Her Wedding Night Negotiation (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Chantelle Shaw

  Rome in the middle of summer was thronged with tourists. ‘We’ll come back and I’ll take you sightseeing,’ Marco promised, when Leah told him that this was her first trip to the city.

  He knew she was as keen as him to return to Capri to be with Nicky.

  The days following their return to Villa Rosa stretched into weeks, but Marco barely noticed. His relationship with his son continued to flourish as Nicky’s self-confidence grew and the trauma of the accident gradually faded for both of them.

  Marco slipped into a routine in which he left early in the helicopter for his office in Naples most days, but returned to the villa by mid-afternoon. Leah taught Nicky in the morning, and the three of them spent the rest of the day swimming in the pool or at the beach, or strolling around the winding, narrow streets of Capri.

  Nicky loved to ride in the chair lift to the top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on the island, but Leah preferred the less hair-raising charm of La Piazzeta, the lively square in the centre of Capri which was a wonderful place to enjoy a slice of torta caprese, the island’s famous chocolate and almond cake.

  ‘This is heavenly,’ she said as she and Marco sat in a café one lazy afternoon.

  They were spending the afternoon without Nicky as he’d gone with Silvana the nanny to a birthday party for Silvana’s niece’s young son.

  Leah popped the last forkful of cake into her mouth. ‘I’ll have to watch my figure if I carry on eating so much of this wonderful food.’

  ‘You have a gorgeous body,’ Marco assured her. He leaned across the table and wiped a smear of chocolate off her lip with his thumb. ‘It’s a novelty to be with a woman who enjoys food. Eating is a sensual pleasure...like making love.’

  He held Leah’s gaze as he lifted his thumb to his mouth and licked the chocolate from it.

  Her eyes widened and rosy colour stained her cheeks. ‘Marco! Someone might hear you.’

  He laughed huskily. ‘How can you still blush like a virgin after what we did last night?’

  His arousal was instantly rock-hard as he pictured Leah, bent over the side of the bath while his hands had roamed over her as he’d taken her.

  She gave him an innocent look. ‘Maybe we should go back to the villa so that you can remind me of what we did?’

  Stifling a groan, he paid the bill and slid his arm around her waist, urging her to walk faster across the piazza.

  ‘Something tells me you’re in a hurry,’ she murmured, her eyes alight with teasing laughter and an excitement that made Marco’s heart race.

  ‘I am very hungry, cara mia.’

  It occurred to him that if anyone had told him a few months ago that he’d happily delegate work so that he could leave the office early and rush home to be with his teasing minx of a wife he would not have believed it. The company had dominated his life for more than a decade, but now he had discovered that the simple enjoyment of kicking a football around the garden with Nicky or spending a long night in bed with his wife meant more to him than pulling off a brilliant business deal.

  As for Leah—her passionate and sensual nature had been a revelation. But it was more than just great sex, Marco acknowledged. He liked being with her. She had been reserved when he’d first met her, but trust had grown between them and she’d lowered her guard and let him see that she was witty, with a dry sense of humour and a kindness that he would miss when the storm she evoked in him finally blew itself out.

  But his desire for her showed no sign of abating yet, and he’d decided to stop wondering when it would happen and instead enjoy the lingering days of summer with her before winter and cold reality arrived.

  As they hurried through the front door of Villa Rosa Marco paused to pick a white rose, which he tucked into Leah’s hair.

  ‘I can walk,’ she protested when he scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

  ‘Not fast enough,’ he growled, shouldering open the door to the master bedroom, which they now shared.

  He rid them both of their clothes before they fell onto the bed, mouths fused together, his hands curving possessively over her breasts.

  ‘See what you do to me?’

  He lay on his back beside her and his gaze met hers in the mirror above the bed. Their reflection showed Leah’s slim yet curvaceous body, her pale skin an erotic contrast against the black silk sheets, her nipples red where he’d sucked them. His erection was thick and hard, and he groaned when she ran her fingers over the sensitive tip.

  ‘I prefer action to looking,’ she said, with one of those smiles of hers that did strange things to his insides.

  And then she rose up and straddled his hips, leaning forward so that her nipples brushed across his chest while he guided his shaft between her soft thighs. She took him deep inside her and he watched their reflection as she rode him, her red hair spilling around her shoulders. She tipped her head back and her eyes were as dark as a stormy sea when they reached the plateau simultaneously and tumbled together into the abyss.

  Much later, Marco padded out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his wet hair after his shower, and found Leah sitting on the bed wearing his shirt.

  How did she look so goddamned sexy in a shirt that was much too big for her? he wondered, admiring her toned thighs where the edge of the shirt finished. It was safe to say that she wouldn’t be wearing it for long.

  He forced himself to concentrate when she spoke.

  ‘Silvana called to say that Nicky is having a great time at the birthday party. It’s good for him to spend time with children of his own age. Your Aunt Benedetta will see a big change in him when she brings her grandchildren to stay, and Nicky will love playing with Dario, Aria and Giovani.’ She hesitated, then said, ‘Nicky is doing so well—I think he’ll be ready to start school when the new term begins. He won’t need me to give him lessons any more, and I’ve been thinking I should start to look for a teaching job in England.’

  Marco felt the unpleasant sensation of his stomach dropping like a stone.

  ‘I did not bring you to Capri only as Nicky’s teacher,’ he said. ‘You signed a contract stating that you will be my wife for a year. If we were to divorce earlier it would give an impression of instability in my personal life—which, as CEO of the company, I want to avoid.’

  She looked away from him. ‘Is that the only reason you want our marriage to continue?’

  He shrugged. ‘For Nicky’s sake too. The psychotherapist says it’s important to maintain a sense of continuity so that he feels secure.’

  ‘I wouldn’t drop out of his life. I’d come back to Capri to visit him. But I have a career. My inheritance money won’t last long, and I need to work.’

  Marco raked a hand through his hair. ‘With regard to the divorce... As the contract stands you will not receive a settlement, but I am going to instruct my lawyer to alter it so that you will be awarded one million pounds at the end of our marriage.’

  Leah stared at him. ‘A million pounds?’

  ‘It will allow you to buy a house in London and pay for your mother to continue her treatment.’

  ‘What exactly are you paying me a million pounds for?’ she asked, in a sharp voice with an underlying note that Marco could not decipher. ‘Sex? Do I earn a certain amount per night?’

  ‘Don’t forget the days,’ he growled. ‘You are always eager for sex first thing in the morning.’

  His jaw hardened as colour flooded her face. He was stunned that she seemed to be throwing his offer back in his face.

  ‘I thought you’d be pleased that you won’t have to worry about money in the future.’

  ‘Oh, I’m thrilled that you think I’m a prostitute.’

  ‘Dio—I don’t think that. I made the offer as a sign that I...’

  ‘That you what?’ Her eyes flashed dangerously.

  Marco unconsciously rubbed his h
and over the ache in his chest. He didn’t know what to say. He cared about what happened to her and he wanted to make her life easier—frankly, it did not sound like a bed of roses. But he sensed that Leah wanted a different answer from him.

  ‘I made the offer as a token of my respect for you.’

  She scrambled off the bed and marched over to the connecting door between her room and his.

  ‘You know where you can put your million pounds! I don’t want your money, and you have a funny way of showing your respect!’

  She stepped into the other bedroom and Marco heard a tremor in her voice when she spoke again.

  ‘I’ll stay for as long as Nicky needs me, but then I demand you set me free.’

  The slam of the door had a ring of finality to it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE STAND-OFF HAD so far lasted for four days and nights, and Leah was determined she would not be the one to break it. She was bitterly hurt by Marco’s offer to pay her at the end of their marriage. It wasn’t only the implied insult in his belief that she would accept the money—it was his admission that the reason he wanted her to remain his wife for a year was to keep his shareholders happy.

  She’d thought that they had grown closer these past weeks. The attraction between them was stronger than ever, but she’d believed there was friendship too.

  She had mentioned looking for a job in England partly to test the waters and see if she’d imagined that he felt something for her. Marco had not lost his air of self-containment, but she’d hoped that he liked her a little and even felt some degree of affection for her.

  Clearly, he did not.

  And perhaps he wasn’t a slave to their passion the way she was. Every night she tossed restlessly in her bed and stared at the connecting door between their rooms, willing him to walk in and sweep her into his arms. She missed his body on hers...she missed waking in the morning with him beside her. She missed him so much it was agony, she thought miserably.

  To add to the difficult situation, his aunt had arrived with her three grandchildren. There was no time during the day for her and Marco to be alone, and they were both putting on an act of being happily married in front of Benedetta. Even the joy of hearing Nicky chattering confidently to the other children was bittersweet when she could not share it with Marco.

  Leah walked into the lounge and her heart gave a flip at the sight of him in jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to his muscular chest. His hair was ruffled, as if he’d been running his fingers through it, and she told herself she was imagining that the grooves on either side of his mouth might be caused by the same strain that she was feeling. He was sitting on the sofa with Nicky perched on his knee, and the three other children were grouped around him.

  The little girl, Aria, held out a photo to Marco. ‘Who is that lady? She’s pretty.’

  ‘That’s Nicky’s mamma, who is sadly no longer with us. She was very pretty and kind and talented. She hoped to be a great actress, and I’m sure she would have been. She loved Nicky very much.’

  Leah felt as though an arrow had pierced her heart, hearing the huskiness in Marco’s voice. It should not matter to her if his heart belonged to Karin, she told herself. But the burn of jealousy in the pit of her stomach mocked her belief that she was in control of her feelings.

  The truth made her tremble. She had fallen in love with Marco. And this time she knew it was real. The mild affection she’d felt for James had never threatened her determination to stay in charge of her emotions. What she felt for Marco was terrifying and utterly uncontrollable.

  She swallowed when she discovered that he was watching her, and turned away from his speculative gaze, afraid that he might see the truth in her eyes. Her heart was as fragile as spun glass and he could easily shatter it.

  ‘Benedetta said you wanted to see me about something,’ she said stiffly.

  ‘Tio Marco, can we tell Leah about the surprise?’ Aria looked excited. ‘You are having a special lunch in the summerhouse for your anniversary.’ She sighed theatrically. ‘We are not allowed to come.’

  ‘You children are going to have a barbecue by the pool.’

  Marco stood up and walked over to Leah.

  Her brows lifted. ‘Anniversary?’

  ‘We have been married for two months, cara. Surely you have remembered?’

  He smiled and brushed his mouth over hers in a tantalisingly brief kiss. For his aunt’s benefit, Leah told herself as Benedetta appeared.

  ‘How could I forget?’ she murmured.

  Her stupid heart was thumping when he took her arm and led her out of the villa, and she was glad she was wearing a blue silk dress that she knew Marco particularly liked.

  ‘I suppose Benedetta arranged this?’ she said, as he ushered her inside the pretty summerhouse set in a quiet corner of the garden. The table was set with cutlery and glasses on a snowy white cloth, and an arrangement of heavenly scented roses made a stunning centrepiece.

  ‘No—I did.’ He drew out a chair for her. ‘We need to talk, but we’ll eat first.’

  He could not possibly be nervous, she thought as he poured her a glass of wine before filling his own glass.

  There was a selection of delicious-looking dishes on a trolley, ready for them to serve themselves. Leah took some salad leaves and prawns, but her stomach was tied in a knot and she only ate a few mouthfuls.

  ‘I’m sorry I upset you,’ he said, putting his wine glass down. ‘It was not my intention.’

  ‘Maybe I overreacted,’ she murmured, trying to dismiss the hurt she’d felt. His apology meant a lot, and she wanted their relationship to return to how it had been. ‘But I’m not interested in your money, Marco.’

  ‘I know that, cara.’ He trapped her gaze. ‘Over the past two months we have become friends, I hope?’

  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She longed for them to be much more than friends. And this was not the stony-faced stranger of the past few days. This was her Marco—the man who had taken her to the pinnacle of pleasure countless times, always tempering his passion with a tenderness that had wrapped around her heart.

  Guilt assailed her that she had misjudged him. ‘I’m sorry I suggested that you were trying to pay me for being married to you.’

  He reached across the table and linked his fingers with hers. ‘Our talk of divorce made me realise that it is not what I want.’

  ‘Oh?’ Her breath was trapped in her lungs. ‘You...you don’t want us to divorce after a year?’

  ‘No.’ He stroked his thumb pad over the pulse that was thudding like crazy in her wrist. ‘It makes more sense for our marriage to become a permanent arrangement.’

  ‘It makes more sense?’ she parroted, ice replacing the warmth in her veins. ‘How, exactly?’

  ‘I never planned to marry again.’

  Leah remembered how his voice gentled whenever he spoke of Nicky’s mother and felt a stab of jealousy. ‘But I blackmailed you into it?’ she said flatly. ‘The truth is I would have helped Nicky even if you had refused to marry me. I was shocked when you agreed.’

  ‘I was, and am, willing to do anything for my son.’ Marco lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against her fingers. ‘You have enabled me to build a relationship with him, and I’ve seen the affection you have for him. I want you to be Nicky’s mother. Hear me out,’ he said, when she tensed. ‘We like each other, and we get on well. We can be parents to Nicky. He adores you, and we can give him the family we both longed for when we were growing up.’

  Leah bit her lip. Pride demanded she must not let him see that his words felt like a hammer-blow to her heart.

  ‘I’d have no objection if you wanted to work,’ Marco continued. ‘You do an important job and you would easily find a teaching post for children with special needs in Naples. But at some point you might want to have a child. It would be
nice for Nicky to have a little brother or sister.’

  Listening to him was like refined torture, Leah thought bleakly. She would like children some day. It was her cherished hope that she would meet the ‘right man’ and settle down to have the family life she’d craved during her own chaotic childhood. Now Marco was dangling that dream in front of her, but instead of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it was an empty bucket.

  She eased her hand out of his. ‘What about affairs?’

  He frowned. ‘I am fairly liberal-minded, but not about infidelity. You will be mine exclusively.’

  His eyes glittered, and Leah despised herself for feeling thrilled that he sounded so very Italian and so very possessive.

  ‘I meant you. Would you have mistresses? Presumably you’d be discreet, so that the paparazzi and your company’s shareholders didn’t find out?’

  ‘You have my word that I’ll be a faithful husband. I will commit fully to you and Nicky and the children I hope we’ll create between us.’ He leaned back in his chair and gave one of his sexy smiles that ripped the breath from her lungs. ‘Seriously, cara,’ he murmured in a softly teasing voice that, if it hadn’t already been broken, would have shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. ‘I’m a good catch. Say yes and we can spend the afternoon in bed.’ His eyes gleamed like molten silver. ‘I’ve missed you, beauty.’

  It was terrible how tempted she was. Marco was offering her everything she’d ever wanted except for one thing. He did not love her.

  ‘I need to think about it.’ The chair legs scraped over the stone floor as she jerked to her feet. ‘It’s a big decision and I need time to consider my options.’

  He stood up and walked around the table. She thought she sensed a new tension in him, but maybe it was her imagination. It would be so easy to fall into his arms, his bed, his charmed life in Capri that could be her life too. But there would always be something missing. His heart would never be hers.

  He was so close that she could smell his evocative male scent: spicy cologne mixed with something that was uniquely him. She held out her hand as if to ward him off when he lowered his head. If he kissed her she would be lost.