The Ruthless Marriage Proposal

by Miranda Lee

  ‘My grandmother took me in,’ he went on before she asked. ‘She was a wonderful woman. You remind me of her, you know?’

  ‘Your grandmother? Well, thank you very much!’

  He laughed. ‘Not in looks. In your calm demeanour.’

  ‘You keep saying how calm I am. I’m not always so calm. I learned a degree of composure when I worked on reception at the Regency. You come across some difficult clients in the hospitality industry, I can tell you. And of course I had to keep a tight rein on my emotions when I was nursing my mother. It wouldn’t have helped her if I’d gone around crying all the time. Which was what I wanted to do.’

  ‘It’s not such a bad thing. To learn to control one’s emotions.’

  ‘I suppose not. I presume your grandmother has passed away?’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes. Just before I made my first million. I would have loved to have bought her the world. Not that she probably would have appreciated it,’ Sebastian added with a warm smile in his voice. ‘Gran didn’t hanker for material things.’

  ‘They’re not the be-all and end-all,’ Emily said.

  ‘Maybe not. But when you’ve been as poor as I’ve been, Emily, you feel differently about money. People like me go one of two ways. You either fall by the wayside or you’re driven to succeed.’

  ‘Well, you certainly succeeded. But there comes a time, Sebastian, when enough is enough. Maybe you should slow down a bit.’

  ‘I intend to. With you. And our children.’

  ‘Our children? You mean you want more than one?’

  ‘Absolutely. If I’m going to take the plunge into fatherhood, I wouldn’t want to have just one. It’s too lonely for the child. Which reminds me. Now that we’re getting married, do you think we could dispense with the condoms? Or am I going too quick for you again?’

  Emily shook her head at him in disbelief. ‘Are you always this decisive?’

  ‘Pretty much so. But maybe I should mention that I’ve run out of condoms and we don’t have the time to stop and buy some more.’

  ‘That’s blackmail!’

  ‘No,’ he said with a sexy grin. ‘That’s negotiation. So is it full steam ahead with the baby-making project before I have to jet off into the wide blue yonder?’

  ‘You always make it impossible for me to say no!’

  ‘Come now. You want to say yes. You know you do.’

  She closed her eyes, then sighed. ‘Very well. Yes…’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘WOW!’ the hairdresser exclaimed when his job was finished. ‘Here. Let me show you the back.’ And he held up the mirror so that Emily could see the back of her new hair-do.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she replied happily. ‘You’ve done a wonderful job, Ty. Thank you so much.’

  ‘You know, sweetie, I wasn’t too sure when you came in this morning and asked me to cut your hair short, then colour it blonde. But you were right. It looks fabulous on you.’

  It did. It really did. And she did have an elegant neck. Truly, she looked ten years younger, and very much in fashion.

  Which reminded her of her less than fashionable wardrobe, not to mention Sebastian’s request that she buy something seriously sexy for tonight.

  ‘I’m going to hit the shops now,’ she said happily as she picked up her handbag and stood up. ‘I need some new clothes to go with my new look.’

  ‘And your newly engaged status,’ Ty said with a pointed glance at her ring as they walked over to the desk together.

  ‘Oh. You noticed,’ Emily said, genuinely surprised. She’d only been to this hairdresser twice before. Once for a trim a few months back, then last week when she’d been going for that interview.

  Of course, hairdressers were observant people. Especially gay ones, which Ty obviously was.

  ‘Hard not to notice a rock like that, sweetie. Looks like you’ve landed yourself a real prize.’

  ‘He’s my boss.’

  ‘The one you were planning on leaving?’

  Emily realised she must have chattered away quite a bit at the hairdresser’s last week. She did that when she was nervous.

  ‘Yes, that one,’ she admitted.

  Ty’s finely plucked eyebrows arched. ‘The mobile phone magnate?’

  Emily winced. What hadn’t she told him?

  She nodded as she handed over her credit card.

  ‘Ooh,’ Ty said with tightly pursed lips. ‘Clever girl.’

  ‘I’m not marrying him for his money, Ty.’

  The hairdresser’s dark eyes gleamed knowingly. ‘Of course not. Now, when I do your hair for your wedding don’t forget to mention this salon’s name to all and sundry.’

  Emily laughed. ‘You’re a wicked opportunist.’

  ‘Takes one to know one, sweetie. Now, sign here.’ And he placed the credit slip on top of the counter.

  A wicked opportunist?

  Emily thought about that description of herself as she walked from the salon. Was that how the cleaner had viewed her this morning when Emily had revealed she’d become engaged to Sebastian over the weekend?

  Julie hadn’t said much, but she’d had a look in her eyes not dissimilar to Ty’s.

  Emily supposed there might be quite a lot of people who thought the same thing. She wouldn’t be the first housekeeper to snare her wealthy employer as a husband, the same way some female secretaries did, both having the opportunity to use their close-quarter jobs as a stepping stone to further intimacy.

  But anyone who knows me would not think that, she reasoned.

  But who of Sebastian’s friends and employees really knows me?

  None of them.

  All they know is my housekeeper image, the one with the mousy hair and clothes and personality to match.

  If I suddenly show up on Sebastian’s arm, all glammed up, they’re sure to think I’m a gold-digger. At the same time, I can’t marry Sebastian looking frumpy.

  I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.

  Her cellphone suddenly ringing had Emily’s heart leaping and her hands diving into her bag. It had to be Sebastian, letting her know when he’d be coming home. He’d rung her last night once he’d got off the plane, then again this morning, insisting that when she went out today she take her mobile with her.

  ‘Yes?’ she said, heart fluttering.

  ‘Where are you?’

  It was Sebastian.

  ‘Down at Birkenhead Point.’

  ‘Shopping for a new dress?’

  ‘For a whole new wardrobe.’

  ‘In one day? I doubt you’ll manage that.’

  ‘You could be right. I’ve just spent all morning having my hair done.’

  ‘How does it look?’

  ‘I think you’ll like it.’

  ‘Did you ring that employment agency and tell them you weren’t accepting that job?’

  ‘Yes. They weren’t too pleased.’

  ‘They’ll get over it.’

  ‘How are things going up there?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ve already persuaded the foreman back on the job, for a price. But I don’t want to leave prematurely. I’m going to talk to all the other workers this afternoon and offer them bonuses as well, if they bring this job in on time. I don’t want to be running back up here next week, when things go pear-shaped again. Which they might if that idiot foreman opens his big mouth and blabs about his extra bonus.’

  Emily’s heart sank. ‘Does that mean you won’t be home tonight?’

  ‘Are you kidding? Wild horses won’t keep me away. I just can’t guarantee my time of arrival. At the moment I’m booked on a plane which will get me home around eight. But there’s one an hour earlier. If I can make that one, I will. But it’s doubtful.’

  ‘That’s all right, as long as you make it tonight. Do you want me to book somewhere for dinner?’

  ‘Nope. That’s my job, one I can easily do from here. Now, go get yourself that new dress, and if you spot a bed you like, buy that as well. I’ll pay you back, of
course.’

  ‘I’d rather you be with me when I go bed-buying. You did say I could change everything in that room, remember? I wouldn’t want to choose anything you didn’t like.’

  ‘Fair enough. I’d better get going.’

  ‘Sebastian…’

  ‘Yes?’

  I love you teetered on the tip of her tongue.

  ‘I miss you,’ she said instead.

  ‘I miss you too. That’s why I’m bending over backwards to settle this today.’

  ‘Ring me if things go wrong and you can’t make it.’

  ‘That won’t happen. Have a good day now, and don’t stint on what you buy.’

  She didn’t stint. She was downright extravagant, having to make two trips back to the car park with all her parcels. She bought more clothes and accessories in that afternoon than she had in the last five years. Fortunately, she had a healthy limit on her credit card. But she spent right up to that limit, choosing a variety of outfits, ranging from casual to dressy to evening wear. There were no dreary or dull colours in her new wardrobe, either. Everything was vibrant and colourful, in keeping with her new blonde hair.

  The traffic was bad by the time Emily headed home, peak hour having well and truly arrived. Despite it not being far from the shopping mall at Birkenhead Point to Hunter’s Hill, it was rising six by the time she reached home. The sun was very low in the sky and the shadows from the trees around the house were long against the stone walls.

  Emily parked her car outside the garage door, then set about the job of carting her parcels up the stairs to her apartment. Once they were all in her bedroom, she spread everything out on her bed, putting the accessories with each outfit.

  The dress she was going to wear tonight was exquisite. Made in turquoise silk, it was a wraparound style with a deep V neckline, three-quarter sleeves and a wide matching belt which was heavily beaded. She’d seen the dress displayed in a boutique window and fell in love with it instantly. Fell in love with the accessories as well, which included turquoise sandals and evening bag—also beaded. Completing the outfit were long crystal and turquoise earrings which fell to her shoulders and made her long neck look even longer.

  Emily could not wait to put it all on again. But she thought she’d better have a shower first and freshen up her make-up as well. Who knew? Sebastian might make it home by seven, which was less than an hour away.

  By twenty to seven she was totally ready and thrilled to bits with her appearance. Her blonde hair looked sensational against the turquoise.

  ‘Now that’s a woman who won’t look out of place on Sebastian’s arm,’ she told her reflection.

  Not able to sit and wait patiently in her apartment, Emily decided to go over to the main house and wait for Sebastian there. Maybe she could go up to his bedroom and pass the time, working out what kind of furniture and carpet would best suit. Hopefully, she could persuade Sebastian to take tomorrow off work. Then they could get started on ridding the room of Lana’s perfume, not to mention her lingering presence.

  Sebastian probably hadn’t noticed, but there were still some things of Lana’s hanging in his wardrobe. Some cosmetics on the vanity unit as well. Plus a half empty bottle of that dreaded perfume.

  Emily hadn’t dared throw any of it out before this. But tonight, she would.

  Taking her evening purse and set of keys with her, Emily had locked her door and turned to walk down the stairs when she noticed a light shining through Sebastian’s bedroom window.

  He must have just arrived home, she thought excitedly and hurried down the stairs.

  ‘Sebastian!’ she called out on entering the downstairs hall.

  No answer.

  Maybe he’d jumped into the shower and couldn’t hear her.

  Emily ran up the stairs, thinking how typical it was of a man not to ring her from the airport and let her know he’d managed to get that earlier flight. Still, perhaps he hadn’t wanted to stop, choosing instead to bolt for the taxi rank and jump into the first available taxi.

  As she hurried along the upstairs hallway, she couldn’t hear any shower running. There again, the walls in this house were extremely solid, unlike modern homes. Hard to hear anything much from room to room.

  His bedroom door was slightly ajar. Emily stopped and knocked, calling his name at the same time.

  Still no answer.

  Emily’s chest tightened as she reached out to push the door open. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

  She called Sebastian’s name again as she walked in, her stomach contracting the second that hated scent hit her nostrils.

  It was too strong. Way too strong.

  Lana was lying on the bed, sleeping, wearing nothing but an emerald silk robe. Her riot of red curls were spread out on the pillows, her robe gaping in all the right places.

  Clearly, the woman still had keys to Sebastian’s home. Also, clearly, she had left her Italian husband and come flying home to Australia, back to her one true love.

  Nausea swirled in Emily’s stomach, bile rising right up her throat into her mouth. Of all the things she’d imagined happening if she took the risk of becoming involved with Sebastian, this was not one of them. She’d thought—no presumed—Lana was out of their lives for ever.

  As though sensing her standing there, Lana woke with a start, then sat up abruptly, her wide green eyes confused as they swept over Emily.

  ‘Who the hell are you?’ she demanded to know as she swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. ‘Oh, don’t tell me Sebastian’s got himself a new floozy already.’

  Emily might have felt sick inside, but no way was she going to show any fear in front of Sebastian’s ex-girlfriend.

  ‘Don’t you recognise me, Lana?’ she said with seeming calm. ‘It’s Emily.’

  ‘Emily! My goodness, what have you done to yourself? Had an extreme makeover?’

  ‘No. Just had my hair done and bought a few new clothes.’

  ‘Trying to attract Sebastian’s attention, no doubt,’ Lana sneered, standing up and retying her robe. ‘I always knew you were stuck on him. Well you’ve wasted your time, sweetheart. I’m back and he’s still all mine.’

  ‘Not quite,’ Emily said and coolly held out her left hand, the diamond sparkling in the lamplight.

  Lana stared at her hand, then up at her face. ‘Are you telling me you’re engaged?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Since when?’

  ‘Since yesterday.’

  ‘My, but you are a fast little worker, aren’t you?’

  ‘You’ve been gone over a month, Lana,’ Emily pointed out.

  Lana laughed. ‘Most of which Seb spent texting me and begging me to come back to him.’

  Emily didn’t believe that. No way would Sebastian beg anybody for anything.

  ‘In the end he came after me, all the way to Milan.’

  ‘I do know that, Lana,’ Emily said coolly. ‘He told me. But not to get you back. To have done with you once and for all.’

  ‘Really? I presume then that he didn’t tell you that he had sex with me. Less than half an hour before I walked down the aisle. I was wearing my wedding dress at the time, might I add.’

  All the blood drained from Emily’s face.

  ‘Your fiancé’s sexually obsessed with me. Has been ever since the first night we met and I went down on him in the back of a limo. He loves it that I can make him lose control and do things he wouldn’t normally do. It drove him crazy, my marrying another man. Which is exactly what I planned. I never intended to stay with that boring, fat old coot. I just wanted to make Seb suffer for not marrying me himself. The way I see it, he only asked you to marry him to punish me. It’s a revenge thing. Now that I’m back, he’ll drop you like a hot cake. Because I’m the one he really wants. Not you, Miss Ice Cool. You might be able to set a nice dinner table, but I’m the one who lets him screw me on it.’

  ‘In that case, I’ll be buying a new dining table as well,’ Emily said, determined not
to let this creature destroy her. Not to her face, anyway.

  ‘As well as what?’ she snapped.

  ‘As well as all the furniture in this room. I don’t want any reminders of you hanging around the house.’

  Lana laughed. ‘Then you’d have to get rid of the whole place. Because I’ve screwed the master of the house just about everywhere in this place. Even in the garage. I’ll bet you’d never let him do you there, Miss Prissy.’

  Emily’s teeth clenched down hard in her jaw. ‘Then you’d be dead wrong, Miss Slut-Face.’

  She received some satisfaction from standing up to Lana. But there was no joy for her in this exchange. A great pit was already opening up in her stomach.

  ‘Does Sebastian know you’re here?’ she asked, not sure what she’d do if this creature said yes.

  ‘No. He does not,’ Sebastian snapped.

  When Emily whirled to see Sebastian striding into the room, her legs went to jelly. Immediately, Lana ran past her towards him, bursting into crocodile tears at the same time.

  ‘Oh, Seb, I’m so glad you’re home,’ she sobbed as she threw herself into his arms.

  Emily watched, appalled, as Lana snaked her arms up around his neck and pressed her thinly clad body to his.

  ‘I didn’t know where else to go,’ she cried. ‘Alfonso didn’t want me. He just married me to hide his homosexuality from his family. He spent our wedding night with his lover.’

  What an act, Emily thought disgustedly. And what a story!

  If Sebastian had been a violent man, he would have done violence right at that moment. When he glanced over Lana’s shoulder at his lovely Emily, who was looking heart-stoppingly gorgeous, he could see the distress in her eyes. And the disgust.

  He hadn’t overheard much of their conversation. But he suspected Lana must have said something to upset Emily very much.

  With less than gentle movements, he disengaged Lana’s talons from the back of his neck and forcibly pushed her away. Then he walked over to put his arm firmly around Emily’s waist, drawing her to his side.

  ‘I’m sorry, Lana,’ he said coldly, ‘but your marital problems are not my concern. You’re also not welcome here. In case Emily hasn’t told you, we’re engaged to be married.’