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“I’ve asked around.” Corrado flicks the pen. “Sign.”
“You said ten million, but there’s no mention of the number, just blank lines. This is like a blank check.”
“It is.”
“Nobody signs blank checks like this.”
“I signed one.” He points at his signature. “I’d have put ten million, but when I offered it, you walked away. You seemed unimpressed.”
I laugh. “Only because your many billions impress me more.”
“Then write that number out.”
I rear back. “You don’t have that much money.”
“How many billions are we talking?” he purrs, leaning in. Clearly, this negotiation makes him horny.
My heart’s thumping so hard in my chest that I think I might have a panic attack.
Slowly, Corrado reaches toward me and presses two fingers against the pulse in my neck. “Breathe. Your relationship with money will change once you sign with me. Write down a number. Any number. Preferably one that will challenge me to want to reconsider.”
I swallow. “Thing is?—”
“Michela,” he interrupts, his voice deep, dramatic, and smooth as a cello. “This is a business transaction. I’m not buying your body, and I most certainly do not want your heart. All I want is a commitment to be my wife for a while.”
I pick up the pen and place a number 0 on all the blank lines. Once I get to the end, I tap my pen.
“You don’t want my body, so no sex.”
“That’s not what I said. I said I’m not buying it.”
“Will you have sex with other women, then?”
“Christ,” he says. “I need a wife so I’ll appear unavailable. Sex is distracting and complicates things. Extramarital sex would make my life much harder. I want it easier. Flawless. So that I can eliminate what and who I came here to eliminate.”
There’s a heavy pause as the air thickens between us. I heard him correctly. What and who.
I want to ask many questions about what he means by that and what he does that makes men piss themselves when he’s around, but I won’t pry into his business. If I do, I’m afraid I’ll walk away, and I can’t afford to do that. I need this contract. Ignorance is bliss.
“What about kissing? Or sitting on the couch watching movies? Or ordering pizza this Saturday night when I’ll be on my period? I’m not always going to be available whenever you call.”
“Do you want me to kiss you?”
He’s so forward that he makes me blush like a schoolgirl. Gah. “Maybe.”
“I’ll consider it.” He points at the paper. “Name the price. Zero is not an acceptable number.”
“I can’t take your money.”
Corrado clenches his teeth so hard, I think he might crush them. His jaw works as he tries to calm down before he speaks. “Why the fuck not?”
“Because taking money for this feels wrong.”
“We went over this. I’m not trying to buy you. Only your services. It is a job.”
“Speaking of a job. I will sign for the job with Evans’s design company.”
“No way.” Corrado leaps off the chair, then gives me his back when he stands at the window, fists clenched at his sides. He relaxes them, then clenches them several times, then slides his hands into his pockets.
