by Leanne Banks
Mallory knew what her mother was saying. She still suffered over Wynn, but after all this time, it seemed she finally saw the need to start living again. “Yes, it does. I know I’ve told you this before, but thank you for all the work you did for my wedding.”
Her mother smiled. “That was my pleasure. You’re my only daughter, so that was my only chance. I’m doing pretty well. I’ve even started exercising.”
“That’s what Daddy told me. That’s great,” Mallory said.
“Now if I can just talk him into quitting cigars and Scotch,” her mother said.
“Then you’ll be performing a miracle,” Mallory said.
Her mother laughed. Although it was an odd rusty, unfamiliar sound, Mallory felt a rush of tenderness.
“You may be right,” her mother said. “I should let you get back to your handsome, new husband.”
Mallory looked over her shoulder at Alex and felt her heart skip over itself. Longing, deep and powerful, twisted through her. As every day passed, she found herself wanting his love more and more. “I’m sure I’ll see you again later,” she said and kissed her mother once more.
She walked toward her father and Alex. With their backs facing her, she decided to surprise them. As she crept closer, she heard her father talking.
“I told you I would reward the man who could get my daughter happily down the aisle. It may have taken some extra pushing, but you succeeded. Her mother and I are very pleased. Mallory just doesn’t understand that she needs a protective influence in her life. You provide that for her.”
Mallory frowned at her father’s words. Reward? Happily down the aisle? A protective influence? Had her father actually offered Alex a reward to marry her? Her stomach twisted with nausea. She stared at the two men in disbelief. It couldn’t be true, she thought. It couldn’t be.
“She’s more adventurous than I originally thought,” Alex said. “When you first talked about matchmaking, I thought she would need a much milder, more conservative man than me. After spending some time with her, I wasn’t sure any of my friends could keep her busy enough to stay out of trouble.”
Mallory gasped, unable to keep the shocked sound from escaping her throat. Alex must have heard her because he immediately turned around. His gaze met hers and she instantly knew she’d caught him at his game. The terrible secret was out. He’d never really wanted her as his wife. He’d obviously just wanted something from her father, although she couldn’t imagine what Alex could need because her so-called husband was plenty wealthy.
“Mallory, don’t misunderstand,” Alex began.
“I don’t think I do,” she said, torn between humiliation and devastating pain. She felt like such a fool, and she’d hoped he would eventually love her. He had no intention of loving her. She was just a game piece he’d used to win something obviously more important to him.
He moved toward her and she shook her head, backing away.
“You didn’t want to marry me because of any feelings for me,” she said, her throat nearly closing shut from the pain.
“Baby, don’t overreact,” her father said.
She shot him a quelling glance. “And you made it all happen. I was so stupid,” she said, hating that her voice broke. “So stupid. I actually thought you wanted me,” she said to Alex. A horrible pressure at the back of her eyelids formed, making her feel as if she would burst into tears any second. She refused to give into it.
“I feel like such an idiot. And here I was trying my best to be a good wife when it was all a sham.” Her voice broke again. “I want a divorce,” she said and fled the room.
The hurt Alex saw in Mallory’s eyes stabbed him like a dagger. He turned to Edwin James. “Are you okay, sir?” he asked.
Edwin’s face was pale. “I could be better, but I’ll be okay. I’m not as sure about my daughter,” he said then grimly met Alex’s gaze. “I’m not so sure about you.”
“If you’re okay, then I need to go talk to my wife,” Alex told him.
Edwin lifted his eyebrows. “By all means, do.”
Alex immediately clicked into crisis mode and left the ballroom. He ruthlessly pushed back his emotions, putting a plan together and executing it at the same time. Dammit, he wished Mallory hadn’t heard that conversation. Lengthening his stride, he headed for the front door, suspecting she would try to get the car or grab a cab. He took the stairs instead of the elevator and rounded two corners before he arrived at the resort entrance. Mallory was stepping into a cab.
He quickly jogged toward the cab and grabbed the door as she began to close it.
Mallory stared up at him. “What are you doing? Go away. Leave me alone. I don’t want anything to do with you.” She let out a squeak when he wouldn’t let her close the door. “What are you doing!” she shrieked.
“I’m getting in this cab with my wife,” he said and slid into the back seat, pushing her over and pulling the door closed behind him.
Mallory immediately darted for the other side of the cab and reached for the door handle. Alex reached across her to hold down the lock. “Drive,” he said to the cabdriver.
“Where?” the driver asked with a wary expression on his face.
“Let me go!” Mallory yelled.
“Around,” Alex said, absorbing the ineffective blows from Mallory’s pelting hands.
The driver glanced at him doubtfully from the rearview mirror. “I’m not sure I should—”
“I’m her husband,” Alex said, lifting his head when Mallory aimed her hand at his face. “Please note. She’s hitting me, not the other way around.”
The cabdriver nodded. “Oh, okay,” he said and moved the car forward.
“Damn you,” Mallory said. “I have nothing to say to you. The only reason you married me was to get something from my father. I have nothing but disgust for you.”
“I didn’t marry you just because of your father,” he said, determined to remain calm.
“But that was part of the reason.”
He shook his head. “As you know, there were several factors. The photos from the beach pushed things along,” he said.
“If there even were photos from the beach. I never saw them,” she retorted.
“I can show you if you’d like to see them. I was trying to protect you from embarrassment,” he said.
“Protection,” she echoed vehemently. “Who are you protecting? Yourself or me?”
Alex gritted his teeth. “As I said, I can show you—”
“But the photos weren’t really the big deal, were they? The dealmaker for our marriage was my father,” she told him, her eyes full of hostility.
“You’re upset. You’re not thinking clearly,” he told her. “There’s no way I would have married you if there wasn’t something between us, something strong,” he said.
“But not love,” she said bluntly. “And don’t tell me I’m not thinking clearly. This is the first clear thought I’ve had since I met you. So tell me, did it all work out well for you? Was the deal you made with my father really worth being tied to me? After all, you could have easily been through a dozen women since you met me.”
He took her wrist in his hand. “Our marriage wasn’t about your father. Have you forgotten that I asked you to move in with me when we were in the islands?”
“You’d already negotiated some kind of deal with my father,” she said and looked away, shaking her hand. “I should have known. It was just so easy and you were so attentive. It couldn’t have been real.”
“It was real,” he told her. “Everything you and I did was real. It was between you and me.”
“You never took a second look at me until you made your deal with my father,” she said, her gaze damning him with the disillusionment he saw there.
“The truth is your father told me you needed a husband and he flat out told me he knew I wasn’t the right man for you,” he told her.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“He asked me if I knew anyone
who would be a good match for you. In the beginning, when I first tried to get you to meet with me, it was so I could find out your likes and dislikes and introduce you to some men who might work for you.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
He shook his head. “Trouble was the more I got to know you, the more men I eliminated from the list. I decided I was the right one for you.”
She stared at him for a long moment as if she were trying to digest his explanation. She shook her head. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t believe it.”
“Fine. Ask your father,” he said.
“As if he would tell the truth,” she said. “He would agree with anything you say.”
“Your father would agree to anything?” he said more than asked.
She met his gaze for a long moment then looked away. “This is still ridiculous. And I’m still getting a divorce. I won’t stay in this sham of a marriage.”
Despite the fact that Alex was known as a master persuader, a master negotiator, he was rock-solid on some issues. Marriage was one of them. “There will be no divorce,” he said quietly.
She looked at him as if he were crazy. “Excuse me? You can’t force me to stay with you. It’s perfectly reasonable that I wouldn’t want to stay in a marriage based on lies.”
He gave a harsh laugh. “Every couple who gets married is lying to each other. The woman lies about liking sports. The man lies about liking her family. Marriage is often based on a pack of lies. The deception may be made with good intentions, but it’s still deception.”
She shook her head, looking at him as if she didn’t know him at all. “You’re so full of cynicism. No wonder you don’t believe in love.” She glanced away. “How stupid of me to hope that you and I—” She broke off and stared out the window. “I still want a divorce.”
“I’ve already said that’s not an option. A Megalos never divorces,” he said.
“Interesting time for you to pull out the family card given the fact that you don’t even speak to your family anymore,” she said.
He withstood the low blow. “That wasn’t like you, Mallory.”
He watched her take a deep breath. “Perhaps not,” she said. “This situation isn’t bringing out the best in me. You aren’t bringing out the best in me. The wisest thing to do is for us to quietly divorce and get on with our lives. It would take very little time to—”
“I told you we’re not getting a divorce. I’ll fight you every inch of the way.”
“Why?” she demanded, turning around, full of fire and fury. “I could name a dozen reasons why we shouldn’t stay together.”
“We’ve made a commitment,” he said. “We’ve taken vows. Those are the reasons we’ll stay together.”
“But those vows have nothing to do with love, past, present or future. You don’t even really believe in love. Why be miserable?”
“Misery isn’t necessary. Just because you’re facing reality instead of relying on romantic wishful thinking doesn’t mean we can’t be happy. We can work it out and reach a deal to make a happy life for ourselves,” he said.
She made a face. “You make it sound like a business negotiation.”
“Ask you father. Ask your friend. Ask anyone who’s been married. Marriage is one negotiation after another.”
“And the reason you married me is because you thought you could win them all because I was so easy,” she said, full of resentment. “I need to be away from you. I need some space.” She turned to the cabdriver. “Drop me off at the Bellagio, please.”
“No. Take us here instead,” he said and gave the address for his house on the outskirts of town. He wanted privacy.
“I’m not staying with you,” Mallory said. “I can’t. And you can’t make me. I can’t bear to be with you one more night.”
The change from her adoring, loving attitude cut him to the quick, but he didn’t give into it. “There are plenty of bedrooms in my home. Choose one. We can discuss this in the morning.”
As soon as Alex opened the door to his home, Mallory flew past him hardly noticing the beautiful decor. She was so upset she barely took in the sight of lush, intricately designed carpets, antique wooden furniture and the sparkle of crystal and mirrors.
“Would you like something to drink?” he asked from behind her.
She quivered at the intimate sound of his voice and despised herself for her reaction to him. She refused to look at him. “While I’m tempted to ask for the biggest bottle of wine you have, I’ll just take water,” she said. “Can you please point me in the direction of your kitchen?”
“It’s down the hall to the left, but all the bedrooms have small refrigerators and bottled water,” he said.
She nodded. “Thank you. Now, if you could point me in the direction of the master bedroom?”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Upstairs, far left.”
She nodded. “I’ll be sleeping at the other end of the house. Good night,” she said and felt his gaze taking in her every step. Taking a sharp right at the top of the stairs, she walked all the way to the end and opened the door to a guest room decorated in shades of restful green.
She might have appreciated it more if she weren’t so upset. After some searching, she found the mini-fridge discreetly hidden in a cabinet. She pulled out a bottle of water and took several swallows as she paced the carpet.
Mallory rubbed her forehead. How had she gotten herself into this situation? Her father had deceived her. Alex had deceived her. A bitter taste filled her mouth. Perhaps she had even deceived herself.
Sure, in the beginning, she had kept her guard up around Alex. She’d continually reminded herself that he was a player and she would never hold his interest. The more time she’d spent with him, though, the more she’d wanted to believe he was sincere.
What a fool.
A knock sounded on the door. Alex, she thought and scowled. “Go away.”
A brief silence followed. “Mr. Megalos asked me to bring you some things for your stay,” said a timid female voice.
Cringing at her rudeness, Mallory rushed to the door.
“I’ll just leave them—”
Mallory opened the door to a woman dressed in a black uniform with a hesitant expression on her face. The woman held a large basket that contained toiletries and a robe.
“I’m so sorry. I thought you were—” Mallory broke off. “Someone else. Thank you. This is lovely.”
“You’re very welcome,” the woman said, smiling cautiously. “I’m Gloria, and may I congratulate you on your recent marriage to Mr. Megalos.”
Please don’t, Mallory wanted to say, but swallowed the urge. “Thank you.”
“May I get anything else for you?” Gloria asked. “A snack?”
Mallory’s stomach was still upset. She didn’t know when she would want to eat again. “No, thank you. This will be fine. Thank you again, and good night,” she said and closed the door. Waiting a few seconds for Gloria to walk away, Mallory locked the door. She didn’t want a surprise intruder, particularly one that stood six feet tall and was entirely too handsome and charming.
She couldn’t believe the two most important men in her life could have done such a thing to her. Did her father truly believe she was incapable of making good decisions for herself?
Her stomach twisted into another knot.
She felt so betrayed. She would do anything to escape to somewhere far, far away from both Alex and her father. Europe, she fantasized, or Australia.
Not likely. Mallory frowned. Both Alex and her father would have their goons watching her every move.
Sinking onto the bed, she crossed her arms over her chest. Everything inside her ached. It was a wrenching sensation as if she were being ripped apart. Even though she and Alex had only been married for a month, she’d become his wife in her mind, and heaven help her in her heart and soul.
And it had all been a trick.
Remnants of the first overwhelming rush of an
ger still lingered, but other unwanted emotions trickled through her fury. Bone-deep sadness and gaping loss the size of a black hole sucked her downward.
Her chest and throat tightened like a vise closing around her. She felt so lost. A sob escaped her throat, then another. She’d been determined not to cry in front of Alex, but it was as if a dam broke and unleashed her tears.
Stripping off her clothes, she crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep.
A sliver of dawn crept through the window the next morning, waking Mallory. She lay in bed in a semisleep state, wondering if Alex was already up and drinking his coffee. He rose earlier than anyone she knew, even her father.
Her eyes still closed, she sniffed the air for the scent of coffee, but the only thing she smelled was the unfamiliar scent of lavender. She frowned to herself.
Any minute he would walk back in the room and look at her. She would pretend to be asleep for a maximum of thirty excruciating seconds, then she would open her eyes and smile, and he would lean over her and kiss her good-morning….
Mallory sighed, waiting for the sound of his footsteps. She heard nothing and forced her eyes open even though they felt weighted down with concrete blocks.
Everything that had happened last night hit her at once. Emotions jabbed at her ruthlessly. Humiliation. Loss. Anger.
She pulled the sheet over her head to hide. Oh, heaven help her, what was she going to do now?
She’d seen the expression on his face. He wouldn’t let her go. Alex possessed the personality of a conqueror, and he knew far more about winning than she did. Any chance of her resistance was doomed.
She burrowed deeper under the covers. All she wanted to do was hide. How long, some rational part of her mind asked. How many years would she hide?
The same way her mother had.
Mallory immediately tossed back the sheet and sat up in one swift motion. “Damn it,” she said. “Damn him.”
Alex may have destroyed one of the deepest wishes in her heart, but she had other goals, other dreams. Mallory refused to stop living.
Ten