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‘So it’s not just the trustees who think we’re engaged now. Your parents do, too. In fact, your mother was all for me taking you away. She said it would be like a pre-moon.’
He was needling her as much to see her draw herself up in outrage as for any other reason. And because he liked the flush of pink it brought her cheeks and the way it made her voice grow husky. She was the only woman he’d met who was as stubborn as he was, and even though her refusal to simply accept the inevitable was frustrating as hell right now, he found himself admiring her.
Catching sight of her narrowed gaze, he felt his heartbeat start to drum inside his head. She found him equally frustrating.
And he wondered if there was something wrong with him, that he should like it so much. Like getting under her skin.
Her chin jerked up and her voice was very quiet, very furious then. ‘But it’s not, because that would imply we’re getting married and we absolutely are not.’
Settling back against the leather upholstery, he gave an exaggerated shrug, mostly so that he could see the pulse in her throat accelerate. ‘I don’t want to argue on our pre-moon, so, if it makes you happier, let’s just call it a holiday.’
He watched her clench her fists, nails digging into the palms. ‘It doesn’t make me happy, and I don’t want a holiday.’
‘That’s what people who need a holiday always say,’ he murmured. ‘It’ll be good for you to step off the merry-go-round for a while, and the villa is a great place to relax and unwind. You can swim or sunbathe or go for a ride. Or if you want to go out there are some great restaurants in Siena, or we can take in an opera in Florence.’ His eyes dropped to the pulse now beating frantically in her throat. ‘Italy is a playground of the senses, so we could also just make our own entertainment—’
‘I won’t need entertaining because I won’t be staying,’ she said tightly.
Wrong, he thought, watching a spray of goosebumps spread along her bare arms. Now that she was here, there was no way he was letting Lily out of his sight until she had agreed to be his wife. Of that he was certain.
‘That’s what this is to you, isn’t it?’ Her eyes arrowed in on his face. ‘Entertainment. Some kind of game. Well, it’s not one I’m interested in playing. So I suggest you get your pilot back in here and tell him to take me back to New York.’
‘That’s not going to happen. And you’re wrong, Lily. This isn’t a game for me. It’s my life. My business. My future. Which is why I released a statement announcing our engagement shortly before we left New York.’ He held her gaze. ‘Did you really think I’d just told your parents?’
‘I don’t believe you. You can’t have done that—’ Watching the colour drain from her face, he felt a pang of remorse. But what choice did he have? None of this was his choice. It was just the tail end of one careless decision.
‘You left me no choice.’
He watched in silence as she scrolled down her phone with trembling hands. ‘At least here...’ he softened his voice ‘...you won’t have to deal with the paparazzi.’ She had never said as much, but he knew she had a fear and a distrust of the media, so in a way bringing her to Italy was an act of mercy.
‘You have to change this. You have to call someone, tell them that you made a mistake. I can’t marry you—’
The horror in her voice scraped against his masculine pride and he felt his temper flare.
‘I’m not calling anyone. It’s done, okay. The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can both go back to living our lives. Separately.’
He didn’t know what he expected to happen. He knew what he wanted to happen, which was that she would give in, capitulate to his not unreasonable demands and agree to marry him. He felt a twinge of guilt. Okay, maybe what he had trapped her into doing was a little unreasonable, but it wasn’t as if he were asking her to do something that she hadn’t done a version of before.
His body hardened with predictable speed as he pictured what that version looked like, as Lily folded her arms in front of her quivering body and glared at him.
‘I’m not leaving this plane.’
‘One way or another you will,’ he said softly.
He watched the slow rise of colour on her cheeks. ‘So now you’re threatening me. This is turning into quite a day for you. And for me too, seeing all these new sides to your character.’
His jaw tightened. ‘It wasn’t a threat. More of a point of information.’ He met her gaze. ‘You see, as your host I have a duty of care—’
‘Did you just say duty of care?’ Her grey eyes grew saucer wide. ‘You’re abducting me, Trip.’
Later, he would wonder what had possessed him in that moment. Maybe it was the derision in her voice or the ice in her eyes or just the fact that she didn’t seem to realise how much this mattered to him, but before he realised what he was doing, he had scooped her into his arms and was walking swiftly down the aisle.
‘Put me down.’
She was twisting against him, but he was already moving down the staircase towards the SUV that was waiting on the runway. Without so much as blinking, the driver stepped forward and opened the door and Trip placed her into the back seat before following her smoothly.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Face burning, Lily edged to the far side of the car. ‘You’ve no right—no right—’
She reached for the door handle, but the SUV was moving now and she looked over at the driver, not because she was expecting him to leap to her defence, but expecting some kind of reaction, shock maybe, or horror.
