Where had that thought come from?
Leah covered her burning face with her hands. What had happened to her determination to listen to her head, not her heart—or in this case her hormones? What she felt for Marco was lust—wild and unrestrained lust. It had taken over her body with its insistent demands, and she was suddenly terribly afraid that she was like her mum after all.
Her phone rang, and she gave a small sigh when she saw Tori’s name on the screen.
‘Mum, how are you? Are you still at the hospital?’
‘The doctor in A&E said I could be discharged once I’d sobered up. Gloria came and drove me home.’ Tori was crying so hard that it was difficult for Leah to understand her. ‘Oh, Leah, I’ve made such a mess of my life. Last night I just wanted to drink until I forgot everything.’
‘What did you want to forget?’ Leah asked gently.
‘The money...’ came the almost incoherent reply.
‘What money?’
‘The money I took from work.’
Foreboding slithered down Leah’s spine. ‘Mum! Stop crying and tell me what you’ve done.’
‘It started two Christmases ago,’ Tori said dully. ‘Remember you saw that lovely coat in the shop on the high street? You said it was too expensive, but I wanted to buy it for you. You’re a good girl, Leah, and you deserved a nice Christmas present. But I couldn’t afford it.’
Leah loved the grey wool coat with its exorbitant price tag. ‘You told me you’d bought that coat in a pre-Christmas sale.’
‘I paid full price for it. I wanted to see you happy, darling. I know I’ve been a useless mother to you. It was easy to borrow a few hundred pounds from the company. Chris Hodge is a good builder, but he knows nothing about finance and accounts. I made up a couple of fake invoices and paid the money into my own bank account.’
‘God! Mum, that’s fraud.’
‘I planned to pay back what I’d taken. But then I fell behind with the rent and there were other bills. When Sammy’s grave was vandalised I felt like I’d lost my precious little boy all over again.’ Tori wept harder. ‘I took a couple of thousand pounds from the company to pay for a new headstone. Every time I made up a false invoice I promised myself that I’d put back all the money I’d taken. But last week the auditors did a cash-flow report and discovered what I’d been doing.’
Leah slid out of bed and crossed to the window to pull back the curtains. Scattered clouds raced across the blue sky, sending shadows dancing over the moors. In the distance a bird of prey hovered perfectly still before it swooped towards the ground. She wished she was a bird, soaring free in the sky.
‘What will happen now that your theft has come to light?’
‘Chris has been very good about it. That’s the worst of it—knowing that I’ve betrayed our friendship. He’s given me to the end of the month to repay all the money, and he’s going to allow me to resign rather than be sacked.’ Tori’s voice trembled. ‘But if I don’t put the money back he will call the police. Leah, I could go to prison. I know I’ve done wrong, but I can’t bear the idea of being locked up. I wish I wasn’t here any more. I want to be with Sammy.’
‘Don’t talk like that, Mum.’ Leah pinched the bridge of her nose and forced back her own tears. ‘Everything will be okay.’
She had some savings, and she might be able to get a bank loan—although she would need to find a job quickly. Her teaching contract at a special educational needs school in London had finished at the end of the summer term, and she’d intended to wait until after the wedding before looking for a new placement.
‘How much money do you owe?’
‘It’s about...well, just over thirty thousand pounds.’
‘Thirty thousand?’ Leah felt sick. There was no way she could raise that amount—certainly not at short notice.
‘Leah, I’m sorry...’
Tori sounded like a small child, and in many ways their roles had been reversed, Leah thought. She’d always had to be the responsible one and take care of her mother. That was why Grandma Grace had left Tori, her only daughter, out of her will and bequeathed her money to her granddaughter.
‘I’ll think of something, Mum. Try not to worry,’ Leah murmured before she ended the call.
She had no idea what she was going to do, though, and frustration surged through her when she remembered her grandmother’s last will and testament.
I give to my only granddaughter, Leah Rose Ashbourne, the sum of five hundred thousand pounds.
Half a million pounds was more than enough to save Tori from a possible prison sentence and cover the cost of private treatment for her alcohol addiction. Leah had also hoped to buy a flat for her mum, so that she could make a fresh start. But the stipulation in Grandma Grace’s will was a major stumbling block and there seemed no way around it.
The money is only to be made available on the date of my granddaughter’s marriage.
Of course her grandmother had been entitled to dispose of her assets as she’d seen fit. And Grandma Grace had held the quaint belief that every woman needed a good and supportive husband.
Perhaps it was because her grandparents had enjoyed a happy marriage for nearly sixty years before her grandad had died, followed two years later by her gran, Leah mused. Tears filled her eyes. She missed her grandparents. When she was a child, she’d loved going to stay with them. But those visits had been rare events because Tori hadn’t got on with her parents and they had disapproved of her unconventional lifestyle.
Thinking of her mum pulled Leah’s mind back to the present. Standing around and moping would not solve anything, she told herself firmly. It sounded like the plot of a Victorian novel—but she needed to find herself a husband.
* * *
Marco checked the ground-floor reception rooms but there was no sign of Nicky. He raked his fingers through his hair, feeling guilty that he’d been on his phone dealing with an urgent issue at De Valle Caffè instead of having breakfast with his son.
‘He refused to eat anything,’ the housekeeper had reported. ‘I only went into the pantry for a minute, and when I came back to the kitchen he’d gone. The back door is locked, so he can’t have gone outside.’
Derwa had rested her hands on her hips.
‘Mr Marco, what shall I do with the wedding food that has already been prepared? It seems a terrible shame to throw it away.’
‘What about offering it to the local care home? I’m sure the elderly residents there would enjoy smoked salmon blinis.’
As Marco strode up the stairs he told himself that Nicky could not have disappeared altogether. But the boy was not in the playroom, or his bedroom. He continued his search, feeling ever more frantic as he walked from the old part of the house into the newer wing, where the guest bedrooms were located.
It was early in the morning and no one else was up yet. He felt no sympathy when he thought of James having to explain to the guests the reason why the wedding had been cancelled.
The door to Leah’s room was open and he gave a sigh of relief when he saw Nicky sitting on the bed.
‘Hey, there you are.’ Marco crouched down so that he was at eye level with his son. ‘We’re going back to Capri today.’ He frowned as Nicky shook his head. ‘Don’t you want to go home?’ The little boy said nothing, and Marco sighed. ‘Come on, it’s time to go.’
‘Leah.’
Shock jolted through Marco. He felt as though his heart was being squeezed in a vice when he saw the little boy’s unhappy face. Nicky had not cried since the accident. It was as if his emotions had been frozen since he had lost his mother. But now he had asked for Leah.
Marco automatically ran his hand over the scar on his cheek. He hated Karin for depriving him of his son for the first three years of his life, but he wished he had been able to save her for the little boy’s sake.
He gently wiped
Nicky’s tears away. ‘Would you like Leah to come to Capri with us?’
There was nothing he would not do for his son, Marco thought when Nicky nodded. Somehow he must persuade Leah to accompany them to Italy.
When he’d walked back across the moors to Nancarrow Hall after he had kissed her the previous night, he’d realised that he had to have her. And with her wedding plans in ruins, he had seen no reason to deny himself. A brief affair with her, on his terms, would suit him.
He visited London regularly for work, and he had planned to lease an apartment in the capital and establish her there as his mistress. Undoubtedly the chemistry between them would burn out after a few weeks, or months at most, and he would move on. Their white-hot attraction couldn’t last. In his experience it never did.
But now the situation had changed, and he wanted Leah to help his son. That meant he must ignore his inconvenient hunger for her.
Denial was meant to be good for the soul, Marco reminded himself a short while later, after he had left Nicky in the kitchen with the housekeeper, making pancakes.
He drove the short distance to the village. His pilot was preparing his jet, ready for their flight to Naples later on, and Marco was determined that Leah would be on the plane with them.
‘Miss Ashbourne is still in her room,’ the landlord told him when he entered the pub. ‘She asked for some coffee but didn’t want breakfast.’
The Sailor’s Arms dated back to the thirteenth century and had once been the meeting place of a local smuggling gang. Marco ducked his head to avoid the low ceiling beams as he climbed the stairs. He knocked on the door at the end of a narrow corridor and Leah opened it almost immediately. She was even paler than usual, and her eyes were the slate-green of a stormy sea. Tears clung to her copper-coloured eyelashes.
‘I was just about to leave,’ she said flatly, hooking her fingers under the strap of the holdall hanging from her shoulder. ‘There’s a train to London at nine-forty.’
Marco braced his hands on either side of the door frame. ‘Had you forgotten that there is something I want to discuss with you?’
‘I hadn’t forgotten, but I’m not interested in your proposition.’
‘That’s not the impression you gave me last night, bella.’
He was fascinated by the flush of rose-pink that stained her face. Before she could stop him he stepped across the threshold, so that she had no option but to back into the room. Her obvious distress puzzled him. When he’d overheard the conversation between Leah and James last night it had not occurred to Marco that she might be emotionally invested in his half-brother. He was surprised by how much he disliked the idea.
‘How do you know you’re not interested when I haven’t explained what I want from you yet?’
Without giving her time to speak, he pressed on.
‘I am offering you a job as my son’s private teacher. When I tried sending Nicky to school he became deeply upset, and I was advised to keep him at home until he had recovered from the distress of losing his mother. But I’m concerned that he will fall behind in his education. I want you to stay at my home in Capri so that you can work with Nicky every day. I know you have experience of teaching traumatised children and I know you have formed a bond with my son.’
Leah shook her head. ‘I can’t help Nicky. I’m sorry.’ Every vestige of colour had drained from her face and she looked tense and unhappy.
Marco was frustrated by her flat refusal. ‘But Nicky likes and trusts you. I’ve checked your qualifications and your employment record and I believe you are the best person to help him.’ He exhaled heavily when she continued to shake her head. ‘I will pay you generously.’
Instead of replying she turned away from him and walked across the room to stare out of the window. Marco let his eyes roam over her, admiring the way her jeans moulded her pert derriere. She had restrained her hair in a braid again, and he longed to untie it and sink his hands into her riotous curls while he covered her mouth with his.
He swore beneath his breath as he felt his body’s predictable response to his erotic thoughts. Somehow he would have to ignore this desire for Leah.
‘There is nothing I will not do for my son,’ he said deeply. ‘Name your price.’
She swung round to face him and hugged her arms around her slender body. Marco had the odd sense that she was trying to stop herself from falling apart.
‘My price is marriage. Marry me before the end of the month and I will do my best to help Nicky.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘I’M FLATTERED,’ MARCO said drily. ‘Have you fallen in love with me? Is that why you are so eager to be my wife?’
‘Of course I’m not in love with you.’ Leah had been aiming for the same mocking tone Marco had used but her voice emerged annoyingly husky.
His brows rose. ‘Then I assume your urgency to get me to the altar is so that you can claim your inheritance?’
She stared at him. ‘Does the whole world know about my inheritance?’
‘When you left my room last night you set off a movement sensor linked to the burglar alarm system. I followed you so that I could reset the sensor and I overheard you talking to James.’
‘So you are aware of the stipulation in my grandmother’s will that I must be married before I can access the money she bequeathed to me?’
Leah couldn’t believe what she had done. She must have lost her mind to demand that Marco marry her in return for her helping his little boy. But she was desperate to keep her mum out of prison.
He had offered to pay her well if she went to Capri to work as Nicky’s teacher, and she had briefly considered accepting the job and asking him for an advance on her salary. But she needed thirty thousand pounds immediately, so that Tori could return the money she had stolen.
It was unlikely Marco would be sympathetic if she revealed that her mother was a thief and had a drink problem. Leah remembered the shame she had felt as a teenager, when a teacher at school had asked if her mum was an alcoholic and gently suggested involving social services. Out of loyalty she had refused to betray Tori, and she would not do so to Marco now.
She forced herself to meet his enigmatic gaze. He was her only hope of claiming her inheritance. She did not have prospective husbands queuing outside her front door, she thought wryly. Besides, she had become fond of his son. She felt sorry for Nicky and wanted to help him.
‘What I am suggesting is a temporary marriage while I work with Nicky to try and build his confidence.’
Her heart missed a beat as Marco strode towards her. He dominated the small bedroom, but it was not just his size and impressive physique that made Leah feel that the walls were closing in around her.
His charcoal-grey suit was undoubtedly bespoke. The elegant jacket was undone to reveal a navy blue silk shirt stretched across his broad chest. He wasn’t wearing a tie, and the top few buttons of his shirt were open so that she could see a vee of olive-tanned skin and a sprinkling of black chest hair.
He halted in front of her—too close for her peace of mind. The exotic scent of his aftershave sent a coil of heat through her and she despaired of herself when she felt her nipples tingle. She crossed her arms tighter over her chest, to hide the betraying signs of her awareness of him.
‘You admit the reason you want to marry me is money?’
He spoke in a lazy drawl, but his eyes were coldly contemptuous and Leah realised that he was furious.
‘My money, not yours,’ she said quickly. ‘I know you are wealthy but I’m not a gold-digger. And it wouldn’t be a real marriage.’
‘In what way would it not be real?’
‘Well, we wouldn’t...sleep together.’ Her voice faltered when his dark brows drew together.
‘Perhaps you would like me to be neutered?’
There was no humour in his wolf-like smile. And his low, dark laugh sent a
quiver through Leah. She realised then how much danger she was in. Not from Marco, but from her body’s instinctive response to his potency.
‘What makes you think I would agree to a sterile marriage with a virgin bride?’
She bit her lip. ‘I’ve explained that it wouldn’t be a proper marriage and I realise you will want to take a mistress.’ Leah could not understand why she so disliked the idea of him sleeping with another woman.
‘How very understanding of you, cara.’
The bite in his voice made her flinch.
‘But if I decide to accept your proposition it will be on my terms, not yours, and I will have certain expectations. Number one being that you will share my bed.’
Leah hated the way her body responded to Marco’s silky voice, but she could not control the spike of heat that centred deep in her pelvis as shockingly erotic images filled her mind of his naked limbs entwined with hers.
She swallowed. ‘Are you saying you would force me to have sex with you?’
His jaw hardened, and there was no mistaking the furious glitter in his eyes. ‘I have never forced a woman to do anything against her will. I find the idea abhorrent and frankly I’m insulted by your suggestion. I know you want me, bella. You proved it when you came to my room last night and crawled all over me.’
‘You know I made a mistake when I came to your room,’ she said hotly.
‘I know you are a liar—to yourself as well as to me.’
He drew back his cuff and glanced at his watch. Leah couldn’t help noticing the black hair on his wrist, that curled around the gold watchstrap. She imagined those darkly tanned hands touching her body, those long fingers dipping between her thighs and moving higher, seeking her feminine warmth...
‘I gather from your silence that marriage to me has lost its appeal now you know what it will entail?’ Marco said drily. His eyes narrowed on her flushed face before he swung round and walked back across the room. ‘The train to London leaves in fifteen minutes. I’ll give you a lift to the station.’
‘What about Nicky?’ Leah said sharply. ‘I’m sure I can help him.’
Her Wedding Night Negotiation Page 6