured she’d get more out of me, and that you had gone along with her…but then Paolo arrived like an eager puppy, only too ready to accept responsibility.’

  Alicia’s lips were bloodless. ‘That would be because she told him about the pregnancy and he came to be with her.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s frightening how cynical you are.’

  ‘Not cynical. Realistic, Alicia. That’s why I came. I had to see for myself, make sure neither of you were planning on some big kind of tabloid kiss and tell.’ His mouth twisted. ‘That photo and the speculation about us is just about salvageable. As you can appreciate, with the delicacy of the merger, it would have a very adverse effect for the media to be focused on me in any kind of negative way and they are going to be watching our every move. Now that Paolo is here I’m prepared to allow—for now— that it was a misunderstanding.’

  ‘That’s big of you.’