was no different from putting her signature on the contract he’d so insistently laid out on the breakfast table.
‘Piper?’
Dante’s voice, close to her left side, startled her again. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, trying to quell the racing of her heart—which she suspected had more to do with the man himself than with being startled. Quickly recovering, she gestured to the table and the array of rings set on a deep blue velvet display tray. ‘I’ve never seen anything quite like this.’
‘This is just the beginning,’ he said softly.
The darkness of his eyes shone with unwavering adoration and for a moment she was almost fooled—almost believed that he did love her and wanted nothing other than to make her his.
The harsh reality was quite different. It was not for any kind of sentimental reason and certainly not out of love.
‘This is enough for now.’ She blushed beneath his practised charm and when his brows flicked suggestively her stomach tied itself in knots and her breath caught audibly in her throat.
‘We should choose the ring now, cara, before I forget why we are here and kiss you.’
He looked at her, the intense blackness in his eyes smothering the caramel-brown she found so attractive. She could smell his aftershave and found her lips parting of their own free will as her breathing quickened and her pulse raced. Shyly she looked up at him as he moved closer still. Panic skittered through her. He was going to kiss her—here, in public.
A polite cough from the older man thankfully diverted Dante’s attention from her and for a moment she couldn’t get enough breath into her lungs. She focused on regaining her composure and took a seat at the desk, giving the glittering array of rings her undivided attention. She looked from one large stone to another, hardly able to believe she was sitting there, within touching distance of so many valuable and beautiful gems.
She felt Dante move behind her and her whole body heated from his nearness. But when he placed his hand on her shoulder and leant over her she thought she might pass out. Why was she behaving like this? He didn’t want her for anything other than to make him look good in a business deal. She would stake everything on the fact that he didn’t want to be a father. His reaction to her news had been cold and detached. Marriage had been the last thing she’d expected to hear him demand as she’d sat in his office yesterday, waiting for him to arrive, having been assured by his secretary that he wasn’t usually late.
‘Select whichever one you want.’ His voice was close to her left ear, but from the heat of his body against her back and the scorching of his hand on her shoulder she knew he was there. How could she not when her whole body had come to life?
‘They are all beautiful.’
She turned her head to try and look at him, and in doing so found his face very close to hers. So close that he could kiss her, press his lips to hers, with only the slightest effort. His gaze locked onto hers and she couldn’t look away. Not even when he lowered his head and very gently brushed his lips over hers.
Her eyes closed and her lips softened beneath his before he pulled back slightly and with endearing tenderness brushed his fingers over her cheek. ‘You outshine them all.’
Don’t be fooled. The voice of reason fought to be heard inside her head as that kiss, that gentle and brief feel of his lips on hers, unlocked everything she’d been trying to deny since that night in London.
Piper turned away and tried hard to focus on the rings before her as their gleam blurred and tears threatened. Now was not a time to give in to emotions.
She reached out and picked up a ring. ‘I like this one.’
Dante took the ring from her, then moved to her side, took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. It glinted as it sat, a perfect fit, on her third finger. She was so stunned by the sight of it she couldn’t speak, couldn’t say anything, and she certainly couldn’t look up at Dante—not when tears threatened to spill down her cheeks like a waterfall.
‘I think my bride has made her choice.’ His voice was deep and accented and so sexy—just as it had been that night in London. It had haunted her since he’d whispered such beautiful words in her ears as they’d made love that first and only night.
Piper couldn’t function, and she sat in a state of bewilderment as the older man fussed around them and then packed up the ring in the most elaborate box. All she could do was watch as Dante produced his credit card and paid for the ring, which effectively meant he’d paid for her, a bargaining tool for the deal he just had to win.
But to her the price was much higher. To her this was all about her child—the only reason she’d accepted such a deal.
IT HAD BEEN three days since Dante had bought the ring, which had sealed the deal far more conclusively than any contract she’d signed. Each night she’d slept alone in his bed, and not once since that light but lingering kiss in the jeweller’s had he tried to get close to her again. Neither had he done anything to suggest he wanted their arrangement to be more than a marriage on paper. He’d made it clear that whatever had exploded into life so spectacularly between them in London was over as far as he was concerned.
That kiss as they’d chosen the ring and those gestures had all been for the benefit of the jeweller. Her shock at the disappointment that knowledge had brought still weighed heavily on her as she stood in the apartment while Dante finished a call.
She felt as uneasy and out of place as she had that first morning as she listened to him, and then registered that he was talking in English.
‘Xander will also call you,’ he said, and glanced up, seeing her for the first time. He ended the call and turned his full attention to her. ‘Buongiorno, cara.’
The sensual depth in his voice did little to assuage her disillusioned mind-set.
‘Buongiorno,’ she replied, testing his language and liking the feel of it almost as much as the approval which showed clearly in his sexy dark eyes.
Don’t go there, Piper, she silently warned herself, determined to remember why she’d flown to Rome in search of a man whose name she hadn’t known until she’d seen that article.
‘I trust you slept well.’ As usual he was the epitome of charm and courtesy.
‘I did, thank you,’ she replied, and her guilt at keeping him from his bed made looking at him as they sat at the table almost impossible.
‘Bene.’
He poured her coffee, but for the first time since she’d discovered she was pregnant the aroma made her feel queasy and she opted for a glass of water instead. She looked up at him as he spoke again.
‘You have a busy day ahead of you.’
She tried to work out what it was she should be doing. For three days she’d been cooped up here in his apartment, more like a prisoner than a guest. She’d called her mother, who had wanted her to go straight home, as had Katie and Jo, her friends in Australia, when they’d emailed. But where was home? In London with her mother? In Sydney with her happy past? Or here in Rome with the father of her child?
Confusion added to the feeling of nausea. ‘I do?’
‘Sì. I have arranged for someone to help you select a new wardrobe of clothes.’
She watched as he drank his coffee, oblivious to anything else except what he wanted. He certainly hadn’t noticed she couldn’t face any food this morning.
‘I don’t need new clothes.’ She forced the words out, trying to focus her mind and not show this man any weakness—something she’d learnt long ago shouldn’t be done.
‘You are now my fiancée, Piper, and whilst you looked every bit