by Lynne Graham
‘No, but what they did and what they assumed was acceptable said a great deal about the nature of your prior relationship with them,’ Ellie pointed out with hot cheeks.
Rio swore long and low in Italian and finished his wine to set the glass down with a jarring snap on the table. ‘I didn’t have a relationship with either of them!’ he fired back. ‘I had sex with them on one drunken night years before the wedding. I admit that I did stuff when I was younger that I wouldn’t do now—’
Her face stiff as she struggled not to betray any reaction, Ellie nodded.
‘Just because you never felt the urge to experiment doesn’t mean we’re all the same…or that you’re better than me!’ Rio raked back at her.
‘I don’t think I’m better than you in any way. But that kind of experimentation doesn’t appeal to me,’ she confided.
‘I can’t lie and say I’m surprised,’ Rio breathed, watching her like a hawk. ‘Now we’ve got that out of the way and I can disclose that I have no plans to involve you in any form of sexual deviancy, can we concentrate on the marriage proposal?’
Ellie stiffened. ‘Why would you want me to marry you?’
‘If you do turn out to be pregnant I would have been asking you anyway,’ Rio advanced. ‘There is no way I would allow any woman to raise my child without me—’
‘Rio… These days, single and separated parents are common—’
‘I want my child to have everything I didn’t have. A home, a solid background, two caring parents, security,’ Rio extended almost argumentatively. ‘It’s only when you don’t have those advantages that you realise how very important they are.’
‘I understand that and I understand how you feel,’ Ellie assured him, relieved that she knew more about his background than she had. ‘But there’s a reasonable chance that I won’t be pregnant—’
‘I don’t want to wait and take the risk that you are because Beppe will judge me for that, as well, and regard me as an unwilling husband and a very bad bet. It would be much easier just to tell him that we have fallen in love and wish to get married as soon as possible,’ Rio argued. ‘He will understand that and he will see nothing wrong with it.’
‘I’m here on holiday,’ Ellie reminded him helplessly. ‘In a little over three weeks, I have to go home and return to work—’
‘I will not come between you and your medical career. I own property in England and if you have to be there to complete your training, I will make that possible, whether you are pregnant or not,’ he asserted.
That argument taken from her, Ellie slowly shook her buzzing head because he had taken her so much by surprise that she could barely think straight. ‘So, you want to marry me to help take care of any child we might have and to keep Beppe content… Am I correct?’
‘Sometimes you have the tongue of a viper,’ Rio condemned in a harsh undertone. ‘I want you for myself and for my own reasons and you know that! You know it every time you see me look at you, every time I touch you and struggle to stop touching you…’
Her pale skin flamed red at the dark liquid intensity of his deep voice. She lowered her head, finally acknowledging that she was equally out of control around him. In that they were equals. One kiss, one touch, one moment of madness wasn’t enough to sate the craving. But marriage, marriage was something else entirely, wasn’t it? It was forging a future together as partners, trusting each other.
‘You don’t trust me,’ she reminded him. ‘How can you marry a woman you don’t trust?’
‘With care,’ Rio fielded. ‘You don’t trust me either. Time and better understanding would take care of that. I’m sure we would both try to make the marriage a success—’
‘People try that all the time with marriage and fail.’
‘But there is honour in the trying,’ Rio declared without hesitation. ‘At least we would be doing the best we could to give our child a brighter future.’
‘What if there is no child?’
‘Then we eventually divorce and blame your long hours as a doctor and my business trips for keeping us apart too much,’ Rio told her smoothly. ‘Getting married now is a precaution for our potential child’s benefit. The right start, the right environment—’
Ellie held up a hand to silence him. ‘Yes, I get it but living with you would be a little like living on the side of a volcano waiting on the next eruption. You’re very volatile—’
‘And you’re not?’ Rio tossed back, watching her closely as her fine-boned hand closed round her orange juice to raise it to her peach-coloured mouth. ‘If I had you in my bed every night I would be a lot less volatile—’
Ellie almost choked on her drink and, spluttering, set it down, her face flushing.
Rio shrugged and dealt her an amused look. ‘Well, it’s true. Having Beppe warn me off you doesn’t improve my mood and makes it almost impossible for me to be with you.’
‘We don’t even have a relationship—’
‘Then what do we have? You’re splitting hairs, being too cautious. Take a risk on me,’ Rio invited.
And she so wanted to do that, Ellie realised in astonishment. She had never done a reckless thing in her life but Rio tempted her to the edge of foolishness. What if she was pregnant? It would upset Beppe and mess up his relationship with Rio. It would be virtually impossible for her to manage to work and care properly for a child without a partner and a settled home. But to make that decision now when she had no idea whether or not she had conceived? She glanced up at him, at the strong face that sent her heart racing and turned her resolve to mush. Was it wise to give into that side of herself? Or would she live to regret it?
‘Ellie…’ Rio prodded impatiently.
‘I don’t rush major decisions!’ Ellie responded.
Rio shot her a wicked smile. ‘We could go to bed and think about it—’
‘Another version of angry sex?’
‘But you’re not angry with me right now. You’re attempting to work me out,’ Rio surmised, uncoiling with fluid grace from the pillar he had been lounging back up against. ‘But I’m really quite basic. If I didn’t want you I wouldn’t be suggesting this.’
The silence smouldered with unspoken undertones. In the interim, Rio’s housekeeper reappeared with a tray. A plate of delicate and ridiculously enticing little sandwiches and a pot of tea were set down in front of Ellie.
‘Think of how simple all this could be…if we do it my way,’ Rio urged silkily. ‘We say we’re in love. We marry in haste. Beppe tries to dissuade us but is secretly delighted… And a baby, if there is one…would be the icing on the cake for him.’
Ellie snatched up another sandwich, registering that listening to Rio weave his arguments with such panache and conviction improved her appetite. He had drawn an attractive picture. If she didn’t marry him and then discovered she was pregnant, how much damage would she do to her new relationship with Beppe? And could she really stand by while Rio took the blame when she knew she was just as much to blame? In addition, if she was pregnant, she would definitely be seriously considering Rio’s marriage proposal because no one knew better than Ellie that raising a child alone was hard. In the course of her work she had met a lot of exhausted single parents struggling to keep work and family afloat. Her grandmother had struggled with that burden, as well, and both Polly and Ellie had been made thoroughly aware of that fact.
‘I’m thinking about it,’ she told Rio, who was emanating a wave of silent impatience. ‘I won’t give up work, you know. I’ll never be a trophy wife. I don’t like shopping or fussing with my appearance either,’ she warned him.
‘I’ll shop for you,’ Rio countered smoothly.
‘Stop being so reasonable!’ Ellie exclaimed in frustration. ‘I’m not used to it—’
Rio stole the last sandwich and grinned at her. ‘Stop being so sensible and so negative in your outlook.’
Ellie breathed in slow and deep. ‘All right… I’ll do it. I’ll marry you. Are you happy now?’
<
br /> Rio treated her to an approving appraisal. ‘Finally. We’ll go and tell Beppe straight away and I’ll get my staff on to organising the wedding—’
‘I have to phone my sister first…and I want to do it in private,’ Ellie told him squarely, sounding a great deal more sure of herself than she actually felt.
‘And then we go and buy a ring,’ Rio informed her. ‘We’ll go the traditional route—’
‘Will we?’ Ellie looked at him uncertainly, for she certainly hadn’t expected to be offered what she assumed to be the equivalent of an engagement ring.
Was the ring to impress Beppe with the reality of them as a couple? Or was it supposed to please her? And what was she going to say to Beppe? And how was she going to explain to Polly that she was suddenly rushing into marriage with a guy she had said she loathed?
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘I JUST NEVER thought I’d see the day,’ Polly carolled with a misty smile as she stepped back to scrutinise Ellie’s appearance. ‘You’re getting married. I thought you were all set to be a spinster with a string of important letters after your name and a cat.’
Ellie had thought that too but she didn’t admit it. She had never compromised on what she wanted from a man until Rio had literally crashed into her life at Polly’s wedding. And that encounter had altered her image of herself and softened her rigid views. She had gradually begun to appreciate that she was lonely and that there was something hollow about achievements and more painful about trials when she had nobody to share those experiences with. Only now she was putting herself out there in a way she never had before, taking a risk on getting attached to a male who against all the odds appealed to her more than any other for no sane reason that she could find.
For Rio, she had lied for the first time in her life. She had told her father that she loved Rio but in actuality she had no idea what she felt for him. At first she had thought it was a mad infatuation but her thirst for information about him and her craving when he was absent had not faded. Surely an infatuation would have long since died from lack of fuel? All she really knew for certain was that Rio absolutely fascinated her, drew her and compelled her. And he made her feel more with him than she had felt in a lifetime of sensibly repressing strong emotions that unsettled her. And Rio had always specialised in seriously unsettling her.
She had been impressed even more when Rio had accurately forecast her father’s every reaction to their marital plans and the stages of it. Beppe had initially been taken aback and had urged her not to rush into anything, but then Beppe had also confided that had he been free when he had met Ellie’s mother he would have rushed to marry her. He had also admitted that he thoroughly understood the powerful life-enhancing effect of falling madly in love. And ultimately he had decided that as far as family growth went he could wish for no more than to see his daughter married to a young man he had always valued.
‘Rio will grow with you by his side,’ Beppe had forecast loftily. ‘You make him think, you make him question what he truly wants from life. And what he has always wanted most of all is a family.’
Ellie gazed into the mirror and wondered if she was pregnant, if she could give Rio what he supposedly most wanted. But was that what Rio most wanted? Cavorting with all those women seemed a funny way of going about attaining a stable family life. Tomorrow morning, however, she would carry out the pregnancy test she had already purchased. She was both excited and scared by the idea. But most of all she was wondering how Rio would feel, regardless of what the result was.
She had naively assumed that she would see a great deal more of Rio once their relationship was out in the open, but Rio had flown out to Dharia to settle some complicated dispute about oil well rights and although he had urged her to accompany him and she would’ve loved to see her sister sooner, she had refused. Why? Girly though it was, she had wanted to work with the wedding planner Beppe had hired and make her individual choices while also being available to ensure her gown fitted perfectly. After all, she was only planning to marry once.
And her dress fitted like a dream. The corset top had been chosen with Rio in mind. She just knew Rio would revel in hooks and laces and cleavage. The long skirt skimmed down in a flattering cut over her curvy hips and fanned out below the knee. Her feet were shod in Polly’s gift, a pair of enchanting high-heeled sandals studded with pearls.
‘Rashad really likes Rio and the men will be able to go off together when you visit and give us peace to gossip,’ Polly remarked happily.
Ellie hid a smile because Polly was sometimes so innocent. The very last thing Ellie could imagine wanting just then was to be deprived of Rio’s company. After all, he had been more absent than present since the wedding fervour kicked off. Beppe had held a series of social evenings to introduce his long-lost daughter to friends and relatives. Rio had dutifully attended those evenings before he flew out to Dharia, but Ellie’s need to respect Beppe’s boundaries had ensured that the bridal couple had little time alone together. Predictably, Rio had been much less accepting about the simple reality that she did not feel free to leave the palazzo to spend the night with him and possibly Ellie’s insistence on restraint had kept him from hurrying back to Tuscany.
‘When you have me wondering if we could contrive to have sex in my car without being picked up on a charge of public indecency, we have a problem, principessa,’ Rio had complained the night before when he had joined them with Polly and Rashad for a quiet prewedding dinner. ‘You need to learn to be more selfish and put us first.’
‘No,’ she had said. ‘You need to learn that anticipation can act as an aphrodisiac.’
‘But I don’t need one of those,’ Rio had responded with sardonic bite.
An abstracted smile tilted Ellie’s lips now.
‘You’re nuts about him. I don’t know how I didn’t spot it at my wedding—’
‘Your attention was elsewhere…on your bridegroom? And I’m not what you call “nuts” about him—’
‘Oh, you so are,’ Polly contradicted. ‘Everything you’ve done just screams it, Ellie. You are not the sort of woman who meets a man and marries him within a couple of weeks unless he rocks your world…’
‘People change,’ Ellie argued and, eager to change the subject, added, ‘isn’t it really sad that we still haven’t managed to find our missing sister? She could have been with us here today…’
Tracking down Lucy had so far proved difficult because she lived a travelling life, moving around a lot and surviving on casual jobs.
‘We’ll find her eventually,’ Polly said soothingly. ‘And it’ll be very exciting when we do. Haven’t you been tempted to look in her envelope and see what ring she was left and what name is attached to it? It could possibly help us to locate her.’
‘No, I was trusted with that envelope and I wouldn’t open it,’ Ellie swore. ‘How would you ever explain that to her when we finally met?’
‘We could use steam to open it,’ Polly suggested, colouring lightly at Ellie’s raised brows.
‘No, we should respect her privacy,’ Ellie decreed.
Ellie descended the stairs smiling at her father, who stood at the foot beaming with pride. Beppe could not compliment her on her appearance enough. They travelled to the church in a limousine. She paused on the steps in the morning sunshine and she breathed in deep and slow, recognising that the elation she was feeling was happiness and marvelling at it while also fearing the undeniable storms ahead. She knew that she and Rio would argue and tussle and that there would be many times when she wanted to strangle him. That was normal life, she told herself prosaically, but true happiness was so rare a sensation for her that she wanted to make the most of it while she was feeling it.
Rio turned from the altar to get the full effect of his bride. And Ellie was stunning with her coppery hair swept up and her green eyes gleaming with intelligence above her sultry mouth. As for the dress, well, he was extremely impressed by that surprisingly sexy corset, which defined his bride’
s splendid curves to perfection. No, getting married didn’t feel half as bad as he had dimly expected. He had thought he might feel trapped but the prospect of peeling Ellie out of that corset was more than equal to the challenge of surrendering his freedom.
Her hand trembled in his when he grasped it to thread on the wedding ring. She had worn her engagement ring on her other hand. And like Beppe’s family emerald, which she had brought out to Italy with her, it was another emerald to reflect the colour of her eyes, an emerald teamed with white diamonds but not over large because Ellie didn’t like flashy jewellery and had wanted something she could occasionally wear to work. So sensible, his Ellie, Rio thought wryly, wondering just when he had started thinking of her as his. When he’d imagined her pregnant with his child and liked the idea? When he saw her walking down the aisle towards him? Or when he realised that he was her first lover and strangely determined to be her last?
Of course, he knew why he was marrying her. With Ellie, the sex was on another level even though it had gone wrong the one and only time it had happened. She stood up to him, she talked back, she was his equal in every way. But more importantly she had signed a prenup contract ringed with so many iron hoops of protection that an escape artist couldn’t have undermined it. If Ellie liked money, he had plenty of it and there were worse weaknesses for a woman to have, he reasoned. She could have been the unfaithful type, forever in search of the next big thrill. She could’ve been the uncaring, uncommitted type but he’d already seen her bonding happily with Beppe and witnessed just how close she was to her sister. And if there was to be a baby Rio was convinced that she would always and without hesitation do right by their child. The ability and the desire to be a good mother was the most imperative trait of all that a woman could have, he reflected with sombre conviction.
Ellie emerged from the church on Rio’s arm. A crowd of people were crushed into the street outside. Fleeting introductions were made while the photographer fluttered around. They were congratulated and showered with rice.