Rumours: The Secret Billionaires

‘And, of course, getting me back in your bed is yet another challenge.’ The pointed retort found its mark, snuffing out the burn of desire which was escalating within him.

He laughed. The truth of her words made anything else impossible. She met his gaze, the green of her eyes sparking with anger. Anger which only lit the fuse of desire once more. He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted another woman, but then he wasn’t accustomed to being turned down by a woman—or wanting her all the more for that rejection.

He stood up and stepped closer to her, so close he could smell her perfume as it mixed with the heady scent of the array of flowers beyond the terrace of the villa. The urge to pull her against him, to feel her body pressed against his only exacerbated the confusion of emotions running riot within him. ‘If I wanted you in my bed, that is exactly where you would be and I wouldn’t need a challenge to achieve that objective.’

She glared at him, but, before she could say anything, he took her hand and raised her fingers to his lips. She didn’t resist as he pressed a kiss onto her fingers, his dark gaze locked with the sexy green of her eyes.

‘But I will wait for the time when you can no longer deny what still exists between us.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

SADIE’S FIRST NIGHT as Antonio’s wife had been restless and lonely. True to his word, he’d honoured her request to sleep alone, but the challenge he’d clearly laid down still sounded in her mind. She had spent much of the night staring into the semi-darkness, questioning if she’d done the right thing marrying Antonio and wondering if he would keep his word and allow her to sleep alone. Was everything, including their marriage, all part of a challenge?

Leo had been up for a while, exploring his new home with Antonio. As she stood now, at the edge of the olive grove beyond the immaculate grounds of the villa, and watched Leo and Antonio as they explored their new home, she felt herself being drawn closer and closer to the man she’d married. He didn’t look like the power-hungry billionaire she knew he was; he appeared content and happy with Leo.

Antonio glanced up and, on seeing her, took Leo’s hand and led him back towards the terrace. She expected Leo to clamber onto her lap, but he didn’t. It seemed his new home and father figure had instilled confidence in him, made him more independent. He ran across the immaculate lawn to explore further as Antonio stood beside her.

‘Leo has settled well. He is an inquisitive child.’ Antonio’s voice was gentler than normal. Was he succumbing to Leo’s charm? If so, how long would it last?

‘I am more than aware, thanks to Sebastien, that our marriage is some sort of challenge, but please remember your son is only a child.’ She looked up at Antonio, who seemed as surprised as she was by her sudden emotional outburst. ‘Don’t ever hurt him, Antonio.’

She wanted to look away from that dark and questioning gaze, behind which she knew simmered the same kind of sizzling desire she too was wrestling to control. What would happen if she allowed that attraction, that needy desire to show itself? All she had to do was go to him, tell him she wanted him, but she was resisting, protecting her fragile heart.

‘You don’t think very highly of me, do you, mia bella?’ Antonio’s voice was thick and heavily accented, his eyes darkening, the intensity within them making her pulse leap.

‘Can you blame me?’ she replied firmly, desperate to hide the way just a look could send her senses spiralling out of control. ‘You married me for a challenge. Was that what those two weeks at the garage were all about? A dare?’

Still he didn’t enlighten her and she walked away from him, sighing in frustration, berating herself inwardly for being such an easy target, for allowing herself to become just part of a dare.

‘Sì, I was at the garage as Toni Adessi. It was a challenge.’ Antonio leaned casually against a pillar on the terrace, arms folded and with that arrogant expression on his face, looking far too sexy and dangerous. How could he so calmly stand there? ‘But I had no idea I would find you there—or my son.’

‘And you expect me to believe Leo and I were not part of the challenge, which looks very much like it was set by Sebastien?’

He pushed his body away from the pillar and walked towards her and although her heart thumped in her chest she refused to be intimidated. She had agreed to marriage partly to give Leo the father he needed, but also out of a misguided romantic idea that there was something from their weekend affair still simmering between them, something that might give the marriage a chance of success. Now, as he stood and looked down at her, so very close she could smell the fresh scent of his morning shower, she knew she’d made a big mistake. She might still have feelings for him, but Antonio was immune to that and certainly didn’t have any feelings for her, other than blatant lust. Nothing had changed.

‘You may believe what you wish, mia bella.’ For a moment she thought he was going to reach out and touch her face, the look which crossed his softening the hard angles, making her breath catch in her throat.

Aware her breath was coming hard and fast, she forged on, needing to know just what she’d done to Leo by marrying this man. ‘Why were you there, Antonio, living like a regular man? That is so not you; even I know that.’

‘Sebastien challenged me to survive two weeks without my wealth or family name. To live, as you put it, like a regular man.’ His jaw clenched, as if the idea that he’d done that, been that man, didn’t sit comfortably with him.

‘Did you choose to come to the garage in Milan?’ She held her breath as she waited for the answer.

‘No.’ That one brief and non-committal word cut deep into her heart. He hadn’t been looking for her. It had all just been a big coincidence, one that should dampen the heat of attraction she still had for him, but it didn’t.

Leo called and she stepped onto the lawn, glad of the distraction, the chance to put some physical distance between her and Antonio. There was something else, of that she was sure. ‘And what reward did you get for achieving that?’

‘Sebastien will honour his part of the challenge and make a donation to charity.’ Antonio went over to Leo and together they spent a few moments deep in conversation, Leo’s eyes wide with adoration for the man he’d welcomed into his life. If only she could let go and do the same. But she couldn’t. Not when she knew it was only desire and nothing deeper or more meaningful which drove him. She just couldn’t be that naïve a second time.

Seeking shade from the strengthening rays of the sun, she returned to the terrace, intending to keep the distance between them. Absently she picked up the daily papers that had been left on the table, but the image of herself watching Leo hug Antonio outside the town hall yesterday choked her into silence.

She gathered her wits and read the caption, translating it from Italian in her head several times, just to make sure she’d interpreted it correctly. She had.

Divorced Di Marcello heir marries in secret the woman who destroyed his marriage and becomes a father on the same day.

She looked up as Leo’s excited chatter drew closer and seeing Antonio carrying Leo dragged painfully at her heart. She’d thought she was doing the right thing marrying his father, but in reality she’d exposed them both to the talons of the press. She could cope, she could shake off any claims that she was somehow the reason Antonio’s marriage had failed, or even been partly the reason for his divorce, but the last thing she wanted was for Leo to become embroiled in such a public scandal.

Her heart sank. Would her parents see this? She had told her mother that she and Antonio were going away to work things out, to give it all another go for Leo’s sake. In her almost constant state of denial about marrying him, she’d never plucked up the courage to tell them.

Antonio placed Leo on his feet in front of her, a deep frown furrowed in his brow. ‘What is wrong?’

Bewildered, she looked up at him as he took the folded paper from her hands. ‘I can’t have Leo being brought into the spotlight like this.’

He quickly scanned the photograph and, from the tightness of his lips, knew he was stifling a curse for Leo’s sake. The morning sun shone in the inky darkness of his hair and, despite the anger the article had induced, she couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked. A hint of black stubble covered his jaw in a way which made the skin on her face tingle at the memory of his kiss. She hated that he still had power over her, that he could still make her stomach flutter and her knees weaken.

She’d fallen for his charm again and had agreed to something which had brought not only her but also Leo into the kind of world he lived in. One played out in the eye of the public.

* * *

‘Leo will not be in the spotlight, on that you have my word.’ Antonio looked at Sadie as fierce protectiveness for his son engulfed him. Her earlier talk of the challenge made him see things from her perspective, made him realise how all this could hurt Leo.

‘And how are you going to do that?’ The spike of anger in Sadie’s voice was clear. ‘You weren’t able to stop a photo being taken. Or was that too part of the challenge?’

Rage more powerful than he’d ever known surged through him. It was obvious that the scum who masqueraded as reporters and photographers were digging deep for dirt on his first marriage and subsequent divorce. The dirt they were looking for was the truth only he knew—the truth he couldn’t tell anyone because of a promise he’d made to his ex-wife.

He’d promised her he’d never spill her secret, that it was hers to keep, but that was before his child had been dragged into the sordid arena of the press. He could brush off the barbed comments, the fierce intrusion, but he didn’t want Leo to be part of it. He wanted to be the kind of father who would protect his son as well as love him.

Guilt tore at him. Guilt because he no longer wanted to keep his promise to Eloisa. Guilt because of what he was subjecting his son to. Right at the moment his conscience pricked uncomfortably; he wanted to tell Sadie everything. He wanted to explain why his first marriage had ended so soon, wanted to tell her why he’d really come back to Milan, why he’d been undercover and that finding her and maybe even Leo had been exactly what Sebastien had planned. He recalled what had been said that night in St Moritz, which now seemed a lifetime ago.

Money does not make for a rich life. He remembered Sebastien’s expression as he’d continued. It is all superficial. Not at all meaningful.

‘Sebastien should never have said anything about the challenge.’ He spoke the words before he’d thought of how Sadie would interpret them but recovered quickly to turn the situation to his advantage. He couldn’t allow her to know how all this was affecting him, despite his calm exterior. ‘It also had nothing to do with our marriage. That came about because I discovered you had kept one very vital detail from me. My son’s existence.’

‘And I agreed to marry you because of Leo,’ Sadie retorted hotly, hurt rushing across her face.

Anger over what she’d done was mixed with his anger at the situation he had unwittingly catapulted the son he’d only just discovered into. He had to do something. There was no way he was going to wait around for the press to dig up the truth and use Leo, or even Sadie, as some sort of a scapegoat for his past mistake. He and Eloisa should never have married, whatever family duty and coercion had driven them. It should never have happened.

‘I’ll make arrangements for us to leave.’ The words ground out from him and he sensed Leo at his side, looking between him and Sadie. He calmed his anger. ‘We’ll go somewhere we can’t be disturbed.’

‘What is it they want, Antonio?’ Sadie’s frank question completely threw him.

‘That is what I want to know.’ He picked up Leo and looked around the grounds of the villa. He might have stipulated the need for privacy when he’d engaged the property agent to purchase his new marital home on his behalf, but he also knew the lengths the press would go to. He was used to it, having grown up in one of Milan’s oldest and most influential families, then living the life of a billionaire playboy. Maybe he was hardened to it, but Sadie and, even worse, Leo weren’t.

‘Tell me, Antonio,’ Sadie demanded as he walked into the villa, away from any prying long lenses. ‘Whatever it is, tell me. I’d rather hear it from you than read it in the press.’

Sadie’s lovely green eyes implored him to break his silence. But he couldn’t. He was a man of his word. A man of honour. Those first thoughts were quickly pushed aside as Leo wriggled in his arms, demanding to be put down.

He looked down at Leo and knew that his loyalty now belonged to his son. That knowledge tested everything and the final hours of a marriage much coveted by his parents, to a woman he’d grown up with, hurtled back at him.

‘There is nothing to tell. It was practically an arranged marriage. Eloisa and I were far from suited even though we’d known each other since we were young.’ He gave her the basics and skirted around the truth, wanting to keep Eloisa’s secret and his promise. ‘None of that matters right now. What does is getting you and Leo somewhere those menacing men can’t find you.’

‘And how are you going to do that?’

That was exactly the question racing through his mind. He’d only just bought the villa, yet they’d been found out, proving the lengths the press would go to. He certainly couldn’t go to any of his properties around the world. It would have to be somewhere unconnected with him if he wanted to give Sadie and Leo the privacy they deserved.

He thought of Alejandro and his extensive property portfolio, and in particular the Caribbean island retreat. Alejandro might be undercover at the moment, but he could speak to him on the phone Sebastien had provided. He’d call him as soon as he’d calmed Sadie’s growing unease.

‘That is for me to worry about. Make sure you and Leo have all you need for several weeks. Think of it as our honeymoon.’ He added those last words as an afterthought but knew from the frostiness of her eyes that would be the last possible way she would view it.

‘There is no need for a honeymoon. We are married. You have secured your son and heir and I think, in light of the current situation, it would be best if Leo and I returned to England to start a new life.’

If he’d thought the rage which had engulfed him moments ago could never be topped, he had been very much mistaken. Her request sent his senses spiralling out of control, but outwardly, just as he always was, he remained icy calm.

‘The only new life you and Leo will be starting will be with me and, as I am not going to England any time soon, your request is out of the question. I put a ring on your finger, which means I have a say in my son’s upbringing.’

* * *

The harshness of Antonio’s voice cut Sadie’s fragile heart in two, as did her own words coming back at her with startling force. He stood and glared at her, challenge issuing from every limb of his body. She wanted to fight him, wanted to tell him she and Leo were going to England, but something held her back. Misguided emotions? She had no idea, but the way he and Leo had bonded was throwing her plan for a long-distance marriage, one purely of convenience, into complete disarray.

‘This isn’t a real marriage, Antonio.’ She tossed her hair back from her face and stood tall against his icy determination.

His brows lifted and for a moment she thought she saw something like amusement spark in his eyes. That brief let-down of his defence, that hint of the Antonio she’d first met sent butterflies all through her and the memory of the time they’d spent laughing and having fun in bed that weekend four years ago came forward through the mist of memories she’d tried to forget.

‘After spending my wedding night alone, I am well aware of that.’ He looked at her pointedly, then pulled out his phone. ‘We are married, Sadie, and, however you think of it, we will live as a family. You will not keep me from my son any longer than you already have.’

‘Let’s go and pack your teddy,’ she said to Leo, desperate to get away from Antonio’s piercing and knowing gaze. ‘We are going on a holiday.’

‘Is Padre coming too?’ Leo hesitated and Sadie hated all the upheaval she’d put him through in the last few weeks. First a move to the Rome apartment, then here to the villa and now somewhere new. She had to fight hard with herself to reason that it was all for him, about giving him the father he so obviously needed.

‘Sì, but of course.’ Antonio again stunned her by bending down to Leo’s level and reassuring him. ‘You want me to, no?’

Leo nodded, looking shyly at his father, and Sadie’s heart broke just a little bit more.

* * *

Antonio called Alejandro, well aware that he was right now undercover, and wondered just what Sebastien had in mind for him. He hadn’t expected Alejandro to answer, but his friend’s voice instilled the calm objectivity he needed.

‘Alejandro. How’s it going?’

‘Smoothly... I think. Something seems too easy.’

‘What do you mean, easy?’

‘Other than enjoying a visual of me up to my ankles in horse manure, I think Sebastien has sent me here to end a feud between the Salazar and Hargrove families.’ The sound of clanging metal in the background jarred his ear. ‘Given what you two have gone through, I’m sure he has more up his sleeve.’

Antonio was sure he was right. But why worry his friend when he had no choice but to confront whatever was ahead? Sebastien had really done his homework, sending first him, then Stavros and now Alejandro on a challenge that was far more than what it had at first appeared. Their two weeks of working and living a so-called normal life was just a cover-up for what he’d set them as their challenges.

‘I’m enjoying that image, Alejandro.’ Antonio laughed, trying to conceal the unease he felt for his friend. ‘But I need to take Sadie and Leo somewhere the press can’t link back to me. I can’t have my son the subject of media speculation.’ Antonio laid his request out, unused to seeking help from anyone, but if he couldn’t ask Alejandro or Stavros, then who the hell could he ask?

‘My private Caribbean island will be perfect—for your honeymoon.’ Alejandro’s jest hit its mark and Antonio clamped down on the denial that it was a honeymoon. How could it ever be a honeymoon when Sadie was intent on keeping him as far as possible from her physically and emotionally, even though that spark of sexual attraction was intensifying?

‘Perfect, I’ll have my PA liaise with yours.’

Antonio ended the call a little more at ease. It was several hours since Sadie had taken Leo to his room to put him to bed and, even though he had no real experience of children, he guessed that the move to the villa had unsettled the child yet again. He mentally added a nanny for Leo to the list for his PA to sort. After all, it wasn’t as if Alejandro would have a nanny on standby at the permanently staffed island he’d recently added to his property portfolio and he fully intended to make use of the romantic setting to finally sate his desire for the woman he’d married. He would break down her barriers and find the Sadie he’d made his four years ago.

CHAPTER EIGHT

SADIE STOOD AND looked at the view of the blue ocean lapping idyllically onto the white sand. The long and tedious flight with a fractious Leo now seemed nothing more than a bad dream. Even Antonio’s insistence that she take advantage of the nanny he’d hired for Leo now seemed like a good idea. She’d had breakfast with Leo this morning and he had really taken to the soft-natured local girl, leaving her free to spend time by herself. A luxury she hadn’t known since becoming a single parent unless Leo had been with her mother.

But she wasn’t a single parent any longer. She was married to Leo’s father. A fact she still found impossible to completely believe, but more especially that he intended to be in his son’s life every day. How was she ever going to hide the way she felt for him, the way just one desire-laden look could melt her inside and make her want to be in his arms?

‘Buon giorno, mia bella.’ Antonio’s voice rocked her from her thoughts and she turned, looking back into the villa. The image he created as he strode across the lavish living area, dressed in casual clothes, took her breath away. The white chinos hugged his long legs and the designer T-shirt emphasised his muscled body to perfection. She wanted to look away but couldn’t help a moment of indulgence. He was her husband.

‘This is a beautiful place.’ Her voice, barely more than a whisper, trembled and she hated that it gave away the frantic lurch in her emotions the moment he’d spoken.

‘You and Leo will be safe here,’ he responded, command ringing in every word.

He walked towards her and she couldn’t move, couldn’t step away from him or even break eye contact, her dilemma of moments ago still prominent. He moved closer, the darkness of his eyes holding hers, captivating her in a way only he had ever done.

The need to fight the attraction reared up like a stallion protecting his herd. She couldn’t fall for this man again. She just couldn’t go through all that heartache once more. Then what he’d just said registered in her desire-clouded mind.

‘When are you leaving?’ Hurt speared into each word despite the fact she wanted to sound unconcerned and unaffected by the knowledge they were now surplus to requirements.

He frowned. ‘Why would I leave?’

‘I just thought...’ She stumbled over her words, the perplexity of his expression too much.

‘That I would leave you and Leo here—alone?’

Her usual spirit resurfaced. ‘Why wouldn’t you? It’s not a real marriage, after all.’

He looked at her, his eyes searching her face as if seeking answers. But to what? Then, to her surprise, he took her hands in his, the warmth of his skin against hers so intense she dragged in a ragged breath.

‘In what way is it not real?’

His gaze held hers intently as his thumb caressed the back of her left hand, then he raised it between them, the diamond of her engagement ring sparkling and the band of gold next to it suddenly feeling heavy on her finger.

She swallowed down the need to tell him that it meant nothing, but with the dangerous darkness of desire lurking in the depths of his eyes she didn’t trust herself to speak. Behind her she could hear the ocean lapping gently at the white sand and the warm breeze playing with the palm trees fringing the beach and surrounding the villa, giving it total seclusion.

‘You are my wife, Sadie, and that is very real and I intend our marriage to be as real as this ring.’ He raised her hand a little further, but still she couldn’t break the eye contact. It was as if he were hypnotising her.

‘We married because of Leo and because you gave me no other choice. Nothing more.’ She dragged her hand from his and turned away from him, moving outside, her feet sinking in the softness of the sand.

‘I want to be a proper father to my son.’ He joined her on the sand, the romantic view as she looked out to the blue horizon in complete contrast to the discussion she was having.

She wanted to turn to him, to tell him that she wanted so much more than that for Leo. She wanted him to see how people laughed and loved. She wanted him to see what she could now never hope for—a loving relationship.

‘I also want to be a proper husband. I want the kind of normal life I glimpsed at the garage in those two weeks.’

* * *

Sadie turned to look at him, her eyes full of caution, her delicate brow furrowed into a frown. The wind played teasingly with her hair, blowing it across her face, which was almost bare of make-up except for mascara and lip gloss. She looked beautiful. Beautiful and vulnerable.