will enhance our marriage rather than complicate it.’
‘And you would expect me to be with you most of the time?’ Allegra said it as though it was the most unreasonable request in the world. As though she’d be committing to daily root-canal treatment.
His expression flickered with amusement. ‘Isn’t that what husbands and wives do?’
Allegra sent him a speaking look. ‘Ones that are in love with each other, maybe. But that hardly applies in our case.’
One side of his smile went a little higher. ‘You’ve been in love with me since you were a teenager. Go on—admit it. That’s why you haven’t got married yet or dated with any regularity. You can’t find anyone that does it for you like I do it for you.’
Allegra affected a laugh. ‘Seriously? That’s what you think?’ What signals had she been giving off to make him think she was still that clumsy teenage girl? She wasn’t that infatuated fool any more. She was all grown up and she hated him. Hated. Hated. Hated him.
His eyes gleamed like wet paint. ‘When was the last time you slept with a man?’
She folded her arms across her body and pursed her lips like she was a schoolmistress staring down an impertinent child. ‘I’m not going to give you details of my sex life. It’s none of your damn business who I sleep with.’
‘It will be my business once we’re married. I expect you to be faithful.’
Allegra unfolded her arms and planted her hands on her hips instead. ‘And what about you? Will you be faithful or will I have to turn a blind eye to your little dalliances like my mother did for my father?’
Something hardened around his mouth, making it appear flatter, less mobile. ‘I am not your father, Allegra. I take the institution of marriage very seriously.’
‘So seriously you’re prepared to marry a woman you don’t love, for a short period of time, just so you can acquire a flagging business?’ She made a scoffing noise. ‘Don’t make me laugh. I know why you want to marry me, Draco. You want a trophy wife. A wife who knows which knife and fork to use. A wife you can take anywhere without worrying she might embarrass you. Then, when you’ve got me to pop out an heir, you’ll get bored, send me on my way and keep the kid. I’m not doing it. No way. Find some other puppet.’
She pushed past him to leave the room but he snagged her wrist on her way past, bringing her around to face him. Her skin burned where his fingers gripped her, but not a painful burn, more of a sizzling, tingling burn that sent heat rushing through her body and pooling in her core. He had rarely touched her since that kiss other than by accident. The contact of his flesh on hers was like being zapped with a lightning bolt. It made every nerve beneath her skin pirouette. His thumb found her thrumming pulse and soothed it with slow, measured strokes while his eyes held hers prisoner.
‘I was only teasing about the heir,’ he told her. ‘But think carefully, Allegra. Yes, I am in the market for a suitable wife, and you fit the bill. But this is also your chance to get your father to finally notice you. You won’t just be helping him, but Elena and little Nico, by providing them with security. If the business goes under, it will take them down with it.’
He had found another weak spot. Elena and Nico. They were the innocents in this situation and their future would be compromised if she didn’t do something. Allegra could offer her father a loan but the sort of money Draco was talking about was in the millions. Many millions. She was wealthy, but not wealthy enough to float a multi-million-euro corporation. She let out a rattling breath and looked down at their joined hands. How could she turn her back on her father’s financial plight when she was the only person who could do something? If her father went down, Elena and darling little Nico would be collateral damage. She couldn’t stand back and let that happen. Not when she could help it. She would have to marry Draco. Gulp. ‘It seems I don’t have any choice.’
Draco brought her chin up so her gaze meshed with his. ‘You won’t regret it. I can guarantee it.’
You think? Allegra brushed his hand away from her chin and took a step backwards. ‘I’m not agreeing to this for any other reason than to save my family. Are you absolutely clear on that?’
His eyes shone with a triumphant gleam that made the backs of her knees tingle. ‘But of course.’
She disguised a swallow, trying not to notice the way his eyes kept glancing at her mouth. ‘When are you thinking of...doing it? I mean, getting married?’
‘I have already taken the liberty to make all the arrangements. We’ll be married next weekend. I would have done it this one but I didn’t want to steal little Nico’s limelight.’
Allegra’s eyes bulged in alarm. ‘So soon?’
‘It is a little rushed, but it will be a relatively simple affair. Just a handful of close friends and family.’
‘But what if I want the whole shebang?’
‘Do you?’
She blew out another breath and averted her gaze. ‘No...’
‘You’d be surprised at what can be done in a short period of time when you have money. If you want a white wedding, then that’s what you will have.’
Allegra had never been the sort of girl to hanker after the fairy-tale wedding. She had rarely even thought of getting married. Her career had always been her top priority. She normally avoided bridal shops and didn’t drool at jewellers’ windows. But ever since she’d been a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding a couple of months ago she had started to think about what it would be like to be a bride. To be loved by someone so much they would promise to spend the rest of their life with her. It was indeed a fairy tale, one she saw turn to ashes and heartache every day of her working life.
‘We’ll be married on my island retreat,’ Draco said. ‘It will be easier to keep the press away.’
Allegra had never been to Draco’s private retreat but she had seen photos. He had a villa in Oia, an apartment in Athens and other homes on Kefalonia and Mykonos. But his secluded retreat on his private island had the most amazing gardens and an infinity pool that was perched on the edge of a vertiginous cliff. It would make a stunning wedding location.
And a perfect spot for a honeymoon.
Do not even think about the honeymoon.
‘Aren’t you worried what the press will make of us?’ Allegra asked.
He gave a loose-shouldered shrug. ‘Not particularly. I’ve grown accustomed to them speculating on my private life. Most of the time they make stuff up.’
Not everything was fiction. She had seen enough photos of him surrounded by beautiful women to know he wasn’t living the life of a Tibetan monk. Far from it. He was considered one of Greece’s most eligible bachelors. Women were elbowing each other out of the way to score a date with him. What would everyone say when they heard she was to be his wife? A single-minded career woman like her, marrying a fast-living playboy like him.
It was laughable.
‘You’ll have to take a week off work, of course,’ he said. ‘We’ll take a short honeymoon on my yacht.’
Her heart flapped like
