interest in that side of his company, so handing it over would be quite the temptation. And, as your husband, I would legitimately be able to put things in order within the rest of the company and sort Freddy out once and for all.’
And his godfather would be happy. David’s happiness was all that mattered to Rafael and, as far as he was concerned, a marriage of convenience unsullied by emotion made a lot of sense.
‘You’ve got to be joking.’
‘I fully intended to take a bit more time getting to know you, but I’ve broached this now because things have unexpectedly come to a head. My godfather…’ He glanced away and Sofia saw the giveaway tightening of his jaw that revealed a depth of emotion that she suspected was never allowed to surface. ‘My godfather, your father,’ he continued, gathering himself in record time, ‘has been rushed to the hospital with another heart attack. The consultant called me to say that he’s out of surgery but whether he will fully recover or not remains to be seen.’
‘I’m really sorry, Rafael.’ Her natural instinct to empathise won over the horror of being manipulated by the man sitting in front of her.
‘Let’s leave that to one side,’ was his brusque response. ‘The fact is that time is no longer on my side. I came here to do a job—suss you out and take the necessary steps.’
‘Well, you’ve wasted your time.’ She stood up, empathy safely back in its box, and walked towards the door. She half-expected him to tell her to sit back down, but he didn’t. However, she still didn’t leave the room, as her head was telling her to do.
‘Like I said, I don’t know my father and I have no interest in finding out about him. And marry you?’ She laughed incredulously. ‘You’re living on a different planet if you think that I would just walk up the aisle with some guy I’ve known for five minutes because he’s running an errand for his godfather and I happen to be part of the errand!’ When he didn’t reply, she threw him a genuinely perplexed look, her slanting green eyes narrowed and questioning. ‘And why would you consider marrying a perfect stranger anyway?’
‘I see it as a business arrangement. I have no sentimental attachment to the notion of marriage. In fact, I’d never considered getting married at all until my godfather mentioned it. As arrangements go, it happened to be one that suited me on a number of fronts. It would solve the difficulties that have been plaguing my godfather for a while. I could legitimately go in and take control. And, like I said, it would also be a nice and interesting addition to my own portfolio of companies.’
‘Why doesn’t he just give you the whole damn lot and be done with it?’
‘Perhaps he would have in time. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have considered it because he has always been a very vital man, more than capable of steering his vast company. But he’s been diminished and Freddy has jumped into that breach to exploit it. Hence his proposal to me,’ Rafael said honestly. ‘And there’s a great deal of sentimentality attached to seeing you. He would like to get to know the daughter he’s never known…at any rate, that’s my interpretation of events.’
‘Not going to happen.’ Sofia thought of the way her mother’s life had meandered in all sorts of unfortunate directions after that life-changing affair had ended, after she’d been dumped—no doubt because at the time David Dunmore had wanted nothing permanent with some woman who had been cleaning his room.
From remarks made over the years, confidences uttered when her mother had been dying, Sofia had worked out that her mother had fallen, and fallen hard, for a guy who had walked away from her, disappeared without warning and without a backward glance. Thereafter she had lost her innocent belief in all that nonsense about love conquering all. One minute he’d been there, hot in pursuit and spinning her stories about everlasting happiness, and then poof, he’d gone. She’d been told by his friend and colleague that he wouldn’t be returning, that the best bet would be for her to hand in her notice and save herself the embarrassment of fingers pointing, because the whole messy business would hit the public domain sooner or later and she’d be kicked out.
Sofia had grown up with a mother who had traded her looks for promises of love, always searching for what she had lost and believing that she could recapture it. Loving the wrong guy had made her vulnerable. It was an excellent lesson when it came to choosing right.
‘Because you have romantic dreams about what a marriage should be?’ he questioned, expression unreadable.
Sofia stiffened and looked at him. She’d always thought herself far too practical to get swept up in the whole starry-eyed business of romance. She’d never wanted to be vulnerable the way her mother had been. Her head was firmly screwed on, and she liked it that way, but when she considered the past few days she had to admit to herself that silly romantic feelings had crept to the surface, altering the way she behaved, turning her into someone she didn’t recognise.
All that for a guy who had been sent over to do a job and had probably figured that turning on the charm would be the most efficient way of succeeding in his task.
It was humiliating but she had to concede that a very wealthy, drop-dead sexy guy could have his pick of women and, even though she knew what it was like to turn heads, she was certainly not the most beautiful woman in the world.
‘You could have anyone…’ she heard herself say out loud and then blushed furiously at the lapse in concentration.
Rafael slowly smiled and tilted his head to one side. ‘I could…’ he agreed softly, without an ounce of false modesty. ‘But I find that the price tag attached to getting too involved with a woman is one I’m not prepared to pay. My godfather is fully aware of my views on marriage, which is why he never thought twice about the offer he made. You may not want to get to know your father,’ he continued, voice hardening, ‘but, believe me, it would be very much worth your while.’
‘I’m not a pawn on a chessboard to be pushed and manipulated.’ She tilted her chin at a mutinous angle. He was so still, so focused, so beautiful.
It was an effort not to take a few steps closer, just to breathe him in and wallow in the impact on her senses.
It was insane. She had no idea how he had managed to have that effect on her, but he had, and she hated her own weakness, especially now that she was finding out just what he was all about.
‘Proud words,’ Rafael murmured, moving towards her, taking his time, eyes darkening in unwitting appreciation. He was powerfully drawn to her even as his head warned against muddying the waters with unnecessary complications. ‘I admire that, but you should really think about what’s on offer here.’
‘I’ve thought.’
‘No, Sofia, you really haven’t.’ He looked around him, taking in the handsome proportions of the room, and then focused his fabulous eyes on her.
The effect was to render her breathless and confused.
‘You see this as your future?’
‘Of course I don’t! I told you… I’m in the process of doing my accountancy exams…’
‘Which won’t be completed for…how long? Six months? A year? Longer? And in the meantime you remain here, working for some guy who wants to get his hands on you?’
‘I never said anything of the sort!’
‘You didn’t have to.’ He walked away from her, headed towards the window ledge, against which he perched with a magnificent sense of complete authority. ‘Like I told you, I’m an expert when it comes to working out what’s not being told.’
Addled and furious, Sofia thought of James and that way he had of looking at her, undressing her with his eyes. He would never do anything, because he was fearful of consequences, but he certainly didn’t make life comfortable for her…and who knew? A little drink and she might wake one night to find him standing in her room…
‘You could always leave the job,’ Rafael continued