by Maya Blake
She glided a nervous tongue-tip over her lower lip, dragging his attention again to that enticing part of her body that was chiselling away at his composure.
Perhaps his mother was right and it was time to look beyond his life of strict official duty and responsibility to the crown.
His gut tightened. From as long as he could remember, there’d been no one else for him but Celeste. He’d been satisfied with the projection of a life with her based on affection, mutual respect and dedication to his kingdom.
There’d been no over-exuberant displays of affection, but the sex had been satisfying—if a little underwhelming with the passage of time. But that had been acceptable in light of his father’s extramarital affair and the claim that he’d had no control over himself.
Remi had sneered at that weakness.
He welcomed a life devoid of such emotional entanglements, and if his body was done with the self-imposed celibacy he’d placed upon it since Celeste’s death, if the time had come when he could move beyond the heavy fog of guilt to the semblance of a future, he would decide with his head and not with the sharp, fevered passion that saw some men make fools of themselves. Not with the stark, blazing hunger that currently clawed at him, courtesy of the siren in front of him.
His mother had called him this morning, demanding to know who he’d selected from her list. The unspoken suggestion that there must be some sort of deadline on the guilt and grief that shrouded him had triggered a bolt of fury. His terse response had strained their conversation. But he’d hung up knowing he needed to make a decision, and soon.
But not before he’d dealt with the powder keg Jules had left behind.
‘A quarter of a million pounds is much more than the seventy-five thousand you bargained for. That and a signed confidentiality agreement means you’ll get to walk away with more money than you dreamed of,’ he said.
‘You make me sound like a cold-hearted gold-digger,’ she muttered, her words wrapped in a thin layer of something close to anguish.
But he’d seen her last night. Like in those pictures palace security had dug up, she’d been dressed for maximum effect, the wisps of nothing she wore designed to captivate any red-blooded male within her radius.
He didn’t like to admit it, but the thrumming of his blood insisted he wasn’t altogether immune to Madeleine Myers.
‘Time is up. Yes or no?’
CHAPTER FOUR
A QUARTER OF a million pounds.
Enough for the operation her father desperately needed with plenty left over for a better place for him to live after his procedure. Surely the prospect of a brighter future would end the cycle of depression her father couldn’t seem to break? It might even stretch to hiring a carer for him so she could return to university to finish her studies.
The possibilities of what that money might do staggered her for a minute, momentarily lightening the heavy weight of despair. She took a deep, relieved breath for the first time in what felt like for ever.
And then she looked into the formidable eyes watching her with thinly veiled distaste.
Relief turned to shame. A powerful need to toss his offer in his face ploughed through her. It would be immensely satisfying to walk away, prove that she wasn’t the cheap little gold-digger he’d branded her. She wasn’t her mother, she wanted to tell him. She didn’t value her relationships based exclusively on the size of a man’s bank account.
Surely he would look at her with less damning eyes if he knew the money was for her father?
A stark reminder whisked away that foolish notion.
How could she have forgotten about Greg? Friendly, cheeky Greg, who at fourteen had been one of her closest friends, part of the gang at their country club. Greg, whose wealthy parents had bred horses and looked down their noses at anyone whose personal portfolio didn’t include three homes in exotic locations...
She’d been too blinded by desperation to see his true colours when she’d turned to him for support when her world had turned grey. He’d hidden his distaste well. Had fooled her with his false sympathy when she’d told him about her father. In the bleak, uncertain landscape of her new reality Greg had been her only shelter, and she’d unashamedly leaned on him in the months after her mother’s desertion when the unvarnished truth of her father’s addiction had come to light.
For months Maddie had trusted him with everything.
Right up until he’d hit her with the callous truth.
Greg’s betrayal had decimated not just her heart but her trust. Her only consolation was that she’d never given him her body. That would have been the final humiliation.
She looked at Remi Montegova and was grateful her tongue hadn’t run away with her. Men like him judged a person’s worth by their prestige and status. Right from the start he’d shown his disdain at her destitution, believed she would stoop to the lowest level to achieve her avaricious ends. Even now, just like Greg, he was staring down his nose at her, demanding to know what her price was.
If she agreed to Remi’s proposal she would do so with her secrets intact.
If?
In her dire position she had very little choice. She was pretty sure the window for returning to her job at the café had closed.
She licked her dry lips, felt something hot and dark and forbidding zinging through her stomach when he followed the action. ‘If I agree to this, what exactly would it entail?’
His eyes glinted momentarily, but it faded before she could decipher its meaning.
‘For starters, you won’t leave my sight until the confidentiality agreement is signed. After that you’ll stay here in the hotel with me. I’ve accepted an invitation to a charity gala tonight. You’ll accompany me. On Sunday you’ll return with me to Montegova and stay there until I’m sure you won’t change your mind and capitalise on your circumstances.’
Her stomach dropped in shock. ‘What? I’m not... I can’t just pick up sticks and leave!’
Silver-grey eyes narrowed. ‘Why not?’ he demanded. ‘Perhaps because you have other commitments you’re not divulging?’
The sensation in her belly intensified. ‘And what if I do?’
An eerie stillness settled over him, his body becoming statue-still. Eyes the colour of threatening thunderclouds locked on her as a muscle ticked in his jaw.
‘I’m not Jules, Miss Myers. I won’t deal with you while you have a lover hovering in the background, ready to throw a spanner in the works.’
He walked stiff and imposing towards the door, his broad shoulders unyielding.
‘Wait!’
He stilled, but didn’t turn around.
‘I don’t have a lover. But I do have responsibilities.’
He swivelled in a smooth, regal move, those incisive eyes piercing into hers once more. ‘Explain—and be quick about it.’
My God, he really was insufferable. But then weren’t most people with power and authority? As much as she loved him, hadn’t her father displayed a fraction of Remi’s arrogance once upon a time, when he’d believed himself infallible?
‘It’s my father. I live with my father. I can’t just...leave him.’
A fraction of that chill dissipated from his eyes, and then they grew contemplative.
‘You work long hours. You’re away from him for a considerable part of the day—which means that he’s either able-bodied and can look after himself or he has someone else to take care of him.’
His deductions set out in clipped tones, he waited, his gaze probing hers as if daring her to refute them.
‘He’s able-bodied,’ she said, cringing at the half-lie. ‘But that doesn’t mean I want to leave home for however long you intend this to be.’
He strolled with measured steps, like a predator stalking his prey, back to where she stood, frozen. ‘How did your father take your liaison with Jules?’
&nb
sp; He’d barely noticed her absence. And that was the problem. He barely noticed anything any more.
Pained wrenched at her heart. She breathed through it. ‘I’m a grown woman.’
As if she’d issued an invitation his gaze swept over her body, firing charged volts everywhere it touched. By the time he returned his gaze to hers she was acutely aware of every pounding heartbeat, every unsteady breath she took.
‘This thing happens only on my terms, Madeleine,’ he stated ruthlessly.
She knew the truth behind that statement. She wasn’t from his circle so he didn’t trust her. What better way to keep her in check than to keep her close? Exercise his perceived right to treat her with contempt the way Greg had treated her when he’d learned the full circumstances of her fall from privilege?
But she couldn’t leave her father to his own devices for long stretches. That would most certainly see him relapse before she could get him the help he needed. Unfortunately, that outcome depended on acceding to this man’s wishes.
Still...
‘I... I can’t just pack my bags and go to Montegova with you,’ she said a little desperately.
His shrug said her dilemma wasn’t his concern. ‘Take the next few hours to consider my offer. My driver and one of my bodyguards will take you home. You’ll be brought back here at seven and you’ll give me your answer then.’
Maddie took a deep breath that went nowhere near dispersing the apprehension rolling through her.
From the bodyguards and the limo to the ultra-VIP entrance to the suite she suspected was reserved for royalty, to the luxurious decadence of these rooms, everything about Remi Montegova screamed privilege and undiluted entitlement. Maddie knew that even if she walked out of here this second, she wouldn’t be free of him unless he wished it.
He had determined that she was a threat to his family. One that could be neutralised by opening his wallet and keeping her prisoner for however long he pleased.
As shameful as that ultimate slur was, when it came right down to it his offer was staggeringly life-changing. All she had to do was negotiate shrewdly.
She ignored the little voice in her head that told her this performance wouldn’t be straightforward—not when she couldn’t look into those eyes without wild heat invading her belly. Not when she didn’t even need to close her eyes to recall how it had felt to be pressed up against his hard, hot body.
But, unlike Jules’s mercurial behaviour, she knew where she stood with the Crown Prince. His disdain for her was evident in every word he spoke.
Why not use that disdain as a barrier? Insulate herself in it until she got what she wanted?
With another deep breath, she forced herself to meet his gaze, even though it felt as if he was trying to strip off a layer of her skin, burrow underneath and root all her secrets.
‘Okay.’
‘No, Miss Myers. I want to hear the words.’
‘Yes, I’ll come back tonight and give you my answer.’
He stared down at her for a taut spell, an indecipherable gleam in his eyes. Then he veered away, striding over to an antique desk to pick up the phone. He relayed instructions in that curious mix of languages before replacing the handset. Minutes later, a knock came on the door.
A rake-thin man whose uniform announced his butler status appeared out of nowhere, gave a stiff bow and opened the door. The same bodyguard who’d escorted her from the nightclub last night entered the room.
‘This is Antonio. He’ll make sure you get where you need to go.’
In other words he’d be her shadow for the foreseeable future. It was pointless to protest.
She walked to where she’d dropped her bag earlier and picked it up. When she turned, Remi stood behind her. Antonio and the butler stood at a discreet distance.
‘Um...is there something else?’
Remi’s gaze flicked to her hair and then slowly dragged down her body again. Dear God, the man could strip the thoughts from her head with just the look in his eyes.
‘I’ll have my stylist deliver appropriate clothes to you.’
She nearly choked on her tongue. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You expect to attend a charity gala dressed as a waitress?’
Maddie looked down at her uniform, at her threadbare tights, the worn flats.
‘Of course not. But I have a perfectly adequate wardrobe.’ It was a white lie. She had one classic black gown. The rest of the designer labels her mother had pushed upon her over the years had been sold off long ago to pay the bills.
His face grew taut. ‘If you intend to wear the clothes my brother furnished you with, think again.’
‘I don’t,’ she retorted, wondering at the relationship between Remi and Jules.
She met his gaze and something within the intense depths told her it would be wise not to ask. She shivered as he continued to look at her with an intense, almost possessive gaze.
Maddie lowered her eyes, certain she was imagining things. Jules hadn’t owned her. Remi most definitely didn’t want to. He couldn’t have made that clearer with his attitude. Nevertheless, there was something unsettling in his eyes. Something that made her breasts tingle and her belly flip-flop.
A phone rang in the background, dragging them out of the thickening sensual bubble.
Remi took a single step back. ‘Good. I expect you back here at seven. Don’t be late,’ he said, then walked away.
Maddie didn’t take a full breath until she’d shut the door of her flat behind her half an hour later. Free of Remi’s disturbing vortex, the enormity of what she was contemplating overwhelmed her.
On shaky legs she entered the living room, found it empty, and approached her father’s room. The door was ajar. She nudged it wider and was half relieved, half disappointed to find him asleep.
Had he been awake, what would she have said? That she’d negotiated a deal with one brother to act as his girlfriend and was now on the brink of negotiating with another for a higher sum because he believed she was a shameless, blackmailing gold-digger?
Silently, she retreated to her room, knowing that come seven tonight she would have no choice but to accept Remi’s proposition or risk losing her father.
* * *
Maddie curled her fingers around the leather bound document and tried to ignore the two other people in the room. An impossible feat, of course. Everything about what she was doing evoked industrial strength butterflies in her stomach that were impossible to dismiss.
To his credit the butler, tutored in diplomacy to within an inch of his life, remained unobtrusive. Not so much his employer, the Crown Prince of Montegova, who prowled lazily in front of her as she attempted to read the fine print of the agreement.
She wanted to snap at him to be still. To be less distracting. To be less drop-dead gorgeous. Less...everything. But she bit her tongue. She’d agreed to this and there was no going back. Nor was there any point in denying that Remi’s effect on her was shockingly visceral enough to stop her breath every time he crossed her vision.
It would wear off. It had to. No one could carry off that level of saturated charisma and power indefinitely!
She’d ignore him, just as she had all the unwanted attention that had come her way in the café. She snorted under her breath, wondering what Remi would think of being compared to the greasy construction workers and overly familiar salesman who patronised her workplace.
Her ex-workplace.
The inescapable reminder that she was now jobless and temporarily relocated to Remi’s hotel rammed home. Her fingers shook as she recalled her conversation with her father. He’d barely responded to her carefully constructed explanation of why she would be away for two days, his absent nods when she told him that Mrs Jennings would be staying over to keep him company the only indication that he’d heard her.
For an unguarded moment Maddie wis
hed she had a close friend to confide in. Then she wouldn’t feel so dammed alone. But all her so-called friends had deserted her the moment the Myers family had fallen on hard times.
Greg had taken it a step further and kicked her in the most brutal way when she was down. His betrayal had eroded her trust to nothing and ensured she had nothing in reserve to offer anyone else when he’d coaxed her into emptying her bank account and shrugged off the risky investment that had lost her everything under the banner of ‘it happens’.
Her bitter thoughts scattered when Remi approached, impatience stamped on his face. He’d given her fifteen minutes to read the confidentiality agreement, with the offer of an independent lawyer should she need it. That time had passed five minutes ago.
If she played her cards right her father could be on his way to surgery in a matter of days.
‘Are you ready to sign?’ Remi asked.
Her eyes jerked to his face, as seemed to happen automatically whenever he spoke. It was as if his whole body was a powerful magnet, drawing her to him. And once she was drawn, it was impossible to look away.
God, was it normal for one man to be graced with such good looks? Sculpted cheekbones, ruggedly cut jaw and glossy hair notwithstanding, it was that aura of raw masculinity that triggered the wild fluttering in her belly. She watched, enthralled against her will, as one eyebrow slowly lifted, his expression growing mocking at her unashamed perusal.
Face flaming, she dropped her gaze and grimaced inwardly when she saw he was holding out a pen to her.
The moment of truth. ‘Um...’
‘Percy has other duties to attend to. If you’d be so kind as to express yourself better I can ask him to stay or leave.’
She snatched the pen from him, flipped the document to the last page and signed it. Within a minute it had been signed by Remi and witnessed by Percy the butler.
When the door shut behind Percy her gaze swung to the man who effectively, according to their agreement, owned her for the next six weeks.
He was watching her too, but after a moment his gaze dropped to travel over her body, taking in her new attire.
