uncomfortable suspicion returned. He seemed to know a lot about her. Far too much.
‘I pride myself on being able to prepare for every eventuality.’ The self-satisfied expression on his face just begged to be wiped away, and she vowed that before this deal was over she would do just that.
‘In that case, why not allow me to find a more suitable fiancée for you, one more powerful, more able to open the doors you so desperately want opened? You overestimate my standing in the Di Sione family if you think an engagement to me will do all you want.’
‘Not only is it your family’s name and that old-money respectability I need. It’s your undoubted skill in your professional life. So you see, Bianca, I have made my choice well.’
‘There must be someone better placed than me for this ridiculous sham of an engagement?’
She watched as he poured two glasses of wine, desperately trying to think of who that woman could be, knowing deep down it couldn’t be her. History was repeating itself, but on a much more dramatic scale. Her family name and reputation was being used once more, callously gambled with, but this time she couldn’t see any way out. Not if she wanted the bracelet.
‘And who exactly would you suggest?’ He leant back in his seat, his wine untouched in front of him. She had the uneasy sensation of being more like a hunting eagle’s quarry, set up and unwittingly waiting for the moment she would be swept away from all she’d ever known and devoured.
‘I will find someone.’ She could hear the desperation in her voice. Could he hear it too? ‘There are agencies, although how they’d look upon the request for a fake fiancée, I don’t know.’
She tried hard to think who it could be, but single women able to offer him what he wanted were few, and those she could think of wouldn’t stand a chance against his lethal charm. She had no need to be close to a man, so maybe she was the best woman for the job.
He folded one arm across his body and raised one to his face, his thumb on his chin and his finger rasping over the hints of stubble; the sound, although hardly audible, set her nerves even more on edge. ‘That won’t be necessary. I am certain we can come to a mutually satisfying arrangement. I have something you want and you are in a position to give me what I want.’
‘How long have you been in New York, Mr Dragunov?’ She used his surname and couldn’t help the smile which caught her lips at his annoyed expression. She noticed his eyes glitter, making them ice cold.
‘I have been doing business here for a few years on a small scale, but now our engagement will ensure the success of my latest and biggest venture. It will turn my company global. I will still keep my main office and home in St Petersburg, where I grew up.’ The last few words had a harsh edge to them that was hard to miss.
‘And your family? Where do they live?’
‘I have no family.’
‘So there is no danger of your family finding out about this engagement?’ She flung the question at him, giving voice to the concerns she had over how her family would take the news. He didn’t appear at all worried about deceiving everyone.
‘Not at all. My parents died when I was young.’ She saw his jaw clench, saw the flash of pain in his eyes. Pain she knew only too well. Her heart twisted. He’d lost his parents too. He knew the pain she’d grown up with wishing she had known her mother and father, wishing she had more than snippets of memories.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly, not wanting to open up to him about such things. She never told anyone that she could barely recall her mother and had no memories of her father whatsoever, but hearing Liev’s pain, seeing it in his eyes, opened up that shame and exposed her pain. She fought hard against the urge to confide in him, reminding herself they were not in a real relationship. This man was not to be trusted. In any way.
That connection they shared from the past still didn’t alter the fact that her brothers and sisters would find out about the engagement and she wondered how she could make them believe it was real. She would be lying to them, but she had no choice. If for one moment her brothers thought she was being blackmailed, or set up, as she preferred to think of it, she was certain Liev Dragunov wouldn’t be getting the acceptance in society he craved. And that would mean she wouldn’t get the bracelet. She would fail her grandfather in his last wish.
That thought made sadness sweep over her and she took a sip of the wine, trying to ignore the intensity of Liev’s eyes on her. She wished she could talk to Allegra. All her life she’d looked up to her as more of a mother figure than a sister, but when it came to troubles of the heart, she was always her big sister, someone she could confide in. But for the first time, that wasn’t available. She was miles away in Dar-Aman with what appeared to be the love of her life.
‘Losing my parents is not something I dwell on.’ Liev’s words, more sharply accented than usual, dragged her from her melancholy thoughts.
‘You may not have family to consider, but whatever plans you have to instigate this engagement will need to be good if I am to convince my brothers and sisters that we are engaged.’ She thought of their probable reaction to her even dating, let alone getting engaged. They knew she’d never taken a man home, let alone frequented the dating scene of New York.
‘It will be.’ His high and mighty attitude was beginning to wear thin. He was far too self-assured, far too confident she’d fall into line with his ludicrous plan.
‘I’m serious, Mr Dragunov. If you want doors opened, then you first have to get past the whole Di Sione family, convince them we are in love, because they will not just accept my sudden engagement without question, not when I haven’t dated in years.’
‘Not dated in years? You make it sound as if you have never been in love, never had an affair.’ He regarded her with suspicion and disbelief which only spiked at her irritation.
‘I haven’t. Not that it is any of your business, Mr Dragunov.’
‘If you don’t start referring to me as Liev all will be lost. No doors will be opened, which means no bracelet. I will return to St Petersburg with the bracelet and it will never again leave Russia.’
Take the bracelet back to Russia! That was something she hadn’t considered at all. There was no way that bracelet was going anywhere else except to the Di Sione family estate.
* * *
Liev could see the moment Bianca finally realised he was serious. He saw her eyes wash with resignation, watched those very kissable lips press together, and it was all he could do to keep his thoughts on his mission, instead of thinking how they would feel crushed beneath his as passion burst to life between them. Did she really expect him to believe she’d never dated? A woman as beautiful as her would have exploited that beauty along with her family name and wealth, of that there was no doubt.
‘I do not know why this item is so precious to you, but I mean what I say. Only when you have achieved your side of the deal will I allow you to have it. Not a moment sooner. Three months should be sufficient. Don’t you think?’
He watched as the colour drained from her face, now satisfied there wouldn’t be any last-minute attempts to thwart his plans. He’d waited too long for this moment, and when he’d told her of his parents he’d had to clench his hands into fists, to prevent himself from revealing the truth, from telling her that she and her brother were a crucial part of avenging their untimely deaths.
‘You’re despicable,’ she whispered at him, her breath coming hard and fast. Better that she hated him. Hatred drove a person more than any other emotion. He’d learnt that the hard way as he’d fought and brawled—and worse—for every morsel he’d eaten since the day, at twelve years of age, he’d seen his father’s coffin lowered into the ground, joining that of his mother.
‘Then we have a healthy respect of one another, Bianca.’ He saw her jaw clench as he used her name.
‘How exactly are you going to convince the world that our engagement is