Marrying Cade

by Sally Clements

  Cade’s voice softened, and he reached out to her, pulling her hand into his. “You made a mistake. Gambled with the family’s future. It was a mistake I’ve never forgiven my father for, but one I’m trying to forgive you for.” Because I love you. The thought ran through Cade’s mind and his muscles seized in shock. He couldn’t be in love with Melo. Couldn’t. But as her eyes misted over he realized he was.

  “You’re not listening,” Melo said in a strong, clear voice. She pulled her hand away. “I am not responsible for gambling with my family’s future, my father is. He made the decision to invest without consulting me. If he had, I would have given him the same advice I give all my clients, to avoid them like the plague.”

  “It’s big of you to try to forgive me,” she continued in an icy voice. “But I’m not the one in need of your forgiveness. My family needs my inheritance to pay for my father’s mistake. And that’s where me being a doormat comes in, because I’m not going to block the sale of Paradise Beach to you. Because I care more for my family than I do for money. If that makes me a fool, so be it.”

  Confusion dulled Cade’s mind as he tried to follow Melo’s words. She wasn’t responsible? His throat was dry, and he swallowed.

  Hurt blazed in her eyes, and her body was stiff, as if holding herself together by mere force of will.

  “Why wouldn’t he—”

  Her voice was bitter. “I told you. My father has no interest in taking advice from his daughter, not when it matters anyway.”

  “And yet he expects you to sort out the problem,” Cade finished.

  “Yes.” Melo’s shoulders drooped, and she looked down at the table, defeated.

  “It isn’t your mess to sort out. The beach means something to you. If it’s yours, you shouldn’t give it up for anyone.” Cade walked around the table and pulled her up into his arms. “Perhaps I can organize bridging finance, invest in the winery as a silent partner…”

  Melo pulled away from him. Her eyes widened. “Why would you? It’s more my problem than it is yours. Just because we slept together doesn’t make you responsible any more than it does me. The winery is a family business; Marco would never agree to take on a partner who wasn’t related.”

  “I care about you,” Cade answered, feeling like a broken record saying the same thing over and over. “I want to help.”

  Melo folded her arms across her chest. Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear what she said. “That’s not a good enough reason, Cade. You’re a family friend, not family.”

  “I could be family.” The words came out before Cade could think them through, tumbling out like dry grains of sand trickling through fingers. “You could marry me.”

  Melo looked so shocked, he stilled. The idea had obviously never crossed her mind, but as he said the words he realized it was the perfect solution to both their problems. He couldn’t see a future without Melo in it. Adam had found happiness, was it such a reach to think he could find happiness too? “Listen, I know it’s sudden, but I love being with you and we’re good together, you know we are. And we have to stop Felix Mezzuti from getting his hands on the beach, he’d destroy it.”

  “We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Melo avoided his eyes as she took a step further away. “I need time alone.” With a wavering smile that didn’t reach as far as her vivid blue eyes, she crossed her arms. “Tomorrow,” she whispered, walking to the cabin.

  ****

  As Cade suggested marriage, something inside Melo shriveled and died. She’d wanted to cry, wanted to rage at the world, but instead she put it all off, needing to escape more than anything else at that moment.

  She’d dreamed of Cade proposing. For years as a dreamy teenager she fantasized about them falling in love, and one day standing on the beach with Cade holding her hand and asking her to be his wife. The difference between her childish dream and the brutal reality was so intense pain burned in her throat. Guilt at suspecting her of being responsible for the whole disaster had propelled him into making that ridiculous suggestion, one he first tried to justify by “caring about her” and then revealed his true intention, to stop Felix Mezzuti gaining control of the beach. He was still thinking money could solve every problem. But without love, what would their marriage be but an empty sham? How long before they settled on an amicable divorce? Marco would have no problem with being in business with her ex husband after all.

  A black well of pain and disappointment settled in the region of her heart. She closed her eyes and gave in to it for a moment, then one remembered word floated up from the blackness.

  Mezzuti? Her head swam with the realization she’d missed a vital piece of the puzzle. If Cade didn’t take up his offer, her father intended to sell to Felix Mezzuti, the head of Mezzuti Investments, the same man who’d been after land on Isola dei Fiori for years. The man her father resolutely refused to sell to in the past.

  This could be no coincidence. Mezzuti would be much more interested in getting a lien on land than he ever would in her father’s money. He must have engineered things to ensure Marco would have no option but to sell to him. Must have carefully manipulated the older man, under the guise of a solid gold investment opportunity.

  Melo glanced out of the window, making out Cade’s shadowy form sitting at the table. She pushed back her hair with a shaking hand. She couldn’t think about him now. Couldn’t shred her heart any longer. He was an honorable man, determined to see her as a damsel in distress in need of saving.

  Melo went into the bedroom where she’d left her bags, and closed the door firmly. She unzipped her carry-on bag and pulled out her laptop and the sheaf of files she’d brought with her from the Bellucci villa.

  She’d been mourning the loss of Paradise Beach as if it were a done deal, instead of focusing her attention on this new, intriguing possibility. That the man who had conned a raft of hapless investors out of their life savings might have slipped up somewhere along the way. Might have thought he was dealing with one old, ill man, and in his greed, been careless.

  She set up the laptop on a desk in the corner of the room and powered it up. There was plenty of room on the heavy oak desk, so she opened the sheaf of papers, and copies of the documents her father had signed. Felix Mezzuti may have thought her stubborn father wouldn’t seek her opinion before making the deal, but if he thought for one moment she wouldn’t search through the paperwork, examining every word looking for a solution, he was dead wrong.

  She was a damsel in distress all right. But damned determined to rescue herself.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It wasn’t exactly a love seat, but it wasn’t a full length sofa either, and every inch of Cade’s long frame ached as he swung his legs onto the rug and levered himself up to sitting. He kneaded his neck and stretched it side to side to ease out the kinks. Sleeping on the sofa had never been part of the plan. He hadn’t exactly slept either. Part of him waited for the bedroom door to open, and for Melo to come out and talk to him. Maybe even take him back to bed with her. Fat chance.

  With a groan, Cade stood, his leg muscles protesting as he stretched them out and headed in to the kitchen area to put on a pot of strong coffee.

  While he waited for the coffee machine to do its job, he pushed open the door and strode down toward the lake. The sun was coming up accompanied by birdsong in the early dawn. The foreshore was covered in pebbles washed smooth by the clear lake water, and the glasslike surface was broken by spreading circles as fish snapped up insects dipping too close. Cade ran a hand through his hair, and stooped to pick up a flat stone, weighing it in his hands and caressing the smooth surface for a moment before skipping it along the surface.

  Everything had changed, and for the life of him he couldn’t work out where the hell it had all gone so wrong. After his proposal the shock in Melo’s eyes had cut him to the core. For the first time in a long time he’d felt raw, exposed, vulnerable. Dammit, he should have told her he loved her, not just cared for her, but thank God he hadn’t
.

  She obviously didn’t feel the same. After all, what had she told him the night they’d fallen into bed at the hotel? Let’s enjoy the time we have together. His hands clenched into fists. She wasn’t looking for a long-term thing. And why should she be? He’d made his aversion to a permanent relationship more than clear. The fact the world had shifted on its axis in the time they’d been together was immaterial.

  She wanted him; she couldn’t hide her body’s reaction or the desire flickering in her eyes every time they met his. But wanting someone short-term was a very different prospect to loving someone.

  She hadn’t been able to get away from him quickly enough.

  Cade’s chest felt tight and he strode along the lakeshore away from the cabin, breathing in deep lungfuls of the frigid air. She’d smiled, obviously not wanting to hurt his feelings, but she’d run all the same. And this morning they would “talk,” and the fact she hadn’t at any stage left the bedroom last night was an ominous sign.

  Whatever happened next would be her decision. If she didn’t want him, he’d make sure she took his money, anyway. After all, he could afford to buy the beach without building on it. Cade bent to pick up a branch of twisted wood, bleached white in the sun, and ran his fingers over its knotted surface before flinging it into the undergrowth fringing the water.

  Once all this was behind them, maybe he could show her how he felt. Show her by being there that they could build a future together. A thought weaved through his mind but he pushed it away firmly. He wouldn’t think that it was over. It could never be over.

  ****

  The smell of fragrant coffee hung in the air as Melo pushed open the door of the bedroom, and glanced around. The room was empty, the discarded blanket on the sofa the only sign Cade had been there. She padded across the floor in her socks, and pulled down a cup from the cupboard, filling it with coffee and adding a splash of milk from the fridge.

  She’d stayed up practically all night, searching through the paperwork. Eventually she found what she was looking for. The investment contract was with The Bellucci Winery, not her father. Melo felt sure that since he was chairman, not a sole proprietor, the entire deal had been illegal. Now, she urgently needed to get to Rome to see Aldo Renda, the lawyer Cade had engaged to investigate the veracity of her claim.

  The thought of talking to Cade had her stomach in knots. She strode to the door, jerked it open, and settled down on the chair by the table. There was no sign of Cade. Calm settled in her by degrees as she gazed out over the lake, glistening where the sun hit it. It was so beautiful here, so completely untouched. Nature in all its glory. The cabin was the only addition to the unspoiled environment and was so skillfully made it seemed a perfectly natural addition. As she’d always dreamed the house she’d build on Paradise Beach would be. A complement rather than an eyesore.

  She swallowed a mouthful of coffee. Closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her eyelids as she tuned out her own thoughts and surrendered to the sounds of the forest. The breeze brushed the high branches of the trees, rustling the leaves. Somewhere, far away, an animal bellowed, perhaps a cow, or a moose. The sound was indistinct, and Melo let her mind drift over the possibilities. A thud, then another. Muffled but regular. Coming from behind the cabin. Melo opened her eyes to the blue sky. She would miss being here. Their time in Canada had been too short, but she needed to get back to Italy to meet with Mr. Renda. And there was no time to spare.

  Rising from the chair with a reluctant sigh, Melo swallowed the last mouthful of coffee and set off to investigate.

  The thudding got louder as she came into the clearing and paused, hidden by the trees that ringed it. Melo pulled in a deep breath, and stared.

  A shirtless Cade was splitting logs cleanly with a single stroke of an axe. His skin gleamed with a faint sheen of perspiration, and the muscles in his back and shoulders flexed powerfully as he took aim and brought the heavy axe down again and again.

  Melo couldn’t tear her eyes away.

  It wasn’t fair. All she wanted to do was walk over, touch him. Reach up and bring his mouth down to hers, and tumble into bed with him for the rest of the day. His jeans rode low on his hips. She knew the front view of his rock-hard body would be just as spectacular. She took one step forward, her body acting on automatic in response to her thoughts. Drawn toward him like a moth to a flame.

  A twig cracked underfoot, and Cade hesitated mid-swing, the axe lowering to hang at his side. He turned and saw her, then slammed the axe into the tree trunk he’d been chopping on, and ran his hands over his thighs.

  “Good morning,” Melo croaked, cursing the fact her voice was misbehaving, when she so desperately wanted to sound strong and capable. She strode across the clearing, relief blooming inside as he smiled. “Are you coming in for coffee?”

  “I could sure do with some,” he answered, his gaze lingering on her lips for a moment before he grabbed his T-shirt from the ground nearby and straightened. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “Not really,” Melo admitted, striding to the house. “I have to go back to Italy.”

  A touch on her arm stopped her mid stride. “What?”

  “I have to see someone in Rome.” Melo avoided his eyes, not wanting to share her suspicions until she had concrete proof, a definite solution to her family’s problems. “I have to go back sooner than I planned.”

  His hand dropped from her arm and an uncomfortable silence blossomed between them. “You don’t have to leave. If what I said last night makes you uncomfortable, I won’t talk about it again, but you don’t have to leave.”

  There was no getting away from it then. “It’s not that—I have a meeting to get to. It’s work.”

  He didn’t believe her. She could tell from the way he held himself, aloof and reserved. Closed off.

  “Come on, let’s go in. We can talk.”

  He followed her silently into the house. Slipped the T-shirt over his head, and crossed his arms. Waiting. Melo pulled in a deep breath, pushed the discarded blanket to one side and sat down on the sofa. To her relief he didn’t sit down next to her, but instead settled on a rocking chair opposite.

  “About last night…” she started, feeling her face warm with heat as he regarded her silently. This was much harder than she’d anticipated. “I appreciate your offer, but I don’t want to marry you, Cade. If the beach must be sold, then I’d be happy to sell to you.”

  She twisted her hands together and wished he’d say something. Show some emotion.

  He stared back impassively.

  Nerves compelled her to elaborate. “We don’t need to complicate things between us—we’re friends—”

  “We’re a lot more than friends,” he said, in a deep husky voice.

  Melo nodded. “A lot more. But we don’t need to marry to find a solution to this problem. We always knew this was temporary.” Why was he looking so…so hurt? “Let’s not let a difficult situation force us into something neither of us really want.”

  Cade’s expression shuttered. “You’re right of course. There’s no need for that.” He stood. “I’ll take a quick shower and then we’ll go back to the hotel and organize flights. When are you going back to Isola dei Fiori?”

  Melo did some quick calculations in her head. Rosa and Adam would be returning from honeymoon in five days; the deadline to pay Mezzuti was a week away. If she was wrong, or couldn’t reverse the situation by then, the beach would have to be sold.

  “I’ll be back on the island by the eleventh.”

  ****

  “So, what’s next?”

  Melo stretched out her jeans-clad legs and glanced across the acres of dark mahogany desk at Aldo Renda.

  He pushed his tortoiseshell glasses up with a finger, and put down his pen on the desk’s surface.

  “As you supposed, the contract is invalid due to the fact that the investment wasn’t sanctioned by the board. But the fact that your father signed it is damning for him. Mezzuti could claim he signed the contr
act fraudulently, should they desire. And if the board decides to press charges…” Aldo grimaced. “Your father could be facing a jail sentence for fraud.”

  Fear pulsed through Melo. Her frail father couldn’t be put into that position, but really, what choice did they have? She couldn’t protect him any further; his bold black signature on the papers ensured that.

  “What if the board could be persuaded not to press charges?” Melo held her breath for Aldo’s answer.

  “If they did that, he could escape prosecution. But Mezzuti could still decide to sue—and at that stage it would be out of our hands, I’m afraid.”

  Melo twisted her hands together. A headache pounded in her temples. She’d spent two long days barricaded in the room with Aldo. Her eyes ached from reading through endless papers.

  Two days of intense work, with sleepless nights between, did nothing to ease the strain. Every time her eyes closed, an image of Cade drifted to the surface. Walking on the lakeshore, wielding the axe in the clearing, with his glistening body flexing in the sunlight. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t settle, couldn’t find any peace in the Eternal City. Even her usual addictions—the little shops stuffed with jewelry and shoes on the route to the Spanish steps—failed to alter her mood or distract her. When she’d arrived in Rome Aldo had regretfully told her that her father was right, he was the legal owner of Paradise Beach, not her. And she hadn’t cared. Not really. Not when she remembered what else she’d lost.

  She’d told Cade no and walked away. Her reasons were perfectly valid, but her heart ached with the prospect that their romance was over. She didn’t think she’d ever get over it.

  She forced her mind back to the matter at hand.

  “Surely they would have to do due diligence, make sure he was entitled to sign on behalf of the company?” She felt like she were clutching at straws, but couldn’t banish the suspicion that Mezzuti knew exactly what they were doing, and would have done everything in their power to slant things in their favor. They wouldn’t be above bending the rules.