A Shocking Proposal in Sicily

by Rachael Thomas

  She shook her head slowly. ‘I don’t know. It just felt right. Whatever was between us that night, whatever it was that drew us to one another so strongly, was right.’

  She blinked hard and he replayed the moments before she’d all but seduced him once more. She’d thought he was a waiter, that he worked in the bar. The truth of that question was as obvious as her innocence had been as he’d claimed it—claimed her. The knowledge satisfied him that her so-called deal was indeed born out of a need to help her country, her people. After all, she could simply refuse to marry this Nassif but, just like him, she couldn’t walk away from family duty.

  He sighed impatiently, wishing his friend Franco were here right now to help him. To listen to his torrent of questions. But this decision was entirely his to make and he knew Franco would stand by his original advice. A romantic at heart, Franco would be sure to say that if there was an attraction, chemistry, what could go wrong? Was he looking for problems that weren’t there? Things he didn’t need to worry over? No, he was doing what he usually did when his emotions were threatened. When his defensive barriers were almost breached, as she had subtly begun doing after they’d first made love, asking him for his story, he built them higher. Stronger.

  ‘Is it the Casella fortune or that night which makes me the ideal candidate to be Princess Kaliana’s husband?’ He couldn’t keep the serious tone from his voice, even though he wanted to tease her playfully.

  The more he thought about the idea of marriage to her, the more it seemed right. He and Kaliana had shared something amazing that night in London. She’d given him her virginity—a gift he hadn’t realised he’d taken until it was too late—so didn’t that mean he was the ideal candidate, even without his wealth?

  ‘There is much for us both to gain with this marriage deal.’ She moved away from him, calmer now. In control once more. ‘In return for your financial support, my family name will, I’m sure, be of use to you in business. Renewable energy is a market ripe for expansion in Ardu Safra and beyond. Our marriage will also be built on the attraction we have for one another. Love isn’t required to make it a success.’

  ‘I can’t ever promise anything like love,’ he said firmly, needing the boundaries around him. Another thought, one more worrying, barged into his mind. ‘What if you need more? What if one day you find more with someone else?’

  She looked at him firmly. The cool and sophisticated Princess was back in play. The woman he’d met in London had slipped beneath the aloof exterior. ‘I have had my chance at love. It hurts to lose it, and I don’t need or want that kind of pain in my life. Love is not on the agenda, Rafe. Purely convenience.’

  He folded his arms, hating this discussion. This topic. He’d never discussed such a thing with a woman so openly. ‘And what we had that night, the spark of attraction, the sexual chemistry, proves this deal—our marriage—has a chance of working without love?’

  ‘It proves exactly that,’ Kaliana said, flushing once more, reminding him of the innocent virgin she’d been as she’d looked at him as he’d claimed her. Made her his.

  ‘And what about children?’ He asked the question, hating the answer, hating that his father was pushing him to do just that. He couldn’t envisage himself holding a child of his own.

  ‘You have already told me you need a son to continue the Casella name. Don’t forget, Rafe, I am a princess. An heir will be expected of our marriage, but...’ her voice trailed off and mischief sparkled in her eyes ‘...if you object to that, I understand.’

  Object? To another night like that night in London? Was she serious? ‘I have no objection,’ he said far more calmly than he felt. He certainly didn’t object to more hot sex with Kaliana, but he did object to the idea of fathering a child. Fear of being as cold and unloving as his father had cemented that idea in his mind long ago and now duty to his father, his family, meant he had to find a way to get past that.

  ‘Then you accept my deal?’

  He didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to answer. All he knew was that if he allowed her to walk away again he’d regret it. Whatever it was between them wasn’t over yet. Wasn’t finished. And if it meant entering into a marriage deal, one that would enable him to keep Pietra Bianca safe and maybe even please his father, be the better son, then he would do it.

  After all, marriages could be broken. Ended.

  ‘Very well. I accept your deal.’

  The relief on her face made him smile. She was as desperate to make this marriage as he was. But he wasn’t done yet. She’d made her terms very clear, but he had some of his own to bring to the table.

  * * *

  ‘I do, however, have terms of my own.’ Rafe’s words left Kaliana speechless for a few seconds, tension filling her. He couldn’t do this to her. Couldn’t make demands now. Not after kissing her like that. Making such a scene as he’d all but dragged her back into the room, passion gripping them both. She blushed at the thought of how it must have looked. Like lovers who needed to get a room. Like they must have looked at the bar in London. She blushed at the memory.

  Finally, she found her voice, but it was more of a stutter as uncertainty gripped her. ‘What conditions?’

  ‘I am a Sicilian. And we are a proud lot.’ Humour weaved into his voice, lifting the tension. He looked so handsome, so irresistible. His dark eyes sparkled, his lips curving into that sexy smile.

  She almost laughed as the mood lightened, becoming more like the time they’d spent together in London. ‘I had worked that much out.’

  His eyes fixed to hers, questioning if she was making fun of him. Seriousness took over once again, making Kaliana feel dizzy from the seesawing emotions. ‘And I will not have anyone think I am marrying as part of a deal.’

  ‘Is that why you just kissed me? In front of those people out there?’ The questions rushed from her before she could stop them. ‘To make it look like we are lovers?’

  ‘No, Kaliana.’ He smiled, that sinfully sexy smile he’d used in the bar of the hotel in London making her heart flutter as the zap of attraction rushed over her once more. What would it be like if he’d kissed her because he wanted to? She held her breath as he moved a little closer, his expression dark and serious. ‘I kissed you because I wanted to.’

  Kaliana’s tummy flipped over. He had wanted to kiss her. Just as she had wanted him to. And she’d kissed him back with as much fervour as he’d kissed her. ‘What are your conditions?’

  ‘I do need to marry, yes, that is very true. I can also relieve the financial pressures your country faces. But I will not have it said we married out of necessity. I don’t want anyone to know this is a deal brokered between us. After our little floor show just now, I’m sure the tongues are already wagging.’

  ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’ If word got out just who she was, any chance of living quietly until her wedding day would be over. She’d be forced to take on the role of a princess, might even be forced to return to Ardu Safra, where she would have guards assigned and be unable to be herself. To be free. She didn’t want her children growing up locked away from reality as she had been.

  ‘It’s exactly what we need.’ Rafe’s words brought her hurtling back to the reality of this moment. The reality of brokering a marriage deal with Raffaele Casella.

  ‘Why, Rafe? Why do we need that?’

  ‘If we are to marry, I want everyone to think it is because we want to do so. I want people to believe it’s real. Believe we are in love. A whirlwind romance, no?’ Kaliana’s heart pounded as he said those last words. Love was what she still secretly desired but she was scared in case it couldn’t happen twice in a lifetime. Mentally she shook herself. Whatever this was between her and Rafe, it was more like lust.

  ‘Why would you want to do that?’ Nerves made her voice quiver.

  ‘I have spent all my adult life avoiding the state of matrimony. I told myself I ne
ver wanted to succumb to the dangerous emotion of love. My family and friends know this, so we need to convince them otherwise.’

  ‘And you are a man who doesn’t want to let love into his life?’ They were more suited than he knew, but the look on his face told her she’d spoken the truth. For whatever reason, Rafe refused to let love into his heart or his life.

  ‘How well you already know me. But what about you? Do you seek love in your life?’ He walked away from her, back towards the window, giving her much-needed breathing space. At least she could think more clearly now without her heart pounding so loudly.

  ‘No.’ The word snapped from her. Was she trying to convince herself? Or Rafe? She was already dangerously drawn to him. Already he was making her forget Alif. Forget all they’d had. But what would happen if he crept into her heart? If she began to feel something for him? She pushed the questions aside. ‘I have known love once and that is enough. I don’t seek it any more.’

  ‘Bene. Then I suggest we go out there and show everyone how we feel about each other.’

  ‘How we feel?’ The mischief in his eyes did terrible things to her. Made clear and concise thought impossible.

  ‘That we are mad for one another.’ He smiled at her and her stomach flipped over, tingles of pleasure rushing through her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LATER THAT EVENING, Rafe had stood at her side as she’d called her father, his official request for her hand in marriage met with unexpected enthusiasm.

  ‘Kaliana and I are both duty-bound to make a marriage that will benefit our families and I would like to ask you for your daughter’s hand in marriage.’ Rafe’s strong and determined voice had filled her with confidence. Everything was going to be all right.

  ‘It’s not the woman,’ her father had said, the ruler he’d become booming loudly down the phone. ‘You also marry the kingdom. Are you man enough for that?’

  ‘I most certainly am.’ Rafe’s confident reply had made her smile and now, over a week later, as they sat having lunch outside a small restaurant, she couldn’t help but smile at the memory of it.

  His brows flicked upwards as he saw her smiling. ‘You have a beautiful smile.’

  ‘I was thinking about the way you all but told Father we were getting married.’ She hid her confused embarrassment at the compliment. ‘I just hope your father is as pleased when I meet him this afternoon.’

  ‘He will be.’ Rafe glanced at the other couples having lunch, all of them more interested in them than their food. ‘It seems our news has travelled fast.’

  ‘Sadly, yes. My cover has been blown and now I have to be Princess Kaliana.’ She sighed. ‘Which means I have to give up the life I’d made in London.’

  ‘It had to happen. Whoever you married, that life could never be part of it. Even I know that.’ Rafe genuinely sounded remorseful and she smiled as he settled the bill. ‘Before we see my father, I’d like to take you somewhere quiet. Somewhere that will give us time and space to get to know one another a little better.’

  Kaliana looked across at him. Time to be alone with Rafe was what she’d hoped for all week. What she’d yearned for like a lovestruck teenager. ‘I’d like that.’

  When they returned to his car, a soft laugh escaped her, one born of nerves. ‘It’s not easy getting to know the man I’m going to marry when we are always acting the romantic couple just because we are being watched. I’d like to get to know you better. The real you.’

  He looked at her, seriousness filling his eyes, his dark, demanding gaze holding hers. The ever-present tension ramped up around them, the interior of his sleek car becoming far too confining.

  ‘You want to get to know me?’ Surprise filled his voice and a delicious sense of anticipation slipped over her. It didn’t last long. ‘Do you not know all you need to know?’

  Kaliana swallowed back her surprise. He was reminding her that this was just a deal. This wasn’t real. And whatever foolish sentiments were in her mind she’d do well to keep them to herself because she was in danger of reading too much into every smile, every caress, every kiss.

  ‘Of course.’ She kept her voice light, her smile disguising her shock. Her disappointment. She focused her attention in front of her, willing him to start driving. To stop looking at her. She needed to get her wayward thoughts in order, back into the mindset that this was just a deal and could never be anything else.

  Each date they’d been on last week had proved to her she’d done the right thing. That together they made a good team. That they could both fulfil the requirements of their families with their marriage. And maybe she could have part of her secret wish and at least they could be happy together. Something she couldn’t envisage happening with Nassif.

  Not once had she and Rafe talked intimately. Not once had they shared who they really were. Kaliana knew she was guilty of hiding behind barriers and defensive walls. So, was it the same for Rafe? Was he using their role play of romance and his family duty as a barrier?

  ‘Then I know the perfect place,’ he said, turning his attention to manoeuvring the car into the traffic.

  Within seconds they were in the flow of traffic, heading out of Palermo. She glanced across at him; his eyes were rigidly fixed on the road ahead. As if he didn’t dare look at her. As if he could sense her gradually changing feelings towards him.

  ‘Somewhere peaceful we can talk sounds perfect.’ She couldn’t help the small sigh of satisfaction at the thought. ‘Just talk and get to know one another.’

  ‘Better than we got to know one another in London?’ This time he did glance across at her and that teasing sparkle filled his eyes. She never knew where she stood with him. Was that his way of keeping this arrangement purely that? His way of preventing it from ever coming anywhere near something more meaningful?

  Kaliana’s breath shuddered from her. She wanted to look away, wanted to hide herself from him, but she couldn’t.

  Instead she laughed. ‘Raffaele Casella, you are incorrigible.’ Then she turned to look out of the window, hiding the flush spreading over her cheeks. What was the matter with her?

  She watched the view of the sparkling sea as they drove along the coast road. Anything other than look at him and give into the fizz of attraction which hummed through her. It sizzled in the air around them. Waiting to explode.

  Rafe’s silence continued as they turned off the coast road and began driving along narrow twisting lanes. It all looked so beautiful, but Kaliana couldn’t speak. Her throat was dry, her nerves on edge. Was this what being alone with him would be like?

  ‘Am I really incorrigible?’ he asked, teasing her from her silence as he pulled the car off the road.

  She turned to look at him, trying to beat down the intensity of her feelings. Sensations she couldn’t put a name to. ‘Yes, you are.’ She smiled, unable to help herself be anything but charmed by him. By his sexy smile. She arched a brow upwards, feeling as flirtatious as she had that night in the bar.

  He looked at her, the silence heavy, and she lowered her gaze, then looked up from beneath her lashes. ‘I like that about you.’

  Her gaze locked with his, her heart thudding wildly in her chest. So much so that when he glanced lower she was sure he must be able to see her pulse thumping at the base of her throat. ‘Why are we here, Rafe?’ she asked, needing to change the subject.

  She had to get out of the confines of the car. Away from the scent of the man she’d given herself to with complete abandon, believing it would be her only chance at finding such pleasure.

  Now she was about to marry him.

  Except this version of Rafe wasn’t the man she’d met that night. That man was as much of an enigma as she had been. They’d lost themselves with such abandon that night, and she certainly hadn’t expected to see him again. Much less be preparing to marry him.

  ‘We are here to learn more about each other,�
�� he said, his voice husky as he looked into her eyes, making her pulse thump ever harder. ‘This is what you want, is it not, cara mia?’

  * * *

  ‘Here?’ Kaliana teased him with a smile and Rafe gritted his teeth against the hot spark of lust hurtling straight to his groin. How could this woman make him feel like this? How could his desire for her still be so strong? Unquenched?

  Because you still want her. The voice of reason slammed into him. You couldn’t get enough of her that night, weren’t ready to end the encounter, but she walked out on you.

  He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Trying to push away those damning thoughts. He had to get out of the car. Had to get away from her before he did something stupid like kiss her. Again. There was no way he was going to allow her to know she had any kind of power over him. At least not sexual power.

  ‘This is Pietra Bianca. It was my mother’s land,’ he said, turning the engine off, the silence suddenly heavy around them.

  ‘I can tell it’s very special to you.’ Kaliana looked across at him, unnerving him with her ability to see what he didn’t want her to see.

  ‘It’s a place full of memories. Happy memories of a childhood with Enzo.’ She was doing it again. Slipping under that defensive barrier he’d built around himself. Dragging him out. Exposing his innermost emotions.

  ‘Are you sure you want to be here today?’ she questioned slowly. Tentatively.

  ‘Sì.’ He grappled with English briefly as the urge to reach across the car and stroke his fingers down her cheek almost took over. Instead he opened the door, the August heat rushing into the air-conditioned interior. A heat that nowhere near matched the hot desire as he’d answered the primal call Kaliana’s body had made to his in the hotel bar that night. Heat and desire that was still very much alive. That kiss at the charity event had proved that. A week of very public dates hadn’t lessened it. The inability to touch her, hold her, kiss her, as he had done that first night, only intensifying his need. His desire.