She folded her arms under her breasts, the movement pushing up her ample cleavage and making the blood roar in his ears.
‘Daniela... I’m warning you. You have no idea what’s going on here, so let me off this bed right now.’
‘I’m quite aware of what’s going on in my own company. You’re the one who’s been MIA for months on end, and I can’t risk you disappearing on me again.’ She closed her eyes briefly, opening them to lock on his with intent. ‘I don’t care if you hate me for this. I will do whatever it takes to save my brother’s legacy.’
She claimed that he was the only one who could save the company? The man she had once called a frivolous playboy? She had no idea what he had been uncovering over the past six months. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he knew.
What he did know was that she wasn’t the only one prepared to do whatever it took to save something. But the person he’d been trying to save seemed intent on putting herself in danger, again and again.
Anger gave him an extra spurt of energy, and the last knot that bound his wrists slipped free.
Like a coiled spring, Valerio launched himself off the bed.
Dani felt a shocked scream rise in her throat but she refused to let it free—refused to believe that this man whom she had known for almost half of her thirty-one years on the earth would ever actually harm her.
But this was not the Valerio she had watched from afar—the playboy reprobate who’d bedded half the socialites in Europe and charmed everyone he met with his pirate’s smile and his wild thirst for adventure. It was as though any trace of light in his deep blue eyes had been snuffed out.
Before she had a chance to run, he had grabbed her by the wrists to stop her. He pulled her to face him but she shoved him back, the movement accidentally sending them both tumbling down onto the bed, with her body landing directly on top of his.
Large hands moved to grip her waist and she inhaled sharply at the feel of his skin as it seemed to burn through the fabric of her shirt. She shifted position, trying to stand, but her movements somehow only served to press her even harder against him.
‘Dio, stay still,’ he cursed, his voice sounding strangled and raw.
It seemed a lifetime ago that Dani had fantasised about exactly this kind of situation. Her foolish teenage self had once dreamed of having Valerio Marchesi look at her the way she had seen him look at a parade of beauties, while she’d watched awkwardly from the sidelines. But he had long ago made it clear that there was no way he would ever look at her as anything but his best friend’s chubby, boring, know-it-all twin sister. The annoying third wheel to their perfect partnership.
No, there was nothing sexual that she could see in the barely controlled fury glittering in his eyes now, as he stared up at her. He seemed to inhale deeply as her hair fell over her shoulder, forming a cocoon of ebony curls around them. His hands flexed just underneath her ribcage, his eyes lowering to where the buttons on her blouse had come undone, revealing the far too large breasts threatening to spill over the plain white lace of her sensible bra. And still his hands tightened, holding her still and stopping her retreat.
‘Let go of me. What do you think you’re doing?’
She was furious, her knees moving directly towards the part of him where she could cause the most damage. Not that she wanted to hurt him, but he was being completely unreasonable—and she refused to accept that she had lost the upper hand now, after all her careful planning, simply because he had more brute strength.
He easily controlled her, pinning her legs with his own and pulling her arms directly above her head.
‘What do I think I’m doing?’ He repeated her question, a harsh bark of laughter erupting from his chest as he grabbed both her wrists and tied them to the headboard he had just freed himself from. ‘I believe there is an English expression... Turnabout is fair play?’
Dani was breathing heavily with the exertion of trying to fight him. She didn’t see his plan until she was already tied in place. Disbelief turned quickly to anger as she tried and failed to pull herself free.
‘Thrashing around like that really isn’t going to help either of us. Especially considering our position and my lack of clothing.’
Dani became completely still, looking down to where their bodies were melded together. Her legs in the dark wool of her designer trousers were wrapped around the bare skin of his torso. She felt her cheeks heat up, perspiration beading on the back of her neck. He said he was unaffected, and yet just a moment ago she had moved her hips and she could have sworn she’d felt...
Suddenly he moved. With an impressive flex of muscle, he slid his large body out from underneath her with surprising ease, gently laying her down on the pillows before moving out of her vision.
‘I understand that you have some anger towards me...’ His voice sounded husky, and he was slightly out of breath from his exertions in freeing himself. ‘But, whatever this game was tonight, know that it was out of line.’
‘I’m not playing a game. I told you that I had to have you restrained for your own safety and mine. You were threatening to kill your own bodyguard, for goodness’ sake, and we couldn’t snap you out of it.’
She tried to lift her head to look at him, but on seeing a flash of tall, naked male, she returned her head to the pillows with a thump.
‘Maybe so. But you’re trying to manipulate me. To force my hand. Maybe in the past I might have seen the humour in all this...but I am not that man any more.’
‘Where are you going?’ she asked innocently, remembering that while she might have temporarily lost the upper hand in this battle, she was far from losing the war.
‘I am going to walk out of here and leave you to think about your actions for a while.’
He flicked on the full lights in the room and she watched as he walked towards the doorway, then suddenly stood still. Her body tensed in the long silence, and she imagined the look on his face as he realised his mistake. Because they were not on his luxury yacht in Genoa. They weren’t even on Italian soil.
He let out a dark curse in Italian and Dani felt an unruly smile threaten at the corner of her lips. She listened as his footsteps boomed across the luxury wooden floor of the cabin and out into the hallway.
He might not remember the events of last night but she did—with painful clarity. She remembered having Valerio’s own personal bodyguard help her carry his boss onto the brand-new, not officially launched Sirinetta II mega-yacht that she’d commandeered, and then sending the man on a fool’s errand to the doctor in town so that she could order the captain to sail off into the night.
She waited for Valerio to return, realising that it was impossible even to attempt to look ladylike while she was sprawled face-down on a bed, her arms pinned at an awkward upwards angle as they were.
‘Where the hell have you brought me?’
His voice suddenly boomed from the other side of the room and the door of the cabin banged open on its hinges, making her jump.
‘Back so soon? I’ve had barely four minutes of my time out. Hardly enough time to think about my actions.’
He came to a stop beside the bed. Dani turned her head on the pillow and allowed her eyes to travel up his impressive form. Mercifully he had donned the clothing she had grabbed from his yacht’s cabin during their swift exit. The dark blue jeans fitted him perfectly and the plain black T-shirt was like a second skin, moulding to his impressive biceps. The rumours of his mental state were yet to be confirmed, but he certainly hadn’t stopped working on his infamous abs since he’d gone into exile, that was for sure. If anything, he’d kicked it up a notch.
‘I’d say we’re cruising somewhere near Corsica.’ She met his intense gaze without showing her unease. ‘I decided to multitask and give you a tour of the new model while we discussed our approach for this meeting. And before you get any ideas, the wheelhouse is locked down an
d the captain has been ordered to refuse entry without my passcode. Company policy.’
‘You...’ He took a step away, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘You had me drugged and loaded onto one of my own company’s yachts. And then you turned my own crew against me?’
‘Our crew.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘You forget that I’ve got quite familiar with all the staff in our employ over the past six months, partner.’
‘Order them back to land. Now.’
He leaned over her, one hand braced on the headboard beside her. His breath fanned her ear, sending gooseflesh down her neck. Evidently being tied up and ordered about was something her inner self got a dark thrill out of, regardless of the fact that the man giving those orders was a selfish bastard who had abandoned her when she’d needed him most.
No, she corrected herself, he had abandoned his company. The company that she was going to inherit half of once her brother’s estate was released, as well as countless other assets and properties—thanks to his death. And that was without the inheritance she’d already got after their parents’ accidental deaths seven years before.
If she had still been the praying kind, she would have thought that someone somewhere up above had really taken a dislike to the Avelar family. But she no longer believed in anything but cold hard facts, and right now keeping her brother’s prized Nettuno Design a part of the company was what she needed to focus on.
Valerio and Duarte had had countless other investments, but they had spent twelve years building Velamar from the ground up. Was he just going to sit back and allow his work to be poached by the vultures? Not on her watch.
‘You can leave me tied up here as long as you like. I won’t make the order.’ She flexed her fingers, feeling a slight numbness creeping in from her position.
‘Dani—’
‘I told you not to call me that,’ she snapped. ‘Use my proper name. You and I are business partners now and nothing more.’
‘Do business partners usually tie each other up naked and watch from the shadows?’
‘I wasn’t watching you.’ She bristled, hating the way that her skin immediately turned to gooseflesh at his words and hating the sinfully erotic image they created. She closed her eyes, praying he couldn’t see. That he didn’t notice the ridiculous effect he still had on her, no matter how much she’d believed she’d got past it.
‘It’s pretty clear that you were sitting there in the dark, waiting for me to wake up. What were you thinking about all that time, Daniela? The company? Or was there a small part of you that enjoyed having me at your mercy?’
He crouched low, sliding a lock of hair from her face, and waited until she met his gaze. Dani swallowed hard, fighting the urge to lick her suddenly dry lips.
‘You shouldn’t have followed me. You could have just emailed me the details of the meeting. But you didn’t trust me to show up, did you? Bastard that I am...’ He let his fingers trail along her face, smoothing her hair behind her ear. ‘You found me and saw me at my worst. The runaway playboy, the raging madman in the flesh. Tell me that you didn’t relish the opportunity to punish me, to ensure I didn’t have an easy escape. Tell me you didn’t enjoy it, Daniela.’
She bit her lower lip, knowing that he was just playing a game. Trying to make her uncomfortable enough to make her order the yacht back to land and let him cut his responsibilities all over again.
She turned her face, opening her eyes to meet his directly and summoning all the strength she had. ‘There is nothing enjoyable about watching you give up and walk away from everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve,’ she said boldly. ‘You could have died in Rio too, but you didn’t. I thought that might have made you see life as more precious than you did before, that you might take things more seriously. But you’ve just been running away, pretending that nothing’s happened.’
Valerio’s hand dropped as though she had burned him. In a way, she supposed she had. Guilt momentarily pulled at her subconscious, but she pushed it away, knowing that she was doing what she needed to do. Lucky for her, she knew exactly what to say to keep Valerio Marchesi at a distance in order to protect herself. She always had. But right now she needed him on her side more than she needed him to get away from her.
She felt his hands on hers as he silently loosened the ropes at her wrists. She worked herself free as quickly as she could, noting that his knots were skilled. He had been a sailor practically from birth, after all. The blood rushed quickly back into her hands as she sat up, rubbing at her wrists, and saw that he had moved to the other side of the room. He stood completely still, looking out of the window to the blackness beyond. There was no moon tonight—nothing to light their way in the night. Only dark clouds and the subtle sheen of the waves that surrounded them.
‘I know all too well how precious life is, Daniela. If you think I’ve been running away, then you really don’t know me at all.’ Valerio’s voice was cold and distant, bleak. ‘If you think that I could ever hope to forget what happened... If you think I haven’t gone over and over every single second...’ He shook his head as he turned to face her, and a look of complete darkness seemed to cast a shadow over him.
Dani felt emotion burn her throat. She wished she could take her words back but knew it was done. Since Valerio had left her alone at Duarte’s funeral all those months ago, she had been filled with a rage of her own. He had been the one to return from their trip alive after weeks of being presumed dead. He had been the one to refuse to tell her the full details of what had happened, only revealing that Duarte had been killed shortly before Valerio had escaped.
Her twin had been murdered and she’d had no idea. There had been no sudden shift in the cosmos, no supernatural feeling of loss or pain. Instead she had felt nothing. And that feeling of disconnected numbness had continued for the past six months as she had thrown herself into keeping the company running smoothly.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh.’ She breathed past the emotion in her throat, wishing she’d chosen her words more carefully. ‘But it doesn’t help that I don’t know anything about what happened other than—’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ He cut across her, pure steel in his voice. ‘I’ll be there at the meeting. I’ll say whatever you want me to say.’
‘You will?’ She paused, struggling to make sense of his sudden shift from outraged to passive. Yes, her words had been harsh, but...
‘I will come to Monte Carlo with you because it’s what Duarte would want.’ He took a step forward. ‘But in return I need you to do something for me.’
‘You’re giving me terms?’ She tilted her head. ‘I should have known there would be a catch.’
He folded his arms across his chest in a pose filled with dominance and attitude, but his voice quavered slightly as he spoke. ‘I have one condition, yes, and I need you to trust me that it’s necessary and non-negotiable.’
‘Is this a security thing?’ She took in the tension in his posture, the way his fists were pulled tight by his sides. ‘I have taken on board all the terms you laid down with that crazy security team before you disappeared. I never go anywhere without their protection.’
‘You think I haven’t been checking in over the past six months?’ He shook his head, his voice deepening with some unknown emotion. ‘I may not have been here, but I didn’t run away. I need you to understand that. There were things I had to do before I could...’ He frowned, turning slightly to look out across the murky water through the window. When he began speaking again, his voice was deeper. ‘When we realised things were going to end badly in Rio...I made a promise to him that if I survived I would keep you safe.’
Dani felt a lump in her throat, but pushed it away, reminding herself that getting emotional would only put her in a vulnerable position. He wanted her to trust him? Valerio hadn’t even tried to keep whatever promises he’d made—he had blocked her out and walked a
way at his earliest convenience, preferring to process his grief alone. Or more likely in the company of expensive whisky and a string of beautiful women across the globe.
She had learned the hard way that she could only rely on herself. Folding her arms tightly across her chest, she didn’t bother to hide the ice that crept into her voice. ‘Just outline your terms, Marchesi.’
His jaw flexed menacingly, and a hardness entered his gaze as they stood toe to toe in the darkness of the master cabin. When he finally spoke, the huskiness was gone from his voice and had been replaced by a hint of that sultry charm she remembered.
‘The board believe that Velamar is weakened because of my absence...that I am unreliable and unstable. If you want my presence to be of any benefit, then we need to show them a better angle. If I get off this yacht tomorrow, my only term is that you stay by my side. That we stand together as a couple.’
‘Of course. I’m the PR guru here. I can find a good spin for all this, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
She frowned at his use of the word ‘couple’—a strange expression for their partnership. Still, she forced a smile, hardly believing the upward turn this venture had taken. An hour ago she had been terrified of what he might do after her actions tonight. She had taken a risk, forcing his hand this way. For now, she was happy to have him firmly on the side of the company and getting his mind back into the game.
‘I presumed you would be more averse to the idea of us being together.’ Valerio raised one dark brow, shrugging a shoulder as he moved to open the door. ‘It’s settled, then. We will announce our engagement first thing in the morning.’
CHAPTER TWO
VALERIO MOVED AWAY from Daniela’s frozen form and walked quickly down the hallway. A part of him longed to turn around and reveal the full truth of their situation—the real reason he had promised to keep her safe, the truth behind his disappearance from society and the reason it needed to be this way. He had told himself he was biding his time, gathering all his facts. He hadn’t expected the imminent issue of Duarte’s death certificate to completely force his hand this way.
The Vows He Must Keep (Mills & Boon Modern) (The Avelar Family Scandals, Book 1) Page 2
