Claiming My Bride Of Convenience

CHAPTER TWO

I WATCHED AS shock blazed across Matteo’s features and stiffened his powerful body. Clearly he hadn’t been expecting that. No doubt he thought I’d spent all the money he’d given me. If only he knew the truth…

‘Why on earth would you want an annulment?’ he blustered. ‘What’s the point?’

‘That’s none of your business,’ I shot back.

The last thing I wanted was to expose my vulnerability to this man. I wanted out of this marriage because I wanted a chance at a real life, a real love, and I knew I wouldn’t get it with Matteo Dias. That was a fact that sent a stupid pang through me, because even now, when he was being so irritatingly arrogant, part of me wished he’d notice me the way a man was meant to notice a woman.

Even in this tight red dress, I could see he was regarding me like something unfortunate he’d stepped in.

‘It certainly is my business,’ Matteo retorted. ‘We’re married, Daisy.’

‘It’s not a real marriage.’

‘It is on paper.’

‘I’m willing to pay back the money, Matteo. What objection can you possibly have?’

Except I’d known instinctively that he would object—that he was not the kind of man to let a woman dictate his terms. To let me be the first to walk away. And now, feeling the full force of Matteo Dias’s ire was enough to have me trembling where I stood. Still, I was determined to stand my ground.

‘I assure you I’ve thought this through very carefully. I would not be giving back one million, seven hundred fifty thousand euros lightly.’

‘How on earth do you still have all that money?’

‘What would I have spent it on?’ I countered, which was not quite the truth.

‘Seriously, Daisy…’

‘I invested it,’ I told him. ‘And the profits will allow me to repay you and keep some for myself.’

He shook his head slowly, as if he couldn’t believe I was clever enough to have done such a thing, or courageous enough to ask him for an annulment. But I was both, and I was proud of it.

His jaw hardened and he folded his arms. ‘I don’t wish to have an annulment.’

‘That’s too bad for you, then, isn’t it?’

His eyes flashed dangerously. I knew I shouldn’t have provoked him like that, but I wasn’t having this high-handed manner now.

‘Our agreement was clear, Matteo. I could have the marriage annulled at any time, as long as I gave the money back. You just never thought I would.’

His lips tightened. ‘It is exceedingly inconvenient for me to have our marriage annulled.’

‘Oh, dear,’ I mocked. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t, Daisy.’

‘How about you don’t—don’t stand in my way? I’m the one abiding by our agreement, Matteo, not you.’

Matteo shook his head slowly from side to side, as if trying to clear it. Then he shook it more forcefully.

‘This is ridiculous. What on earth are you going to do once our marriage is annulled? Where will you go?’

‘Actually, I intend to stay on Amanos.’

‘What?’ He stared at me in scathing disbelief. ‘Not in my house.’

‘No, of course not. I’ll rent a place in the village.’ I’d already seen one—a small, whitewashed one-bedroom cottage that was reasonable.

‘Why, if you intend to stay on Amanos, can’t you stay married to me?’

I didn’t reply, and Matteo’s eyes narrowed.

‘Have you met someone else? Are you having an affair?’

‘That’s rich, coming from you.’

Matteo’s affairs were plastered all over the tabloids, which was the whole reason I was meant to be invisible.

‘Are you, Daisy?’

He looked furious, which was entirely unfair.

‘As it happens, no, I am not.’

Something in my tone must have given me away because understanding flashed in his eyes like lightning.

‘But you wish to?’

‘No, actually. I have no desire to have seedy, sordid affairs the way you do,’ I retorted.

‘What, then?’

I shook my head, regretting having said anything about it. ‘Let’s focus on the annulment.’

‘I need to know why.’

‘No, you don’t.’

‘Yes, I do.’

I threw up my hands, exasperated. ‘Matteo, you don’t—’

‘Not an affair…’ he mused out loud. ‘But something else. What could it be?’

Was he really so dense? Had the concept of true love really never occurred to him? Was it so off his radar that he couldn’t imagine me or anyone else wanting it? Or was it that I was so unappealing to him he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting me?

I shook my head, deciding to end his misery. ‘I’m twenty-six years old, Matteo. I want a real marriage one day. A real family.’

I heard the ache of longing in my voice, and I knew he heard it too. A baby…that was what I really wanted. A family of my own—something I’d never had. I’d take the husband too, of course, but his image was a lot hazier.

‘A family?’ He looked surprised. ‘You want children?’

‘Yes—children, a husband, the lot. Most people do. Don’t you?’

He was silent for a moment. ‘I will need an heir eventually,’ he said at last.

I spread my hands. ‘There you go. We both need something other than a convenient marriage in name only. So this annulment works for both of us.’

‘I already told you it doesn’t for me.’

‘Because of your grandfather?’

‘Yes, because of him. As long as he is alive I must stay married—which you know.’

‘You said it would no longer be an issue after two years.’

‘Because I thought he would be dead.’

I flinched at that, because it sounded so horribly cold. Matteo swore under his breath and then whirled around on his heel, driving one hand through his ink-dark hair, making it ruffled in a way that would have been cute—except nothing about Matteo Dias was cute. He was dark, deadly, powerful, and incredibly charismatic. I felt drawn to him like a moth to dangerous flame, and unlike that hapless insect I knew I’d get burned.

Which was one of the reasons I wanted an annulment. Without Matteo Dias even on the periphery of my life there was far less danger of being singed. I’d already spent too much time poring over those magazine articles, wondering about the man I’d married and wishing he’d show a little interest in me. But I should have known someone as potently male, as powerful and autocratic as Matteo Dias, would balk at the idea of an annulment. He was a man who called the shots, who needed to be in control. And here I was, trying to take the reins.

Matteo turned around to face me, and that rush of incredulous rage had been replaced by something icily composed, leaving the angles of his beautiful face hard and unforgiving.

‘I am not giving you an annulment.’

‘You don’t have any choice,’ I shot back.

But inside I quailed. Matteo Dias had a lot more money and power than I did. Giving back his money was going to have me living on pennies, no matter what I’d told him. But I had to be free. I had to have a chance to pursue my dream of love and family—otherwise what point was there in anything?

But of course Matteo didn’t understand that, and I had no desire to spell it out for him.

Looking at him now, I saw a new hardness in his eyes, felt the unrelenting iron in his soul, and I wondered what had caused him to be so ruthlessly unyielding. It reminded me that I knew nothing about this man beyond what I’d read in the tabloids and what he’d chosen to tell me when we’d first met.

I’d been at my lowest point then: six months in the city, out of cash and—in the last few seconds before we met—out of a job for slapping a man’s hand away when he tried to grope me. But more than that, I’d been out of hope—and that was what had led me to consider Matteo’s outrageous offer even for a second and then to accept it.

‘I have a deal for you.’

Those were his first words to me. I was standing on the street in the lashing rain, hugging my bag to my chest and waiting for the bus, when he came out of the diner from where I’d just been fired and walked straight towards me.

I glanced at him uncertainly, because he wasn’t the sort of customer the rundown diner catered to. He was a dark beacon of privilege there on the grimy street, standing tall and proud and determined. I had no idea what he was doing there, much less what he wanted with me.

‘A deal?’ I eyed him warily, pretty sure that any deal he offered would be one I’d want to refuse.

‘Yes, a deal. I saw what happened back in the diner. You were fired for doing nothing but defending yourself. That was wrong.’

The quietly spoken statement, the certainty of it, reached me in a way nothing else had. Ever since I’d arrived in New York I’d been fending off people who wanted something for nothing, who were far too quick to swindle or lie or cheat. Or attack…

A simply spoken truth delivered by a stranger meant a lot…more than it should have.

‘Thank you,’ I managed, with as much as dignity as I could muster. ‘Unfortunately it doesn’t change anything.’

I had enough money for my bus fare and not much else, and I was already a month behind on my rent. I had no family, no friends, nowhere to go—and, worst of all, I wasn’t sure I had the capacity to care about any of it any more.

‘Actually, it could,’ Matteo said quietly, his voice carrying a subtle, silky power. ‘I could. If you will but give me a few moments of your time.’

I eyed him suspiciously. I’d arrived in this city full of wide-eyed optimism, ready and even eager to believe the best of everyone, but I’d wised up since then. At least I’d been trying to.

‘I don’t think so, mister.’ I hunched my shoulder against the rain and peered down the street in the vain hope that a bus would lumber by soon.

Matteo gave a little reassuring smile. ‘It’s not that kind of deal, trust me.’

The way he said it made me flush, because of course it wasn’t that kind of deal. He was way, way out of my league and we both knew it.

‘This is perfectly respectable and legal—entirely above board.’

I eyed him warily. ‘What, then?’

‘I want you to marry me.’

I gaped. I couldn’t process those six words; they bounced off my brain, refusing to make sense. Then, when the shock wore off, I looked around for the spectators, the punchline. Surely he was making fun of me?

Matteo must have seen something of that in my eyes, for he said quietly, ‘No joke. I’m completely serious.’

He nodded towards a café a few doors down from the diner—a far nicer establishment than the one of my previous employment.

‘Why don’t we get out of the rain and talk through it for a few minutes?’

I hesitated, because my instinct was to say absolutely not. Only a few weeks ago I’d believed what a man had said and I’d paid for it—sorely. Surely I wasn’t going to do it again? Especially when this man’s so-called deal was obviously nonsensical?

‘At least have a coffee on me,’ he said.

And that was what sealed it. I was hungry and tired and wet, and I didn’t even have the money for a cup of coffee.

‘All right,’ I said. ‘One coffee.’

A few minutes later we were seated at a quiet table in the back of the café, and I had my hands around the comforting warmth of a large latte—an extravagance I hadn’t had in for ever.

Matteo sat opposite me, sipping a double espresso, the shoulders of his suit coat damp from the rain. When I breathed in, I caught the cedar-scented aroma of his aftershave.

‘So what is this deal, really?’ I asked.

‘What I said. I need to be married.’ He gave me the flicker of a smile. ‘Need being the operative word. I’m not looking for a wife.’

I couldn’t keep my mouth from curling up in cynical bemusement. ‘What do you require, then?’

‘Just a legal document saying I’m married.’ He took another sip of his espresso before resuming. ‘I’ll pay you a million euros up front and then two hundred and fifty thousand euros for every year we remain married. Your housing and all expenses will be provided, and we will never have to lay eyes on each other again.’

I shook my head slowly, unable to take it in. To take him in. Because he was so overwhelming, with his dark hair and steely eyes, his body made up of hard, powerful lines, each one emanating an authority I recognised even if I couldn’t begin to imagine it.

One million euros.

It was crazy. He was crazy. And yet he didn’t look crazy. He looked remarkably and alarmingly sane.

‘Why do you need to get married so badly?’ I asked in a shaky voice.

‘Because my grandfather requires it before I take control of his company—which is something I very much wish to do.’

The words were terse, but I saw the way his jaw clenched and his hands briefly curled into fists, and I knew there was a great deal more to that complicated relationship than I could ever know or guess.

Still, I wondered, why me?

‘Surely you have someone more suitable to ask.’

‘I don’t want someone “suitable”.’

He smiled at me rather grimly before draining his espresso.

‘I want someone unremarkable who will be glad for what I give her, not ask any awkward questions, and most of all stay out of my life, as well as out of the public eye.’

‘So you want a wife who doesn’t act like a wife?’

His smile gleamed white as he nodded his approval. ‘Exactly.’

‘I’m sure there are plenty of women who would accept the money you’re offering. You hardly needed to approach a stranger like me.’

I shook my head, still sensing a catch. Matteo was way out of my league. Why not ask some grasping socialite? Someone with status and privilege and beauty? Most people, I’d found, would do a lot for money.

Matteo leaned back in his chair, crossing one long, powerful leg over the other as he eyed me in consideration.

‘Possibly, but I’m in a rush, and I don’t want any complications with someone who might not view my offer with the gratitude I’d prefer.’ He gave me a quick, cool smile. ‘I’d like to keep my marriage quiet. I don’t want it to…hamper…any of my activities.’

It took a few seconds for his meaning to sink in. ‘You mean you don’t want it to affect your other relationships?’

‘I wouldn’t call them relationships,’ he answered with a quick, hard smile. ‘But, yes, you have grasped the essentials.’

In a flash I understood why he’d asked me—because I was clearly desperate and would be pathetically grateful for what he was offering. And I wouldn’t mind if he slept around while I stayed silent in the shadows.

I felt too tired to be stung, because of course he was right. I was desperate, as well as pathetic enough to be considering his offer seriously for the first time since he’d broached it. At least Matteo, unlike other people I’d met since moving to the city, was honest about his intentions.

‘So,’ I began slowly, ‘we get married and you go on your merry way? That’s it?’

‘Not quite. I need you to move to the island of Amanos, off the coast of Greece, where I have a villa. It’s a very pleasant place, and my home is exceedingly comfortable. You would want for nothing.’

That was quite a big addendum to this deal of his, and yet I had no ties to this city, much as I’d tried to make some. No ties anywhere. Still, I was cautious—and definitely cynical. I’d learned to be.

‘Why there?’ I asked.

He gave me the glimmer of a smile, but there was a warning in his eyes. ‘You are currently not meeting my second requirement.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘Do you actually expect me to accept an offer such as yours, and move to a foreign country at that, without asking a few questions?’

Not that I was actually thinking of accepting it. At least not very much.

‘Very well, I will explain it in detail,’ he replied, leaning forward. ‘But in actuality it is really very simple.’

His silvery gaze pinned me to where I sat.

‘This will be a convenient marriage in name only—nothing more than a document to sign. No expectation of any relationship—physical, emotional, or otherwise. You will stay on Amanos so I know where you are, and can call on you if needed, but you will be out of the public eye. In a year—no more than two—the marriage will be annulled and you can go—how did you put it?—on your merry way, quite a bit richer.’

‘Call on me “if needed”? What does that mean?’

He shrugged impatiently, barely more than a twitch of his powerful shoulders. ‘I doubt it will be necessary.’

‘But…?’

‘In case my grandfather needs proof of some sort or wants to check on you…make sure I am indeed married. It is merely a precaution, that is all.’

And also a way for him to be in control, because I strongly suspected Matteo Dias was a man who needed to be in control of everything—including me. Something I resisted instinctively.

‘And in a year or two?’ I asked. ‘Why would you annul the marriage then?’

‘My grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer. He’s not been given very long to live.’

He spoke so coldly that I drew back a little.

Matteo bared his teeth in a grim smile. ‘As you are most likely able to surmise, we are not close.’

‘So you want me to marry you and then live on some remote island for a maximum of two years?’

Not that it sounded so bad right then. I was a breath away from being homeless as it was. And yet it would be a prison of sorts, and it meant giving this man all the power—two things I really didn’t like.

‘There could be worse things, surely?’

Of course there could. And yet…

‘Why should I trust you? I could agree and you could bundle me into the back of a van in the next second.’

Matteo’s eyes flashed with ire, as if he disliked being accused in such a way. ‘I could bundle you into the back of a van regardless of whether you agree or not. If you need some guarantees I shall put them in place.’

‘How?’

He shrugged. ‘Everything will be written in a legal contract and witnessed.’

I shook my head. ‘That’s not worth very much. How do I know I can trust you not to take advantage?’

His gaze raked me from head to toe. ‘Trust me, I will not take advantage.’

Ouch. My cheeks flushed and I focused my humiliated gaze on my coffee. Why was I even having this conversation?

‘But if it makes you feel better, everything can be done in public—the contract, the marriage itself, your transport. I’ll book a first-class ticket on a commercial airline.’

I hesitated, because it all sounded too good to be true, and I knew what that looked like. I knew what it felt like. Just the memory of Chris Dawson’s leering face and grasping hands was enough to turn my stomach and make me want to hang my head in shame. Surely I’d wised up since then? Realised that people spouted honeyed words and then watched you get stuck in them?

‘There must be some catch,’ I protested.

‘No catch.’

‘There’s always a catch.’

‘This time there isn’t.’

He placed one hand on my arm, making me jolt. A warm rush of longing swept through me, surprising me in its strength, because his touch was so clearly one of empathy rather than desire. I was smart enough to realise that this man did not think of me that way, and most likely never would—which was a good thing. That was a complication, not to mention a danger, I most certainly didn’t need.

He gave me a smiling look of understanding and compassion, and its warmth strengthened that surge of longing in a way that made me feel deeply uneasy. It was one thing to be physically attracted to a man like Matteo Dias. That was inevitable. It was another matter entirely to connect with him emotionally—even for a second. Far, far too dangerous.

I pulled away and he dropped his hand.

‘I understand why you’d be concerned. You’ve had a bad experience recently, and it’s all too easy to be taken advantage of these days—especially when you are a young woman on your own. You are on your own?’

It was barely a question, and it grated that it was so obvious I had no one in my life—no boyfriend, no family, no friends, even. ‘Yes.’ I forced myself to give him a direct look. ‘How did you know?’

Matteo shrugged. ‘There is a…a loneliness about you. Like a mist.’

I looked away, hating the fact that my eyes were stinging at his surprisingly compassionate and yet brutally honest assessment. A loneliness like a mist? Yes, I felt that—cloaking me in its sadness even though I didn’t want to be sad. I’d always tried to see the sunny side of life, to be optimistic even when there was little reason to be so. Sometimes it felt like the only good thing I had, but too many experiences lately had robbed me of my hope. My joy. And now this…

‘So please,’ Matteo continued, ‘let me reassure you that this offer is entirely above board. I will draw up an agreement that will protect your rights as well as my own. If you come to the courthouse in an hour you can read and sign that agreement, and then I’ll deposit the money in your bank account and arrange your travel to Athens. I can have someone meet you there, or you can arrange your own travel, if that makes you feel safer. Let someone know where you are going if you need a safeguard. Whatever you want. You’ll be in control of everything, with zero risk.’

His mouth curved, his teeth flashing white as he read the name badge on my waitress uniform.

‘Trust me, Daisy, this is your lucky day.’

And so it was—although I felt more anxious than excited when I met him at the courthouse an hour later.

We went over the contract in painstaking detail, although the numbers and words all blurred in my mind.

‘Are you sure about this?’ Matteo asked me seriously.

Again that surprising compassion warmed his eyes, making me do the one thing I’d been sure, right up until that moment, I wouldn’t. I said yes.

Triumph blazed in his eyes then, and I wondered if I was crazy. Was I throwing my life away? My freedom and even my safety? I didn’t know this man.

And yet something about him, despite his hard ruthlessness and innate arrogance, made me trust him. Stupidly, because I’d already learned not to trust people, and yet some stubborn part of me still kept wanting to.

Besides, I told myself, as Matteo had said, I would be in control. I watched him wire the money to my bank account. I saw him book the first-class ticket to Athens. He did both just minutes after the marriage ceremony, which was so fast I could have blinked and missed it. We exchanged no rings. We didn’t even touch. It felt completely soulless, and yet it was legally binding.