The Billionaire's Cinderella Contract

by Michelle Smart

  His brother’s haunted face looked at him. ‘You have to ask?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Something ugly contorted the handsome features. ‘This was all her. It has always been her. Everything. Don’t you see that?’

  ‘She did it for you.’

  In a flurry of venomous curses, Emiliano jumped to his feet and slammed his fist into the wall. ‘Don’t put this on me. If she did it for anyone, she did it for herself.’

  ‘She always loved you more than me—’

  ‘You call that love? I call it manipulation.’

  ‘What the hell does that mean?’

  ‘That her love is for her ego, so she can pretend she is a good mother when the truth is she’s a narcissistic bitch. I let her manipulate me because I had to—I got nothing in the way of love or respect from your father.’

  ‘That’s crap. He took you in as his own. He gave you his name—’

  ‘He did that for her. Not for me. Everything I did was a disappointment to him. I couldn’t even tie my shoelaces right in his eyes! I bent myself to Celeste’s will for years but only because I knew what the alternative would be, and I was right—the first chance the pair of you got, you threw me out of the company. You appointed yourselves judge, jury and executioner without even listening to my side of things, but if you think for a damned minute that that means I was in on this...’ Rage blazed across his face as he stood eyeball to eyeball with his brother. ‘Never. I hated him. I hated you. But this? No way. I’ve made a good life for myself. I don’t need your damned money or your damned business and I don’t need her manipulating me any more—I haven’t in over a decade.’

  Damián’s hands clenched into fists. ‘Without my damned money you wouldn’t have this good life!’

  ‘Stop it!’

  Mia’s plea brought them both up short.

  Shooting his brother one last venomous look, Damián slowly turned to her.

  On her feet, white-faced and red-eyed and rubbing her arms, she said in a quieter voice, ‘Please. Both of you. Just stop. This isn’t helping.’

  Mia hadn’t understood a word of what they’d said but she’d known from the tone of their voices and their body language that the venom being exchanged was close to spilling over into something physical.

  Her heart broke for them both but it bled for Damián. Everything inside her bled for him and she wished with all her broken heart that she could whisper some magic words and make his pain disappear.

  This was the ultimate treachery. His own mother. The woman who’d carried him in her womb and given birth to him had set out to destroy him. She hardly dared think about the implications of Celeste taking that drink to Eduardo.

  The brothers faced each other again. The rage that had blazed so brightly dulled to a simmer before Damián’s great shoulders rose and he looked at Mia again.

  The coldness in her bones turned to ice when she saw the expression in his eyes. ‘Go to our suite and wait for me.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ she whispered.

  But she knew what he was going to do.

  Together, the Delgado brothers marched downstairs and her heart broke all over again to see them united for the first time in such horrific circumstances.

  * * *

  Damián switched the main lights on as he strode into the Art Room at the same moment Emiliano clapped his hands. ‘Everybody out!’

  Celeste sat in a Queen Anne armchair amongst a gaggle of sycophants blinking at the sudden strong light in their eyes around her. She jumped to her feet. ‘What’s happened?’

  Damián folded his arms across his chest. ‘Get rid of them. Now. Or I kick everyone out.’

  The room quickly cleared. He didn’t care that those expelled would already be spreading the news that a confrontation was taking place. Let them talk. He no longer cared.

  At that moment, he cared for nothing but the truth.

  He thrust his phone at her. ‘Watch this.’

  ‘Mijito...’

  ‘I said watch!’

  Her poise intact, she sat back down and made a big song and dance of pressing play.

  He watched her closely.

  Not a flicker of emotion passed over her face.

  ‘Just tell me why,’ he said flatly when the video finished.

  Her black eyes met his. They were filled with contempt. ‘I don’t answer to you.’

  ‘Answer me or answer to the police.’

  She had the temerity to laugh. ‘The police? On what charge?’

  It was Emiliano who said, ‘You killed our father.’

  The laughter died. ‘Have you both taken leave of your senses? That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Your father was an old man!’

  ‘The evidence is there. You made a drink for him in your quarters and carried it through the villa to give to him. Considering you’ve never lowered yourself to pour yourself a glass of water before, that alone would be suspicious, but that he was dead thirty minutes later is damning.’

  Eyes glittering, she folded her arms and crossed her legs. ‘Prove it.’

  ‘You destroyed the will and the documents giving me control of the Delgado Group,’ said Damián.

  ‘I repeat. Prove it.’

  ‘It’s on the footage.’

  ‘No, darling, all that’s on the footage is me taking the documents out of your father’s office.’

  ‘You deny destroying them?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Then where are they? If you haven’t destroyed them they must be around somewhere.’

  Her lips formed a tight line.

  ‘You burned them, didn’t you?’

  The lips became white.

  ‘We know why you did it.’ God alone knew how Damián managed to keep control of his voice. ‘Father allowed you great influence in the running of the business but he never gave you the power you craved. You knew any influence you had would be lost when I took over and so engineered things for Emiliano to have it, knowing damn well he didn’t want it, knowing he hated me so much he’d rather see me on the street than let me stay on the board and would hand over the running of it to you.’

  Her face taut, she got back to her feet. ‘I think we’ve had enough games for one evening. Please excuse me, but this is a party. I suggest you both have a strong drink and put this nonsense out of your minds. You’re letting your grief get the better of...’

  ‘You’re a monster!’ The roar came from Emiliano. ‘You know what you did and we know what you did. You’re a monster, do you hear me? A monster! You pitted brother against brother from the moment we could speak and all so you could control us. That ends now. You’d better not have destroyed those documents because if they’re not found and I’m declared heir, I will cut you off. You won’t even have the half share of father’s personal wealth that he left you because it won’t exist. You will have nothing.’

  Her face twitched. ‘Mijito...’

  But he was already at the door. He flung it open. ‘I hope you rot in hell.’

  Her composure unravelling before his eyes, Celeste looked to her youngest son.

  Before she could open her mouth, Damián cut her off. ‘Save your breath. I don’t want to hear it. From this moment on, you’re dead to me.’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MIA PACED THE suite frantically, alternating from looking out of the windows into the grounds to walking the corridor, trying to hear above the noise in her own head.

  What was happening down there? She prayed it had all been a big misunderstanding and that Celeste had a valid explanation for everything. That the drink she’d given her husband half an hour before his death was a provable coincidence. That she’d been suffering amnesia and could magically produce the documents. Anything—anything—that would spare Damián the pain of knowing his mother wa
s a monster.

  She stepped onto the balcony again in time to see a helicopter fly overhead. The pretty garden lights that had illuminated the grounds so beautifully had been turned off. Were the guests leaving?

  She paced again until heavy footsteps approached on the corridor.

  She swung the door open before Damián reached it and flung her arms around him. ‘I’ve been so worried. Are you okay?’ An inane question, she knew, but one she couldn’t help but ask.

  He stood rigid. She felt the strength of his heartbeat, ragged against her ear. He’d lost his tuxedo jacket and bow tie since he’d gone to confront his mother.

  Unwrapping her arms from his waist, she gazed up at him. His gaze was focused over her head, jaw rigid.

  ‘What’s happened?’ she whispered, resting her hands on his shoulders, silently pleading with him to look at her.

  Slowly, his giant hands covered hers. They lingered for a moment before he pushed her hands off and stepped past her into the suite.

  ‘Damián?’

  ‘You need to leave.’

  Certain she’d misheard or misunderstood, she stared at him. His eyes stayed fixed above her.

  ‘Tell me. Please?’ she begged. ‘What’s happened?’

  As rigid as a statue, he said tonelessly, ‘The Richmonds are waiting for you. Get your passport. They’re flying back to London and will give you a lift home. I’ll have the staff pack the rest of your stuff together and get it couriered to you.’

  She swallowed, uncertain how to respond. ‘Okay... But you’ll call me?’

  His gaze suddenly found hers. The coldness in it made her quail. ‘What for?’

  ‘Because I’ll worry about you.’ She was already worried about him. Desperately worried.

  ‘I’m not paying you to worry about me. I am paying you to do a job. That job has been fulfilled and now it is time for you to leave.’

  ‘You know you mean more to me than a job,’ she whispered.

  Obsidian eyes flashed. ‘Do I? If you are after a bonus payment for the extra services you provided then name your price and I will pay it with the remainder of what I owe you.’

  She flinched, his words landing like a physical blow. ‘You don’t mean that.’

  ‘Don’t I? Do not think sharing my bed means you know me or that I owe you anything other than money.’

  ‘Don’t do this,’ she pleaded. ‘Please. Don’t. I know you’re hurting. Let me help you. I want to help you...’

  In the numb void that was Damián’s head, Mia’s words penetrated with the effect of nails being scraped down a chalkboard. His body suddenly springing to life, he clutched her biceps. ‘Which part of leave don’t you understand?’ he snarled into her face. ‘I don’t want your help. I want nothing more from you. You are nothing to me.’

  ‘Well, you’re something to me.’

  He dropped his hands from her arms as if they’d been scalded. He felt scalded, as if his body were being licked by the flames of his mother’s monstrous betrayal, and here was Mia, gazing at him as if he meant something to her when her every action was a lie he’d paid for. None of her affection and empathy had been genuine, and he’d been a fool if he’d ever thought it was.

  ‘I know exactly what I am to you,’ he said scathingly. ‘A cash cow. The fulfiller of designer clothes and luxury travel. You think because I have been brought low that you can take advantage of it. You think you can be my shoulder to cry on? Si?’

  Her eyes filled with tears at his harsh words but he didn’t care. Mia was an actress, just like his mother. At least Celeste had never pretended to care for him. He’d given her credit for being honest but her honesty had been an act like everything else, given only when it suited her. She’d manipulated all of them and he, a man who prided himself on his cynicism and nose for lies, had fallen for it.

  Never again.

  Mia had given him her virginity. She’d confided her secrets to him. She’d made him feel that he was the only man in the world for her without having to say a word. That was how good an actress she was.

  And he’d been close—so damn close—to falling for it. To falling for her.

  What could she possibly want from him, other than the gifts his bank account could lavish on her?

  Crushing the emotions smothering him, he controlled his voice to an icy clip. ‘I will give you the briefest of details to satisfy your curiosity. Celeste killed my father. She poisoned him before my takeover of the business could be announced and the papers making it official lodged because she wanted it for herself. She wanted Emiliano to inherit it, knowing damn well he would pass it onto her to run on his behalf. Celeste hacked my communications and did all the other things I blamed my brother for. I can prove none of this. My father was cremated. His death was attributed to natural causes. I will have to spend the rest of my life knowing what she’s done and knowing there is not a damned thing I can do to bring justice for my father.’

  He took a deep breath, his features twisting. ‘So there you have it. All the sordid details, and now is your moment to show your compassion for the man whose mother never loved him.’ He leaned into her, staring her right in the eye. ‘That is what you want from all this, is it not? For me to be so grateful to you for your understanding and compassion that I never want to let you go? For me to be so desperate for love and affection that I grab hold of what a two-bit actress can give me?’ His laughter was short. ‘Do you think I forget you are an actress? I never forget, mi vida. I never forget what you are. Now, I thank you for the excellent job you have done for me and for all the extra services you provided, but it is time for you to leave.’

  Mia clutched her flaming cheeks, too horror-struck to care that hot tears were streaming down her face.

  This was not the Damián she knew. This was not the man she’d fallen in love with. This was a stranger: a monster who’d taken possession of him. But oh, dear God, his words and the venom behind them hurt, ripping through her shattered heart like a hot blade.

  ‘I’m sorry she hurt you,’ she said through the tears. ‘I’m sorry for everything she’s done to you and your family, and the cynical bastard she’s forged you into, but that doesn’t give you the right to turn it around and inflict your pain on me. I wanted to help you through this, not for what I could get from you—if you haven’t learned by now that money means nothing to me then you haven’t learned a thing—but because I can’t bear to see someone I love in so much pain and not try to help.’

  The mouth that had kissed her with such passion curved cruelly. ‘Yes, you’re a regular saint, aren’t you? Always sacrificing yourself. Give yourself a criminal record to save your sister and now what? Cosy up to me and be my pet and keep the perks of being my lover going a bit longer?’

  ‘That’s not fair and it’s not true,’ she said, distraught he could say such things. ‘I never asked to be brought into this, remember? I was prepared to hate you and thought faking love for you would be my greatest achievement, but I never had to act for you. Right from the start, I was nothing but myself with you—I couldn’t be anything else.’

  ‘How would I know that? You’re a great actress. The best. Almost as good as Celeste.’

  His words landed like a slap. ‘You’re comparing me to her? My God...’

  Fearing she could be sick, she stepped to the bureau and opened the drawer. She removed her passport with a shaking hand, blinking rapidly, trying desperately to stop the tears falling.

  ‘I never expected forever from you,’ she choked, gripping the bureau to stop her legs giving way beneath her. ‘I knew that couldn’t happen. Our lives are just too polarised, but I thought you respected me. I thought we had something special. You made me feel things I’ve never felt in my life and I thought you felt the bond as deeply as I did. I thought we would part on good terms and that you were someone I would always be able to call a friend.’


  ‘Then you’re as big a fool as I am.’

  Swallowing back the nausea rising up her throat, Mia wiped away the last of her tears, shoved the drawer shut and spun back around to look at Damián one last time.

  How she wanted to hate him for his cruel words. How she wished she didn’t still want to put her hands to his face and stroke the desolation etched beneath the coldness away.

  ‘I thought beneath your cold exterior lay a warm heart but that was just wishful thinking, wasn’t it? You don’t think you’re worthy of love. I get it. I really do. You push people away before they can get too close and hurt you, like your mother hurt you every day of your life, but Damián, keep doing what you’re doing and soon you’ll find your heart’s so cold that no one will be able to touch it, even if you want them to.’

  Trying her hardest to stop her legs from collapsing and trying her hardest not to look at him, Mia walked out of the door and out of his life.

  * * *

  Damián got unsteadily to his feet and almost tripped over one of his brother’s dogs, who was snoozing by the sofa. Unsurprising, since he’d shared nearly a bottle and a half of Scotch with Emiliano since eleven that morning and it was now only five in the afternoon. They’d holed themselves up in their father’s study and drank to his memory.

  Celeste had gone. She’d joined the exodus of guests and slipped away three days ago. They’d both laughed bitterly at the irony of this. The Monte Cleure villa was the only property in her sole name. All the other assets had been in their father’s name: the Swiss lodge, the penthouse apartment in Manhattan, the villa in St Barts, all the magnificent townhouses dotted in the world’s leading capitals. Celeste had abandoned her only home. When she returned, which she would have to, she would find there was an arrest warrant for her. Neither of them expected her to be charged. The evidence was all circumstantial. But let her have the indignity of being arrested.

  ‘We need food,’ Damián said, then laughed to hear the slur in his voice.

  Emiliano hiccupped. ‘Eating’s cheating.’