would have to fight against his might just to make the rent.
‘I think that covers it,’ the lawyer said.
‘Not quite.’ Estelle cleared her throat. ‘I’d like us to agree that we won’t sleep with each other till after the wedding.’
‘There’s no need for quaint.’
‘I’ve agreed to all your terms.’ She looked coolly at him. It was the only way for this to work. If he knew she was a virgin this meeting would close now. ‘You can surely agree to one of mine? I’d like some time off before I start working.’ She watched his jaw tighten slightly as she made it clear that this was work.
‘Very well.’ Raúl did not like to be told that sleeping with him would be a chore. ‘You may well change your mind.’
‘I shan’t.’
‘You will be flown in a couple of days before the wedding. I will be on my yacht, partying as grooms do before their marriage. You shall have the apartment to yourself.’ He had no intention of holding hands and playing coy for a week. He waited for her nod and then turned to his lawyer. ‘Draft it.’
They waited in a sumptuous lounge as the lawyer got to work, but Estelle couldn’t relax.
‘You are tense.’
‘It’s not every day you get offered a million dollars.’ She could at least be honest about that. ‘Nor move to Marbella…’
‘You will love it,’ Raúl said. ‘The night-life is fantastic…’
He just didn’t know her at all, Estelle realised yet again.
‘How did your parents die?’ Raúl asked, watching as her shoulders stiffened. ‘My family are bound to ask.’
‘In a car accident,’ Estelle said, turning to him. ‘The same as your mother.’
He opened his mouth to speak and then changed his mind.
‘I just hope everyone believes us,’ Estelle said.
‘Why wouldn’t they? Even when we divorce we’ll maintain the lie. You understand the confidentiality clause?’ Raúl checked. ‘No one is ever to know that this is a marriage of convenience only.’
‘No one will ever hear it from me,’ she assured him. The prospect of being found out was abhorrent to Estelle. ‘Just a whirlwind romance and a marriage that didn’t work out.’
‘Good,’ Raúl said. ‘And, Estelle—even if we do get on…even if you do like—’
‘Don’t worry, Raúl,’ she interrupted. ‘I’m not going to be falling in love with you.’ She gave him a tight smile. ‘I’ll be out of your life, as per the contract.’
RAÚL HAD BEEN RIGHT.
Estelle stood on the balcony of his luxurious apartment, looking out at the marina, on the morning of her wedding day, and was, as Raúl had predicted, utterly and completely overwhelmed.
She had arrived in Marbella two days ago and had barely stopped for air since. Stepping into this vast apartment, she had fully glimpsed his wealth. Every room bar the movie screening room was angled to take in the stunning view of the Mediterranean, and every whim was catered for from Jacuzzi to sauna. There was a whole new wardrobe waiting for her too. The only thing lacking was that the kitchen cupboards and fridge were empty.
‘Call Sol’s if you don’t want to go out,’ Raúl had said. ‘They will bring whatever you want straight over.’
The only vaguely familiar thing had been the photo of them both, taken at Donald’s wedding, beautifully framed and on a wall. But even that had been dealt with by Raúl. It had been manipulated so that her make-up was softer, her cleavage less revealing.
It had been a sharp reminder that he thought her a tart.
Raúl knew the woman he wanted to marry, and it wasn’t the woman he had met, so there had been trips to a beauty salon for hair treatments and make-up lessons.
‘I don’t need make-up lessons,’ Estelle had said.
‘Oh, baby, you do,’ had been his response. ‘Subtle is best.’
Constantly she had to remind herself to be the woman he thought he had met. A woman who acted as if delighted by her new designer wardrobe, who didn’t mind at all when he told her to wear factor fifty-plus because he liked her pale skin.
But it wasn’t that which concerned Estelle this morning as she looked out at the glittering sea and the luxurious yachts, wondering which one was Raúl’s.
Tonight she would be on his yacht.
This night they would be sharing a bed.
Estelle wasn’t sure if she was more terrified of losing her virginity, or of him finding out that she had never slept with anyone before.
Maybe he wouldn’t notice, she thought helplessly. But she knew she didn’t have a hope of delivering to his bed the sexually experienced woman that Raúl was expecting. Last night, before heading off with his sponsors for his final night as a single man, Raúl had kissed her slowly and deeply. The message his tongue had delivered had been an explicit one.
‘Why do you make me wait?’
Tonight he would find out why.
‘You have a phone call.’ Rosa, his housekeeper, brought the phone up to the balcony. It was Amanda on the line.
‘How are you doing?’ Amanda asked.
‘I’m petrified.’ It was nice to be honest.
‘All brides are,’ Amanda said. ‘But Raúl will take good care of you.’
He had utterly and completely charmed Amanda, but had not quite won over Andrew.
‘I am not letting her go again.’ He had looked Andrew straight in the eye as he said it. ‘If I move Estelle to Spain I want to make a proper commitment. That is why she will come to be my wife.’
So easily he had lied.
Estelle knew she must remember that fact.
‘How did the dress turn out?’ Amanda asked.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Estelle said. ‘Even better than I imagined it would be.’
It was the only thing Estelle had been allowed to organise. It had all be done online and by phone, and the final adjustments made when she had arrived.
‘How is Cecelia?’ Estelle asked, desperate for news of her niece.
‘She’s still asleep.’
It was nine a.m. in Spain, which
