“Can I help you?”
I turned to a woman dressed in a white blouse and black slacks.
“Yes, I’m supposed to meet Mr. Pardini here.”
“Oh, you must be Jessica. Please follow me.”
I followed her around the sweeping circular hall. The winery was like a giant disc, and she walked along a stretch of private room hidden behind glass doors. Above us was a giant dome of glass where the sun filtered through the second floor’s terrace
My heart gave a sudden squeeze as I recognized Luke seated on a white leather sofa. Dressed in pristine khakis and a sky-blue sweater, he stared thoughtfully at a pile of paper alongside a glass of wine on the coffee table. Definitely more casual and laid back than the night at the restaurant. He didn’t notice us when we approached, and only looked up when the woman rapped on the glass.
The same polite look flicked on his face as he waved us inside. Was it me, or did his smile look strained?
Nervous energy and laughter bubbled from my throat as Luke stood up to receive me. I stopped thinking completely when his arm wrapped around my shoulders and his fingers lightly stroked my skin as if he’d done it a thousand times before. The shock ran like a hot drop down my throat.
When he spoke, I felt the vibrations through my body. “That’ll be all, thank you.”
The woman smiled and looked a bit flustered as she left the room. Well, good. Now I know that I’m not the only one who gets so affected.
Then his body left me so abruptly that I felt like icy water had been thrown on my face.
“Would you like some wine?”
“Sure,” I said. I took the delicate stem he offered me, disguising my confusion by hiding my face behind the glass. The wine’s acidity balanced perfectly with the tangy fruit taste. I sat across from him on the couch while my heart hammered in anticipation. Well, how did it go?
“Thank you for coming here, Jessica. The background check I ran on you was clear, but I do my own extensive research with my PI. I wanted to talk to you about what he found.”
He has a private investigator? God, this guy’s paranoid. The wine felt high in my throat no matter how much I sipped. I didn’t like the detached tone of his voice.
He folded his long fingers into steeples and looked at me. “Do you mind if I ask questions about your background?”
My gaze dropped and I shrugged. “I guess not.” Inwardly, I felt like my heart would jump out of my chest.
“I know that you were a foster child and that you were transferred from a few homes. The reports mentioned that you had behavioral problems.”
He held his hands up at the look of my stunned face. “Listen, I know that this is very awkward. I just need to make sure that you’re well-adjusted.”
I set the dangerously wavering wine glass on the coffee table. No one ever invaded my privacy like this, and I didn’t know how to react. Luke took a flying leap over my comfort zone. I looked at his handsome face and simultaneously thought of a viper. Am I well adjusted? Nope.
“Well, I didn’t have the most stable home life, so I acted out a lot.” I knew no one would ever adopt me, and my foster parents would eventually get sick of me, so I threw fits and smashed things to get me transferred as soon as possible. Knowing I would get the same reaction every time, it was oddly comforting to repeat those behaviors.
He waited for me to elaborate, but there was no way in hell I was going to talk about my fucked up childhood.
“Okay, um…I actually contacted one of the foster parents you were with the longest earlier today. The Kramers. They mentioned that you were particularly—Jessica?”
Luke’s polite face dissolved into horror as my face crumpled against my will. Bill and Shelly Kramer. Their fat faces swam in my mind. The feeling of their cruel hands on my flesh, twisting, hitting, and striking me. The belt whistled through the air. The terrifying sound of his leather belt slipping through the loops of his jeans. Their oldest son, Vincent, with his sweet, angelic face. They believed every word out of his psychotic mouth, even though he—he raped me.
I avoided that word for years, but now it burned in my mind like a red-hot poker searing into raw flesh. Rape: the four-letter word that triggered hell whenever I stumbled across it.
RAPE.
My face fell into my hands. The pressure built from holding back tears made my forehead feel like it was going to explode.
I WAS RAPED.
It blazed in my mind like a giant, neon billboard. I was humiliated and exposed. I was broken. Don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it—
Blinded by tears, I stood. I wanted to kick the khaki and blue colored blob sitting on the couch. “You actually talked to them? What did they—what’s wrong with you?” The last words erupted from my throat. “Do you think it’s okay to pry into people’s lives like that?”
He appeared in front of me. “It was all in the contract, Jessica,” he said in a kindly voice. “You signed it. I do this for all my employees.”
The rage left me with overwhelming embarrassment. “I need to leave.”
I grabbed the door handle.
“No, wait!” He pushed the door shut and used his body to block my path. I turned away but he took my shoulders gently and forced me to face him. He actually looked pained.
“Hey, listen, I’m really sorry. Please don’t be upset.”
He sounded so desperate and human. For the first time, I relaxed around him.
“I know that what I did was way over the line. Please forgive me.”
It’s not his fault. He didn’t know. I sniffed and nodded, allowing him to steer me back to the couch. I discreetly wiped my eyes as Luke sat down in front of me. His hands fidgeted in his lap, making him look as though I caught him stealing.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you. I didn’t know that was part of the contract. There are certain things I don’t like to talk about and my past is one of them.”
He nodded. “I understand.”
He leaned forward and snatched his glass, clearly glad that I calmed down. “I’m just going to cut to the chase. I really need your help.”
I kept my hands balled at my sides.
Luke gave me a sharp look. “Remember, all of this is confidential. You signed a NDA.”
“Just tell me what it is, already.” Some of the anger bit into my voice. I realized how rude I sounded, but Luke didn’t seem to mind.
He looked incredibly nervous. He kept clenching and unclenching his hands. “Yes, right. Well, here it is. My dying father is threatening to write me out of his will unless I shape up and settle down. I will lose my entire inheritance and my job unless I can convince him that it’s happening. The disease is quite advanced, so I’m a bit short on time. I need someone who will act as my girlfriend. We’ll travel together, get photographed going out, we’ll be in the same hotel rooms—though this relationship will be strictly professional. It’s all an act.”
Finally everything was out in the open. He wanted me to kiss him in public, hold his hand, and make eyes with him. Easy peasy. I would have done it for free. It all seemed so crazy, I couldn’t think of anything to say.
He stared at me. “Well, say something!”
All of it seemed so unlikely. “Would your father really do that?”
Luke huffed impatiently. “Yes. Absolutely. My uncle Dominic was co-founder of Pardini Worldwide and each of his five children, my cousins, have shares. It would be a simple thing to write me out of the will, especially with the rest of the family hissing suggestions in his ear. Almost five billion would be distributed amongst them if I were kicked out. They would love it.”
Five billion? My head spun as I imagined a gladiator arena with Luke’s family dressed in business suits all fighting each other to the death. It almost made my foster family life look civilized. They must be constantly at each other’s throats. Anyone would be driven mad by that amount of money.
The strain was livid on Luke’s face; it curled his sho
ulders forward. “My father is a cruel, narcissistic man. I’ve worked hard all my life for the company and I deserve this. I’ll be damned if I let that bastard take it all away from me.” He sighed and sank back into the sofa. “Sorry, it’s just that I don’t get to vent about him often.”
I actually felt sorry for him. It must be horrible to have to live your life at the whim of someone with so much power over you. “I just don’t understand—why don’t you just get a real girlfriend?”
“It’s not that easy,” he said flatly.
The deflated look on his face alarmed me. Did he have self-esteem issues? “Oh, come on. You’re handsome and rich.”
“Notice how you added, ‘and rich’? It’s really, really hard to find someone who likes me for who I am and not for my money. I can’t trust anyone. Besides, I don’t have much time. I need to leave next week for London.”
Wow. I didn’t realize I could ever feel so sorry for a billionaire. “But you’re letting your father control your life.”
“No, I’m not. I picked you. I just want him to think he’s controlling me. That’s when he’s the happiest.”
“Why did you pick me?” I blurted.
“Because you’re educated and you’re pretty. And we seem to have good chemistry.”
My cheeks flushed and he smiled at me. It was sad that I felt so good about his compliment.
He leaned in closer, refusing to let me out of his gaze. “I have to warn you, though. If we don’t get along, we’ll have to go our separate ways. I mean—we’ll be together constantly. I know that this is a lot to ask for and that’s why I’m prepared to pay you ten thousand dollars a month.”
My mind went blank. “I’m sorry, what?”
I couldn’t have possibly heard that right.
He smirked, knowing then that he had me. “Ten thousand dollars a month.”
“Jesus,” I whispered. Get paid an absurd amount of money to travel with the world’s most handsome bachelor? Yes, YES!
“But what would we tell people? How did we meet? Where did I grow up?” We would have to fabricate a huge backstory. I doubted his relatives would think highly of an orphan coming from absolutely no money. I nervously wondered if I could pull this off.
“We’ll figure out all of that stuff later. Will you do it?”
And I would visit London. I always wanted to go there. “Yes, I’ll do it.”
He slapped the desk. “Great! Well, it’s almost the end of the month, so I’ll pay you half of what we agreed. You can use it to buy clothes for the trip or whatever you want. I’ll get your plane tickets, of course. We leave next week on Wednesday. I know it’s Thanksgiving, but the trip really can’t wait.”
I waved my hand dismissively. I wouldn’t be able to plan the Thanksgiving meal for the soup kitchen. Who cares? “Don’t worry about it.”
It will probably be the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had.
I seized the contract slid in front of my nose. A few months was the intended duration.
“I don’t know how long my dad has, but I’ll renew it if he hasn’t gone yet.”
The cold matter-of-fact way he spoke about his father’s impending death made me feel uncomfortable. Who am I to judge? I fantasized daily about slipping poison in my foster parents’ food. I signed the contract, and my jaw dropped as Luke handed me a check made out to five thousand dollars. I held it as if it was made of glass and slipped it into my purse. All in a day’s work.
“Thank you so much. You’ve no idea how much this will help me.”
“Likewise,” Luke said as he stood up. “Well, shall we?”
I took his offered arm, and he escorted me out of the winery. I felt a golden ball of warmth inside my chest at his closeness. I caught myself in the reflection of the elevator doors and couldn’t believe it. Damn, we look hot.
His arm was snaking around my waist and suddenly all the air left the room. Remembering that I was supposed to act like his girlfriend, I fell against his chest, and his lips pressed against my head.
I had no memory of being held as though I was cherished. I got lost in the moment for a while before Luke walked me all the way to the cars outside, where dozens of people were getting ready to leave the winery. He gave a small wave to some of them, who waved back and did a double take. I could almost hear their thoughts: Who’s that girl with Mr. Pardini?
“My co-workers are still here. Perfect.”
His hand slid from my shoulder to grasp my hand. The path of his touch blazed such a trail, my desire for him flared up like a torch. I squeezed his hand, stunned by the way my body responded to him.
My hand tensed inside his as Luke made a beeline straight for a couple of older men in suits standing near the curb. Oh, no.
“Mr. Blackwell, Mr. Brown. I hope you enjoyed today.”
The portly Mr. Blackwell smacked his purpled lips. “Oh, it was wonderful!”
“Yes, quite,” Brown agreed. “And who is the lovely young lady?”
Luke’s admiring grin flashed towards me. “This is Jessica, my girlfriend.”
My cheeks probably looked as though they were on fire.
This is Jessica, my girlfriend.
Hopefully, they would think I was cold. Their rosy, smiling faces nodded at me as I shook their hands.
“I’ssa pleasure.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Are you ready to return to London?
Mr. Blackwell’s face fell comically as he addressed me. “Am I ready to return to forecasts of endless, freezing rain? You Californians are spoiled rotten.”
“Jessica will accompany us to London. She’s never been outside the country.”
I never told him that, but he guessed right. He smiled at me and I hugged my “boyfriend’s” chest, beaming.
The two men were pleasantly shocked. “Is that so?”
“Yes, I’m very excited.” That wasn’t a lie; I couldn’t wait to go. It would be a blast, and looking up things to do on TripAdvisor was the first thing I would do when I got home.
Luke glanced at the town car pulling up. “Well, Jessica’s ride is here. I will see you both next week.”
Completely out of my element, I was eager to leave the company of the two men. They acted perfectly fine, but it was nerve wracking to be around them. What if I said something wrong? “It was nice meeting you both.”
Both men smiled courteously as we walked away from them. Luke ducked his head close to mine.
“They’re old friends of my father.”
Ah, so that’s why he dragged me over to them. Would they report my presence to Mr. Pardini?
We stopped in front of the town car and the driver got out to open the passenger door.
“I’ll see you next week.”
I felt a jolt of anxiety as I turned in his arm to tell him good-bye. If I’m really his girlfriend, I should probably kiss him. Blackwell and Brown peered at us. Luke’s gentle hands pulled me closer until I could see the golden flecks circling his pupils. My heart beat so furiously against my ribcage that I knew Luke could feel it pounding against his chest. Then his lips crashed against mine and I felt myself soaring. Holy shit. I had never felt anything like it. So much heat, everywhere. I kissed him back eagerly, completely lost in the feeling of his lips against mine and his hands wrapped around my waist. When he pulled away, I was surprised to see a smoldering look on his face.
Overwhelmed, I stepped back as he tried to give me that loving smile men always reserved for their girlfriends. The lack of warmth behind his effort punched my gut.
“Bye,” I croaked.
I ducked into the car and the driver closed the door. As the car rolled away, I saw his face drop into a look of bored indifference.
My heart wrenched.
He almost made me believe that it was real.
Chapter 5
“I still can’t believe you’re going to London before I am.”
Natalie watched me pack for my trip to Europe with a look of mingled jealou
sy and disbelief. I still couldn’t believe it myself.
“Me too.”
When I got home from the winery, I couldn’t take holding it all back, and wound up telling Natalie everything. I made her swear a hundred oaths not to divulge anything to anyone ever on pain of death. She would find out soon enough because Luke made it clear the tabloids would print pictures of us together. Sure enough, I found a blurry photo of us leaving Opus One hand in hand, with the caption underneath: Luke Pardini leaving Opus One with blonde bombshell. I laughed at that. Blonde bombshell? Me? Yeah, right.
“So long as you keep your feelings in check, you’ll be fine.” It was clear from Natalie’s tone that she didn’t expect me to. “I really wish you weren’t leaving before Thanksgiving. Won’t your friends miss you?”
My cheeks flushed at the mention of the lie I told Natalie about finding a group of people I celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with. I crammed a few socks into my suitcase and refused to look at her.
“I lied about the friends. I spend every year at the soup kitchen and then I go home alone. This will probably be the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had. Don’t worry about me.”
A hollow silence followed my words. When I finally gathered enough courage to look at her, Natalie’s stricken face made me feel guilty.
“Why did you lie to me? I asked you a hundred times and you always said no. D’you know how that makes me feel?”
I sputtered. “What? I didn’t want to go because I thought you and Ben needed time alone. I just feel weird being the third wheel.”
Natalie opened her mouth but I changed tack with lightning speed. “I’ll be able to wire you rent money from abroad, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I know you’re really excited about this, but I don’t know. I hope nothing bad happens.”
I wished that she would give it a rest with the whole prostitution thing. “I’ve told you a thousand times, I’m not going to trade sexual favors for money.”
“I’m not talking about that. What if you legitimately fall in love with this guy? He’ll break your heart. You’re already smitten.”
Dirty Prince Page 28